2 Timothy 2:21, commentary and pictures

Purging from iniquity, dishonorable ways, empty talk and corrupting false teaching makes a person a vessel of honor, set apart and fitted for the Master’s use in every good work. This cleansing is each person’s own work of turning from sin, resisting evil and fleeing youthful lusts while searching Scripture with prayer. It puts away self-love, pride, selfishness, bitterness, envy, faultfinding and defiling habits of appetite and speech. Becoming such a vessel is God’s molding like a potter shaping clay, done by the Holy Spirit renewing the mind and heart as the person yields, is broken from old traits and emptied of self. It calls for full surrender of will and affections, daily conversion and consecration, meek obedience to God’s law and self-denial now, so the sanctified life is ready to receive the Holy Spirit and serve to save souls.

Words and Context

The word “these” from which a person must purge himself means iniquity and dishonorable things, vain babbling mixed with teaching, and corrupting human theories, unrighteous sentiments, cheap unessential notions and empty claims that lead away from God’s sure word. Purging from them means refusing to accept teachings that lead away from that sure Word and turning instead to prayerful searching of Scripture. It is the direct continuation of the sure foundation sealed with the Lord knowing those who are His, calling everyone who names the name of Christ to depart from iniquity and return to sound words, sound faith and purity.

Purging is an individual work that no one can do for another. It is done by resisting evil and the tempter’s pull to deviate from God’s way, fleeing youthful lusts, and diligently searching the Scriptures with prayer to test whether one walks in self-kindled sparks or in the light God has given. In that keeping of the way of the Lord there is great reward, fulfilled as the work of grace advances in the heart until the matchless charms revealed in Jesus are seen.

One who so purges becomes a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the Master’s use and prepared unto every good work. He rises by faith in Jesus Christ from a low earthly state, availing himself of Christ’s offered gifts, to follow righteousness, faith, love and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Such cleansing makes the person set apart for honorable service, holy and fit to receive the Holy Spirit and to teach the gospel clearly and faithfully, with ability and grace provided for missionary service.

The call to depart from iniquity means being cleansed from all moral defilement by recognizing God as the theme of all thought and the object of love, reverence and worship, keeping Jesus the Pattern before the mind, and living the truth and practicing the lessons of Christ, which refines, ennobles and sanctifies the soul. Personal accountability to a personal, all-seeing God places human agents on elevated ground, producing deep thinking, genuine self-denial, love of God tending to fear of offending Him, and refusal to venture heedlessly upon the borders of evil lest the Spirit be grieved. It means turning from human agents and human revealings to the Word of God alone as guidebook and counselor, full of warnings, admonitions, rebuke of every evil and clear definition of sin as transgression of the law, with safety only in deep searching of the sure word of prophecy and drinking from the fountain of living waters rather than broken cisterns. It means gaining a sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, drawing nigh to God, beholding Jesus to be changed into His image, resisting the devil and refusing Satan’s unceasing debasing temptations, guarding the barriers of the soul every moment, turning from the path of the wicked, and not looking on the overcome to build up self-righteousness, so as to stand fully on God’s side as a co-worker to rescue souls instead of becoming like a wrecked vessel adrift upon the sea.

The great house contains vessels unto honour and unto dishonour, and God’s working agencies and church are made up of vessels large and small of different sizes and capacities. Even those with limited religious or intellectual training have work to do when they labor humbly and trust in Him, using faithfully the gifts entrusted to them in seeking to save souls. God does not expect a lowly, unlearned Christian to have the abilities of one whose advantages developed greater talents, nor does He demand giving or doing what poverty or illness makes impossible. Those who put their trust in Him will not be disappointed, for He will put them where they can fill a place and make them ready for the home Christ has gone to prepare, forming them to show His praise as His crown and royal treasure secure by unwavering trust, while He cleanses the church as wheat from chaff so it can honor His name through members emptied of self and filled with His love.

What Purging Removes

To be purged is to turn from sin and iniquity in general, gaining a sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, confessing and putting away what is wrong, and being transformed so the whole person is sanctified and made fit for honorable service and ready for every good work. It means drawing near to God, beholding Jesus to be changed into His image with discernment of sin's character, resisting the devil and refusing his unceasing temptations to sins that debase mind and character and eat away the affections. It means guarding the barriers of the soul every moment lest Satan enter like a flood with fatal perplexities, telling him to depart, not entering the path of the wicked but passing by and turning from it, and not looking on the overcome to build up self-righteousness. This readiness is renewed each day by letting God direct to His work for that day and using abilities for His glory rather than presuming on many years, with daily conversion and the Spirit's influence keeping the person guarded, forgiven, cleansed from unrighteousness, and prepared to meet the Sin-bearer with joy. Those so fully on God's side become co-workers with Him to rescue souls from death and hide a multitude of sins, instead of becoming like a wrecked vessel adrift upon the sea.

Purging also cleanses from corrupting ideas, unrighteous sentiments, cheap unessential notions, empty claims, and vain babbling mixed with teaching that leads away from God's sure word. It is an individual work no one can do for another, done by resisting evil and searching Scripture with prayer, which brings a sure path to heaven rather than the unstable path of human ideas. The one so purified becomes holy, sanctified, set apart and fit to receive the Holy Spirit and to teach the gospel clearly and faithfully in missionary work, with ability and grace provided for that service.

It requires purging self-love, self-esteem, self-sufficiency, self-glorification, and love of praise that fills the soul and leaves no room for Jesus, purifying self even as Christ is pure. It requires cleansing the heart of feelings of superiority and planting the living principles of truth in the soul, with young, middle-aged, and old earnestly seeking the Lord every day, practicing the virtues of Christ's character, and making daily spiritual growth to avoid carelessness and negligence. It requires cleansing from selfishness, for the carnal mind is at enmity with God and must be cleansed by the Spirit of Christ, and when the heart is emptied of selfishness the person becomes fit for use. Selfishness and avarice with selfish planning, dishonesty, fraudulent devising, and selfish appropriation of God's goods make a vessel of dishonor, while surrender lets God shape the person into a vessel of honor.

It requires putting away vanity, perverse speech, bitterness, dissension, hatred, disunion, faultfinding, criticism, envy and jealousy, and a hard condemning overbearing spirit that lacks Christ's love and is not true religion. Those who cherish such faults and stand without Christ's spirit and firm principle will not be prepared to receive God's glory in the latter rain. Fitness for service means subduing self and cultivating Christian graces including love for one's brother, since hatred and disunion are incompatible with being sanctified for God's service.

It requires correcting the tongue and speech by submission to God in meekness and lowliness, with self-confidence dying, self and tongue disciplined, dependence on God rather than personal strength, and willingness to do whatever work He gives. For students and all, it means taking oneself in hand and overcoming unchristlike character by bridling a talkative, complaining, accusing tongue, refusing to speak what should not be mentioned, to tell small complaints, to make much of little things, to bear false witness, and to sow seeds of doubt and criticism that harm reporter and hearer, create enmity, and spring into roots of bitterness. It means learning that silence is eloquence, overcoming the infirmity of talking out all that is within, keeping confidence so others need not fear their words will be repeated as reproach against a neighbor, and preserving silence or going directly to the one talked about with burden of soul. Words reveal spiritual condition, so habits of speech that need changing must be changed decidedly, rejecting sharp, critical, combative methods and cold critical sarcasm for tenderness, compassion, patience, holiness, and humility, and clearing away harmful divisive words so heart, life, and spirit are prepared to receive the holy anointing and impart it to others.

It requires purging inherited and cultivated appetites and habits that destroy soul and body, including intemperance, tobacco and tea, lightness and trifling, frivolity, love of fascinating amusements such as theatrical performances, and commercial and worldly principles. Purging means not doing very much as one pleases, not letting the mind be filled with lightness and trifling, keeping in the channel of light, following a right course, and making a covenant with God by sacrifice. It means turning from a commercial spirit to seek the Lord wholeheartedly, putting away unconverted habits, and practicing daily godliness, since frivolity, self-exaltation, and words and actions guided by Satan make a person unusable and harm others. The decision to give up tobacco and tea despite withdrawal discomfort shows the Spirit working on mind and character, for those joined to filthy soul-and-body-destroying idols that injure brain, bone, and muscle cannot honestly claim God's name nor appreciate precious truth and its highest educational lessons.

It requires cleansing from Pharisaism and self-righteousness by letting the plowshare go deep, seeing that there is no righteousness in self, dreading sin, and falling on the Rock to be broken so Christ can take, mold, and fashion the life. Trying to fashion self after a mold of one's own imagination gives God no chance to work, and turning thoughts and feelings against one another is unlike Christ and makes a vessel unto dishonor. The life of an honorable vessel keeps Christ before the mind continually, rising up and sitting down and going out and coming in, with Christian politeness, respect and humility as one purchased by Christ's blood, helping the downcast, binding up the brokenhearted, and refusing evil-surmising and the idea of knowing more than brethren. Unless this purging occurs the person remains a vessel of dishonor, unclean and unfit, with heart, mind, spirit, and conduct unreformed and wrong tendencies unsubdued, controlled by the enemy of truth and righteousness who cannot cooperate with God, and at last under the control of the powers of darkness. So a vessel ordained and used in sacred service may be corrupted like Solomon when pride, human praise, and the natural self take hold and counsel is refused for a self-chosen way, and inherited self-destroying appetites and evil tempers left unovercome leave one unfit for the society of saints in light.

God Forms Vessels

Becoming a vessel unto honour is God's molding of human clay as a potter molds clay, through many stages of pressure, waiting, forming, refining, hewing, squaring and polishing until all roughness and unshapeliness vanish. The renewed heart in that shaping gives up fault-finding against God and yields to be molded in any way He chooses, cultivating no selfishness, seeing pride in its sinfulness and expelling it to be filled with renewing sanctifying grace. Those who so submit are qualified for their appointed work and give the world through unselfish lives a practical example of Christianity, for God works through the humble and contrite.

The person's part is not to do the potter's work but to yield and be pliable, following wherever He leads and trusting Him to carry out His designs. This means letting God work each person into what He sees best for His service, for He knows just what kind of vessel He wants and what place each is best fitted for, to every man giving his work. It means no longer devising and planning something God has withheld and working contrary to His will and spoiling the web, but being submissive under divine guidance, cooperating with God, letting Him place men where they will be worked into oneness with Christ bearing His divine similitude. If self submits and believers pray and work in unity, each taking his place as threads in the web of life, they grow into a beautiful fabric that rejoices the universe of God, and had God His way hundreds would thus be worked and made into vessels.

The preparation is pictured as falling on the Rock and being broken, with old habits and hereditary and cultivated traits of character broken up, so that Jesus can take and mold and fashion the life. Turning from sin and yielding to Jesus, repenting and surrendering, humbling self before God and crucifying self, lets the Holy Spirit work with transforming power upon the broken-hearted ones as clay in the potter's hands. Trying to fashion self after a mold of one's own imagination gives God no chance to work, and turning thoughts and feelings against one another makes one a vessel unto dishonor. When self is crucified Christ makes such men and women superior in mental, physical and moral power, the graces of the Spirit give solidity to character, and they exert an influence for good because Christ abides in the soul, reflected in works and love in a life of service and self-denial.

The Holy Spirit does the cleansing, molding heart and character, renewing the mind, softening and changing the heart, perfecting character, and carrying truth's purifying work into words, spirit, attitude, dress, habits and conduct. Those who place themselves under educating influences and heed its voice become lights in the world, clean and pure and holy so they can present precious truths in a way people will accept and enjoy, and becoming a laborer together with God requires that converting power every day. Refusing that decisive change of receiving the light and allowing the Spirit to mold and shape leaves existing character unchanged and leads to ruin, while turning from harmful habits and choosing what is right shows the Spirit working on mind and character. Ministers and all workers as earthen vessels have no grace or holiness of their own, and divine power alone makes them vessels of honour effective for saving souls. God alone makes the gospel's human ministers effective, supplying strength despite human weakness and qualifying them to communicate His Word, and a person guided by a spirit other than Christ's or yielding to sin cannot become such a vessel or walk in the light, with sacred office making unyielded sin especially serious.

Cleansing and fitness come through oneness with Christ, Christ abiding within, partaking of the divine nature, forgiveness of sins, death of self, and living by faith moment by moment in a pure holy atmosphere. A mere theory of truth is not enough, for faithful service brings cleansing from every stain, and daily reception of the Holy Spirit renews the mind, strengthens for new life and brings eternal life to the soul. The prepared vessel lives by simple faith asking God to take the heart, keep it pure, keep what is committed to Him, save from weak unchristlike self, and mold and raise into a pure holy atmosphere where the rich current of His love can flow through the soul. Such a life shaped by Christ's love abiding within displays no self, overcomes rather than merely mourns shortcomings, carries godly example, word and action into daily life, overcomes self by wrestling alone with God in prayer, and imparts to others what is received from the Source of power.

Vessels meet for the Master's use are empty vessels, emptied of self, self-occupation, selfish desires, selfish planning and worldly maxims to receive grace and be made clean and sanctified for holy service. No one can convert and purify his own heart into such a vessel, for the emptying and cleansing can only be wrought by the Holy Spirit making room to work. Workers who labor in self put on a yoke Christ will not help them carry, while humility and daily dependence, surrender of will and way, putting entire trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, doing one's best with an eye single to God's glory, walking humbly, bringing one's case to Him and waiting patiently for His commendation prepare for spiritual growth and conformity to God's image. Becoming such a vessel belongs to individual responsibility, awaking and taking oneself in hand with God doing His part in cooperation with the human agent and Christ taking possession, in which He puts His laws into hearts and minds and remembers sins no more.

Human Cooperation Required

Becoming a vessel unto honour is both privilege and duty, reached by accepting the word and following the given pattern into the higher life so the Lord can use the life. It requires yielding entirely to everlasting unchangeable love and consecrating all powers, so that every mind thus yielded is directed and shown the mystery of godliness, selfishness is cleansed from the soul-temple, and the heart filled with what is pure and lovely reveals redeeming love. It means consecrating self to do the divine will, with the whole being surrendered to cooperate with divine agencies and with riches, position, talent and education laid as tribute at His feet, since with God there is no caste and such advantages weigh nothing unless surrendered. It is giving self into divine hands to be controlled by the will and molded after Christ's likeness, keeping idols and human revealings from coming between the soul and God.

It requires steadfastly placing the will on the Lord's side, bringing the will into conformity with His will, and cooperating through the shaping process. Joined to the divine will and exercising faith, a person receives help to do what is beyond human ability and becomes a noble instrument whose works are wrought in God. Yielding the will and resisting temptation allows the shaping into a useful polished instrument, with self surrendered to be molded, temptations and feelings laid at the cross, and living faith working by love to purify the soul. Those received as vessels unto honour believe the truth, live it and proclaim it in all its bearings, talking and singing and acting faith, turning from wrong habits that otherwise show grace has not worked in the heart and hinder usefulness.

It requires daily and continual conversion, with soul, body and spirit consecrated anew each day by laying hold of Christ's righteousness. Daily yielding brings grace for each day's needs and uses every opportunity for service and witness, whether in humble work at home or in public service. Being purified and cleansed, renewed in mind and surrendered for refining work, means putting on the new man day by day and advancing in knowledge of the will, receiving the engrafted word with meekness, studying it with prayer, practicing the truth, and being purified each day for the Holy Spirit until holy oil is in the vessel and light shines until the Lord comes. Without daily conversion even one chosen and empowered to heal remains unpolished, with unconverted natural and inherited tendencies dishonouring Christ and endangering the soul, showing that knowing truth without sanctification forms wrong character and can lead to departure from faith and betrayal of sacred trust. Readiness is renewed each morning by letting God direct to the day's work and using abilities for His glory rather than presuming on many years to become earnest, so daily conversion and the Spirit's influence keep the person guarded and fit.

It requires submission in meekness and lowliness, with self-confidence dying, self and tongue disciplined, dependence placed on God rather than personal strength, and willingness to do whatever work is given, which makes a person strong in divine strength and wise in divine wisdom. It means hiding in God and seeking purity of heart, meekness and lowliness of spirit in order to be refined and sanctified for present work and for the heavenly home hereafter, not living for self but keeping the self-denying Redeemer who pleased not Himself continually in view. Becoming such a vessel requires humbling self and crucifying self so the Spirit can work with transforming power, taking the broken-hearted as clay in the potter's hands and making them superior in mental, physical and moral power, with solidity of character and an influence for good because Christ abides within. Those in responsible places must be broken in humility before Christ the Rock through genuine repentance and a life of faith working by love, purifying the soul, obeying God and forsaking every false way, and even the ignorant when meek and lowly are made wholehearted disciples who understand the purpose for a perishing race.

It requires bringing every relation of life, every duty, affection, habit and emotion of the mind to the exceedingly broad moral standard of the commandments, with the whole mind and heart molded by the Spirit as divine power combines with human effort to make the person complete. Purging means after conversion discerning transmitted defects and cultivated wrong habits and strenuously overcoming them, making given grace one's own until it works wrong ways out and establishes right ways unto perfection in one's sphere. Without this cooperation character remains defective and old hereditary habits remain as fixtures, witnessing that transforming grace has not corrected the heart and constantly hindering usefulness, for to be a Christian is to be Christlike. This faithfulness begins as stewardship over self, searching the heart against the mirror of the word until tried and approved not by own righteousness but by Christ's righteousness and strength in the inner man, with definite daily effort to conquer temptation, restrain the tongue from evil and guile, examine self without apathy in light of the holy law, and keep the soul in the love of God, since making self supreme and seeking to be first leaves one last and unfit for honour. Practicing the truth in this way is sanctification, which is the culture and training of every capability for service, and those who teach must present truth as it is in Jesus as clean vessels under its subduing refining influence, pure and steadfast and abounding in love as lights to the world and living representatives who honour the law by strict holy compliance.

It requires crucifixion of self now, every day and every hour, while there is work to do and use for every entrusted capability, rather than waiting for a future time after destinies are decided when self-crucifixion will do no good. The vessel must be emptied and thoroughly cleansed of impurity and kept clean, right side up and prepared to receive the heavenly rain, coming with clean purpose of heart as a little child, praying for the latter rain to enter the vessel and for light united with the third angel's message to shine, for part in sounding the proclamation and labouring together with Christ. Those who so crucify self carry Christ abiding in the heart into daily example, word and action, wrestling alone with God in prayer to overcome self and then imparting what is received from the source of power, as clay through whom God works His will with spiritual power so Christ lives within and the Spirit attends their witness to draw souls to the cross. Consecration and self-denial in home and church sanctify the whole person for receiving the Holy Spirit, and instead of rehearsing home difficulties to neighbours the will is surrendered at home in prayer, fallen upon the Rock and broken, dying to self until sincere noble affections give fragrance to character in consistent words and actions felt in church and neighbourhood. Those made ready now see salvation, have Jesus walking in their midst, are continually fitted by grace, and when the earnest test comes are compassed by everlasting arms with angels as a wall of fire for deliverance.

It requires training every spiritual and physical capacity through faithful service each day and hour, as a cleansed temple in which heavenly help cooperates with human effort to form perfected character issuing in good action. Being prepared for every good work means living by faith under divine training and doing what is commanded, carrying out the plans as an instrument to bring people from darkness to light, with faith working to the glory of God rather than reliance on long or advanced worldly education. Purifying and developing every power for God makes a fit instrument able to bless others, with faithfulness and accountability turning the best use of entrusted opportunities into sacred duty. Such living faith refuses gloom and complaint while expecting large things from God.

Life of Cleansed Vessel

To be a vessel unto honour is to be made a new person in taste, inclination, habits, customs, spirit, word and conversation by the molding, transforming power of divine grace. This takes place in the God-given probationary time, under God's discipline fitting for the purer higher life, being hewed, squared and polished until rough edges are removed. It requires giving up coarse independence, becoming a learner in the truth, coming under God's hand to be proved and tried and fashioned after the divine similitude, with the love of Christ pervading the soul and the culture of grace refining the character. It is shown in benevolent actions, tenderness and forbearance in home life, thinking no evil and speaking no evil, carrying the love and sympathy of Jesus and being Christlike in spirit, conversation and influence. It requires ceasing to dwell on the errors and faults of others, setting one's own heart and house in order, keeping close watch over natural and cultivated tendencies, and having Bible religion of sound principles of truth deeply rooted in the heart sanctifying soul and character, so that even rigid habits can be changed.

Jesus makes a person such a vessel when self is crucified and Christ lives in the soul, when instead of publishing home troubles and talking to neighbors about home difficulties to seek sympathy for grievances, many of which are manufactured by irreligious life and defective character, the person remains at home to pray and surrenders the perverse will to God. Becoming that honored vessel requires falling on the Rock and being broken and dying to self. The result is holiness as God is holy, shown in sincere, fervent and noble affection that gives fragrance to the character and appears in consistent words and actions. Religion thus manifested in the home is felt in the church and in the neighborhood.

The vessel shows a converted spirit in words and conduct, including tender regard for brethren and tender love and respect for fellow believers, with the unselfish love Christ taught and exemplified. This cleansing comes by submitting to God's shaping and refining and to the polishing carried on by the wheel of providence until all unshapeliness and roughness have vanished. Only then is the person a vessel unto honour, prepared for successful work and every good work. One who lacks this love and has not received the converting power should stop working until meekness and lowliness of heart are learned from Christ, a warning applying especially to teachers and ministers.

The vessel carries a holy atmosphere, weaves golden threads of love into character and labor, wins souls, and does not live to self but imparts light and knowledge of truth to those in darkness with whole energies thrown into the work. This requires believing in God and walking before Him in meekness and humbleness of mind, never becoming self-sufficient, relying wholly upon Jesus, hiding self behind Jesus, and looking to and trusting in Jesus, for self-sufficiency excludes Jesus while reliance brings His might and power. The polished instrument is formed by putting entire trust in God and bearing His proving and test fully, leaning heavily upon God. That life is patient, meek, sober, watchful, prayerful, courteous, slow to anger, controlling its own spirit, keeping an eye single to God's glory, not careless and joking, following Jesus as pattern who was not appreciated though He was the Majesty of heaven. It is also lived by being emptied of self, doing one's best with an eye single to God's glory without regard to what others say or think, walking humbly with God, bringing one's case to Him, waiting patiently for His commendation, taking a higher stand, and through vital connection becoming an intensely practical Christian prepared for all circumstances of actual life so that Christian life sanctifies the whole and pervades every branch of action.

Being a vessel unto honour means standing in God-given freedom as a person of self-control, with the moral image of God restored. God as Restorer calls for cooperation with Him by precept and example to become such vessels and to help others become such by elevating the standard of temperance and lifting them from the degradation of intemperate appetite, so that Christ shall not have died in vain. Those who do this show nobility as sons of God and joint-heirs with Christ and show fitness for the immortal inheritance Christ has gone to prepare, all received by submitting to God's control. Training in practical duties through physical labor and mental effort enlarges and disciplines the mind and fits for this useful service to God and others.

Even when the sphere of action is not large, the life of one first molded by the Lord Jesus transmits impressions for good that continue through ceaseless ages of eternity. With God's blessing resting on him, his influence repeats itself by being reflected upon others and by them upon others still, so the good he does when his life is hid with Christ in God is not buried with him. Keeping each day fresh and pure and clean, keeping the heart uplifted to God in prayer for guidance, for upholding by His free Spirit and for wisdom from above, with angels by the side to help, he sows seeds each morning that bear fruit to eternal life and walking humbly with God brings many sheaves to the Master and stands where placed as a beacon of light to the world.

Even people regarded as hopelessly depraved can through instruction about unhealthful practices and the influence of truth be elevated, ennobled and sanctified into fit vessels. Children burdened by diseased organs and evil passions inherited from parents can become vessels of honour only through the grace of Christ. One who has failed to follow the meek and Christlike course the Bible requires can still become an honour to the cause and a chosen vessel fit for use. Coming near to God by faith and obedience opens the way for grace to subdue, sanctify, refine and transform the natural heart for great good, even for a man of advanced years with molded character and confirmed habits such as tobacco use whose soul and body need conversion to God.

Ready for Service

To be so prepared is to be sanctified in body, soul and spirit and made ready to receive the Holy Spirit, with holy oil placed in the vessel and light shining in faith until the Lord comes, through daily consecration, new conversion every day by laying hold of Christ's righteousness, practicing the truth, receiving the engrafted word with meekness, and studying it with earnest prayer to learn sanctification through the truth. Self-sacrificing united effort in doing God's will lays out every talent to best advantage, unites believers, and brings wisdom in working for the kingdom, lessons of greatest consequence, the highest happiness of a rational mind, and peace and grace and power of intellect. Consecration and self-denial in home and church put evil out of heart and life and make the whole person ready to do the work God intends.

Keeping the vessel clean, prepared and right side up for the heavenly rain is the way to be ready for the latter rain, the glory of God, and the light of the glorious angel united with the third angel shining upon those who seek a part in sounding the proclamation as co-laborers with Jesus Christ. This requires turning from vanity, perverse speech, bitterness and dissension, standing firm in principle with a spirit like Christ's, cleansing the heart from all iniquity and defilement, and coming to God with clean purpose of heart as little children, for those who cherish such faults will not be prepared to receive God's glory. Becoming such a clean vessel means crucifixion of self now, every day and every hour, emptying and thoroughly cleansing the vessel of impurity and being made holy unto God today while there is work to do and use for every entrusted capability, since self-crucifixion after the destiny of souls is decided will do no good. Those ready when the earnest test comes will see the salvation of God with Jesus walking in their midst, have the everlasting arms around them, and have angels making a wall of fire around them to deliver them.

Through such vessels God communicates the teachings of His Spirit, giving heavenly wisdom, knowledge and the precious oil to share with others, fitting even meek and lowly and ignorant people as wholehearted sincere disciples who understand His purpose for a perishing race. Usableness does not depend on wealth, educated ability or spiritual advantages, but on being humble men and women of prayer who have learned from Christ and let His righteousness shine out, and the Holy Spirit rather than human power then works through sincere believers to transform others. When youth give themselves to God and form characters like God's character, He cooperates with their efforts and pours into them the precious oil of His Spirit to be communicated to others, fitting them as missionaries for barren fields in America and Australia and all over the world that call for laborers. Such a person carries the atmosphere of heaven and has moral worth even in a humble station, and Christlike character gives influence saving power.

Readiness is proved by self-sacrificing united effort that sanctifies in body, soul and spirit, by giving gifts, offerings and self — body, soul and spirit — as a living sacrifice, laying out every talent to best advantage, and working to bring people from darkness to light. Those who receive God's blessings pass blessings on by denying self, refusing personal inclinations, looking to Jesus for direction, and willingly doing God's approved will. The Lord uses those who so cooperate with Him to open the Scriptures, impart light and knowledge of truth to those in darkness, throw whole energies into the work, put on the whole armor of righteousness, weave golden threads of love into character and labor, carry a holy atmosphere, bless, heal, win souls to Jesus Christ, and present every man perfect in Christ, with power to move the arm of Omnipotence and an influence on hearts reaching to eternity. This includes handing self over to Jesus to be molded, laying temptations, ideas and feelings at the foot of the cross to receive divine instruction, humbling self and crucifying self so the Holy Spirit works with transforming power, making Christ within a source of life that equips for practical enduring work and gives superiority in mental, physical and moral power with solidity of character.

Faithful growth brings more grace, clearer witness and advance toward the full stature of Christ, fitting students, youth, office workers, physicians, teachers and leaders for appointed places through living faith, submission to God's training and doing what He commands rather than relying on long or advanced worldly education. Students are now deciding eternal destiny by willingness to be fitted for companionship of angels, and by daily conversion, working for school associates and others, refusing lightness and trifling, keeping in the channel of light, following a right course, making a covenant with God by sacrifice, and not doing very much as one pleases. Talent in the church is to be wisely discerned, developed and trained so members become useful workers in building up the church and laboring for unbelievers, while office workers engaged in sacred work must give full attention and care, set aside separate and commercial interests, and take genuine personal interest, since divided attention leaves work incomplete and unacceptable.

Biblical and practical warnings show the two outcomes: Josiah, though born to a wicked king and surrounded by temptations, chose obedience to God's instruction and turning from sin, and his obedience made it possible for God to use him as a vessel unto honor. Solomon illustrates the opposite, for a vessel ordained and used in sacred service may be corrupted and made unclean when pride, human praise and the spirit of the natural self take hold, counsel is refused, and its own way is chosen. Judas had been chosen as a disciple and had power to heal, but failing to be converted daily he was not made a polished instrument, and his unconverted natural and inherited tendencies became means of dishonoring Christ and endangering his own soul, showing that knowing truth without being sanctified by it can produce wrong character, departure from faith, and special harm through betrayal of sacred trusts. The Jews in Christ's day would not receive the light and yield to the Holy Spirit's molding, so they were not made vessels unto honor, and the character they kept wrought their own ruin.

Christ uses only cleansed vessels and does not put His Spirit into impure unsanctified hearts, so a person must be cleansed from defilement and put away cherished unchristlike traits, half-hearted service, corrupt thoughts and conduct, selfishness, dishonesty, fraudulent devising, cunning schemes to take advantage of brethren, selfish appropriation of God's goods in one part of the vineyard to the neglect of others, and trying to supply deficiencies by human wisdom. God withdraws Himself and His power from unclean unsanctified human agencies and from every institution departing from heaven's principles, because to use them would dishonor His name and their influence destroys spirituality, while when instruments become clean He connects with them, stands to protect them, and uses them as His hands to do His work with power. A worker lacking consecration, letting self rule, controlled by a passionate willful spirit, speaking rough unbecoming words, ready to dictate, exerting bad influence, and not removing stumbling blocks or undoing spoken and done wrongs is too weak to help others, is a hindrance, and is not acknowledged as God's servant for salvation, and only thorough reform and clean work making him holy without spot or wrinkle fits him for use. Those who fail to meet God's conditions and do not consecrate heart and hands cut themselves off and cannot be entrusted with sacred trust, and must repent showing recognition of sin's seriousness or be removed from the work.

The Lord watches over people to make them vessels unto honor, and those who walk humbly before God become fit for honorable service even amid determined opposition. His working agencies are vessels large and small, and He can use smaller vessels as well as larger, putting those who trust Him in a place they can fill without disappointment, making even one who does not feel prepared for ministry ready to do His work. Now is the opportunity to be made ready for the home Christ has gone to prepare for those who love Him. Being a vessel of honor includes standing in God's counsel.

Applied Settings

The verse concerns members of the church, and it also embraces doctors and nurses, who may become vessels of honor or remain vessels of dishonor, with the whole healing profession to be purified and shaped after the example of the great Healer. It applies with special force to the ministry, for ministers are earthen vessels with no holiness of their own and become vessels of honor only by cleansing and divine power, succeeding as appointed means of saving souls only as the eternal Father rules their lives. They are to seek perfection under the control of the Holy Spirit, showing in their own lives the changing power they proclaim, so that earnest and effective sharing of the gospel impresses hearers and leaves lasting good. Those who can be molded for the Master's service become vessels of honor through disinterested work, humility, piety and Christlike dignity, since independence and pride hinder the work, and ministers must surrender to be broken and fashioned by the Lord for serving people and saving souls. Ministers, physicians and teachers must be converted anew to become honorable vessels by being staunch faithful workers who understand the truth and are sanctified through it, purged from deception, fraud, sin, worldly commercial principles and subtle satanic theories, and standing guarded against leagued evil forces so they do God's work instead of counterworking it.

In the home the verse means consecration to God and doing His will, with husband and wife who belong to God uniting their interests as marriage vows require and seeking to serve Him together. Jesus makes a person a vessel unto honor when self is crucified and Christ lives in the soul, when home troubles springing from lack of connection with God and objectionable traits are no longer spread abroad, but the person remains at home to pray and surrenders the perverse will to God. Becoming that honored vessel requires falling on the Rock and being broken and dying to self, and then Jesus gives fervent and noble affection that gives fragrance to the character and appears in consistent words and actions, so that religion manifested in the home is felt in the church and neighborhood. To be a vessel unto honor is to be daily converted and sanctified through the truth, devoting all capabilities to the family and becoming a sanctified worker in the home, attaining holiness as God is holy.

Those placed where they mold others must first be molded by the Lord Jesus, and then they become vessels unto honor whose influence, even from no large sphere, transmits impressions for good through ceaseless ages of eternity. With the blessing of God resting upon such a one, the good done when life is hid with Christ in God is not buried with him but repeats itself as it is reflected upon others and by them upon still others, while he walks humbly with God, brings many sheaves to the Master, stands where placed as a beacon of light, sows seeds each morning that bear fruit to eternal life, and keeps each day fresh and pure and clean with heart uplifted to God in prayer for guidance, upholding by His free Spirit, wisdom from above, and angels by the side to help. Children burdened by diseased organs and evil passions inherited from parents can become vessels of honor only through the grace of Christ, and a self-indulgent youth is made a vessel unto honor by giving his heart to God fully and without reserve, improving entrusted talents by diligent service, and wearing Christ's yoke, whereupon the Lord gives rest to his soul and makes his life a benefit to the world. For students this taking in hand of self and overcoming of unchristlike character means bridling a talkative, complaining, accusing tongue, refusing to speak what should not be mentioned, to tell small complaints, to make much of little things, to bear false witness, and to sow doubt and criticism that harm reporter and hearer, create enmity and spring into roots of bitterness, learning instead that silence is eloquence, overcoming the infirmity of speaking out all within, keeping confidence so others need not fear their words repeated as reproach, preserving silence or going directly to the one talked about with burden of soul.

For teachers the Spirit of God must daily fashion the heart as a vessel unto honor, which requires strictly guarding order and discipline and reforming whatever is not as it ought to be, because even seemingly small departures such as liberties with food, indulgence of appetite and disregard of rules binding on students show the heart is not so fashioned and its influence demoralizes the school and counteracts right influence. The same principle reaches leaders and institutions, which unless submitted to God cannot be used for His glory but come under control of the powers of darkness, and it describes the churches' need to turn from sin, repent, allow Christ to prepare and shape them, and be cleansed with chaff separated from wheat so they honor His name and are made ready for Christ's use and every good work. Those engaged in sacred work must be devoted and consecrated to it, as office workers giving full attention and care, setting aside separate and commercial interests and taking genuine personal interest in the cause, for work is acceptable to God when done in this consecrated spirit, while divided attention leaves work incomplete and efforts unacceptable. Members must be emptied of self and filled with the love of God to serve Him worthily.

A vessel of honor is made by correcting personal wrongs and confessing personal sins rather than attempting to bear responsibility for the church's errors, and when God's people recognize and confess their errors He pardons them, while their failures give no warrant for enmity or bitter criticism, leaving the confessing one prepared for works wrought in righteousness. Fitness for honorable service is also preserved by keeping clear of what compromises Christian character and influence, being consecrated to Christ's work as a laborer together with God, with freedom from debt and from schemes that create financial dependence helping to preserve that freedom and fitness. Correcting careless speech and habits and keeping surroundings clean belongs to being a vessel of honor fit for the Lord's use, for words reveal spiritual condition and habits of speech needing change must be changed decidedly.