False doctrines. In this instance Paul does give us an example of what he meant. Hymenaeus and Philetus taught that the resurrection had already occurred and destroyed the faith of some. These two men may have taught that the resurrection occurred at conversion or baptism or as you lived on in your children.
There is no doubt that to deny the resurrection is a great and damaging error. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 1Cor15v16and17.
Many grave errors have crept into the church: errors about baptism, the purpose of Christ's death on the cross, the nature of hell, faith and healing, the authority of Scripture. We should not forget as we contemplate these errors that the false teaching of Hymenaeus and Phletus destroyed the faith of some.
(B) Reassurance for the good workman.
The church as an institution is the foundation of God. In other words God has established the church. Its integrity and indestructibility depends upon two things:
- The knowledge of God. He knows who are his. God identifies the genuine workmen. They may not have the reputation, glamour or notoriety of those with progressive views or those with an earthly following - but God recognises his own. The integrity, effectiveness and survival of the church depends upon God working through his elect people.
- The true Christian workmen recognise wickedness for what it is and turn from it. They resist the same temptations as Jesus experienced in the wilderness; the temptation to:
Use their position for personal advantage. For instance a Christian tradesman will not have an exorbitant call out charge and fleece old ladies who they have at their mercy.
Employ bad means to achieve a good end. For example it would be wrong to bribe poor people in the Third World with cash handouts to attend church.
Put God to the test. It is not right to bargain with God - to say to him, "Look, if you cure my daughter of cancer I will attend church regularly."
(2) The vessel. See verses20to21.
Paul seems in this short passage to liken the church to a large house and individual Christians to the articles of gold, silver, wood and clay within it. He writes that some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. The implication is that the gold and silver utensils are for noble use and the wood and clay vessels for ignoble. But this does not fit well with what he wrote next: If a man cleanses himself from ignoble purposes he will be an instrument for noble purposes. Now we know that it is quite impossible for a clay article to change into a gold one. I think we must look for a different meaning whether intended by Paul or not!
(a) The church contains those that shine like gold and silver. People like this have natural talents and spiritual gifts that make them stand out. Now a gold vessel can serve a noble purpose. If it contains roses it will fill a room with perfume. But it can be put to base use - filled with strong drink to circulate at a drunken orgy - or it could not be used at all but hidden away to collect dust.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a preacher, lecturer, author and philanthropist of outstanding talent. He was the golden boy of 19th century Nonconformity - a noble vessel with a noble function. Today there are gifted orators - televangelists of great influence - who use their stellar gifts to make money and get rich. They are silver vessels put to a sordid use.
(b) The church also contains those who have no great natural talent and only mundane spiritual gifts. Very ordinary, dull and unexciting Christians are like clay pots and wooden buckets. They are not capable of great things. Such people will never be like another Wesley, Whitfield, Spurgeon or Booth. However the clay pot may serve a noble purpose. It may contain water for washing feet or quenching thirst. But it could also be filled with sour wine that is scarcely fit to drink.
Ordinary, unremarkable Christians may serve Jesus nobly in a humble capacity by being kind, thoughtful and helpful. However, unexceptional Christians can be like leaky buckets - difficult to get along with - lazy, selfish and discontented.
(c) Now although a wooden utensil cannot change into a gold one, the usefulness of a vessel, whatever it is made of, can change. The gold dish instead of being kept purely for display can be brought out and used on the banquet table. A clay pot full of rubbish can be emptied, cleaned and used as a water container.
Paul taught that whether we shine like a silver goblet or are as dull as an earthenware pot we can be made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
(3) The Servant. See vs22to26.
Paul goes to some length to identify qualities which will make us good servants of Jesus Christ. We need to:
(a) Flee youthful lusts.
There are some weaknesses of youth that we need to avoid in order to be effective servants of Jesus. They are:
- An obsession with sex.
- Impatience. Some young people want it all NOW.
- Self assertion. William Barclay points out that youth can be intolerant in its opinions and arrogant in the expression of them.
- Being very argumentative. I certainly used to argue a lot when I was a young man. Unfortunately as an argument progressed the amount of heat generated increased.
- Love of novelty. A feature of churches that cater for youth is the preponderance of modern hymns and choruses that are sung. The old favourites loved by aged Christians are all but abandoned.
- Ambition.
- Wilfulness. There is a tendency for teenagers to ignore advice and pursue their own agenda. Young Christians should listen to what older, wiser believers counsel them.
(b) Pursue virtue.
Paul encouraged Timothy to acquire four great Christian virtues. They are:
- Righteousness. A righteous man will love God with all his heart, soul, strength and mind and his neighbour as himself.
- Faith. This involves faithfulness to God and loyalty to fellow Christians. Some believers are so addicted to novelty that they regularly swop one church for another. They are little better than worldly consumers trying out one supermarket after another.
- Love. If we love our fellow Christians we won't be intolerant of their opinions. We certainly won't be ultra critical, self-assertive and spoiling for a fight.
- Peace. We should do everything to foster unity. Argumentative, wilful, discontented Christians work against harmony and oneness in Christ.
(c) Enjoy fellowship.
We are not to cultivate virtue in isolation but along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. v22.
I like the observation of William Barclay: The Christian must never seek to live alone, detached, and aloof from his fellow men. He must find his strength, his joy, his support in Christian fellowship. As John Wesley said: "A man must have friends or make friends; for no one ever went to heaven alone."
Some of the happiest times I have had in Christian service occurred when I worked in a team. A group of us would meet in May to trim the yew trees that grow in front of our chapel. It was hard work but we always enjoyed it. There is even fun to be had clearing and washing up after a chapel tea. When I served at a large Christian camp for young people there was a wonderful esprit de corps. It was a time of truly uplifting, heart warming and faith building fellowship. Workers came back year after year because they gained so much serving together.
(d) Avoid stupid arguments.
Churches do get involved in stupid arguments that end in quarrelling and in some cases people leaving the fellowship. I can remember arguments in my own church over where to site a new toilet block, who should serve at communion, where to hold the evening service and how to stop a lady from singing so loudly. Members of other fellowships known to me quarrel about which version of the Bible to use, which musical instrument should be used to lead the singing, whether chairs should replace pews and what hymn book to sing from. These are not subjects that Christians should fall out over.
(e) Be impartial.
Paul told Timothy to be kind to everyone. We shouldn't just be kind to our friends, our allies or those who are nice to us. Old Jack who attended our church was not always very pleasant to my fellow elder, Edward. He accused him of being a bit of a wimp. Yet whenever he got into a muddle - which was quite frequently - Jack went to Edward for help. Edward always helped him - not that Jack gave him much credit for it.
The pastor of a church in particular must be very careful not to show favouritism. If people feel neglected or ignored they might well become resentful and unco-operative.
(f) Able to teach.
A church benefits when it contains leaders with the ability to teach what the Scriptures mean. It is a blessing when a teacher can bring Bible passages to life and is able to relate them to a person's experience.
Jesus communicated mostly by the spoken word. This requires much skill because we forget what we hear very quickly. Jesus often put across a single, relatively simple, truth by telling a story or using colourful, pithy language. The Parable of the Prodigal Son, the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the Parable of the Sower are all quite easy to remember and yet convey truth with great power.
I used stories and anecdotes when I gave school assemblies. You will find some examples in the 'Stories' section of my website. Take for instance: My account of a nearly perfect day. I got a lot more thanks for my assemblies than my Geography lessons. They met a need that subject lessons failed to satisfy.
Paul dealt with more complex truths than Jesus. These are probably best taught by the written word. Paul's letters could be read over and over again by the recipients whether individuals like Timothy or churches like that at Ephesus. They can also be studied in depth by us today with the help of writers like William Barclay, Warren Wiersbe and Donald Guthrie. I learn a lot more from the written than the spoken word.
(g) Thick skinned.
We readily get upset with and resentful of those who oppose us. There were some shocking examples of this in the reaction of members of the hard left to labour MPs who supported bombing ISIS in Syria. There is no excuse for foul abuse. Christians should not get angry and belligerent with those who disagree with them. This usually does more harm than good.
Paul advises us to gently instruct those who oppose us - insofar as they will let us - in the hope that they will change their mind and embrace the truth. Paul was dealing with serious departures from the truth. Some Christians at Ephesus had taken leave of their senses to such an extent that they had been taken captive by the devil to do his will.
It would require sound and authoritative teaching backed by Holy Spirit power to bring the erring Ephesians to their senses.
We can see the extent to which Satan led the early church astray by studying Paul's letters to the Corinthians and Galatians. I think Paul found it easier to put the erring churches right by letter than in person. In this way he avoided confrontation - something he shrank from.
I am certain many Christians are in error over several aspects of life after death. I am sure that it is more productive to deal with the errors as I have done on this website rather than by arguing about them face to face. See article on the afterlife.