The Great House and the Vessels In It

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, APRIL 8, 1877,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"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, purges himself from these, he shall be a
vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and
prepared unto every good work." 2 Timothy 2:20,21.

ONE of the most serious calamities which can befall a Church is to have
her own ministers teaching heresy. Yet this is no new thing–it has
happened from the beginning. Paul and Peter and James and John, in
their Epistles, had to speak of seducers in the Churches, even in those
primitive days, and ever since then there have arisen in the very midst
of the House of God those who have subverted the faith of many and led
them away from the fundamental Truths of God into errors of their own
inventing.

The Apostle compares this to gangrene which is one of the most
dangerous and deadly mischiefs which can occur to the body. It is
within the body–it eats deeper and deeper into the flesh, festering
and putrefying–and if it is not stopped it will continue its ravages
till life is extinguished by "black mortification." False doctrine and
an unchristian spirit in the midst of the Church, itself, must be
regarded as such a gangrene–a silent wolf ravenously gnawing at the
heart–the vulture of Prometheus devouring the vitals. No external
opposition is one-half so much to be dreaded!

Yet here is our comfort when distressed at the evils of the present
age, among which this is one of the chief, that the Truth of God abides
forever the same! "The foundation of God stands sure." There is no
moving that. Whether 10,000 oppose it or promulgate it, the Truth of
God is still the same in every jot and tittle. Even as the sun shines
evermore, as well when clouds conceal its brightness as when, from a
clear sky, it pours abroad a flood of glory, the lovers of profane and
vain babblings have not taken away from us, nor can they take from us,
the eternal Truths of God!

The Lord lives, though they have said, "There is no God." The precious
blood of Jesus has not lost its efficacy, though divines have beclouded
the Atonement. The Spirit of God is not less mighty to quicken and to
console though men have denied His personality. The Resurrection is as
sure as if Hymenaeus and Philetus had never said that it is passed
already. And the eternal Covenant of Grace abides forever unbroken
though Pharisees and Sadducees unite to revile it! The foundation of
God stands sure and, moreover, the foundation of the Church remains
sure, also, for, blessed be God, "the Lord knows them that are His."

All that God has built upon the foundation which He, Himself, has laid,
keeps its place–not one living stone that He ever laid upon the
Foundation has been lifted from its resting place. Earthquakes of error
may test the stability of the building and cause great searching of
heart, but sooner shall the mountains which are round about Jerusalem
start from their seats than the work or Word of the Lord be frustrated!
The things which cannot be shaken remain unaltered in the very worst
times. "After all," says the Apostle, in effect, though in fewer words,
"it is not such a very great wonder that there should be persons in the
Church who are not of the sterling metal of sincerity, nor of the gold
and silver of Truth which endures the fire. You must not look at
Hymenaeus and Philetus as if they were prodigies. There have been many
like they are and there will be many more. These ill weeds grow in all
ages and they multiply and increase."

Where, dear Brothers and Sisters, beneath the skies shall we find
absolute purity in any community? The very first family had a Cain in
it and there was a wicked Ham even in the select few within the Ark. In
the household of the father of the faithful there was an Ishmael.
Isaac, with all his quiet walk with God, must be troubled with an Esau.
And you know how, in the house of Jacob, there were many sons that
walked not as they should. When the Church of God was in the wilderness
and had a barrier of desert between it and the outer world, yet you
know how Korah, Dathan and Abirain were there, beside many other
troublers in Israel!

Yes, even amidst the most select part of the visible Church of God, in
the priesthood, there were found those that dishonored it. Nadab and
Abihu were slain with fire before the Lord and Hophni and Phineas died
in battle because they had made themselves vile, though God's anointed
priests. Even when our Divine Master had formed for Himself–

"A little garden, walled around,

Chosen, and made peculiar ground," in which there were but 12 choice
trees, yet one of them bore evil fruit. "I have chosen you 12, and one
of you is a devil." In the great field which Christ has sown, tares
will spring up among the wheat, for the enemy takes pains to sow them.
Neither is it possible for us to root them up. In the king's garden,
briars will grow–thorns, also–and thistles will the most sacred soil
yield us.

Even the lilies of Christ grow among thorns. You cannot keep the best
of Churches altogether pure, for though the Lord Himself has prepared a
vineyard and make a winepress and built a wall about it, yet the foxes
come and spoil the vines. And though our great Lord has an orchard
which yields rare fruit, yet when He comes to visit it, He finds a
barren fig tree, dug about and fed, it is true, but still barren! Look
to Christ's fold on earth and behold there are wolves in sheep's
clothing there! Look to the net which His servants draw to shore and
there are both good and bad fish in it. Yes, lift your eyes to the
skies and though there are myriads of stars, yet you shall mark
wandering stars among them–and meteors which are and are not–and are
quenched in the blackness of darkness forever. Until we shall come to
the Heaven of the Most High we must expect to find chaff mixed with the
wheat, dross with the gold, goats with the sheep and dead flies in the
ointment. Only let us see to it that we are not of that ill character,
but are precious in the sight of the Lord.

Coming to the text, the Apostle suggests the encouragement I have
already given, under a certain metaphor. He says that in a great house
there will naturally be varieties of furniture. And there will be
vessels and utensils of many kinds– some of them will be of wood and
of earthenware, for meaner purposes–but others of gold and silver, for
state occasions–when the honor and glory of the great proprietor are
to be displayed. There are vessels of precious metal in a great house
and these are its honor, decking the tables on high festivals when the
Master is at home. But there are others of baser stuff kept in the
background, never displayed at times of rejoicing, but meant for common
drudgery.

There are cups and flagons of solid silver prized as perpetual
heirlooms of the family which are carefully preserved. And there are
plates and pots which are soon worn out and are only of temporary use.
There are many sets of them being broken up in the lifetime of a
family. The same is true in the Church of God which, being in the
world, has its common side and its common vessels. But being, also, a
heavenly house, the Church has its nobler furniture, far more precious
than gold which perishes though it is tried with fire.

For our instruction, may the Holy Spirit help us while we look, first,
at the great house. Secondly, at the meaner vessels, peeping into the
kitchen. Thirdly, at the nobler vessels, going into the china cabinet
to look at the silver and gold. And then, fourthly, before we leave the
house, let us ask for an interview with the Master, Himself.

I. First, let us consider THE GREAT HOUSE. The Apostle compares the
Church to a great house. We feel sure he is not speaking of the world.
It did not occur to him to speak about the world and it would have been
altogether superfluous to tell us that in the world there are all sorts
of people–everybody knows that! The Church is a great house belonging
to a great Person, for the Church is the House of God, according to the
promise– "I will dwell in them, and walk in them."

The Church is the temple in which the Lord is worshipped, the palace in
which He rules. It is His castle and place of defense for His Truth. It
is the armory out of which He supplies His people with weapons. The
Church is God's mansion in which He abides–"This is My rest forever.
Here will I dwell for I have desired it." There it is that He rests in
His love and, in infinite condescension, manifests Himself as He does
not unto the world. King Solomon built a house for himself in the
forest of Lebanon, and behold, the Lord has, of living stones, built
for Himself a far more glorious house where He may abide! It is a great
house because it is the house of the great God! Who can be so great as
He? It is a great house because planned and designed upon a great
scale.

I fear that some who live in the house have no idea how great it is.
They have a very faint notion of its length and breadth. The great
thoughts of God are far beyond their most elevated conception, so that
He might say to them as He has said to others, "My thoughts are not
your thoughts, neither are My ways your ways, says the Lord." The
palace of

the King of kings is "exceedingly magnificent," and for spaciousness
far excels all the abodes of earthly princes. We read of the golden
palace of Nero, that it reached from hill to hill and enclosed lakes
and streams and gardens beneath its wondrous roof. But behold, the Lord
has stretched the line of His electing Grace over nations and kindreds
even to the ends of the earth!

His house takes in a mighty sweep of humanity. Many are the rooms in
the house and there are dwellers in one room who have never yet seen
any part of the great house but the little chamber in which they were
born! They have never walked through the marvelous corridors, or moved
in the vast halls which God has built with cedar pillars and cedar
beams and carved work of heavenly workmanship. Some good men hardly
care to see the long rows of polished columns, quarried by Grace from
the rough mass of Nature which now shine resplendent as monuments of
Divine Love and Wisdom! Colossal is the plan of the Eternal–the Church
of God is worthy of the infinite mind!

Angels and principalities delight to study the stupendous plan and well
they may–as the great Architect unrolls His drawings, piece by piece,
to let them see the various sections of the complete design, they are
struck with admiration and exclaim, " Oh the riches of the wisdom and
the knowledge of God!" The Church is no narrow cottage wherein a few
may luxuriate in bigotry, but it is a great house, worthy of the
infinite heart of Jehovah, worthy of the blood of Jesus, the Incarnate
God, and worthy of the power of the ever-blessed Spirit!

It is a great house because it has been erected at great cost and with
great labor. Who can tell the cost of this mansion? It is a price
beyond price, for God has given His only-begotten Son–He had but one,
and Heaven could not match Him–that He might redeem unto Himself a
people who should be His dwelling place forever. Solomon's temple, now
that they have laid bare a part of the foundations, even though it is
in utter ruin, astonishes all beholders as they mark the enormous size
and accurate adjustment of the stones–what must it have been in its
glory? What cost was lavished on that glorious house!

But think of the labor and the skill, the Divine art and engineering
with which Jehovah has hewn out of the rock of sinful nature the stones
with which He builds up His spiritual house! What energy has the Holy
Spirit displayed! What resurrection power! Harder than any granite we
were by nature, yet has He cut us away from the rock of which we formed
a part and fashioned and squared us–and made us to be built together
for an habitation of God through the Spirit. Tell it to the praise of
the glory of His Grace, that the Lord's Omnipotent power and boundless
wealth of love are revealed in His Church!

When our eyes shall see the Church of God, at last, in all her beauty
descending out of Heaven from God, having the Glory of God and her
light like unto a stone most precious, even like unto a jasper
stone–when we shall see, I say, that the length and the breadth and
the height of it are equal–when we shall see its deep foundations laid
in the eternal purpose and its walls built up with lofty pinnacles of
glory, high as the Divine Person of her Lord. And when we shall mark
its wondrous compass, broad enough to hold the glory and honor of the
nations–then shall we shout for joy as we behold the riches and the
power and the splendor of the great King of kings who has built for
Himself this great house!

It is a great house, again, because its household arrangements are
conducted on a great scale. You know how country people, when there is
some rich lord living in the village, speak always of his mansion as
"the great house." It is the great house for which those bullocks are
being fattened and those sheep and lambs will be consumed at the great
house, for there are many in the family and none are allowed to go
hungry. Solomon kept a great house. When you read the account of the
daily provision for his table, you see that it was a great house,
indeed–a vast and truly royal establishment!

Yes, but neither for quality nor quantity could Solomon's palace match
the great house of God in its plenty. Speak of fine flour–behold, He
has given us angels' food! Speak of royal dainties–behold, the Lord
has given us fat things full of marrow, wines on the lees well-refined!
What a perpetual feast does the Lord Jesus keep up for all His
followers! If any of them hunger it is not because their rations are
stinted. If there are any complaints, it is not because the Master's
oxen and fatlings are not freely provided! Ah, no, to every man there
is a good piece of meat and a flagon of wine dealt out, even as David
dealt it out in the day when he removed the Ark unto the hill of Zion.

Glory be to God! He has said, "Eat, O Friends! Drink, yes, drink
abundantly, O Beloved!" In this mountain shall the hand of the Lord
rest and He will make unto all nations a feast of fat things. Behold,
His oxen and fatlings are killed, all things are ready. It is a great
house, where great sinners are fed on great dainties and filled with
the great goodness of the Lord! It is a great house for the number of
its inhabitants. How many have lived beneath that roof tree for ages.
"Lord,"

they say like a great host, "You have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations." God is the home of His people, and His
Church is the home of God!

And what multitudes are dwelling there now! Not only the companies that
we know of, with whom it is our delight to meet for solemn worship, but
all over the world the Lord has a people who dwell in the midst of His
Church! And, though men have disfigured their Master's house by
chalking up odd signs over some of the rooms and calling them by other
names than those of the Owner, yet the Lord's people are all one
Church–and to whatever part or party they may seem to belong, if
Christ is in them they belong to Him of whom the whole family in Heaven
and earth is named–and they make up but one spiritual house. What a
swarm there is of the Lord's children and yet not one of the family
remains unfed. The Church is a great house wherein thousands dwell,
yes, a number that no man can number!

Once more, it is a great house because of its importance. People speak
of "the great house" in our remote counties because to the whole
neighborhood it bears a special relationship, being connected with some
of its most vital interests– county politics and police–dignity and
wealth find their center at "the great house." The Church is a great
house because it is God's hospice where He distributes bread and wine
to refresh the weary and entertains wayfarers that otherwise had been
lost in the storm. It is God's hospital into which He takes the sick
and there He nourishes them till they renew their youth like the
eagle's.

It is God's great lighthouse with its lantern flashing forth a
directing ray so that wanderers far away may be directed to the haven
of peace. "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined." It
is the seat of God's magistracy, for there are set thrones of judgment,
the thrones of the house of David. Behold, the Lord has set His King
upon His holy hill of Zion and therefore shall the power of His scepter
go forth to the ends of the earth! The great house of the Church is the
university for teaching all nations! It is the library wherein the
sacred oracles are preserved! It is the treasury wherein His Truth is
deposited and the registry of new-born heirs of Heaven!

It is important to Heaven as well as to earth, for its topmost towers
reach into Glory and there is in it a ladder, the foot of which rests
on earth, but the top reaches to Heaven–up and down which the angels
come and go continually. Said I not well that the Apostle had wisely
chosen the figure when he called the Church a great house?

II. We will now go inside the great house and we at once observe that
it is well furnished. Our text, however, invites us to note that it
contains a number of MEANER VESSELS, articles of the coarser kind for
ordinary and common uses. Here are plates, wooden buckets, pitchers and
pots and various vessels of coarse pottery. Some have thought that this
figure of vessels to dishonor relates to Christians of a lower grade,
persons of small Grace and of less sanctified conversation. Now,
although Believers may, from some points of view, be comparable to
earthen vessels, yet I dare not look upon any child of God, however low
in Grace, as a vessel to dishonor!

Moreover, the word, "these," refers to the earthen and wooden
vessels–surely they cannot represent saints–or we should never be
told to purge ourselves from them! If a man is God's child, into
whatever state and condition he may fall it is our business to look
after him and endeavor to restore him, remembering ourselves, also,
lest we be tempted. But it cannot be right to purge ourselves from even
the least of our believing Brothers and Sisters! Besides, that is not
the run of the chapter at all.

The real meaning is that in the Church of God there are unworthy
persons serving inferior and temporary purposes who are vessels to
dishonor. They are in the Church, but they are like vessels of wood and
vessels of earth–they are not the treasure of the mansion, they are
not brought out on state occasions and are not set much store by–for
they are not "precious in the sight of the Lord." The Apostle does not
tell us how they came there, for it was not his intent to do so and no
parable or metaphor could teach everything. Neither will I stay to
describe how some professors have come into the Church of God–some by
distinct falsehood and by making professions which they knew were
untrue–others through ignorance and others, again, by being
self-deceived and carried away with excitement.

The parable does not say how they got there, but they are there–yet
they are only vessels of wood and vessels of earth. It is no credit to
them that they are where they are, for they are not vessels to honor,
though in an honorable place. It is no honor to any man to be a member
of a Christian Church if he is, in himself, intrinsically worthless
though they make a minister of him, or elect him deacon! It is no honor
to him to be in office if the metal he is made of does not fit him for
so honorable a purpose. He is an intruder in an honorable position and
it is a dishonor to him to be where he is. It is

no honor to a weed to grow in the best part of the garden. It is no
honor to a barren fig tree to cumber the finest ground in the vineyard.

Ah, dear Friend, if you are in the Church of God, but not truly one of
the Lord's people, it is a dishonorable thing of you to have come
there! And it is equally dishonorable for you to remain there without
fulfilling that great requisite which is demanded of everyone who names
the name of Jesus–that he departs from all iniquity! The vessels in
the great house are, however, of some use, even though they are made of
wood and earth. And so there are persons in the Church of God whom the
Lord Jesus will not acknowledge as His treasure, but He, nevertheless,
turns them to some temporary purpose. Some are useful as the scaffold
to a house, or the dogshores to a ship, or the hedges to a field. I
believe that some unworthy members of the Church are useful in the way
of watch dogs to keep others awake, or knives to let blood, or burdens
to try strength. Some quarrelsome members of the Church help to scour
the other vessels lest they should rust through being peaceful.

The Church is made up of men who are yet in the body and it has to deal
with the outside world. And sometimes the worldly men who are in her
serve some purpose in connection with this, her lowest need. Judas made
a good treasurer, for his economy saved more than he stole. Joab was a
good warrior for David, though he was by no means a saint. False
professors do not make the Gospel untrue and sometimes, when they have
spoken it, God has blessed it. You may see, if you go down the
Kennington Park road today, a row of young trees planted by the
road–how are they kept up while yet they are slender? Why, small posts
of dead timber hold them up! And even so, a dead Sunday school teacher
may yet be useful to a genuine Christian child–and a dead deacon may
be the financial support of a living Church! Yes, and there are dead
preachers, too, who, nevertheless, serve to fill up a space–but what
vessels to dishonor they are!

It is a dreadful thing, however, for those who are like the posts I
just mentioned, because the quicker the young tree grows, the sooner
will the post be taken away, having no participant in the life which it
helped to support. You see, then, that the base professors who get into
the Church are turned to some good for His Church by our great Master.
The servants of the great house can use the wooden ware and the
earthenware, for a while, for rough everyday purposes, even as mere
formalists can be employed in some scullery work or another.

There is one thing noticeable–the wooden and earthen vessels are not
for the Master's use. When He holds high festival His cups are all of
precious metal! "All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold."
Would you have the King of kings set an earthen pot upon His royal
table? Shall the guests at His table eat from wooden bowls? False
professors are only useful to the servants, not to the Master–they
serve base purposes and are not to be seen on those great days when He
manifests His Glory. The Great Master overrules all things, being the
Master of the servants and, as far as that which answers the purpose of
His servants, is serviceable to Him. But personally, between the King
at His table and the wooden vessel, there is no congruity–it would be
an insult to hand Him wine in any but a sumptuous cup of precious
metal, or to bring Him butter in any but a lordly dish!

How sad it is that many Christians are useful to the Church in various
ways, but as for personal service rendered to the Lord Jesus Christ,
Himself, they have no share, whatever, and never can have till Grace
changes them from wood to silver, or from earth to gold. Note that in
these vessels of which the Apostle speaks the substance is base. They
are wood, or they are earth, nothing more. So are we all, by nature, of
base material. Grace must make us into silver or into golden vessels or
the Master cannot, Himself, use us, nor can our use in the Church ever
be to honor. The wooden vessels in the Church are very easily hacked
and carved and spoiled–if a man is inclined to mischief, he can put
his knife to them and can cut great notches in them. He can ruin their
character and render them worthless. Cunning teachers can soon take
away from merely nominal Christians what they professed to believe, for
they are very readily cut and hacked by those who play at such games.

As for the earthen vessels, how soon they are broken! Outside of any
great house there are the remains of many broken pots which fell to the
ground and shattered to pieces. And, I am sorry to say, we, also, can
find enough of such relics to sadden us all. There were some in this
house, once, who were comely to look upon. But there came a temptation
and brushed them from the table–and they were shattered in a moment!
Others of precious metal have endured far more shocks and tests of a
severer kind. But those being only of earth were broken at once. Heaps
of crockery accumulate outside every great house and certainly outside
the great house of Christ. These vessels unto dishonor, though turned
to some account, require a great deal of care on the part of the
servants.

When our forefathers used to eat from wooden plates, the time the good
wives used to spend in scalding and cleaning them to keep them at all
sweet to eat upon was something terrible! And there are members of the
Church who take a world of time from pastors and elders to keep them at
all decent–we are continually trying to set them right, or keep them
right in the common relationships of life. There are quarrels in their
families which must be settled lest they become scandals–and these
occupy the careful thought of their fellow Christians who have to watch
for their good. Or they get lax in their doctrines, or foolish in their
habits, or loose in their business transactions and we have to be
scouring and cleaning them times without number!

Certain sorts of earthen vessels you have to be very particular in
handling. Like egg-shell china, you may hardly look at them. Thank God
I have not many in this Church–perhaps none of that sort as far as my
handling is concerned–but other people's touches, though quite as
wise, are not so welcome. Certain earthen vessels get dreadfully
chipped unless they have dainty handling. If a Brother does not take
his hat off to them in very lowly style and behave very reverently,
they are ready to take offense! They feel themselves hurt and slighted
when no such thing was intended. They stand upon their dignity and
expect the fullest recognition of it. These are real earthen pots, very
apt to be chipped, perhaps a little cracked already and needing a great
deal of care and trouble on the part of the Lord's servants, lest they
should go to pieces and spill everything that is put into them.

There are such in all great houses, and in the Master's great house
there are, I fear, not just a few. They are useful up to a certain
point, but they bring no honor to the house because there are plenty as
good as they in other houses–every cottage can have common earthen
pitchers in it. They are vessels in which is no pleasure. They are not
peculiar, or precious. Nobody ever sounds abroad the Master's fame
because He has so many thousands of wooden bowls or earthen pots. No,
the king's honor comes from the plates–the gold and silver vessels,
the peculiar treasure of kings. People speak about these rich goods and
say, "You should see the sideboards loaded down with the massive
services of gold and silver! You should see how the tables groan
beneath the splendor of the royal feast when the king brings forth his
treasures."

True Christians are the glory of Christ, but false professors bring, at
their very best, only dishonor. Better the smallest silver vessel than
the largest earthen one! Better the least of all the saints than the
greatest of vain professors! So much upon the vessels of dishonor.

III. We are now going into the treasury, or plate room, and will think
of THE NOBLER VESSELS. These are, first of all, of solid metal–vessels
of silver and vessels of gold. They are not all equally valuable, but
they are all precious. Here is weight for you–here is something that
is worth treasuring–something which will last for ages and at any time
will endure the fire. Now, in real Christians, those who really love
the Lord, there is something substantial and weighty. When you get hold
of them, you know the difference between them and the wooden professor.
Even those who do not like them–strange taste, that which does not
appreciate silver and gold–are nevertheless compelled to say, "That is
a genuine article, worth a great deal, weighty and substantial."

Now, we shall, none of us, ever be vessels of silver and gold unless
the Lord makes us so by Divine Grace. Vessels of earth are things of
nature–any potter can make them. Vessels of wood are common enough.
Copper soon produces a pail. But a vessel of silver or of gold is a
rarer thing! It costs mining and searching, furnace work and
fashioning, toil and skill. On each vessel unto honor, Jesus Himself
has put His hand to mold and fashion it–and to cause it to be
"prepared unto glory." Did you ever hear how vessels come to be golden?
Listen to this, and you shall know. One very dear to me has put the
story into rhyme–

" 'Oh that I were a cup, a golden cup

Meet for the Master's use!

Brimming and trembling with that draught of joy

(The love of His beloved and purchased ones)

Which fills His heart with gladness.'

So spoke a poor, vile, broken, earthy thing,

A worthless castaway.

The Master heard and when He passed that way He stooped and touched it
with His wounded hand– When lo! Its baseness vanished, and instead

There stood a golden chalice wondrous fair, And overflowing with deep
love for him! He raised it to His gracious lips, and quaffed 'The wine
that makes glad the heart of God,' Then took the cup to Heaven."

On the vessels of honor you can see the hallmark. What is the hallmark
which denotes the purity of the Lord's golden vessels? Well, He has
only one stamp for everything. When He laid the foundation what was the
seal He put upon it? "The Lord knows them that are His, and let
everyone that names the name of Christ depart from all iniquity." That
was God's seal! That was the impress of the great King upon the
foundation stone. Do we find it here? Yes, we do. "If a man, therefore,
purges himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor." You see,
then, that the man who is the golden or silver vessel, departs from all
iniquity–and that is the token of his genuine character.

The man who is truly the Lord's, seeks to be cleansed, not only from
the open sin of the world, but from the common sin of professing
Christians. He labors to be purged from that which the wooden vessel
and the earthen vessel would delight in. He wants to be pure within and
without. He desires perfection. He labors daily to conquer every sin
and strives with all his might to serve his Lord. He is not content to
have a fair appearance, as wood and earth may have–he wishes to be
solid, substantial metal, purged and purified to the utmost possible
degree and fit for the highest purposes. Now, this seeking after purity
is the hallmark of the King's vessels of gold and silver.

Notice, however, that they are purged, for the Lord will not use filthy
vessels no matter what they may be. He will only use those that are
clean. And He would have His true people purged, as I have said before,
not only from gross sin, but from doctrinal error and from association
with the perverse-minded. We are to be purged from Hymenaeus and
Philetus and from the vain babblings of which the Apostle has been
speaking in the previous part of the chapter. I fear that Christian men
do a great deal of mischief by their complicity with those who are
teaching what is downright falsehood. If we are to serve the Lord in
the matter of advancing His Truth, we must be true to the Truth of God
ourselves. If we join hand in hand with others and so form a
confederacy when the very pillars of the temple are being pulled down
by rude hands, it may be we shall be partakers of other men's sins. We
must be clean-handed in this matter!

And then notice that these gold and silver vessels are reserved as well
as purged. They are made meet for the Master's use. Nobody is to drink
out of them but the King, Himself. This is the blessedness of the child
of God when he comes to be what he should be, that he can sing as we
did just now–

"I am Yours and Yours, alone, This I gladly, fully own! And in all my
works and ways, Only now would seek Your praise." As Joseph had a cup
out of which he, alone, drank, so the Lord takes His people to be His
peculiar treasure, vessels for His personal use. Brethren, I count it
an honor to be useful to the meanest child of God, but I confess that
the honor lies mainly in the fact that I am thereby serving the Master,
Himself. Oh, to be used by God! This is to answer the end of our being.
If you can feel that God has used you, then may you rejoice, indeed!

There are some Christians whom the Lord cannot much use, because, first
of all, they are not cleansed from selfishness. They have an eye to
their own honor or aggrandizement. The Lord will not be in complicity
with selfish aims! Some men are self-confident–there is too much of
the "I" about them–and our Master will not use them. He will have our
weakness, but not our strength! And if we are great somebodies, He will
pass us by and take some little nobody and make use of him. The Lord
cannot use other men because they are too apt to be proud. If He were
to give them a little success, it would be dangerous to their Christian
existence! Their poor brains would begin to swim and they would think
the Lord could hardly do without them! Indeed, when they meet with a
little encouragement they swell into such wonderful people that they
expect everybody to fall down and worship them!

God will not use them, neither will He set upon His table vessels which
are in any way defiled. There must be purity! A man may work his heart
out in the ministry or the Sunday school, but if he is practicing some
secret sin he cannot prosper–it is not possible that God should honor
him! There may be a measure of apparent success for a time and, in
God's Sovereignty, He may use His Truth, itself, in spite of the man,
but the man himself will not be useful to the Master. Littleness of
Grace and contentedness with that spiritual poverty, also puts many a
man aside. We must be full if God is

to pour out of us to the thirsty! We must be full of His Light if we
are to illuminate the darkness of others! We cannot reveal to the world
what the Lord has not revealed to us.

Oh, for a holy character and holy communion with God! Then we shall be
golden vessels fit for the Master's use and so, according to the text,
we shall be ready for every good work–ready for the work when it comes
and ready at the work when it has come–because completely consecrated
to God and subject to His hand. In this readiness for whatever comes we
shall be honored. Men may despise us, as they will, but what does it
matter if God honors us? This height of Grace may cost us a sharp
experience, but must not gold be tried with fire? As thieves are most
anxious to steal not the pots and wooden vessels, but the gold and the
silver, so we may expect to be exposed to greater temptations and
greater persecutions than others.

More Grace involves more trials, but then we shall have the delight of
glorifying God more. Oh, to be vessels unto honor! Beloved members of
this Church, aspire to this! You have acknowledged in your names, that
you are Christians! You have been baptized into the sacred name of the
Divine Trinity! You have borne, up to now, a consistent moral
character, but oh, see to it that the inner substance is the real
metal–the gold and silver! See to it that you are reserved for the
Lord's own special use! Be as consecrated to Him as were the bowls
before the altar. Never let the world drink out of you, as Belshazzar
did out of the vessels taken at Jerusalem. May the Lord grant that you
may never be defiled, but may be kept, by His Grace, pure and
consecrated to Him.

IV. Fourthly, for a moment we must speak about THE MASTER. He is
introduced here, you see, as having certain vessels meet for His
use–and this shows that He is in the house. There would be no need to
reserve vessels for His use if He were not there–He is in the midst of
His Church by His indwelling Spirit. How this ought to make us wish to
be purged, sanctified and ready for Him! Your Master is not far away.
His Presence in the Church is promised–"Lo, I am with you always, even
to the end of the world." What manner of persons, therefore, ought you
to be?

Secondly, the Master knows all about the house and knows the quality of
all the vessels. There is no deceiving Him with the wooden plate–He
knows it is not gold. And as for that earthen cup, though it may be
gilt all over, He knows it is not gold. He reads the heart of everyone
here present–wood or earth, silver or gold–the Master understands us.
And then reflect that the Master will use us all as far as we are fit
to be used. We are in God's house and if we are wood, He will put us to
wooden use.

There are many wooden preachers. If we are earth and earthly-minded He
may put us to earthly uses, as He did Judas, who carried the bag, but
had no Grace. If you are silver He will give you silver use. And if you
are gold He will give you golden service in which you shall be happy,
honored and blessed. What comes of this, then, lastly? Why, Brothers
and Sisters, let us bestir ourselves that we be purged, for the text
says, "If a man therefore purges himself." It throws this business upon
each one of us personally–a man must purge himself from ill company!
And when we have confessed the responsibility, let us turn to God in
prayer and feel that thorough purging is a work which we cannot achieve
and, therefore, we cry, "Cleanse me, O God! Sanctify me! Make me meet
for Your service and prepared for every good work."

Beloved, finish with earnest prayer. Pray God that you may not be
hypocrites! Beseech the Lord to search you and try you, that you not be
found deceivers. And when you are sure that you are His, then ask Him
to make you not merely silver, for it is very apt to tarnish, but
rather the precious gold which, when exposed to the worst influences,
scarcely shows a trace of dullness. Pure unalloyed gold may we be! And
then may the Master, both in secret and public, use us to His own joy.
May He refresh Himself with our love and faith, yes, may His joy be
fulfilled in us, that our joy may be full. God grant it may be so, for
Christ's sake.
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