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 Timothy 2:21
The image from the previous verse is of a great house and all of the vessels, or containers, that would be in that house. We have such containers in our homes. Everything from cups and water glasses to tiny pill containers, from laundry hampers to soap dishes, from wash basins to mixing bowls, from fruit bowls and candy dishes to jewellery boxes, from flower vases to pickle bottles. You get the idea. As you think about all these vessels, think about the ones you would hide out of sight if company should come to visit, and which ones you would place in view for all to see. The ones you would place in plain view would be referred to as vessels unto honour. Our text identifies us as vessels in God’s house, vessels that ought to be unto honour. We can become a vessel unto honour if we purge ourselves from the sins of the flesh and the errors of the world.
A vessel unto honour is sanctified. That big word simply means set aside for God’s use. A sanctified vessel is never used for the devil’s purposes because it is set aside only for God’s use. Think about whether your life is sanctified. I remember a quotation by former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker: ‘I have sometimes been wrong, but I have never been on the side of wrong’. If we could say that honestly, we might have a claim to being identified as sanctified. But we must be more than just not on the side of wrong, we must also be on the side of right, and of God. Our life’s purpose must be to serve and honour Him.
A vessel unto honour must be meet for the Master’s use. Simply put, that means we must be in a condition and in a position that God can use us. To use an extreme example, a bootlegger or a drug dealer would not be meet for the Master’s use. There are plenty of things that can enter our life that would either disqualify us or hinder us from being useful to our Master. Involvement in sinful or harmful practices, dishonesty in business, participation in gossip and scandal would be some of these. But more than avoiding disqualifying things, we must participate in qualifying things. We must spend time in prayer and Bible study, we must take part in the activities of God’s Assembly, and we must allow others to see that we are in the service of the Master.
A vessel unto honour is also prepared unto every good work. God saved us so that we might live a life of good works. To live as a Christian ought to live requires that we study the Scriptures and obey them. To be a good witness for our Lord means that we must be prepared and willing to confess our Lord before men. To be a valuable and useful member of God’s Assembly, we must develop a care for each other member of the Assembly, and we must develop an interest in and care for the work of the Lord.
In a world filled with vessels unto dishonour, you and I can be vessels unto honour for our Master. Do we view this as the high privilege that it is? – Jim MacIntosh