GOD’S HOUSE THOROUGHLY FURNISHED…Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

II Timothy 2:20  

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. 

Paul’s doctrinal genius is undisputed by all who are familiar with the whole of his writings.  The fact of bad conduct, careless living, and false teaching has a long history among God’s elect people.  This is as old as the people of Israel.  And it is the common concern of the Prophets as well as the Apostles.

From 2:14 to 2:19 Paul reminded them of the fact that there was foolish babbling and false doctrine.  This was to be expected because “in a great house,” diversity which included error was to be expected.  Therefore the fact of it should not discourage those who had to experience it.

The “not only….but also”, continues with us.  However we desire “only vessels of gold and silver”, that will   not be all that we shall have to see and hear.  There is going to be, “wood and clay, some for honorable use, and some for dishonorable use.”

There are three lessons for us in this verse. 

1.  The one who owns the house furnishes it to serve his use.  Different vessels made for different uses have different standards for their construction  But all are built to satisfy the intention of the owner. 

2.  The different construction of the vessels does not mean that they will not serve their purpose.  Pharaoh was raised up for a particular purpose.  Judas was “the son of destruction”.  Their construction was in order to their usefulness. 

3.  When our understanding is most in line with the Scriptures we will see that no matter whether the construction of the vessel was to honor or dishonor “God’s firm foundation stands”.  There is also the unchanging Biblical demand that “everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

As you must expect the purpose of Grace is always a holy expectation.  The seal of God’s foundation is written on both sides.  One is to assure us of the everlasting quality of grace.  The other is a demand for righteousness worked out with fear and trembling.

Please read Romans 6:1-2.

THE INTERNAL CAUSE…Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Mark 7:14-23 ESV

¹⁴ And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 

¹⁵ There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” 

¹⁶ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”

¹⁷ And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 

¹⁸ And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 

¹⁹ since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 

²⁰ And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 

²¹ For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 

²² coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 

²³ All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Defile – To make common; hence in a ceremonial way to render unholy, to be polluted, unclean

The conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees was one of sharp disagreement.  In VSS 6, 7 He quotes a statement from Isaiah which is a blatant accusation of hypocrisy.  But this is not the critical issue.  That which is so critical is the issue of sin and the responsibility for its cause.

The critical statements are in 7:14 and 7:20. First, the environment cannot cause sin.  Second, sin issues from the heart, which is the origin of all manners of evil, cf James 1:14-15.  The responsibility for sin is placed squarely on the person committing it.

The foolishness of shifting this to an outside source is revealed in such a silly excuse as to be comical by Aaron in Exodus 32:21-25. Note VS 24.

²¹ And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” 

²² And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. 

²³ For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 

²⁴ So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

 

We may see this and even smile at it but how often are our excuses no better than Adam’s.  Genesis 3:12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”  We will be so bold as to blame God for our sin if we have no one else.

The Lord Jesus emphatically removes that old subterfuge.  He, with the greatest clarity, puts the issue in the place where it belongs.  All those evils come from within.  Mark 7:23.

It is not as though you cannot be a Christian and be as foolish as Aaron was.  He was a believer when he failed and when he refused his part in his fall.  The problem is that growth stops here.

It is not until you are ready to find the cause of your sin, “from within out of the heart,” that you are able to repent and begin to grow in spiritual knowledge.

It is when each of us recognizes that though others may be the occasion for our sin, they are not the cause of it.  It is the evil that ever resides in our own hearts that is the cause.

In the brutal honesty that is characteristic of him, John states in his first epistle 1:10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 

There may be enough honesty to not deny sin, but not enough truth to take full responsibility for it.  The failure to accept full responsibility, and to “Adamize”, is a failure in honest repentance.  Christian growth is stunted.  In truth God is blamed for the sin and self is justified.  The excuse of the child, “I didn’t do it.  The cookie fell out of the jar and I ate it so it wouldn’t spoil on the floor”, is no worse than the dishonest believer.

Please read Luke 18:13

THE FOX (OOPS! THE WOLF)…Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Acts 20:29 KJV

²⁹ For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

I read recently an article in which the author with some chagrin stated that allowing a particular teacher to practice in a Christian school was “putting the fox in the hen-house to care for the chicks.”  He made at least two mistakes.  First it should come as no surprise that something like this happens.  And secondly, it is not fox that we should expect, but by Paul’s description “ravenous wolves”.

The Savior in Matthew 7:15 gives the warning.  The vicious destructive nature these have in their opposition is described as “ravenous”.  This same word is used in other places to represent “pillage, plundering, robbery, extortion.”  You really can never go wrong following the money trail.

In the New Testament every writer at some point points out this inevitable presence and danger in the church.

Peter, in II Peter 2:1 guarantees the certainty of these destroyers.  The question is, “were there false prophets before?”  Yes, there were.  Read  Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Nehemiah.  These are replete with the fact of false prophets in the Old Testament church.  Then we must say there are false teachers now.  It is critical that we recognize this and act accordingly.

The facts are that there are churches who by their long standing confession, some a hundred years or more, state their opposition to cardinal Bible truth.  I mean to state plainly, they who deny the Trinity, the Being of Christ, the fact of His atoning sacrifice, sin, the ruin of sin, the bondage of sin, the necessity of the New Birth, and bodily resurrection of Christ are certainly not Christians.  This is to say if that person’s confession is a denial of the fundamentals of Christianity he is not a Christian.  And to bring them in as teachers is to admit “ravenous wolves”.

In our city this last week there was a prayer meeting for all Christian ministers to be held at a confessional Non-Trinitarian church.  This prayer meeting was for orthodox Christian ministers.  The implications of this are indicative of the present condition of the church and the danger it faces.

Please read Titus 1:9 NKJV.