Second Timothy
Second Timothy was taught by Dr. James Modlish

Lesson Eight (Chapter 2 continued)
(GOD'S VESSELS)

Introduction:

Throughout the Bible people are referred to as vessels (Jer. 18:1-6, Rom. 9:21-23, Acts 9:15). In the text there are good vessels (some to honour) and bad ones (some to dishonour). Since the vessels that belong to God bear his seal (vs. 19, Eph. 1:13), they are commanded to depart from iniquity. The remainder of the chapter is a series of helps to show you how to depart from iniquity.

 

I. Purging - (vs. 20,21)

Verse 20 demonstrates that God is willing to use all kinds of material, gold, silver, wood or earth. The necessary ingredient is not whether you are smart or inhibited, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, but if the vessel is one of honor or dishonor. He are told to purge ourselves from dishonorable practices. To understand the use of the vessels is to realize this principle. In Paul's day the average home was occupied by a wooded bench behind the door. The bench held 3 vessels. One was a small drinking vessel, the other two were identical in size and appearance but were designed for two completely different tasks. The vessel of honor contained fresh cool water that all could avail themselves of. The vessel of dishonor received all the stale water. It received much, but gave very little. In (Jer. 22:28) we read of a vessel called "empty of pleasure." This is the vessel of dishonor. It is used for stale water only, and after a time the inside becomes slimy, and the water ill-smelling, and there is no pleasure in it. It is finally placed in the backyard as a receptacle for waste things and then is called an abominable vessel. This is mentioned in (Isa. 65:4). To depart from iniquity we must forsake selfish attitudes that all iniquity stems from.
 

II. Fleeing - (vs. 22)

There are evidently more than one kind of lust, for God qualifies this one by calling it youthful. The older a person gets the more they seem to lust after money and power. Young people tend to lust after sex and illicit pleasure. A Bible example of fleeing lust is Joseph (Gen. 39:7-12). Most problems like this will never be encountered if we do not occupy our minds. Dr. Ruckman gave this good advice to some teenage boys at a youth camp "Stay busy and spend as much time outdoors as possible''. (See: I Cor. 6:18; 10:14; 1 Tim. 6:11)
 

III. Avoiding - (vs. 23-25)

Some people become expert in asking ridiculous questions to avoid being confronted by the real issues. Questions like "Can God make a rock so big that He couldn't lift it?" only waste time and eventually result in people going to Hell! The saved can also waste precious time on silly questions. To debate a nonessential issue is not Godly and will only lead to iniquity. This attitude leads to an apathetic society characterized by the following illustration.

Where Are The Samaritans?

In New York City a mailman, shot by a sniper, is ordered from a building lobby because he is dripping blood.

In Oklahoma City a woman gives birth unexpectedly a city sidewalk. Bystanders turn their faces. A taxi driver looks, then speeds away. A nearby hotel refuses a blanket.

In Dayton, Ohio, a dozen people see a woman drive her car into the Miami River. They watch indifferently as the woman climbs on the car's roof and screams that she can't swim. The woman drowns.

So many incidents like this have happened that the Chicago Sun-Times library now has a special file tabbed "Apathy."

IV. Recovering - (vs. 26)

It is entirely possible for the devil to get permission to control great parts of our lives (Job 1:12). Hymenaeus, who is mentioned in (vs. 17), was turned over to Satan for the destruction of (vs. 25). An individual who is locked into iniquity is really opposed to themselves (vs. 25). Without daily instruction from God's Word the snare is impossible to escape. He can recover the useless time in the past (Joel 2:25), but it is not an easy task.

Retrieving His Inferior Works

Some Years ago a Japanese artist started on an unusual trio around the world. He set out to find all the inferior pictures on his early Years and replaced them with better paintings.

As an amateur artist he had painted many pictures of which he was afterwards ashamed. They were hurried, crude, careless, inartistic, incomplete. Some he had painted for food and lodging. Others were sold for cash he needed. Now, with time and training and experience, he could produce much better paintings. Now he was well-known and genuinely famous, but the memory of his early slipshod methods made him set out to exchange the paintings of his better days for the careless work of his early career. He was determined to out a worthwhile picture in the place of every inferior one, no matter how much effort and time it would take.

 

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