Good morning, Church. We're going to read 2 Timothy 2, 14 to 26.
! Dealing with false teachers.
Keep reminding God's people of these things. Warn them before going against correlling about words.
It is no value and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,
a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handle the word of truth.
Avoid godless chatter because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
Their teaching will spread like a gangrene.
Among them are Imenus and Philetus, who have departed from the truth.
They say that the resurrection has already taken place and they destroy the faith of some.
Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription,
The Lord knows who I is, and everyone who confess the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.
In a large house, there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay.
Some are for special purpose and some of common use.
Those who cleanse themselves from the letter will be instruments for special purpose,
made holy, useful for the master, and prepared to do any good work.
Flee the evil desire of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace,
along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments,
because you know they produce quarrels.
And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome,
but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
Opponents must be gentle instructed,
in the hope that God will grant them repentance,
leading them to a knowledge of the truth,
and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil,
who has taken them captive to do his evil.
Amen.
Thanks so much, Alexandra.
Do keep the passage open.
If you've not got a Bible, try and shuffle along and find one if you can.
We're going to be working our way through that passage.
If you're here for the first time,
then we have been working our way through the book of 2 Timothy,
and we've arrived at these verses,
so that's why we are in these verses this morning.
Let me pray, ask for the Lord's help as we look at God's word together.
Let me pray.
Father, we do recognise that what we're doing now is a spiritual battle.
To listen to you and ignore the distractions around us and of the world
is more difficult than it should be.
And so, Lord, we pray and ask for your help.
Pray that your Holy Spirit, who inspired these words,
might now be at work in our hearts,
helping us to listen to them and respond in obedience and faith.
Help me to speak truly and carefully
and be at work in all of us, we pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Now, as you look down at the passage,
I want you to notice that the heart of what's going on here
is there in verse 19.
It's this solid foundation.
Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm,
sealed with this inscription,
the Lord knows those who are his,
and everyone who confesses the name of the Lord
must turn away from wickedness.
In all probability, those verses are a quote from Numbers chapter 16.
In Numbers 16, you get the story of the Korahite rebellion.
The Korahite rebellion happened in the wilderness
when the people of Israel are leaving slavery in Egypt
and heading to the promised land,
but are yet to arrive.
They had been promised to enter into a land
flowing with milk and honey,
but instead, they found themselves in the wilderness.
And they were fed up.
And more than just fed up, the Korahites were angry.
Angry specifically with Moses and Aaron,
and angry with them for presuming
that they were the leaders of God's people.
How dare you do this, Moses and Aaron?
Who do you think you are leading the people?
How on earth do you expect us to follow you
when you've not given us anything that we were promised?
We're here in the wilderness.
Where's the land flowing with milk and honey?
And the story ends with a showdown.
God summons the people before him
and brings them in front of the tabernacle.
And Moses asks people to stand away from Korah and his men
and says, right, God is going to judge.
God now is going to answer the Korahites' question.
Who has the right to lead God's people?
And so as they stand back from the Korahites,
the ground literally opens up
and swallows Korah, his men, his family,
and all their possessions and closes up over them.
Buried alive.
It's a dramatic story of God really proving
that Moses and Aaron had the right to lead God's people.
And Paul quotes it here in 2 Timothy 2, verse 19,
because he wants to draw two lessons for Timothy
from that story.
Two foundations, he calls them,
sealed with inscriptions.
And they are, look down at verse 19,
number one, the Lord knows those who are his.
And secondly, everyone who confesses the name of the Lord
must turn away from wickedness.
Just as we start, think about those with me for a moment.
Think about the first one,
the Lord knows those who are his.
This implies, doesn't it, says Paul,
that you and I don't know who belongs to the Lord.
We cannot tell who belongs to God and who does not.
God's people are to a certain degree invisible to us,
but not to God.
They are known to God.
In other words, Paul's point is to Timothy
that the church now, just like Israel then,
is in a sense a mix of people,
a mix of genuine believers,
and people who claim to be believers,
but are not really.
And largely speaking,
that difference is invisible to us.
It's not something that we can see.
Being a Christian,
belonging to God,
is not about external behavior,
but about an internal change of heart.
Being a Christian is about having our hearts changed and transformed,
that we love God and trust him.
And that internal change is not apparent to us.
People don't wear a badge.
You can't see.
So you could claim to be a Christian,
and we wouldn't know whether it was true or not.
But God does, right?
No one fools God.
You might fool a church.
You might fool yourself.
You can never fool God,
because God knows those who are his.
Secondly then,
everyone who confesses the name of the Lord
must turn away from wickedness.
This is the second foundation,
that the visible sign of invisible change is obedience.
Obedience.
In other words,
while it's impossible for us to see the invisible change in human hearts,
we are able to observe external obedience.
External obedience is not an infallible sign of genuine faith,
but it is a sign of genuine faith.
So if you claim to be a Christian,
but you don't live as one,
you don't obey the Lord,
well, then you're almost certainly not a Christian.
If you call yourself a Christian,
but you have no desire to please God,
to live his way,
to submit to his word,
then in all probability,
you're lying to yourself about being a Christian.
Not, I hasten to add,
not because obedience saves you.
Obedience does not save you,
but obedience is the mark
of having received salvation from the Lord Jesus Christ.
His obedience saves us.
Our obedience is a sign that we have received his salvation.
A desire to follow God and to live his ways
and to please him is a sign of true faith.
It's why if you belong to this church as a church member,
we ask not only do you believe the gospel of Jesus Christ,
but we also look at your life
to see whether you are living in a way that backs that up.
It's why baptism is really the entry point
into the life of the church
because it is a first act of step of obedience
to Jesus' command.
Believe and be baptized, he says.
So there you have it, two foundations.
The Lord knows those who are his.
They're invisible to us.
And everyone who confesses the name of the Lord
must turn away from wickedness.
Now, what I want you to see this morning
is that really the rest of the passage
works out in the light of those two foundations.
Essentially, the rest of the passages,
you know, if those are the solid truths,
then what should church be like?
You know, what's Timothy's job in church to be
if these are the solid foundations?
How should he go about his ministry
in a visible church,
which is a mix of the genuine and the fake?
Well, basically, Paul says two things,
one before verse 19 and one after,
and each of them have their own illustration.
So the first is about a road builder
and the second is about a housekeeper.
And for the rest of our time,
we're going to talk about road building
and housekeeping, as Paul does here.
So firstly, the road builder, verses 14 to 18.
Look down at verse 15.
This is the instruction that Paul gives to Timothy.
Do your best to present yourself to God
as one approved,
a worker who does not need to be ashamed
and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Here you go.
This is Timothy's task in a mixed church,
in a church of invisible faith,
made visible by external obedience.
What are you to do in that mixed church?
Well, says Paul,
you need to make sure
that you correctly handle the word of truth.
Literally here to guide a straight path,
go in a straight line,
not to cut corners
or to deviate to one side or the other.
Apparently, the word here
is the word from road building,
correctly handling the word of truth
is cutting a straight path,
as in road building.
It's not hard to think, why is it?
If you've been in Britain any length of time
or even in any other country
that was at one point occupied by the Romans,
you will know they love to build
straight roads, right?
Cutting through the countryside
without twisting and turning.
And that, says Paul,
is to be Timothy's approach to the Bible.
Cut a straight line.
Don't twist, don't turn.
Cut a straight line right through it.
Be honest and straightforward
as a Roman road builder
is committed to cutting a straight line
through the countryside.
And in doing that,
Timothy then is to be an approved worker, notice.
Approved, though, notice,
not by the church, but by God.
That is who Timothy is presenting himself to
in verse 15.
That word implies that he is tested or examined.
He is someone who God is holding to account.
And so Timothy, in pleasing God,
can be unashamed if he is not twisting
God's word to his own ends
or seeking to win personal vendettas or arguments,
but clearly working hard to cut a straight road.
I guess it's not really that hard to imagine, is it?
Paul and Timothy in their time together as friends
have probably walked down a lot of Roman roads.
And the difference between an approved worker
and an unapproved worker would have been obvious to them, right?
You can imagine their conversation
as they're walking down the road.
Wow.
Perhaps the guy went on holiday today, right?
Notice the bump and the curve in the road, Timothy?
You know, perhaps the guy, you know, fell asleep.
Perhaps he was drunk,
but he has not cut a straight road.
Timothy, don't be that guy.
Make sure that you work hard.
Study hard.
Train properly for ministry.
Don't cut corners.
Don't make assumptions, Timothy.
Don't rely on chat GPT.
Don't rely on Google searches.
Don't stand there and waffle through your own good ideas.
Don't stand there just relying on your own story
or your own testimony.
Don't rely on telling emotional stories,
but cut a straight road.
Let your teaching of the Bible be on point,
direct, focus, clear.
In the verses that follow,
Paul articulates the distractions
to this kind of straight shooting Bible ministry.
Look down at verse 14.
Quarrels about words.
These seem to be the same
as the foolish and stupid arguments in verse 23.
Silly side pursuits and blind alleys
that Christians love to debate,
but end up nowhere.
More seriously,
there's the godless chatter of verse 16.
Literally, the words there are,
a cacophony of Babel
that leads away from the Lord.
Hymenus and Philetus in verse 18
have said that the resurrection
has already taken place.
It's like an ancient prosperity gospel
that says, hey, you Christian,
you've got everything you're going to get.
It's brilliant now.
You don't need to wait for the glory to come.
Paul says they're wrong.
This is Paul's point, isn't it?
If you know the foundations
that the Lord knows those who are his
and everyone who confesses the name of the Lord
must turn away from wickedness,
what are you to do?
What's going to cut through
that dynamic in church life?
What will expose hearts?
What will lead people away from wickedness?
What will demonstrate to people
that they're faking it?
Straight, honest, clear,
to the point Bible ministry
by a teacher who works hard
and seeks the approval of the Lord
and not men.
I want you just to think with me right now.
What is happening right now
as we open the Bible together?
I think the sense of what's going on here
in 2 Timothy 2
is that Paul is suggesting
that this, if you like,
is a moment in front of the tabernacle
with chorus people.
That's what's going on
every time we open God's word, isn't it?
As we open God's word,
this is God cutting through
the fake and the real.
I don't expect the ground to swallow people up.
If the ground opened here,
I would assume it was just the floor failing,
which is maybe not totally unlikely.
But God does expose our hearts
as we open the Bible together.
And I hope you're experiencing that.
You see, we're a mixed bunch, aren't we?
There are people in this room
who love the Lord
and are keen to live for his glory.
And there are people
who know that's not them,
but they are pretending that it is them.
There are people in this room
who know it's not them
and they want to find out more.
And there are people who aren't Christians,
but think they are and are self-deceived.
And like I said before,
no one's wearing a label, are they?
No one comes in with a label.
I am fooling myself this morning.
I want you to think I'm a Christian,
but really I'm not.
I'm only investigating.
No, none of us wear a label
and that's absolutely fine.
But God knows your heart right now,
this morning,
and he's cutting through it with his word
and exposing you.
It's not me, it's him.
And it's not the sort of vague inferences
of God's word about issues
that don't really matter.
No, it's the central message
all the way through the Bible,
the message about salvation in Christ alone,
through faith alone,
to the glory of God alone.
That's what's going on here.
That's what exposes us.
God's word confronts us with our sin.
That the God who made you,
who loves you,
who gives you life and breath
and everything that you enjoy,
that God deserves your worship
and your praise
and your very life.
But you've lived for yourself,
for your own glory and not his.
We all have.
And so we deserve his judgment.
Having received life as a gift
and lived it to ourselves,
our life is now forfeit.
We deserve to die.
But in an act of unfathomable mercy,
God sent his son, Jesus Christ,
God in flesh,
living in perfect worship
and praise of his father,
before dying on a cross in our place,
bearing the punishment that we deserve,
that we might receive resurrection life through him.
It's that message,
which it takes the whole Bible to tell,
that exposes your heart.
I'm a sinner.
Jesus alone can save me.
I need to trust in him.
The truth is,
this exposing work happens whenever the Bible is open.
So perhaps this morning,
you find yourself as being one of those people
who's responsible for perhaps a community group
or for youth ministry
or for Sunday school
or for doing a one-to-one.
Perhaps you've got your own children
that you're trying to teach the Bible.
Maybe you've got grandchildren,
nieces or nephews,
or maybe you're sharing in the preaching ministry
in the life of the church.
Well,
then you need this instruction in verse 15,
don't you?
That you need God's approval,
not other people's.
You know,
if you open the Bible
looking for people's approval,
then what you will do
is you will fall into the godless chatter.
People love godless chatter.
You know,
if you spend hours talking about
who the beast is in Revelation 13,
they'll love to chat about that.
Or worse,
you'll find yourself spreading the gangrene
of telling people what they want to hear,
like Hymenus and Philetus.
You've got everything you want.
Life's going to be brilliant.
Instead, though,
you need to be examined,
tested,
trained,
open to feedback and criticism
so that you're clear
that what you're saying
is what the Bible is saying.
So that as you speak
for the glory of God,
you do it,
not as someone who's just rocked up
and is saying whatever's on their mind
or in some super spiritual way,
speaking as if,
you know,
preparing to preach
or preparing to speak
or preparing to share God's word
takes no preparation at all.
No,
the image of road building
implies sweat,
doesn't it?
Hard work,
graft.
The spirit loves to bless hard work.
I think it's probably worth
us just lingering here
on this for a moment.
I received an email
from a friend this week
who's a retired seminary professor.
He spent his working life
training men and women
for ministry roles
in the life of the church.
We exchange emails
every now and again
as we debate
various different things
and he made this comment.
He said,
just in one line,
he said,
mediocre preaching
is now the rule
and not the exception
in churches in Britain.
In other words,
he said,
the weakness of the church
is not about
the cultural moment
that we live in
but that ministry
in churches
is done by unqualified people
working for the approval
of men and women.
That was his point.
He's not the only one
saying it,
actually.
So what does it look like
to be a church
that bucks that trend
and takes this instruction
in verse 15 seriously?
But I think it means
that one of the things
that we are going
to invest in
as a local church
is training people,
men and women,
to be these approved workers
who work for God's glory
and who are straight-talking
word ministers, right?
You see,
think about what's being said here.
If Paul is right
that in churches
of invisible hearts
where preaching
is the thing
that cuts through it,
God's word cuts through
invisible hearts
that aren't really
exposed to us,
then two things
are true by implication.
One, which we've seen,
is that it's the ministry
of the word
that does the exposing.
You know,
ministry of the word
is like cancer surgery, right?
It's cutting open
and cutting out the bad.
But the second implication
is that it's not just
any old Bible ministry
that does that work.
It's approved by God
straight-shooting Bible ministry
that does this.
And Paul says
that really that kind of ministry
requires examination,
it requires training,
it requires testing.
Which means that if you expect
to be able to teach young people,
to preach,
to lead a Bible study,
and the only training
that you've received
is you've sat in church
and watched someone else
do it for a few years,
that's like someone
turning up and doing
a cancer operation
and says,
well,
I watched it on YouTube.
What?
You've got a scalpel,
you're cutting into them,
what are you doing?
That's it.
It happens in churches
all the time,
doesn't it?
It means that we,
as a church,
need to take care
who we appoint
to be teaching elders,
but also that we need
to be serious
about training others
as well,
ourselves and others.
We need to turn up,
we need to knuckle down,
we need to listen carefully
to feedback,
we need to study hard,
formally and formally.
There's a research group
called the Barna Research Group
that suggested in 2024
that the attrition rate
of pastors leaving
or wanting to leave
their jobs
in independent
evangelical churches
like ours
is 50%.
Like 50%
of men in ministry,
if you ask them
would they like
to quit their job,
would tell you
yes please,
right?
I mean,
that is incredible.
But if you take
into consideration
that and the average age
of people in pastoral ministry,
then churches like ours,
and this was a back
of an envelope
kind of calculation,
I think we probably
need to be training up
somebody every two years
to send them
into pastoral ministry.
Because if we're not
doing that,
we will be running out
of people to do ministry.
In fact,
I think you could make
a good argument
that for a church
like ours in inner London,
you know,
there are twice as many
young people living
in inner London
as there are
in other parts
of the country,
means that we should
be doing more of this
than any other church.
We should do twice
as much of this
because we have
twice the opportunity.
So a church like ours
should invest heavily
its money in providing
training to men and women,
not just for full-time roles,
but for lay roles too.
So that we might serve
God's people for God's glory
and for their good.
And if we won't invest
there as a church,
we can expect to be in a mess
because we're called
to be road builders
in a church where the Lord
knows those who are his.
That's the first illustration,
road builder.
Second illustration,
housekeeper.
Have a look down
at verse 20.
In a large house,
there are articles
not only of gold and silver,
but also of wood and clay.
Some are for special purposes
and some for common use.
Those who cleanse themselves
from the latter
will be instruments
for special purposes,
made holy,
useful to the master
and prepared to do
any good work.
Here the image then
is a grand house
with servants in it.
And the servants
have two kinds of tools
at their disposal.
They have dirty tools
for dirty jobs
and they have special tools
for special jobs.
Dirty tools like hammers,
shovels, clay jars
and the like
and clean tools
for fancy jobs
like silver service implements,
golden candelabras,
goblets and the like.
And the point is this,
right?
Be like the gold
and silver tools,
not like the wooden clay ones.
What does that mean?
Well, remember verse 19,
the Lord knows those
who are his
and everyone who confesses
the name of the Lord
must turn away from wickedness.
In other words,
the point is
God will get the job done,
right?
God knows who is his.
God doesn't look at the church
and go,
oh, I'm not quite sure
I know what I'm doing,
right?
God knows what he's doing
and he will get the job done.
He knows who his people are.
God's mission is not threatened
by false teachers
and by bad workers
in the church.
No, the point is really
that false teachers
and bad workers
in the church
are like these
wooden implements,
clay implements.
They're used by God
for the dirty jobs
and then discarded.
You know,
they're like the Assyrians
in Isaiah chapter 7
who are used like a razor
on the head of Israel,
right?
They are used
despite themselves
to accomplish
the purposes of God
or like the circumcision party
in Acts 15
who make the church
much clearer
on the gospel
by disputing
with the church
on circumcision.
You know,
they're not seeking
to serve God,
they're serving themselves
but nevertheless
they accomplish God's purposes
even unwittingly.
The point is
that false teaching
in the church
is not bad for God.
It's bad for the false teacher
and for those who listen
and God's point here
is don't be
a wooden hammer,
be a silver spoon.
You know,
don't unwittingly
bash out God's plan,
be a golden candelabra
that holds the flame
of the gospel brightly
because the Lord
knows those who are his
and everyone who confesses
the name of the Lord
must turn away
from wickedness.
So turn away
from wickedness.
That's what God's people do
and that's what you should do.
I wonder sometimes
whether we get confused
by these warnings
in the Bible.
How can both
those statements be true?
How can the Lord
know those who are his
and accomplish
all his purposes
and at the same time
warn us about disobedience?
How can those things
be true?
Now,
I think actually
sometimes we get confused
about this
because we don't really listen.
The point is
that the warning
will work
if you listen to it
even if
you're listening
to the warning
is not necessarily
related
to the warning itself.
Let me try and give you
an example
because that's confusing,
isn't it?
If I tell you,
right,
don't go play
in the railway line,
whether you listen
to my warning
of not playing
in the railway line
is probably related
something to do
with whether you think
I'm sensible
or a fool.
I'll never listen
to that Steve guy.
What does he know
about railways anyway,
right?
So you don't listen
to the warning.
But if you think,
do you know what,
Steve might be worth
listening to.
I know he's got
some experience
of railway lines.
I don't actually,
but you know,
he's got some experience.
He probably knows
what he's talking about.
I should listen
to his warning.
In that case,
the warning works
because of your
relationship with me.
God warns his people
and it divides them
between those who listen
and the warning works
and those who don't listen
and therefore
the warning doesn't work.
And that's what's going on.
The same is here.
God tells you,
cleanse yourself
from being a tool
of ignorance
to be a tool of glory.
You should listen.
Be useful for good work.
Be holy.
Be special.
And of course,
whether or not you listen
is not really related
to the warning itself.
It's related to your relationship
with the Lord
who gives the warning.
So how then
do we become
useful,
holy tools
instead of
sacrificial screwdrivers
that we hit with a hammer
when we've got a dirty job
we want to do?
Well,
that's what Paul articulates
in verse 22.
Have a look down at it.
I'll read it to you.
Flee the evil desires of youth.
Pursue righteousness,
faith,
love and peace
along with those
who call on the Lord
out of a pure heart.
Don't have anything to do
with foolish
and stupid arguments
because you know
they produce quarrels.
And the Lord's servant
must not be quarrelsome,
must be kind to everyone,
able to teach,
not resentful.
Opponents must be
gently instructed
in the hope
that God will grant them
repentance
leading them to a knowledge
of the truth
so that they will
come to their senses
and escape from
the trap of the devil
who has taken them captive
to do his will.
Let's just work through
those really briefly.
Being useful to the Lord
involves running
from what Paul calls
evil desires of youth.
In the context
that seems to be
going in the opposite direction
towards righteousness,
faith,
love and peace.
So that to flee
the youthful desires,
the evil desires of youth
is yes to run away
from unrighteous sexual desire
but it's more than that.
We're to flee a desire
for fame.
We're to flee
a desire for influence.
We're to flee
a desire for material wealth.
We're to flee
a desire for making
a name for ourselves.
We're to run after Jesus
and do stuff out of faith
in him
and not confidence
in ourselves.
We're to run after
loving others,
laying down ourselves
for their benefit,
being willing to become less
that they might become more.
We're to run after peace
and not disagreements.
In verse 23,
Paul spends longer
on that, doesn't he?
He says that churches
are full of stupid arguments,
foolish talk
that leads to quarrels.
And verse 24,
the Lord's servant
of gold and silver
is not to be fighting
with the sheep
over stuff that doesn't matter.
You've all met that
kind of pick-a-fight
pastor, right?
Well,
he's a jar of clay
in a bad way,
not in a one Corinthians way
but in a bad,
or two Corinthians way
but in a bad way.
He's there
for ennobal purposes.
Actually,
you need a peace-loving pastor.
We're to be kind
to everyone
even when they disagree
with us.
We're to be able
to teach
because we're not
distracted by silly arguments
that can take away
from the point.
And our hope is that
not that we can change people
but,
verse 25,
look down at it,
that God might grant
repentance to people.
God is the one
that we trust in.
God is the one
doing the work,
turning people back
to him in knowledge
of the truth
and freedom
from the devil,
verse 23.
So here's the question
for you and me
for this morning,
right?
The question is not,
notice,
the question is not
will you be useful,
right?
You will be useful
because God uses
all things
for his purposes,
right?
That's a given.
All things work out
for the accomplishment
of God's purposes.
That is not the question.
You know,
if you think
you can stand in God,
it's like standing
on Brighton Beach,
stopping the tide
from coming in,
right?
Stop.
It's just going
to wash you away,
isn't it?
You can't stand
in the way of God.
You can't stop
his purposes.
He's going to accomplish
his purpose
come what may.
Now,
that's not the question.
The question
is really this.
The question is,
are you going
to be a gold
or silver tool
or are you going
to be a wood
and clay one?
The question
isn't even,
are you a Christian
or not?
Because it seems
like in the context
it's possible
to be saved
and still
to be a noble tool
in the hand of God.
Think of the people
in 1 Corinthians 3
who were escaping
through the flames.
You see,
the question really,
I suppose,
you put it this way,
do you want God
to use you
because of your desires
and your love
for his people
or despite
your lack of love?
Do you want
in your youthful,
sinful passion
to pursue your own ends
and be frustrated
and waste your life
in causing irrelevant arguments
on the edge of church
or do you want
to grow up
and live for God's glory
and not your own?
What do you want?
Which will it be?
It's not that you can
thwart God's purposes
but you can waste your life,
right?
You can ruin a church.
You can squander your money.
You can lead people astray.
You can rob yourself
of any assurance
that you're really a Christian.
You can lose your joy
or you could cleanse yourself
from all of that
and press into the gospel of grace,
leaning in the strength
of the spirit,
making the most
of being discipled
and trained
that you might be
an instrument of gold
and silver
and the mission
of God in the world.
When I was at theological college,
I was lectured by a guy
called Mike Ovey
who died tragically
and very suddenly
a few years later.
He used to say,
I want to make you
the best gift
to a local church
that I can.
That was his purpose.
I want you
to be the best gift
you can be
to a local church.
He was under God
trying to make
wooden hammers
into silver spoons.
That's what he was doing.
And it's not just for pastors,
is it?
It's for all of us.
Let's pray
that God might cleanse us
from passion
for our own glory,
for the praise of others,
that we might live
for the glory of God alone,
follow him,
obey him,
and be a golden tool
in the service
of our Lord
because the Lord
knows those who are his
and everyone
who confesses
the name of the Lord
must turn away
from wickedness.
Let me pray
as we close.
Heavenly Father,
how we thank you
that you have
an unstoppable purpose,
that you know
what you're doing,
you know who belongs
to you,
and you are accomplishing
all that you desire
in this world.
We want to pray,
please, Lord,
that you would
forgive us
where we've been
tricking ourselves,
pretending that we belong
to you when we don't.
Forgive us,
have mercy on us,
purify our hearts,
we pray.
And we ask, Lord,
that you might make us
into useful servants
for the glory of your name.
Help us to be these
approved workmen and women
who live for your glory,
who handle the Bible
properly and truthfully
and teach it clearly.
Help us to avoid
godless chatter
or false teaching,
but to present the gospel
clearly and faithfully
that you might be at work
turning people
to trust in Christ
and receive life in his name.
As we pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Thank you.