SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/26/2025 9:01 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “The Illustration”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
2 Timothy 2:20
Message of the
verse: “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.”
First thing this morning is that my wife did well
with her surgery yesterday. It was a
long day but well worth it. Thanks for
those who prayed for her, it was greatly appreciated.
Yesterday I began a new section from
following John MacArthur’s commentary as he entitled this 6th
chapter in his commentary “An Honorable Vessel” and it covers verses 20-26 of 2
Timothy chapter two. I did get to listen
to his sermon on this subject and it brought new meaning to me which I hope to
be able to write about as I go through these verses, but today I just begin
with the first SD on “The Illustration.”
I looked up the words vessel and
vessels on my Online Bible to see how many times Paul used those terms in his writings
and found vessel was used in three verses, and vessels was used in four verses,
so we can see that Paul used these word a fairly amount of times in his
writings, and John MacArthur states “Paul uses the figure of vessel to describe
Christians. He goes on to make the
point: “For example, in defending God’s
sovereign right to save and to condemn according to His own divine and perfect
will, the apostle asks rhetorically, ‘Does not the potter have a right over the
clay to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for
common use?’ (Rom. 9:21). Pointing up
our utter dependence on God’s enabling grace and power in order to minister,
the reminded Corinthian believers that ‘we have this treasure in earthen
vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from
ourselves’ (2 Cor. 4:7).”
So his main point in talking about vessels are that
they describe believers as they do in the section we are looking at today, and
to know that makes it easier for me to understand this passage.
“Using the illustration of a large
house whose owners were affluent and which would have many occupants, many
rooms, and many furnishings, he says there are not only gold and silver
vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and
some to dishonor.
“As mentioned in the previous commentary chapter,
the context strongly suggests that ‘the firm foundation of God’ (v. 19) refers
to the church, the earthly custodian of God’s truth (v. 18). God’s ownership of, or ‘seal’ on, the church
is in two parts. From the divine
perspective, it is His sovereign election of ‘those who are His’ and from the
human perspective it is the righteousness of the faithful believer, the one ‘who
names the name of the Lord’ and abstains ‘from wickedness.’”
So as we look at this verse it can be seen that the large
house would therefore represent the entire church of God, the body of Christ,
which is composed of all true believers, then the vessels in which represent
individual believers—the honorable gold and silver vessels and the dishonorable
vessels of wood and of earthenware.
I will quote two more paragraphs from MacArthur’s
commentary and then Lord willing, will leave the rest for tomorrows SD.
“Skeuos
(vessel) was used of a wide variety of domestic implements, utensils, and
furnishings, including furniture and tools.
Because of the materials mentioned here of which these items are made,
it seems likely that Paul had in mind serving vessels and perhaps
utensils. But whatever the articles
might be, his point is the same.
Articles made of gold or silver are more valuable and presentable than
those of wood or earthenware. The former
would be prominently displayed as decorations or used for serving important
guests as a gesture of honor. The
inferior articles, on the other hand, were strictly utilitarian. They were
common, plain, replaceable, unattractive, and often dirty and vile, because
some were used for the garbage and human waste of the house. They were used for those duties that were
never seen and were kept out of sight as much as possible. To display them before guests would be an act
of unspeakable dishonor.
“(It should be noted that in this context the wood
and clay vessels are despised from the Lord’s perspective, whereas in 2
Corinthians 4:7 Paul is glad to be an ‘earthen vessel,’ because he is there
using the analogy to express his personal self-evaluation and humility.)”
Spiritual Meaning for my Life Today:
It is my desire to live like Paul is explaining here to honor God as
Paul describes believers as honorable using terms like gold and silver.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trust the Lord to continue to give me His grace and mercy
in order to do the things that He has called me to do for the cause of Christ.
2/26/2025 9:50
AM
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