sanctification

USED BY GOD

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inthehandsofthepotter-300x225“If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” (2 Tim 2:20-21).

God wants to use people.  In the past few years preachers have laid waste to this term “used by God” because of it’s lack of appeal (like they have done with many truths).  The idea of being “used” by anyone, is not an attractive premise at all because people fear being manipulated, exploited and  exhausted: used.  That is not the case! This is not what is meant by the word, “use.”  The word “use” is not only pronounced differently in the text but is (euchrestos) which loosely means easier to use. 

To be used by God is to be of use to God.

It gives us the understanding that as a practice God utilizes and employs people for his purpose. God wants to use you my dear Christian friend!

Isaiah said, “LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.” (Isaiah 26:12).

Notice that he has wrought all OUR works in us.

He is saying, “Lord, you deserve the credit for everything we have done-it was you doing it.”

When God uses a person he actually works through that person. So being used by God means He is working with you (Josh 1:9), in you (Phil 2:13), for you (Rom 8:31), and through you (John 7:38-39).  This should be our daily prayer.

The biblical pattern is that God saved us by the blood of Christ and placed his Spirit in us to make us a living witness to the grace and power of God.  Paul said it this way, “…for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.” (1 Tim 1:16).

We have been saved as examples of God’s power to save such wayward, rebellious sinners such as we were.  We who belong to God by his Sovereign Grace have the privilege of God doing his work through us.  It is no longer, “I” but “Christ” for that “Christ liveth in me” (Gal 2:20).

God’s will is that we “be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” (2 Tim 2:21). A vessel had special meaning in scripture. A vessel, could be anything from a cup, dish, plate and utensil. God fashions shapes and moulds those that he uses. Isaiah said, “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”  (Isa. 64: 8).

God uses this analogy of people.  Paul was a chosen vessel or literally “a vessel of election” (Acts 9:15). He uses the phrase, “a vessel of honor” to describe how God uses people in this passage. He is the one who has the power to make us a vessel of honor or dishonor (Rom 9:21).  When God saves a person they become a vessel of honor in salvation. God calls some the “vessels of wrath” other the “vessels of mercy” (Rom 9:22-23).

This means that God can use anything or anyone for his purposes. Saved or unsaved, godly or ungodly-God can strategically move people into position to accomplish his plans. That is what we call God’s Providence.

But it is my firm conviction that God uses US in a way that the UNBELIEVER could never dream about.

The reason for this is that the one whom God uses is committed to “purge himself from these…”  The Christian can be used because the Christian is clean. The word purge is where we get catharsis. It means to clean out thoroughly. In the context of this passage, Paul is reprimanding Timothy to break away from attachment with false teachers that destroy the faith of others. If he completely cleanses himself from them, then God will honor him, set him apart, and equip him for service. We will address this another time.

Believers are loyal to Jesus Christ as their Master so they desire to remove everything from the old life that would disease the new being intolerant of contaminating influences. God desires to use vessels that are clean before him and that take holy living seriously.

Paul compares the church and those in it to being a great house and there are various kinds of furniture, containers and utensils in it.  They all serve a purpose. Some have an everyday common use. But there are others that have an extraordinary, special use. Some are silverware and some are gold ware. God calls us to become vessels of honor or sanctification according to our text. He gives us the choice.

“Meet for the Masters use…” That leads into the concept of Christ being our Master. The word master (despotes) means “one who possesses undisputed ownership and absolute, unrestricted authority.”  We are Christ’s peculiar people or his particular possession (Titus 2:14). Our Lord Jesus has undisputed ownership and uninhibited power over us and he has a design to use us for his glory!

We are “prepared for every good work.” This describes the vessel God uses as fit, ready and prepared for activity. They are outfitted and equipped. They are primed for action because they are trained and rehearsed to do what God has designed for them. A vessel of honor is not only made but trained. After God sets us aside we set ourselves aside so that he might use us in a greater way.  It is an exciting thought to anyone who loves God for Him to employ them in his service to help others.

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God’s Statutes: Loving God’s Law

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“The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart…”

AMONG church attendees there are two kinds of people, those who see God’s law as constraining, others which see it as liberating.  That is because they make a distinction between God’s Word and God’s Law that the Bible never makes.  God’s law reveals God’s will and nature. We do not make up our own standard of obedience once we are saved by grace. That standard has never changed, nor will it ever.

The human heart by nature is opposed and hostile to God’s laws (Rom. 8:7). After regeneration the laws that they once hated are written upon their heart by the flaming pen of the Holy Spirit and He ignites a love for God’s written Word that they did not have before (2 Cor. 3:3). God’s law before and after salvation reveals sin in our lives (Rom. 3:20), but we come to love the law of God because when it exposes our sin, it leads us to Christ over and over again.  The same external law that led us as a schoolmaster to Christ for salvation (Gal. 3:24), acts now as the internal law that reveals his perfect will and leads us to Him as the Lover of our souls (Rom. 7:22; 8:2)! 

When God exposes our error and sin, the Bible promises, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). The word “confess” or homologeo according to Dr. Ken Wuest is not just to freely admit our sins but  in the Greek it is in the  “present subjunctive, meaning continuous action. This teaches the constant attitude of the saint toward sin should be one of a contrite heart, ever eager to have any sin in the life discovered for him by the Holy Spirit and ever eager to confess it and put it out by the power of that same Holy Spirit.”   We are liberated to confess our sins, repent and with tearful joy knowing that our fellowship with Christ is growing each time as he delights to forgive us. Glory to God!

Now the word statutes in today’s culture refers to the policy that prohibits something or permits something.  In the Hebrew language in Psalm 19:8 statutes comes from a root word which teaches that God is paying attention and overseeing how He wants things ordered. His Sovereign grace is at work in our becoming more holy and Christlike. This verse teaches that God orders and oversees his law in all of it facets especially those of the heart and our relationship to Him. He is tending and gardening the soil of our hearts through the sharp blade of his Word (Heb 4:12). He plants the seed of the Word (Mt 13:37) and sustains it by the water of the Word (Eph 5:26) and that makes our hearts fertile and productive for him (1 Cor 3:6-7).

These statutes are right. What He says, He has every right to say because He is Creator and King. God is God. Those who believe his Word are orthodox, those who do not are heterodox.  Simply put one is right and one is wrong. As Christians we believe the Bible is right, it is the settled and established policy of heaven. It is the rule that rules our lives. Unlike relativists or humanists we believe that God has given us those rules as our absolute truth and sole authority.

These statutes are so right and just and equal that obeying them brings great joy to the heart.  A person who is a Christian does have a fear of God, for sure, yet they need not live under the threat of penalties for not doing God’s will. Instead, they trust in the law of God as a prescription for health. He provides through his statutes the internal understanding and motivation to do God’s will as he directly communicates with us, “I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” (Heb. 8:10). When the Word is in the heart it affects the thoughts and emotions.  Because they are written on our heart they provide the desire and the ability to act upon God’s will (Phil 2:12, 13). They bring rejoicing of heart, a joy of heart that has a clear conscience knowing we are going the right way, heading in the right direction.

God calls us to serve him for his own sake. He is our motivation and we love his laws. We serve Christ for Christ. We love and serve God because he is worthy and has given us worthy laws that propel us to be zealous of good works (Titus 2:14). 

You Are Alive-For Now

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Ever ask a person how they are and they reply, “I am alive.”

King Solomon says being alive is much better than you realize.

“For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.”  (Eccl. 9:4-6).

That is the brutal staggering truth of the book of Ecclesiastes: the whole idea is that life itself is vanity-an unpredictable bubble that bursts. That is why it is useless to worry or be afraid of tommorow.  God has given you life today. Enjoy your lot in life, your family, your marriage or singleness, the food or lack thereof, the designer or second hand clothes.

Benefit from being alive.

Today you can breathe in fresh air, see sunshine or feel rain. Tommorow’s appointments  can be scheduled but never confirmed. “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (James 4:14).  The clock is ticking and time is up before you know it. It is a short, frail existence and when death comes it will brush you aside like an old cobweb, but for now you are alive.

The preacher is shouting from and pounding on his Old Testament pulpit  that to be alive no matter your station in life  is better than being dead.  Death is not only the great equalizer, but it humbles all its victims great and small.  A living undomesticated mangy dog compared to a living lion is lowest on the food chain. But a mongrel with his heart beating is better than the muted roar of  the dead King of Beasts.

No matter how insignificant you feel about your job, you are alive. Whether or not you like  your appearance-you are alive. No matter how little or much income you earn-you are alive.  It does not matter that no one knows you, or if everyone knows you.  

People may hate you, they may love you-but what does that matter when you are dead? Can you feel offended, insecure, jealous or even hate when you lie six feet under. Can you love, forgive and be generous when you are dead. You cannot see anyone’s smile or frown from the vantage point of a casket. You cannot! You come in naked you go out naked and nothing from this life is transferred into eternity. Live alive. Be alive. Today is here. Tommorow may never come for you if death gets there first.

You may be sick and in pain, but it is a sign of life. You may be lying on a hospital bed but you are alive. You may have lost the closest friend or relative and you live with heartache but you are alive. Why give up on life that has not given up on you? Life is your best friend right now. It is a gift from God. Count your blessings because no matter how you feel about your life you are alive and that is huge.

Today you have something you do not have when you are dead and that is opportunity. Today is the great mercy God has given you.

The reason this is important is because you know that one day you will die and you have the opportunity to prepare for death. Only those who are prepared to die are ready to live. You will face God one day and you must prepare. Hear the voice of the preacher today. “This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all.” (Eccl. 9:3a).  The KJV describes death as the one event. The death event is coming. It comes to all.  While you are alive do not ignore it. While there is breath there is hope.

Adam ushered in the death event with his sin in the Garden of Eden, “…by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Rom. 5:12). You do not realize what a rebel and traitor to God you have been yet he extends another day of mercy toward you.  Isaiah said it well, “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:  Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ (Isaiah 55:6-7).   Prepare for death by repenting of your sins, believing the message that Christ died for sinners to give them eternal life.  He was the Lion of Lions and yet he died for dead dogs like us. That may be offensive but what are our lives compared to the holiness of God?

Inside the sinner is dead. Their spirit is dead.  This person has no hunger or love for God in this state and all they think of is selfishness and conceit. In their religion they are dead. In their good deeds they are dead.  But even though they have despised their God he comes to them with the message that Christ died for sinners. God in his mercy has let you live up to this point-what will you do knowing one day you will die?

Jesus Christ rose from the dead so you would not have to lie in the grave. If you rely on anything: good works, religious affiliation, social activities, anything except what Christ transacted on the cross you will die in your sins and nothing will save you from the God you have offended.  You cannot follow your own path, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Prov. 14:12). While there is hope turn to the Price of Life Jesus Christ who will, “deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Heb 2:15).