"MEET FOR THE MASTER’S USE" (2 TIM 2:21)

June 7th, 2009

Sunday School Lesson

I. AS A VESSEL, WE WERE MARRED IN THE FALL.

A. ALL MEN WERE MARRED IN THE FALL.

1. (Jer 18:3-4) "Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. {4} And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it."

A. The following is from Richard Baxter's book, THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST "Unsaved man, you are but a piece of breathing clay, kept a few days from being eaten with worms, by the mere support and favor of Him whom you are thus resisting!"

2. (Eph 2:10) "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

3. (Jer 19:11) "And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury." (Only by Grace)

A. Years ago, a potter would often put his seal, or stamp, upon a completed vessel with the words sine-cere. This meant that to his knowledge there was no flaw in that work. If a potter did crack a vessel, he would carefully patch that flawed vase or bowl by filling in the crack with wax. Then he would glaze it over. But it did not merit the stamp sincere, "without wax," because it was not a flawless piece of pottery.

 4. F. B. Meyers: "An earthen vessel is a true emblem of human life, so frail, so brittle. But there is something frailer yet in our resolutions and efforts after holiness. And when once these have failed us, we can never be again what we were. Always the crack, the rivets, the mark of the joint."

II. AS A CHOSEN VESSEL, WE WERE REDEEMED BY GRACE.

A. BY GRACE, WE WERE CHOSEN IN CHRIST FROM ALL ETERNITY. (Eph 1:4)

1. (Acts 9:15) "But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:"

2. (Eph 1:4) "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:"

B. Christopher Ness comments on the Potter and the clay: "

1. If the will of the potter be an absolute will over his pots, much more is the will of God an absolute will over mankind. It is God's own comparison

A. (Rom 9:20-21) "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? {21} Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?"

2. Scripture expressly states that only few are chosen, though many be called (Mt 20:16).

3. It is only a little flock

A. (Luke 12:32) "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

4. Remember, it was one of a city and two of a family that are brought to Zion.

A. (Jer 3:14) "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:"

5. "I have chosen you out of the world," saith our Lord.

A. (John 15:19) "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."

6. And the Lord calls Paul a chosen vessel unto Him

A. (Acts 9:15) "But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:"

b. (Acts 22:14) "And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth."

7. If God does not choose us until faith is foreseen in us, then it necessarily follows that we choose God before He chooses us, and we love Him before He loves us, contrary to these scriptures,

a. "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you" (Jn 15:16).

b. "We love Him, because He first loved us" (1Jn 4:19).

III. AS HIS CHOSEN VESSELS, WE WERE PREPARED FOR GLORY.

A. WE ARE PREPARED BY GRACE AS VESSELS OF MERCY.

1. (Rom 9:23) "And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,"

2. In Gideon's days there was a light within the earthen vessels; and when these were broken it shone forth. There is, therefore, a breaking of the vessel which is salutary and desirable. And it is of this that Miss Taylor sings:

"Oh to be nothing, nothing!

Only to lie at his feet,

A broken and emptied vessel,

For the Master's use made meet."

3. McClintock & Strong says: "The first distinct mention of earthenware vessels is in the case of the pitchers in which Gideon’s men concealed their lamps, and which they broke in pieces when they withdrew their lamps from them " (Judges 7:16,19).

B. IMAGINE THE TREASURE OF GOD IN AN EARTHEN VESSEL.

1. (2 Cor 4:7) "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."

2. Henry Mahan said: "The Lord touched Jacob's thigh and the thigh was out of joint. The scriptures also declare that "as he passed over Penuel HE WAS LIMPING." Jacob was lame and probably remained lame the rest of his life. Human weakness and frailty must always accompany Divine strength and revelation. Like JACOB'S THIGH and PAUL'S THORN, all who have the great honor of knowing, believing, and preaching the glorious gospel of God's grace in Christ must ALWAYS BE REMINDED that "we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us." Oh, my, who would not be willing, yes, even content to limp for life if our blessed Lord would be pleased to visit us in grace and mercy as He did Jacob? My limp keeps me from being lifted up and proud, and it will also keep anyone to whom I witness from looking to me in any way as if I were more than they. "

3. Lansdown Magazine. Autumn 1968 #2 File Drawyer. pg. 7. Many years ago, a young Aran boy, searching for lost goats in the hills surrounding the Dead Sea, suddenly stumbled upon a cave filled with old earthenware vessels. Inside were the remains of some ancient scrolls, and one of the most valuable archaeological finds of recent years had been made, truly "treasure in earthen vessels".

IV. AS VESSELS OF MERCY, WE ARE FITTED FOR SERVICE.

A. THESE MARRED VESSELS ARE BY GRACE MADE FIT FOR THIS SERVICE.

1. (2 Tim 2:21) "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."

a. "Take me-break me-make me," is a very wholesome prayer for us all.

 

2. (2 Tim 3:17) "That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

3. (Rom 9:21) "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?"

B. CONSIDER THIS PURGING THAT PAUL MENTIONS. (2 Tim 2:21)

1. (Psa 51:7) "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

a. "Purity as well as pardon is desired by all true penitents."

b. Hyssop was dipped in the blood of the lamb, and the door posts and lintel were sprinkled with it when the death angel flew over the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12)

c. Hyssop is a very effectual purge - internal cleansing; zufa is a potent bleach - external cleansing. "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me with zufa and I shall be whiter than snow."

2. Only those whose sins have been purged by the blood of Jesus can now purge themselves by faith from besetting sins.

Conclusion: The following poem was found in China written out by hand in the flyleaf of a missionary's Bible:

A block of marble stood

Before the sculptor where He would.

He smote with hand well skilled

And thus with blow on blow fulfilled

The vision of his mind.

At first with chisel coarse and stroke

Unspared, the corners off he broke,

And soon the form appeared.

And then, with finer tools he wrought

And finer yet, until he brought

The perfect image forth.

So, with unerring skillfulness,

With cunning hand and sure,

Tis as the marble groweth less

The likeness groweth more.

So God divinely works with those

He, in the eternal ages chose

To show His work of grace,

And thus with blow on blow to trace

The image of His Son!

How blest to know that He who holds

His tools, before His eyes beholds

His own beloved One!

The cares and sorrow day by day,

The troubles that o'ershade the way

Together work for good;

And nothing e'er by chance befalls

The one whom God in purpose calls

In Whom His love is found.

And when we have the glory gained,

And Christ's full image have attained.

We'll praise His sovereign grace,

And bless the hand that dealt each blow

Upon the marble here below

In working out His will!