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GOD’S CHILDREN AND THE SEAL OF THEIR GENUINENESS
(Vessels
for honor and vessels for dishonor)
“Nevertheless
the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who
are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity (Gr.:
injustice or unrighteousness)." But in a great house there are not only
vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some
for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses (purges–purifies) himself from the
latter (NKJV+NIV) (these), he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful
for the Master, prepared for every good work.”
(2Tim.2:19-21).
The role of the Church is to evangelize non-believers to take refuge in Christ
to be saved from Hell but also exhort believers to do God’s will in everything,
so that they become people of blessings to others and to present themselves
perfect before Christ’s Judgment Seat (Col.1:22;
2Cor.5:10). The
present article
is focused basically on the second point. I consider, therefore, necessary to
examine verses 2Tim.2:19-21 which explain that we must, first of all,
become
“vessels for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every
good work”.
In 2Ti.2:19, the apostle Paul speaks in a picturesque and
impressive way about the “solid foundation”
of Christianity. The Bible says: “For no other
foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
(1Cor.3:11). Elsewhere the apostle says: “having
been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself
being the chief cornerstone” (Eph.2:20). So, the
foundation is Jesus Christ, on whom are built the church of God and the hopes of
His people, as it is written in Isa.28:16:
“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a
foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever
believes will not act hastily.”
(or will not be ashamed or confused –
according to other NT versions)”.
The
meaning of the verses under study
The word
“foundation” – in the context of the
passage under study – as it can be drawn from the previous verses, is none else
than the truth of the resurrection of
believers. Certain believers, however, without denying the resurrection of
the dead, had corrupted the true
doctrine. The fact of the resurrection of Christ and of the dead remains as
proclaimed by the Bible. Concerning the resurrection, it is written:
“And if Christ is not risen, then our
preaching is empty (vain)
and your faith is also empty (vain).
Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God
that He raised up Christ, …......
And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile
(vain);
you are still in your sins!”
(1Cor.15:14-17).
The proof of the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is to be found
in the following verse: “that if you confess with
your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has RAISED HIM FROM
THE DEAD, YOU WILL BE SAVED.” (Rom.10:9). No one
can be saved unless he believes in his heart that
“God has raised Him from the dead”. That is why
the resurrection is the solid foundation of the Christian faith. The replacement
of Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus, by another disciple took place for only
one reason: to “become a witness with us
of His resurrection” (Ac.1:22). The resurrection is the proof of our
justification, as Paul the apostle wrote that Christ
“…was delivered up because of our
offenses, and was raised because of our justification” (Rom.4:25).
It
remains, therefore, as a “solid
foundation” upon which a seal exists, bearing two inscriptions:
1.
“The Lord knows those
who are His,”
and,
2.
“Let everyone who
names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
(Injustice or
unrighteousness).
This seal means, in other Biblical terms:
·
“I am the good shepherd; and I know My
sheep, and am known by My own.”
(Joh.10:14), and
·
“but as He who called you is holy, you
also be holy in all your conduct,”
(1Pe.1:15). Or, more emphatically, “… he
who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy
still.” (Re.22:11).
THE FIRST INSCRIPTION ON THE SEAL
The meaning of the inscription:
“The Lord knows those
who are His,”
expresses the assurance and comfort
that the Lord knows well those He owns. It also means, by extension, that
of those that the Father has given Jesus, He has lost
none but the son of perdition (John
God’s
foreknowledge, predestination, calling and glorification
Since when
does God know those who belong to Him? The answer is clear in the Bible: “before
the foundation of the world”, that they should be holy and without blame
before Him in love! (Eph.1:4). Those who
He foreknew before the foundation of the world, He also
predestined to be conformed to the
image of His Son! Moreover, He also
called them, justified them and
glorified them (Rom.8:29-30). And
now, let us see…
The
comfort of the first inscription
The Lord Jesus knows
perfectly well those who are His and He will not lose them.
It is here that
the blessedness of eternal salvation and
security lie, not on the foot of works, but upon the unchangeable will of
God. It is, at the same time, a fearful inscription, showing that
no one can deceive God. Though the
faith of some persons may be overthrown,
the foundation of God stands
sure. God’s elect
are led by the Spirit and the Spirit leads them unto all truth.
God’s elect are sealed and a
seal is affixed to all His elect to distinguish those who
belong to Him and render them firm and authentic.
In John’s Gospel ch.17, our Lord Jesus Christ, praying to
His Father, repeats seven times the phrase,
those that you gave me asking Him
for their protection and eternal
security. Jesus prays to His Father to
keep them from evil and the evil one.
He also tells His Father that He kept all those that the Father
“gave” Him and that none of them is
lost but the son of perdition.
Consequently, both Jesus Christ and His Father keep the believers! We have,
therefore, an absolute assurance about our security. God knows our heart! And it
must be clearly stated that the Father
does not “give” false gifts or hypocrites to His Son!
(See also Joh.6:37-47)
What do the words “assurance” and “security” mean? Do
they mean that all the warnings and
admonitions of the Bible, for example “watch”, “take heed” etc. are given in
vain? By no means! Warnings are valid for everybody but mainly for those who
play with sin. The Church is not in danger only from false prophets,
erroneous doctrines and/or interpretations but she is in great danger from
people who make her go to sleep by
saying
“peace, peace”, while there is
neither security nor peace (Jer.6:14;8:11). Yes, from people who always comfort
their hearers without giving them holy
warnings to spare them from Hell! Such workers please people
and make
them “feel good”…
If you do not warn your children and
your brothers and sisters against
dangers
you do not
love them.
Main
characteristics of True Christians
Though it is true that God knows in an absolute way those
who are His, He has given us the possibility, up to a certain measure, to
“…discern between the righteous and the
wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.”
(Mal.3:18). Let us see some of the main
qualities of those who belong to Jesus Christ:
·
Those who
believe in their heart that Jesus
Christ was “born of the virgin Mary”
and that “God has raised Christ from the
dead”;
·
Those who
confess that
Christ has come in the flesh and
that is the true God (1Jo.4:3);
·
Those who are
born again (Joh.3:5) and bear
fruits worthy of repentance (Mt.3:8;
Lu.3:8)
·
Those who
love Him with all their heart, soul,
strength and mind (Mark 12:37; Lu.10:27);
·
Those who
seek first the
·
Those who
humble themselves, repent and confess
their sin;
·
Those who,
straightforwardly, ask for forgiveness
and accept the punishment of their sin or the
reaping of their sinful sowing or God’s
chastisement
(Lev.26:41; Lu.23:41);
·
Those who
abide in His word (Joh.8:31) and
have the Word of God as their exclusive
guide for speaking, teaching and conduct;
·
Those in whose heart
God has put his laws in their spirit and
has written them in their heart (Heb.8:10);
·
Those who have a
forgiving spirit (Mt.6:12) and are
faithful in what is least
(Lu.16:10);
·
Those who
know Christ’s voice, who are
led by the Spirit of God (Rom.8:14),
who take up their cross and follow Him
(Joh.10:4) and have destroyed the bridges back to the world;
·
Those who have been
born of God do not sin, for His seed
remains in them and they cannot sin,
because they have been born of God (1Jo.3:9);
·
Those who
serve Him (Mal.3:18) and
keep themselves so that the wicked one
does not touch them (1Jo.5:18). In other words, those who
have accepted to become what the Lord wants them to become!
The good
ground
Let me elaborate a bit more on the point of
genuineness: In the Parable of the
Sower
– which
we cannot examine now in detail – it was only the good ground, the
fourth category of people that
yielded fruit! For the first two
categories, the picture is clear right from the beginning: they are lost! BUT
what about the people of the third
category (in Mt.13:22), comprising people who receive the seed among the
thorns, who hear the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of
riches, choke the word, and they
become unfruitful? What does the
word “choke” mean? What is the
consequence of one who becomes
unfruitful? Has this statement of the Lord anything to do with another
similar statement of the Lord, which says:
“Every tree that does not bear good
fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Mt.7:19;
Mt.3:10
and Lu.3:9) or with
“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes
away; and every branch that bears
fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit
(Joh.15:2)? Where can we classify them? To those who are saved or to those who
are lost? Judge for yourselves!
How difficult it is, however, to
discern those who belong to the two
middle categories! First,
those who receive the Word with gladness but have no root in themselves and
endure only for a time. John the apostle says:
“They went out from us, but they were
not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but
they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”
(1Jo.2:19).
The former type of man goes out and the latter stands, he remains. Why?
Because right from the beginning he had good and
sincere intentions! This is the reason why God
adopted him and assumed the responsibility to protect him and take care of him
so that his faith should not fail! Second,
those who hear the Word but the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of
riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word and the word
becomes unfruitful. Both of them
resemble for a time
with the plants of the good ground! The knowledge or the historical belief of
the holy things exists but the true
spiritual experience and the fruit are missing! The people of the third
category may remain up to the end of
their lives within their local congregations for different reasons but
materialism or worldly cares choke the word of God in their heart and they
remain, in reality, unfruitful. They may participate in the worship, lift and
clap their hands, speak in tongues, may have an active life in the church and
even be elders and deacons! What is going to happen to these two categories,
when God is not in their heart?
Their activism and worshiping habits do not constitute
fruitfulness. The prophet Isaiah says,
“Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did
righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me
the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching God.” (Isa.58:2)
And the prophet Ezekiel completes this image saying,
“Indeed you are to them as a very lovely
song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for
they hear your words, but they do not do them.” (Eze.33:32). They see and
hear but do not want to understand with
their heart and return and be healed (Isa.6:10). They resemble gullible
women who always learn and are never able to come to the knowledge of the truth
(2Tim.3:6-7).
Thanks to God,
however, none of these belongs beforehand to a certain category…
Thanks to God’s
mercy and grace, their situation is not irreversible, if they repent! None of
these is “predestined”. If they discern their situation, they can cleanse
themselves from every sin through repentance and faith in the blood of Jesus and
they may become, as we read in the verses under examination,
“vessels for honor, sanctified and
useful for the Master, prepared for every good work”! This is the reason why
the words of God exhort those whose spiritual condition is at stake and have
forgotten that they were cleansed from
their old sins, to repent… The apostle Peter exhorts such Christians to be
diligent to make their call and election
sure… (2Pe.1:8-10) This is the reason why there is a call from God for a …
Complete
surrender of heart to God’s will
The Bible says:
“I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,
which is your reasonable service. And
do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
(Rom.12:1-2). So, for those who have not
yet presented their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,
which is their reasonable service there will be
no progressive transformation by the
renewing of their mind; their service to God will never be reasonable but will
remain unreasonable! If one does not conform to these instructions, what is
going to be the impact on his salvation because of his disobedience? I do not
know, only God knows! There is, however, one thing that I do know:
It is very dangerous to resist God’s
will and exhortations!
God is a consuming fire! I would like to close
this point of Christian genuineness by referring to a condition put forward by
our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, that is:
No cross,
no discipleship
Does it suffice to belong to a Christian nation or be
written in his identity card or to lift up his hand when there is a call from
the pulpit to be considered as a Christian? Those who call such people
Christians base their argument on the verse:
“Whoever believes that Jesus is the
Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who
is begotten of Him” (1Joh.5:1), as well as to certain other verses such as
John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47. Very simple! It may be true but it may not be true!
However, what does that verse imply? In Matthew 16:24 we read:
“Then said Jesus
unto his disciples, If any man will
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me”
(Also in Mrk.8:34 and Lu.9:23 with slight changes). In Lu.14:26-27 we read
twice:
“...And whosoever does not bear his cross, and come after
me, CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE.”
The last expression is very clear: No
cross,
no discipleship!
One cannot be His disciple unless he denies himself and takes up his cross. Sin
must not have anymore any place. Priorities must radically be changed. He dies
to sin and he dies to self. Does that mean that it is possible
not to be a disciple and be,
at the same time, a true Christian? Can that be called
a normal Christian life? Are these
two conditions compatible? Is it
possible to be a true Christian without a pure heart and a contrite spirit
(Ps.34:18; 51:17), without a loyal heart and a willing mind? (1Ch.28:9).
Only true Christians, whose heart is humble, completely oriented to God and who
live for God and His will are or can become true worshipers.
Is it ever possible to become a true worshiper without adopting the spirit
of the prodigal son who said: “…Father,
I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be
called thy son”?
(Lu.15:21). I am afraid that there are certain “Christians”
who do not worship God but worship worship time, especially when the music is
intensely rhythmic! Only God knows their heart!
I will
vomit you out of my mouth
What about lukewarm Christians? Such people will be
spewed out of God’s mouth according to Re.3:14-19!
“…So
then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out
of My mouth………”
(Re.3:14-19) What does the expression, “I
will vomit you out of My mouth” mean? Does it mean salvation, security and
assurance or REJECTION? What is going to happen
if he does not become zealous and does
not repent? Let us see now…
God’s
inner work in His elect
God has given his elect
one heart and one way that they may
fear God forever. God has made an
everlasting covenant with them, that
He will not turn away from doing them
good and that He will put His fear
in their hearts so that they will not depart from Him (Jer.32:39-41). The
LORD, their God, has circumcised their heart and the heart of their descendants,
to love the LORD their God with all their heart and with all their soul, that
they may live (De.30:6). God recommends
His elect to the conscience of men (2Cor.4:2 and 2Cor.5:11). God has
promised them that they will be given the
possibility to discern between the
righteous and the wicked, between him that
serves God and him that serves Him not (Mal.3:18).
Conclusion:
“The Lord knows those
who are His”.
He blesses them and His children
“are known by their fruit” (Mt.12:33
and Lu.6:44). One of the best proofs of true spiritual fruit is the genuineness
of our faith when it is tested by fire
of affliction and is
found to praise, honor,
and glory (1Pe.1:6-7). Now let us examine…
THE SECOND INSCRIPTION ON THE SEAL
The second engraving
declares the
duty of believers:
“Let everyone who
names the name of Christ depart from iniquity (Gr.:
injustice or unrighteousness).” Those who
knew God or better were known by God are called to depart from all iniquity,
cleansing themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God (2Cor.7:1; also Ps.34:14; 3:2; Eph.5:4;
All those who name the name of Christ must
depart or turn away from iniquity, from
doctrinal iniquity, error or heresy and from all iniquity of attitude. It
also means that all believers should
depart from iniquitous men, from men whether of bad principles or practices,
or both, and have no fellowship with
them. However, whether we get rid of iniquitous men or not, if we do not
depart from iniquity personally,
we will reap the
consequences of our sin and will be
useless for the
The first thing to do now is to examine and understand
what injustice or unrighteousness means.
Injustice means lack of justice
or of honesty.
The Bible says that, “All
unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.” (1Jo.5:17).
All sin, however, is, generally speaking, an injustice or better an act of
injustice either against God or against
man or against both. So, unjust or unrighteous is he who commits injustice
or unrighteousness. All men are sinners, but Biblically speaking unjust or
unrighteous is he who abides in acts of
injustice or acts of unrighteousness. A man who committed a sin but has
repented from his sin and has rejected it is not to be considered as unjust or
unrighteous. Injustices can be committed toward God and / or toward men. Let us first examine the
case of injustice against God…
The lack
of trust towards God’s love and truthfulness
In reality, injustice towards God is but the lack of
trust or faith towards Him.
“…he that does not believe God
(that is in His words) has made him a
liar…” He dishonors God! He commits an act of
injustice concerning His veracity, His goodness and His love for man!
Unbelief to God is equal to injustice
and faith or trust to Him is equal to justice. On the contrary, faith in
God’s commandments or promises and trust in His character are imputed as justice
because of the blood of Christ’s sacrifice slain from eternity past. If we
believe in His words, then we do an act of justice and we honor Him! This is the
spirit of the words of the Bible: “And
he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness”
(Gen.15:6). In addition, we do justice by telling the truth to God and to
ourselves about our sins and by admitting our sinful nature. Let us examine now
some…
Examples
of injustices against our fellow men
As such, we could mention some of the following
basic ones:
lack of respect and honor to our parents, murder, adultery, stealing and lies or
false witnessing (Ex.20:1-17). To these basic ones, we could add the following:
·
To judge unjustly and
show secretly or openly partiality (De.24:17; Ps.82:2; Job 13:10; Le.19:15; Jas.
2:4). Diverse weights and measures are an abomination to the Lord (Pr.20:10);
·
To pervert the truth
and call evil good and good evil…! (Isa.5:20);
·
Accept accusations
with pleasure against other people, denominations, churches or elders:
·
To doubt the
truthfulness of honest men;
·
Not to open our mouth
for the speechless and not warn those who are heading to perdition (Pr.31:8);
·
To remove freedom of
speech and prohibit any true dialogue leading to the truth and to transparency;
·
To live selfishly,
being interested in our own interest and/or in our own dignity before men;
·
To act arbitrarily in
our family, in our church, in our job, in our service;
·
To commit an injustice
to someone or to a minority on behalf of many or of the majority unless the
person suffering the injustice accepts it on behalf of others as did our Lord…
Conclusion:
If a
Christian and much more a Christian worker leads a life which is not
worthy of the Gospel and his high
Christian calling and sins, his sins
cannot be “burned”, in other words, be forgiven, and him be saved as through
fire
(1Cor.3:15),
unless
his sins are confessed and rejected. Only
erroneous teaching and useless Church
activities can be burned. Sins must be confessed and wholeheartedly rejected
in order to be forgiven. If a Christian tells lies or exaggerates things or
minimizes things or makes doubtful compromises; if he makes promises privately
or publicly and does not keep them
(Ps.15:4); if
he acts like a diplomat rather than as a Christian; if he thinks one thing, says
another thing and does another thing
(Ps.17:3); if
he is not a man of principles and values but a man of opportunities; if he beats
with his tongue his fellow men (Mt.24:49) and has a tendency to accuse; if he
does not resist to bloodshed, striving against sin; if he is after a dishonest
gain; if he lords over those entrusted to him by God (1Pe.5:3); if he finds or
invents ways to excuse or justify himself; if he attributes the responsibility
of his own bad behavior to other peoples’ faults (eg. You made me sin), etc.
And what is
going to happen if an unrepentant spirit possesses him?
That man is not
going to have his sins “burned” and he be saved as through fire.
Christ “...will
cut him in two and appoint him his
portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”
(Mt.24:51).
If,
however,
that man confesses his
sins and rejects them, it is OK!
The root
of sin
If we examine carefully the root of particular sins, in
general, we will find out that the sins we have just mentioned and many others
are due, in reality, to unbelief or lack
of faith. Let me mention a couple
of examples:
·
He who tells
a lie, he tells that lie in order to
protect himself physically or protect his dignity from the consequences of a bad
act or to cover a previous lie. He takes refuge in a lie and tries to hide
himself behind a lie. Why? If he believed that God would honor his truthfulness
and would find ways to protect him, he would have not told that lie.
Therefore, lies are the product of
unbelief.
·
Someone commits
a theft. Why? In order to cover a
true need or an imaginary need or to satisfy his love for money or his
covetousness. If he believed that God loves him and that He would – no doubt –
take care of all his needs and that He would not leave him or abandon him, would
he stretch out his hand to take something that did not belong to him?
Therefore, thefts are the product of
unbelief.
Let us see now which are the…
Practical
consequences of faith
and
obedience
The
first practical
consequence of true salvation is to move
away from sin and the
second one is
to keep moving away from sin!
“… For this is
the will of God, your sanctification……… For God did not call us to uncleanness,
but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who
has also given us His Holy Spirit.” (1Th.4:2-8). The
third practical consequence is that
God gives the Holy Spirit to those who
obey Him (Ac.5:32), fulfills their
holy desires for their spiritual progress and their usefulness, which become
manifest! Man in order to progress spiritually in justice and bring fruit in
sanctification,
he must keep being converted to God with all his
heart by presenting himself to God as a living sacrifice as it is written in the
New Law of God. Yes, to progress spiritually
by a ‘once-and-for-all’
surrender to God and by a constant
everyday renewing of their mind! And elsewhere God says:
“… now present your members as slaves of
righteousness for holiness…” (Rom.6:19-23). When this condition is fulfilled
and keeps being fulfilled, then man, and only then, becomes
“a vessel for honor, sanctified and
useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” So, apart from
salvation, God makes His elect useful in God’s work.
Religious or church activities are good and commendable
but what counts before God is not
what we do for God but what we do
with God and especially
what we are for
God. Is it ever possible for God to take into consideration what
we do while we
live in sin? Or when there is a sin, which is not confessed
and
abandoned or when you know that your brother has
justifiedly something against you?
The Bible says,
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit
the
Vessels
for honor and vessels for dishonor and their erroneous interpretation
Verse 20, speaks about
vessels
“for honor and
some for dishonor”. The first thing that must be said is that
true believers are earthen vessels
whether they glitter as gold and silver or not and that have the divine treasure
within them so that the excellence of the power is of God and not of them
(2Cor.4:7).
In addition, it must be said that God, the divine potter, has power over the
clay, in His sovereignty, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and
another for dishonor! The word
“dishonor” does not mean “rejection” but
fitness for certain commonplace kind
of use. It does not mean
«uselessness».
Many are those who understand this verse as meaning
purification of the church. No
doubt, it can be applied to the purification of the Church from
errorists or of bad workers but it
mainly refers to
personal purification:
“if anyone cleanses (purges–purifies)
HIMSELF”. It does not say, “Cleanses
or purifies
the Church”
but “if anyone cleanses HIMSELF”.
That man must depart from any kind of iniquity.
Then and only then, can he become a
vessel of honor! Of course, if a church is dishonored by people who are
errorists and who lead a sinful life or live in disorder and the Church is
tainted with pernicious, damnable errors relating to the doctrine of faith and
is purged from such people, there is no doubt that that church will become
sanctified and useful for the Master,
prepared for every good work, yea, meet for the Master’s use… God will honor
that Church… This principle is also valid for States and Governments… Let us
examine this point carefully:
A)
Vessels for honor:
In a
great house, says Paul, comparing the Church of the living God, which is the
pillar and ground of truth (1Tim.3:15), with a great house, there is a variety
of vessels of different matter and for different uses, some of great value for
honorable uses and some of smaller value for non-honorable, for meaner everyday
uses. The word “vessels” corresponds to us “believers”. Some vessels are of gold
or silver or porcelain or crystal, which are intended to be used in receptions
or banquets and some of clay or wood or plastic for everyday common use. If the
Prime Minister or the King of this country pays a visit to you, you will not use
plastic dishes or cups but the best and more precious vessels that you possess
in order to serve and honor him. So, there are believers in local churches, who
are comparable to gold and silver for their excellence. There are plenty of
talents, gifts and abilities, with diplomas and doctorates in sciences or in
theology, with cleverness, with eloquence, with knowledge of many languages, may
be with a lot of money and of noble origin! They glitter like silver or gold and
their presence in the church bestows the church fame and glance.
If these persons have the necessary purity, both of
doctrine and of life as well as of solidity they are truly “vessels” of gold and
silver, designed for honorable service and to the honor of Christ! BUT what
should we say about them if, in spite of all their talents, gifts, diplomas,
etc. their doctrine and/or life or attitudes are not pure
or worthy to be praised? What if they claim to
be filled with the Holy Spirit but the things that grieve the Spirit do not
grieve them? They cannot, IN REALITY, serve the
Lord in spite of their talents, gifts, activities etc….
“My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, that they
may dwell with me: he that walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me.”
(Ps.101:6).
B)
Vessels for dishonor:
In
local churches there are persons without reputation, obvious talents and gifts,
without eloquence, without money, without diplomas, without knowledge of foreign
languages of humble origin and situation, without high social position and
without fame etc. Some of them are even poor political or economic refugees.
They look like vessels made of wood or clay! IF
they are pure and love the Lord with all their heart, what are they?
Are they not vessels sanctified giving honor to
their Heavenly Master, prepared for every good work?
However, if such vessels have no pure life and are of
bad character, are they
useful, meet for the Master’s use? Of course not,
unless they purify themselves.
HOW ALL VESSELS CAN BECOME USEFUL FOR THE MASTER
We conclude, therefore, that a believer cannot become a
vessel for honor, meet for his Master’s use,
unless he purges
himself from known sins and from the iniquity of holy things
(Ex.28:38). Every vessel must be pure in order to be useful! Notice please,
according to Ac.6:3 that even those who
serve at the tables have to be of
good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom… (Ac.6:3)
Sanctification in the heart is the
only and best preparation for every good work.
If the tree is good, then its fruit will
be good
(Mat.12:33).
Let it be clearly stated that purity either exists or
does not exist. Do you put fresh water
to drink in a dirty vessel even if it is of gold or silver that glitters?
God says “My eyes shall be on the
faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a perfect
way, he shall serve me.” (Ps.101:6). When the Bible says
“he who walks
in a perfect way, he shall serve me” does
not mean "sinless perfection" but
faithful walk in obedience
concerning repentance and faith and trust in God; it means purity, humility,
brokenness. In few words, perfect love for the truth and spiritual transparency!
God, in return, to all those
who put their ways in order shows His
salvation (Ps.50:23); and to all those who repent and take out the precious of
the vile God makes them as His mouth (Jer.15:19).
So, the secret is
PURITY of heart and life!
“Blessed
are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”
(Mt.5:8). People who live in disorder and sin, who do not respect others, who
judge with partiality, who are full of hidden pride or arrogance, who live in
bitterness, with unforgiving spirit, with love of money, with covetousness, with
backbiting, with violence, with frivolity, with inconsistency etc., do they have
anything to do with purity? People who respect neither themselves nor their
promises, people who always say “yes” and almost always do “no” can they be
truly used by the Lord? People who are authoritative and act arbitrarily, who do
not accept criticism openly or in their heart, who deprive people’s freedom of
speech and prohibit all kind of open dialogue, who never pay true attention to
what you tell them, can they truly be used by God? People who are man-pleasers
and who finally displease everybody and above all their Lord and Savior, can
they be used by God? People who fear men but do not fear God, can they truly
serve God?
“Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing,
but keeping the commandments of God is
what matters.” (1Cor.7:19)
Gold or silver or wood or clay is nothing but cleansing
ourselves from all known sin
is what matters! Then and only then, we will be useful to our Master!
“Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him
who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.”
(Ps.50:23)
IF
man knows
all these things
and has not yet put them into practice, this is due to the fact that
the fear of God is not in his heart.
He does not tremble at God’s Word: He does not
fear
exceedingly and does not let the Word strongly affect him.
He does not live with the fear that he is going to miss Heaven and go to Hell:
He is not afraid of the consequences of indifference, of sin and of rebellion!
It is only the fear of God that can make people depart from evil.
“In mercy and truth atonement is
provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil.” (Pr.16:6).
Have you ever known someone that does not depart from his sin? The fear of God
is not in him or in her! He or she has never taken seriously into consideration
the moment when he or she will be called to give an account to God. Let
him/her
pray so that the LORD of hosts be
hallowed in his/her conscience and … be his/her fear and let Him be his/her
dread (Isa.8:12-13). Let the fear of God become his/her wisdom. Let him/her
fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring
every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil (Ec.12:13-14).
If he/she conforms to God’s will; then when he/she will appear before God,
he/she will be full “…with the fruits of
righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Php.1:11).
Let us not be discouraged because of God’s spiritual exigencies.
He Who calls us to a holy life He
will do it. Let us tell Him with all our heart:
Let your will be done in my life!
Amen!
John BALTATZIS
www.sporeas.com
www.sporeas.gr
www.sporeas.eu
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