Let us turn in our Bibles to
2nd Timothy, chapter 2. 2nd Timothy, chapter 2, and we
will look at verses 20 through 26 this morning. I ended the message last time
looking at Paul's nevertheless in verse 19. Nevertheless. He had named two men, two men
whose false teaching had overthrown the faith of some. And I pointed
out this fact, that the faith that may be overthrown is not
the faith of true believers. The faith that may be overthrown
is not the faith of God's elect. The faith that may be thrown
is not the faith which is the gift of God. The faith that may
be overthrown is not the faith of God's operation, as the Apostle
Paul tells us in Colossians. Natural faith, faith that all
men have, may be overthrown. But saving faith is a gift of
God. And saving faith may not be overthrown. And the reason being, as the
apostle says, nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure. The foundation of God is not
going to move. His purpose His will, His counsel
is settled forever in heaven. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. Notice that in verse 19. Nevertheless,
the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal. Here's the seal. Every one of
God's sheep are sealed. Having this seal, The Lord knoweth
them that are his. He knows his sheep. They're his
by choice. They're his by purchase. They're his by calling. They're
his by conquest. The Lord knows his sheep. He
is the good shepherd and he gave his life for the sheep. Now,
in the verses that we will look at this morning, there are two
subjects, two subjects that I want to call our attention to. First,
Paul uses troubling things to teach Timothy the preacher. Let me say that again. Paul uses
troubling things to teach Timothy the preacher. verses 20 and 21. But in a great house there are
not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and
of earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor. If a man therefore
purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor,
sanctified and made for the master's use, and prepared unto every
good work. Paul uses troubling things to
teach Timothy the preacher. Most pastors and believers, Christians,
we all have firsthand experience in these troubling things. And
anyone who doesn't soon will before their Christian experience
is ended. What am I calling troubling things? When some, Notice the faith of
some is overthrown when some men or women that have worshipped
with us have worshipped with us when they turn back and walk
no more with us. Troubling things. You remember
in Pilgrim's Progress there was a man named Pliable. And Pliable
left the City of Destruction with Pilgrim. But Pliable turned
back with the first trial, the first problem that they ran into,
the Slough of Despond. Just as soon as Pliable got out,
he headed back to the City of Destruction. But the truth of
the matter is, not everyone who has false faith turns back at
the first problem. Many walk along for many years,
but it's still a troubling thing to see anyone turn back. But Paul uses troubling things. Men and women who have walked
with us when they turn back and no longer continue to serve the
Lord. What I am calling troubling things
even means sometimes we've listened to someone preach, we've heard
someone preach, and then they turn back. And you tell me that's
not troubling? I've gone through it many times,
not only with believers, but with preachers, men that I have
known who have preached the Word of God, and then they've denied
the truth and turned back. Troubling times, troubling things. Well, we shouldn't forget that
the Lord Jesus Christ experienced something very similar. I want
you to look back with me to Psalm 55. Keep your places here, but
go back with me to Psalm 55. I know I'm not saying anything
that you are not aware of here this morning. Maybe there's some
young believers here who haven't experienced this, but any of
us who've been serving the Lord for any time, we've gone through
these troubling things. I could name some right now,
but I'm not going to do that. It would serve no purpose. troubling things. The Lord Jesus
here in Psalm 55, though David is giving his experience. Verse
12, he said, for it was not an enemy that reproached me, then
I could have borne it. Neither was it he that hated
me that did magnify himself against me. Then I would have hid myself
from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal,
my guide. and mine acquaintance, we took
sweet counsel together and walked unto the house of God in company."
Now, David has reference here, we believe, to a man named Ahithophel. Ahithophel was one of his counselors,
and he was given great wisdom, and yet when he David's son Absalom
rebelled against the king. Ahithophel fell in with the rebel
Absalom. But even though this is speaking
of an experience that David has, it relates to the Savior, to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Because in his inner circle,
those 12 that he had, there was one who turned back. There was
one who betrayed him, one with whom he had walked in company
to the house of God. So when we experience these things,
the Lord is allowing us, and this is the way I like to look
at it. This is the only way that I can look at it and find any
real peace. The Lord is allowing you and
I to enter in just a little, just a little to experience somewhat
that our Savior experienced when he was here. And you know the scripture says,
we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin. And so I can stand before God's
people and declare unto you and declare unto myself, there's
no experience, there's no experience that we may have in this world
that the Lord Jesus Christ, our great high priest, that he cannot
be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Whatever
it is that you're going through, If it's one of these troubling
things, or it's something else, you have a high priest, if you're
one of his children, who may be touched with the feelings
of your infirmities. He can empathize with you, sympathize,
yes, with his people, because he experienced like things, yet
without sin. Now go back to our text. I said
Paul uses troubling things to teach Timothy the preacher. How
does Paul teach us to view such troubling things? In verse 20,
he gives what the writers say is a simile, a comparison of
vessels in a great house. Now the great house, and this
is important that we recognize this, the great house here represents
the visible or the professing church. It's a great house. But just as in a great house,
there are different kinds of vessels. Now these vessels all
serve a purpose. They all serve a purpose, but
they're different kinds of vessels. There are vessels of gold and
of silver. If you were to go into the home
of some very, very, very wealthy person, maybe back in the gilded
age especially, you might find they have vessels there in their
cabinet, their china and their glassware and all of that, you
know, just so perfect, silver and gold and things like that.
But also in the cabinet, they've got pots and pans And earthenware,
things that are made out of clay, things that are made out of wood
at one time at least. In a great house, there are vessels
of different kinds. Now when you look at these vessels,
some of gold, some of silver, I could not help but think of
this. A gold vessel, a silver vessel, is a vessel that has
been purified. In making it into a vessel, let's
say it's a cup, in making it into a vessel, that gold has
been purified. And so every vessel in the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is truly a believer, who is truly
a child of God, has been purified. has been washed in the blood
of Jesus Christ. But a wooden vessel, a clay vessel,
a vessel of wood, before it's made into a vessel, that wood
is dried out. And that means, of course, there's
no life there. Like dry bones that Ezekiel saw
in that valley. Dry bones, no life. Earth, earthen
vessels. Their mind is only upon this
earth and things of this world. They do not mind spiritual things
and things of God. Paul uses this analogy, this
comparison, Timothy. Recognize this. In every great
house and the visible church, How many Christian people are
in the world today? If you just look at the population,
there's billions in a great house. They're vessels of gold and they're
vessels of silver. And they're also vessels of wood
and of earth. Now, the second thing I want
to point out is how does Paul teach us to conduct ourselves
in the light of these troubling things. Well, notice in verse
21, he says, if a man, therefore. Now, when I read that, if a man,
he doesn't say if man, he says, if a man. It makes me think that
this is my responsibility. This is a personal thing for
each and every one of us. Not something in general, but
each and every one of us, if a man, will purge, if a man therefore
purge himself from these." Now the these purge himself from
what? From these false teachers. From
these false teachers like he had named, Philetus and Hermogenes. These false teachers. If a man
will purge himself from these, we have a responsibility. And
I don't know of anything that's grieved me anymore over the years
to hear some people that I believe to be true children of God to
make a comment to me something like this. Well, I know he doesn't
preach or I know he doesn't teach what you believe and what you
teach, but I just take the good and leave the bad out. If a man will purge himself from
these, flee from these things, A false teacher. How important,
listen, how important must a truth be before we flee from it? Now in this case, the resurrection. They were teaching that the resurrection
was past already. Well the resurrection of course
is we would say a fundamental doctrine. No doubt about that,
a fundamental doctrine. That there is going to be a resurrection. The Lord Jesus Christ is going
to come again with a shout, with the voice of the archangel. And
with him shall come those who have died and gone on to be with
him. But at the same time, those who
are alive shall be changed and Their bodies will be raised of
those believers, those saints who are there with him and come
back with him and be reunited. The resurrection, the resurrection
of Christ is a fundamental truth. It's part of the gospel that
we preach and teach. If Christ be not raised from
the dead, Paul said, then we are yet in our sins. There is
no salvation apart from a victorious Resurrected, Lord Jesus Christ,
we read about it at the beginning of the service. Lift up your
heads, O ye gates, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is
this King of glory? The Lord, mighty in battle, and
the Lord Jesus Christ, the ascended, the raised, ascended Lord back
into heaven, greeted there. by all of heaven as he came back
victorious, victorious, having defeated all of the enemies,
all of the foes of his people. Well, how does Paul teach us
to conduct ourselves in the light of these troubling things? He
says, if a man purge himself from these things, just like
in the wilderness, When Israel was in the wilderness, you will
remember that not everyone was happy with God's order. Not everyone
was happy with God's way. And some of them said to Moses,
you're taking too much on yourself. And they wanted to be a Moses,
I assume. They wanted to claim that God
spoke by them as well. And so you remember Moses took
this matter to the Lord and Moses told the people, get away from
their tents. These families, I think there
was three families, get away from their tents, flee from their
tents, because God is going to do a new thing. God's gonna open
up the earth and swallow them up. Flee! And that's what Paul
is saying here. If a man purge himself from these
things, flee from these things. Not tolerate, not be indifferent
to the truth or the gospel of God's sovereign grace. Flee from, purge himself. You know, in verse 17 here in
our text, we looked at this last time, but Paul said, their word
will eat as doth a canker. And then in the margin you have
that word canker is the word gangrene. And I looked this up,
a gangrene, I've heard of that all of my life. I took the time
to look it up. And gangrene, it kills and it
spreads. It spreads and many times the
only way to deal with it is to amputate. If you have gangrene
in your foot, for instance, or your leg, the only remedy was
to cut it off. And that's the very thing Paul
is saying here. That false doctrine, false teaching
is like gangrene. Today we might call it flesh-eating
bacteria. We've all heard of that, haven't
we? Flesh-eating bacteria. And it just gets into an open
wound, maybe, and it begins to eat the flesh, kill the flesh,
and eat the flesh. And the only remedy I saw a few
years ago, a lady in Kingwood who had, they'd amputated her
arms and her legs. And she was a new mother, but
that was the only remedy. Why? For this flesh-eating bacteria. That's what Paul is saying about
false doctrine, false teaching. Say just a little thing, just
a minor thing. Well, you be the judge of what's
minor when it comes to the truth of God. You be the judge. The Lord Jesus said, take heed
what you hear. Now, look at this in the last
part of verse 21. What will be the result, Paul
says, of a man purging himself from these things? He will appear
to be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the master's use, and
prepared unto every good work. Now let me just remind us, when
you read that, the apostle is not saying that in order for
a person to make himself a vessel of honor, to make himself sanctified,
to make himself fit for the master's use, or any of these things that
he names here, that it's something that we do, that by our fleeing,
purging ourselves from these, that we're going to make ourselves
into these things. No, we're going to appear to
be what we are. by doing these things. That's
what he is saying. Just like our Lord. Look back
with me to Matthew chapter 5. In Matthew chapter 5 and verse 43.
The Lord Jesus said, You have heard
that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate
thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute
you, that you may be, that you may appear to be the children
of your Father which is in heaven. You may appear to be His children
because this is one of the family traits This is one of the family
traits. For he maketh his son to rise
on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just
and on the unjust. Now, back in our text, Paul is
saying if you purge yourself from these, you will not make
yourself into a vessel of honor, but it will appear that you are
truly a vessel of honor. It's just like the Lord Jesus
Christ said about the fruit tree. Make the tree good and the fruit
will be good. If you saw a tree, you looked
and you saw a tree and it's just covered over with apples, you
would say, well, those apples on that tree make that a apple
tree. Well, what if someone had tied
a bunch of apples on that tree? Wouldn't make it an apple tree,
no. The apples on the tree make it
to appear that that tree is an apple tree. The apples that are
on that tree as fruit is on a tree, not by someone tying it on, but
it just produces that, that's an apple tree. And for a child
of God to do these things, it will appear that we are what
we profess to be. we will be a vessel of honor.
But if a person turns back, if a person has his faith overthrown,
that will prove him to be a false believer. And you know the scripture
is full of warnings, my friends. It is, it's full of warnings. warnings to believers and warnings
to people who profess to be believers who do not possess the truth,
that have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. They
have a form, they profess and they look like everyone else,
but in their heart there's no real love for Christ, no real
desire to serve Christ. Notice the second subject I want
us to look at. Paul continues to exhort Timothy,
the preacher, and he tells Timothy, here are some things I want you
to flee, some things I want you to follow, some things to avoid,
and some things to practice. First of all, flee youthful lust. Look in verse 22, flee also youthful
lust. And looking at that word youthful,
I would remind us of this truth. Because almost all of us, when
we see that youthful, we think of a young man, young in age. But let me just remind us of
this, of the falls, of the falls of God's children recorded in
the Bible Most are of older, older in age people. How old
was Moses when he spoke unadvisedly with his lips? He was not a young
man by any standard. How old was David when he fell
into that grave of sin of adultery and murder? He was not a young
man. How was Peter when he denied
the Lord Jesus Christ, denied that he knew Him? He was the
oldest, we believe, of all the disciples. So most of the falls
that are recorded, and remember, when the fall of a believer is
recorded in the Bible, it is for our learning. It is to warn
us, and it is to teach us. Take heed, lest thinking you
stand, you fall. God's not in the business of
just exposing these things for the purpose of exposing them,
but for our good, those of us who follow after them, that we
might learn from their falls, from their tragedies, my friends. That's all you can call them,
tragedies, that we not follow in their footsteps. So most of
the falls in the Bible are older people. flee youthful, and then
that word lust, automatically everyone thinks of sinful, lust,
sensual things and sexual things, and that is certainly included,
there's no doubt about that. But that's not the only thing
that he's telling Timothy to flee from. As a pastor, as a
preacher, we should flee from the pride. Pride. I think it was John Bunyan
who told this story about himself one time, but after he left the
pulpit, someone said, Brother Bunyan, that was a great preacher. Great message you just preached.
He said, I know it. The devil told me that just as
I finished. Pride. Flee youthful lust. Pride. Seeking self-importance. Seeking preeminence, vain glory. He's writing to a preacher now,
especially. Flee youthful lust. And then
second, follow after righteousness. The righteousness of Christ we
must prize above everything. Paul, he said, he counted all
things but loss. He suffered all things for Christ
to be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness, which is of God by faith. Follow after righteousness. That is first of all, Christ's
righteousness. Hunger and thirst after righteousness. Because the promise is, they
that hunger and thirst, blessed are they that hunger and thirst
after righteousness, for, praise God, they shall be filled. They shall be filled. Follow
after righteousness. And then right living as well. Follow after right living. Follow after faith, he said,
faith. Faithful to Christ, faithful
to the gospel. Faithful to striving to make
Christ known. Paul said, I determined to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Follow
after faith and follow after love, charity. A man must preach. And I keep going back to the
fact that he wrote this letter originally to a pastor, to a
preacher. That's true. But we're all learning
from this. We all should learn at least.
And he says, follow after righteousness, follow after faith, follow after
charity or love. A man must preach because the
love of Christ constrains him. A man doesn't have to preach
to be saved. My preaching doesn't enter into
me being saved by the grace of God at all. Not at all. I'm saved by Christ and Christ
alone. But if a man's going to preach,
he better do it out of love to Christ. Out of love to God. Love to Christ's people. I was
thinking this morning earlier how blessed I have been and am
in the people that the Lord has given me to pastor, to love,
to care for, a fine group of people. But if I don't have love, I'm
become as a tinkling cymbal, right? That's what Paul said. If I speak with the tongues of
men and of angels and have not love, I am become a sounding
brass or a tinkling cymbal. It's love that will enable a
man to bear much and not lose hope and believe as love is defined
there in 1 Corinthians 13, to believe all things. And notice
he must follow after peace Romans 12, we read, if it be possible,
as much as life in you live peaceably with all men. All men live peaceably,
but especially with the saints of God. Follow after peace. And then notice, he must avoid
foolish and unlearned questions. I want you to look with me back
a few pages into 1 Timothy chapter one. And verse 4, 1 Timothy 1 and verse 4, neither
give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions
rather than godly edifying which is in faith, so do. Then look in chapter 4 of 1 Timothy,
verse 7. But refuse profane and old wives'
fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. And now
in 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 16. But shun profane and vain babblings,
for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And now here in
our text in verse 23, but foolish and unlearned questions avoid. Matthew Poole in his commentary
said, and I quote, the repetition of this precept of the apostle
four times in these two short epistles lets us know how important
a thing he judged it that ministers of the gospel should not spend
their time and their discourses to their congregations in things
that tend nothing to the building up of their hearers in faith
and holiness. You've all heard some men who
believe it's their responsibility to get up in the pulpit and give
a commentary on last week's news. That's not the preacher's job.
Preach the word, preach the word. Avoid foolish questions. Where did Cain get his wife?
How many angels can stand on the point of a pin? What happened
to those things that were in the Ark of the Covenant? I've
heard a bunch of them over the years. I'm sure you have too.
Avoid those things. What difference does that make? What possible good, even if you
knew the answer, What possible good? When you stand before God Almighty,
that's never going to be involved. The one thing that's going to
count is that you know Christ and be found in Him, having His
righteousness. And then Paul says, you must
practice gentleness and patience. And the servant of the Lord must
not strive, but be gentle unto all, apt to teach, patient, in
meekness instructing those that oppose themselves. You know,
a lost man is his own worst enemy. If you're here today without
Christ, you are your worst enemy. You really are. You've got so many objections
as to why you won't trust in Christ and why you won't confess
Christ. You're your own worst enemy. Samson of old took the jawbone
of an ass and killed a thousand Philistines. But a preacher cannot
take the jawbone of an ass and beat one truth. into the heart
of one of his heirs. Be patient, be gentle, preach
the word. Perhaps, notice that, perhaps,
peradventure, God, wonderful, holy, all-powerful God. that he might grant repentance
unto the acknowledging of the truth. Timothy, you just be patient. Just keep on preaching. Keep
on preaching. And the Lord has chosen to use
by the foolishness of preaching to save his people. You be gentle. Exercise patience. All things
are on schedule. Everything is right on time.
Isn't that true? Everything. Everything that God
is foreordained is right on schedule. Fret not thyself because of evildoers,
unbelievers. Rest in the Lord. Just be patient. Be gentle. God's purpose is going
and is being accomplished in every way and every day. One of these days, God willing,
we'll look back from eternity and we'll, why? Why was I worried
about that? Why did I let that trouble me? And we'll all be able to say,
he hath done all things well. Not only has he done all things,
but he's done all things well. I trust the Lord will bless this
word to those of us here. Let's turn to number 227.