On Becoming Useful Vessels- II Timothy 2:8-26

(Dear Readers: These were the sermon notes I thought I would preach off of. But God made it clear this morning early that since our World Changers class (elementary kids) would be in the service with us, I needed to instead work off a very simple outline, and have some interaction with the audience. My sermon ended up being quite different, though the same basic outline/thrust. I will post the link for the video here eventually).              

INTRODUCTION –  The apostle Paul wrote 23.5% of the words of the New Testament and about half of the 27 books of the New Testament. His last book or letter – written right before he was martyred we believe – is called II Timothy as it was his second letter written to Timothy. The apostle Paul was not by calling or desire a writer or author. He wrote when necessary to help leaders and churches flourish in Christ and in the Holy Spirit and to establish them in truth.

Timothy was a young leader that Paul invested a huge amount of prayer and effort in over the latter years of his ministry. For the last few weeks we have been trying to learn some important lessons from Paul’s sometimes passionate instruction and exhortation to his young disciple.  In chapter one Paul’s focus was solely on Timothy – not the people he was ministering to. In chapter two Paul goes back and forth from instruction and exhortation personally to Timothy, and instruction and exhortation regarding Timothy’s ministry to others in the church at Ephesus as well as other churches he ministered in in a more apostolic way.

In chapter one as both Joshua and Carol pointed out in the last two weeks, Paul’s great concern for Timothy was his own personal boldness and courage in proclaiming Christ and Him crucified. Proclaiming Christ as one of many religious leaders and philosophers would have been no big deal. But proclaiming Him as Lord of lords and King of kings and the only way to God – the only possible mediator between man and God - - well that message will inevitably add some enemies to your life. And Timothy was just as much in danger of fearing man and persecution as any of us here today are.

In chapter two vs. 1-7 as Joshua taught us last Sunday Paul’s focus was again on Timothy to lead with Christ’s strength and grace and to gladly endure hardship and suffering for Christ’s sake.

Today we are going to continue this discussion starting in vs. 8 and going on to the end of chapter 2. And we are going to look at four main thrusts or principles in the remainder of this chapter.

Having been engaged in some form of the ministry of the gospel for most of my adult years, I – especially in the early years - needed and sought out mentors. Even though some of them are dead now, from time to time I find myself reflecting on helpful things they said or did. But as godly and helpful as they were, they were all flawed – they were all sinners – they all had their blind spots.  And that’s why I believe Paul in vs. 8-13 exhorts Timothy to Remember Jesus. And that is our first thrust or principle this morning - - if we are going to be ever more fruitful disciples of Jesus Christ - we must primarily remember Jesus Christ as we encounter resistance, opposition, hatred and perhaps even violence at some point in our life and ministry. Let’s read vs. 8-13, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, 9 for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. 10 For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. 11 It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; 12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; 13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”

As much as Paul wanted Timothy to reflect on and remember the things he had taught him, it was far more important that Timothy remembered and pursued and loved and worshipped and learned from His Savior Himself. As much as Joshua and I and the other members of our teaching team hope you will learn from our sermons and teachings, only Jesus lived a perfect life while on earth. Only Jesus never spoke a self initiated or self serving word. Only Jesus had absolutely pure motives all the time in every circumstance. Only Jesus completed His life and mission on earth without ever once giving into the fear of man or the fear of persecution.

 He was a descendant of David Paul noted – human as a human can be yet without any sin.  And only Jesus (of all the leaders of all world religions) rose from the dead - proving He was indeed the Son of God.    Death had no power over our Savior; and His resurrection demonstrated that every claim He ever made was true, and thus that you and I can bank our lives and future on those claims. Perhaps the most precious claim being that because He is risen He can and will walk with you and I and shepherd us and love on us and clean us up and will not take His caring eyes off of us – ever!

Remember Jesus Christ brothers and sisters, both in His glorious divinity and in His sinless humanity.

And it was those two truths that comprised the gospel or good news that Paul suffered so many beatings and imprisonments for. But while sin enslaved men sought repeatedly to shut Paul’s mouth, they were powerless to stop the word of God - for it is indeed the word of the living God. Once this living word gets in the soul of a sinner it has divine power to make him or her into a saint – regardless of how enslaved they once were to sin and darkness. The word of God can be suppressed but ultimately it cannot be stopped.

Paul endured every beating, every imprisonment, every false accusation, because he knew every chance he had to proclaim the good news about Jesus propelled God’s living word out into the atmosphere and into people’s hearts where it could and would continue to work – regardless of what they did to the messenger. Once it got into their hearts and spirits this living word would chip away at every lie of the evil one and would sooner or later – at least for those who were chosen – enable them to obtain the salvation and the glorious future and inheritance Jesus died for them to obtain.

For you see brothers and sisters, if you and I died with Christ, if we humbled ourselves somewhere along the way and admitted we were sinners deserving of hell, and if we cried out to Him for mercy and forgiveness, we will also live with Him every day for the rest of our earthly lives and into eternity.

If by His grace and power and by being ever more fruitfully engaged in His church we learn to endure hardship and persecution like our Savior – we will reign with Him – in this life and in the one to come. 

If we deny Him,…. if we as a lifestyle live like a chameleon – identifying with Jesus only when we are safely in the midst of His people, but not daring to identify with Him when we are among those who love the darkness and hate the light, then He will deny us when we face to face give an account of our life to Him.

If we like Peter are at times faithless, but repentant for our faithlessness, longing for more unrestrained devotion to Him, we will find Him utterly faithful, for that is who He is and He cannot be otherwise.

Remember Jesus Christ,… and might I suggest that one way to do that is that you and I learn to daily live in the gospels – daily meditating on His every word, His every move, and upon everything ever said about Him by the four historians that God chose to record His life, teachings, ministry, death and resurrection.

Well that’s the first principle I see in this passage. The second is this: As we grow in our personal devotion to Christ and thus find ourselves with more and more opportunities to influence others for Him, let’s learn to Remind them of these things we just talked about in the first 13 verses. Let’s read vs. 14-19 together, “Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,  18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.”

While disciples of Jesus will increasingly learn to stay focused on Him and His truth, under the church umbrella there will always be those who are easily distracted and deceived by those who while also under the church umbrella have turned away from truth and the pursuit of godliness. All of the people attending any gathering of believers need reminding. But these especially need reminding because they are easily deceived and the deceivers are quite skilled at deceiving and distracting disciples from the core truths of the gospel.

So far in this four chapter letter Paul has now mentioned by name four individuals who Timothy must have known, who gathered with the church from time to time, and yet who were enemies of the church.     

Now should the church be known by its love for one another? Yes!  Should love in the church cover a multitude of transgressions? Yes!       Should apostolic leaders of Christ’s church call out posers and imposters and deceivers who spread poisonous half truths and get God’s people off on tangents? Yes when necessary.  

 If the church is the pillar and support of the truth as Paul says it is in his first letter to Timothy chapter 3 vs. 15, then it behooves the leadership of the church to guard this truth as the treasure it is, and to not give unsanctified mercy to those who are intentionally seeking to dilute it.  For you see as Paul declares in vs. 14 fleshly and carnal words are not only useless as far as the kingdom of God is concerned but they lead to the spiritual ruin of the hearers. And then in vs. 16, 17  “worldly and empty chatter… leads to further ungodliness (and if left unchecked) it will spread like gangrene.”

So Timothy and any other leader of Christ’s church then or today, ……no matter how much money such men may put  in the offering box, no matter how much such men may volunteer to help with things around the property, no matter how much they sing your praises, no matter how much you dread conflict, remind them of all of the core truths of the gospel and the kingdom of God -  so that regardless how any of them may respond, you may present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”  Much better to take a bullet to the throat than be face to face with your Master who called you to shepherd His sheep and proclaim His truth and have to bow your head in shame.

All truth from Scripture liberates and protects those who embrace it - as it is based on a very firm foundation that God Himself has established and that no man can put asunder. Central to that foundation are two truths that aspiring disciples must be grounded in. First, while we may sometimes not know for sure who truly belongs to Christ and who doesn’t (among those who gather with us on Sunday mornings), “The Lord knows those who are His,”  Paul declares, and “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from all wickedness.” Wickedness that starts in the heart and manifests itself in our words.

Well not only must we soldiers of the faith stay fixated on or remember our Captain Jesus, and not only must we soldiers of the faith be willing and obedient to remind others of the central truths of the faith helping them avoid distractions, diversions and deceptions along the way, but we must also as a lifestyle learn to repent.  That’s what we see in vs. 20-22. Let’s read them together, “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. 22 Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”

We live in a town that is known for its curb marketplace otherwise known as Los Osos Gold. On any given week on any given street in Los Osos you will find people putting things out on the curb for free that no longer to them bring about honor or usefulness in their home. To some of us these non useful things turned out to be very useful and we grabbed them before someone else could!  But sometimes my wife and I on our walks walk by and peruse what people put out and we wouldn’t dare allow any of that stuff on our property – be they books or pictures, paintings or whatever. Some things are honorable and useful. Others are neither.

In the church world, each of us has the potential to be found by our Master and Lord as increasingly useful for His service. But that will depend on our willingness to cooperate with Him when He lovingly but firmly puts His holy finger on things in our lives that are not holy and pleasing to Him. The idea here in vs. 21 is that as a lifestyle we are continually agreeing with the Holy Spirit when He expresses His displeasure with our speech or our inner attitudes or motives or our passions, and that we then repent of those things and turn from them to His kingdom will and way. Only when that happens can we be “a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work.” 

Our Master Jesus’s full intention for every one of us here today is that we would be ever more useful and fruitful in His kingdom enterprise among all the nations and peoples of the earth. Nothing in our past can disqualify us from this calling. Everything in our past and even in the present though must be purified by His precious blood and sanctified and made right by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is so faithful to lead us down this path.   

So based on that hope brothers and sisters let’s be like Joseph and flee from every youthful lust (ours and those around us) and let’s strategically and intentionally pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace. But can we do that on our own?    Look at what Paul says here: “ Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”  Jesus has so created and designed His church or better His people so that each of us who desire to know and walk with Him and serve Him can find maximum support and encouragement from others with that same desire. It is crucial that we over time discern whether the person or persons I am seeking for this kind of support and encouragement are people who as a lifestyle pray and who as a lifestyle look to the Lord to make them pure, clean and holy by His precious blood and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Remember Jesus aggressively, Remind yourself and those around you obediently, Repent day by day humbly as He opens your eyes and touches your heart to do so, and finally Refuse and Correct those who will at least initially oppose you in these things. Let’s read vs. 23-26, “But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. Vs. 24 “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

God has created us for community. Most of us long for meaningful and God pleasing fellowship with other brothers and sisters. But peeps get sidetracked. Especially now with social media, so called Christians can very easily lead us astray. And thus when you sit down to chat with someone at Yokoso or outside on the front bench you might find them barking up the wrong tree and getting all worked up about something other than the pursuit of righteousness, faith, love and peace. So when that happens the first thing you and I must do is refuse to engage in such a discussion. If not it will inevitably lead to quarrels or arguments. The second thing disciples of Jesus must do – especially leaders – is lovingly and kindly correct them.  Ultimately it is Satan himself that causes believers or potential believers to get sidetracked with divisive lesser things. The last thing he wants is us to help each other understand and grasp and stand on truth because he knows the transformative power of truth in any and everyone’s life. This is why the apostle John said to those he was giving oversight to in his third letter, “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in truth.” I John 3:4

The proof that the truth of Scripture is so powerful and transformative is how hard satan and his demons work through people who are supposedly Christian to dilute it and to distract from it.  Leaders in Christ’s church have to be willing to correct those folk with gentleness and humility praying that God might mercifully grant them a heart to see their error, repent of their sin and escape from satan’s hold on their lives.

CONCLUSION -