2 Timothy 2:20, KJV: “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 honour, and some to dishonour.”

Be the Best

Truths from this scripture:

1. God’s house is a great house.

2. This house is like the Body of Christ with many parts. 1Cor.12

From the scripture we also see that in any house there are different vessels, some of gold, others of silver, wood and earth. For instance there are plates that you use every day or frequently. There are other plates that you use on special occasions when you have guests. There are others, like a cup that can only be used for drinking tea and not for eating.

This akin to the house of God where we are parts of the Body of Christ equipped differently to perform various functions and so we are used for various occasions. 

All the vessels are useful but not equally, just as all the parts of your body are useful but not equally.

Every child of God, is a precious Saint, blood bought, ransomed by the precious blood of Jesus. So if it was just that person lost in sin, Jesus would still come die for him. We were all purchased with a great price. Each one of us is greatly appreciated and loved. But we have different functions in the house of God according to our gifts and our purpose in Christ. We need to esteem our office and not allow anyone to despise us because of what we are assigned to do. Some assignments we will be given in life may at the time have little or no bearing with our ultimate assignment but could give us vital transferrable skills which we may not know at the time.  Nevertheless, know your place and your office. You may not have a title; you may not be recognised, but that does not matter. Continue to do what you know you are called to do to the best of your ability. God is the ultimate Caller and Equipper. Be the best.  If you do not have an assignment, find something and do. There is no spectator in God’s house. Join a department. You have talents and skills that can be deployed somewhere.

You have spiritual gifts that you need to discover, develop and deploy. Pray for the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your spiritual understanding to see these endowments and your inheritance in Christ so you can begin to harness them to use for the edification of the body of Christ. Your gift is not for you to sit on. It is for the building up of others, just like other people’s gifts are to build you up. We need each other to achieve greater things.

No gift or talent comes fully developed. Do you need to work on your gift? Take some training to hone your gift. For instance there are many guitarists and singers but the stage that they are called to perform depends on how well they have trained and paid the price for the prize. Some of them can only be allowed to play in the cell meeting; others may be allowed in the children’s Church and others in the main Church and yet others at special major event that takes place at, say, Wembley arena or Excel Centre.

Have you seen a man who is diligent, proficient, excellent head over shoulders in what he does, he will be head-hunted and will not be in the company of mere men but with kings.

²⁹           Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men. Prov.22:29

So where you perform is also partly in your hands. Hone your talent and you will be moved up, promoted. It is said, anything worth doing is what training for. Constantly assess, appraisal and improve your skills and talents. Add to your skills. Avoid complacency. Improve your education. Once you stop learning, decay sets in. It’s like riding a bicycle. Once you stop pedalling, sooner or later you will start slowing down or stall or stop.

In conclusion, to have been called into God’s great house, the General Assembly of Saints, the Church of Jesus Christ, the Body of Christ. Jesus is the Head and we are the Body. He is the Vine and we are the branches. (John15:5, 7, 16). He called us to bear much fruit and fruit that will remain and give glory to His name. He has gifted the Body with ministry gifts-people in the offices of Pastors, Apostles, Teachers, Evangelists and Prophets (Eph. 4:11-12). These have been given to build up the Church and various gifts are bestowed to them to function to the best of theirs ability. Each one needs to develop themselves after discovering their gifts. How far they go depends on them.

Similarly other members of the Body of Christ need to know their gift and place in the Body and give their utmost (1Cor.12:4-12). How far they are elevated and used in that capacity depends on them.

Let each one do whatever they do as unto the Lord (Col.3:17, 23). He gave His best to us and we should not give him less. He deserves our best. So be the best in your chosen field. Be a trend blazer and setter. Do not settle for mediocrity or half measures. Greatness is in your loins.

You are God’s workmanship created for good works. Remember the parable of the talents. Be like the man who traded with what he was given and doubled the return or yield. He had a great commendation: Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Know that you are not serving man but God.

His master said to him, Well done, you upright (honorable, admirable) and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the blessedness) which your master enjoys.

Matt.25:23

 Expect your reward from Him. Be inspired by others but do not compete with them. We each have our race to run. Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus- the Author and Finisher of our faith. Run, with a goal in mind. Run in line with your purpose, assignment and dream. Refuse to be side-tracked. Run to finish with finesse, like Paul: 

Paul’s Valedictory

⁶      For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.

⁷      I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

⁸              Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:6-8

2 Timothy 2:20-21

The Message

20-21 In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing

Make Yourself Indispensable 

I came across this story which I think is relevant to us.

“A man used to visit a tiny general store in the country. The proprietor has a clerk named Jake, who seemed to be the laziest man in the world. One day the man noticed that Jake was gone.

He asked the proprietor, “Where’s Jake?” “Oh, he retired,” was the answer. “Retired? Then what are you going to do to fill the vacancy?” The owner replied, “Jake didn’t leave no vacancy.”

That leads me to ask, “What kind of vacancy would there be in this church if you left?” It is God’s clear intention that every one of His people be used in serving the Lord Jesus Christ. He has given gifts to each one to be used as good stewards. And yet for so many that name the name of Christ, their faith is like football – an occasional Sunday spectator sport. They are not serving Christ day by day. But if you truly know Christ, you can’t be happy sitting on the bench or in the stands. You want to be in the game. Our text reveals the kind of person God uses. You may think that God uses people who have impressive abilities and gifts. While spiritual gifts play a part, they are not the main feature in being used by God. As we saw in the national news recently, a man may be a gifted Christian leader and yet bring terrible disgrace to the name of Christ. Or you may think that God uses a person who has been to seminary and has a lot of training. While seminary has its place, I know of many men who graduated from seminary, but they’re not even in the stadium, let alone in the game!

Or you may think that God uses a person who has a great knowledge of the Bible. While, as we saw last week, being careful students of the Bible is very important, it is not the main thing. You may be a renowned Bible scholar, and yet be detrimental to the cause of Jesus Christ.

The simple message of our text is that God uses cleansed people, who are defined by two characteristics:

God uses cleansed people who flee sin and pursue godliness (2 Timothy 2:20-22 The Person God Uses)”