I want to speak in this article to all who want to be used of
God. I would suspect that deep in every person's heart here there
is a desire that God might use them. That is a normal and a proper desire.
There is no thrill like the thrill of being used of
God. There is excitement, satisfaction and fulfillment, the consciousness that
one has been the instrument in the hands of the Almighty to do some of His work
to change the direction of someone's life, perhaps,
1. To prevent an
injury, 2. To resolve an argument,
3. To answer a challenge,
4. To heal a weakness,
5. To rebuke a ruler, or to turn a nation.
I have seen men tremble with a sense of awe as they realized that on a given occasion they were the instrument of God's working.
I can tell you from personal experience that is something
that is without compare in this life. It can happen anywhere, anytime.
God works in wonderful ways, not always in very dramatic
ways, but in ways we do not anticipate. It can happen to anybody.
Being used of God is not confined to pastors, preachers or
teachers. Anybody can be an instrument in God's hands.
In the passage we are looking at this morning from Second
Timothy, Chapter 2, beginning with Verse 20, the Apostle Paul describes what it
takes to be used of God.
Timothy 2:20-21 “In a great house there are not only vessels
of gold and silver but also of wood and earthenware, and some for noble use,
some for ignoble. If anyone purifies himself from what is ignoble, then he will
be a vessel for noble use, consecrated and useful to the master of the house, ready
for any good work.”
The great question then is to what end, for what purpose is
he using you?
"In every
house," he says, "there are vessels." That is true of all homes
-- we have "vessels for honor," i.e., dishes we eat from, pots and pans we cook in, decorated vases, etc.,
are all vessels unto honor.
They are not only useful but they are preserved, they are
permanent, we want to keep them.
But every house also has "vessels
for dishonor" -- we have garbage cans, slop buckets, bedpans, trash
barrels, wastebaskets. We do not display them.
They are useful, but they are not presentable. We may even
intend to dispose of them, sometimes after only one use. Those are vessels of dishonor.
Application 1-
That is the way God sees you. If we want to understand life as it really is, we
have to look at each in that way. God sees all of us as useful vessels.
We see that in Verse 21: "If
any one purifies himself from what is ignoble, then he will be a vessel for
noble use." We have no choice of whether we are going to be used of
God or not; the choice we have is what God is going to use us for.
Choice determines the way God uses us. God will never set
man's will aside and use him for a good purpose without him being willing to be
used. 1 Samuel 3:11
Application 2-
God does not force us to be used of him; it must always be a willing choice on
our part. But we have to do something about it.
…"he must purify
himself,"… we are responsible to use the cleansing that has been
provided.
Example:- If you have
been working on your car or in the yard and your hands are dirty, you go into
the bathroom to clean yourself up with soap and water -- you deliberately
choose to use the soap and water provided -- when you have done so you say,
"I've cleansed myself." It was not you that did the cleansing (it was
the soap and water), but you used that which was provided.
We have a responsibility to use the redemption that has been
provided in Jesus Christ, to lay hold of his provision for the forgiveness of
sin.
"If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness," (l John 1:9.
You can go into a bathroom with dirty hands and there is
soap and water there, but if you refuse to use them you will come out just as
dirty as you went in. You cannot blame the bathroom for that. You are to blame.
You can come to church and hear the truth of the Word of
God, but if you do not apply it to yourself it does you no good.
You cannot blame God because he did not give you all the
good things he promises to those who come to him, if you have not come to him.
Even as a Christian you cannot expect to be used of God in beautiful and
wonderful ways unless you are willing to purify yourself and use the
instruments he has provided.
Everybody wants to be used of God if he is a Christian, but
you cannot be used of God for good purposes unless you are willing to say
"No" first.
You must say "No" to the wrong before God will say
"Yes" to the right. You cannot go on living like you have always done
and expect God to use you. He cannot, he will not, until there is a cleansing.
…"If any one purifies himself ... “he will be, a vessel unto honor, ready for any good work." He
will be "consecrated." Finally, he is "ready for any good work." He becomes adaptable; God can use him in many different ways.
All this hangs on your willingness to turn away from the
wrongful attitudes, philosophies and actions of life.
This is the proper interpretation, and it is proved by
the way Paul specifically applies this to Timothy. In Verse 22 he says,
Application 3:-
You never start with wanting to be used by God; you have to start with refusing
to be used by the wrong.
If you want God to make you an effective instrument of his
working in this world throughout your life, that is where you have to start.
If you have not learned to say "No," if you drift
along with whatever the crowd is doing, you will never be an instrument used by
God for noble purposes.
You have to say "No" to unbelief and
"Yes" to faith.