The truth cannot be undermined without the most withering consequences, both morally and ecclesiastically. It: is not only communion interrupted between Christ and His own, but divergence from and opposition to His mind, more or less distinctly. Those who undermine may be of course themselves deceived; they may flatter themselves as contributing a higher testimony. But truth is never at issue with truth: in Christ all is in harmony. To say that the resurrection is past already, is both the index of the grave heterodoxy at work destructive of our proper hope, while professing to give advance of privilege, and the ready instrument of deep and rapid progress in evil. For when the resurrection comes; no more need of watching unto prayer, no more endurance of affliction, no more the good fight of faith: all will be settled in power, glory, rest, and enjoyment. That we are dead and risen with Christ is true and holy, and cannot be too urgently pressed on the believer, from first to last of his career; but we, groaning within ourselves, as having the first-fruits of the Spirit, await the adoption, the redemption of our body. It will only be at Christ's coming, which the enemy would also conceal and rob us of, the most influential of all hopes for such as love Him and would know the fellowship of His sufferings. How crafty and pernicious then the device which, turning our hope into an expression of high privilege now, would thus annul our heavenly hope, destroy communion and walk, hide Christ from our heart's longing, and make rest in present things a wise and right thing!
Such was the error of Hymenaeus and Philetus: profane babblings truly, and sure to proceed farther in ungodliness, and a very gangrene in its devouring corruption. It is the overthrow of faith wherever it is accepted.
“Nevertheless the firm foundation of God standeth, having this seal, The Lord knoweth those that are His; and, Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness. Now in a great house there are vessels not only of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earthenware, and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor. If one therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, serviceable for the master, prepared unto every good work. But flee youthful lusts, and follow after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (ver. 19-22).
It may be well that the reader should know how much speculation has wrought about “the foundation of God.” Some have conjectured that it is the doctrine of the resurrection, others the promises, some again election. Further, it has been supposed to be the church, or again, with better reason, Christ Himself. But there seems no sufficient ground for defining the foundation in this place. if the Holy Spirit has left it general, why should any seek to limit the thought? The object clearly is to mark what abides firm and of God, in the midst of confusion and ruin; and to use that immutable foundation for the comfort and good courage of, all who desire to, do His will. Doctrines, promises, election, are out of the question; and the ‘church,' or the believer, is rather that for which provision is made in the midst of the existing disorder. On the face of it the house cannot be the foundation; and it seems unreasonable to argue that Christ Himself should be said to have this seal: “The Lord knoweth them that are His;” and “Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”
Nothing more simple or important if the firm foundation of God be taken, in the abstract; those who stand upon it are on the one side comforted, on the other solemnly admonished. The state of things was such that one could no longer suppose all who composed the church to be members of Christ's body. Carelessness had allowed a harvest of weakness and shame; the godly were compelled to fall back on the assurance that the Lord knoweth them that are His, but along with that they could not but press Christian responsibility— “Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”
It will be noticed that here it is no question of “Christ,” but of “the Lord.” “Christ” is the proper expression where grace known and enjoyed is before the heart; “the Lord” as properly comes into use where profession and responsibility hold good. Even if there be no real communion, there can be no doubt that such is the case in the clause before us; and such is the reading of the best and most ancient authorities followed by all modern critics, even though they may have no notion of the difference in the truth intended.
There is, however, a great deal more, and of paramount importance, in that which the apostle adds, “'But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earthenware, and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor.” There we have a living picture of what the church was becoming. How different from the view given in the First Epistle 3:15! There the house of God is said to be the church of the living God, the pillar and stay of the truth. It is the church on earth, God's habitation in the Spirit, as that which alone here below presents and maintains the truth before all men. The Jews had not the truth, but the law; the Gentiles had only vanities, and corruptions, and dreams of men. The assembly of the living God held forth the truth before all eyes. But now, in the Second Epistle, the influx, not only of ease, instead of suffering, and of timidity, instead of courage, and of false doctrines, even in fundamentals, gave occasion for the Spirit of God to represent a far different condition. It is not that the Spirit of God has abandoned His seat, but He no longer characterizes the house as that of the living God. It may assume a greater appearance but there is far more unreality. “In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earthenware.” Long before the apostle (1 Cor. 3:55Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? (1 Corinthians 3:5)) had prepared us for that which might be built even upon Christ Himself. Who among even true servants is like Paul, a wise master-builder? Every one therefore should take heed how he builds thereon. One might build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones; another, on the contrary, might build upon it wood, hay, stubble too many, a mixture of both. And the day shall declare as the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. That which abides is proved to be acceptable to God; that which cannot stand the fire will be so far loss to the workman, even though he himself shall be saved. Here in the second Epistle to Timothy the apostle is looking not at the process but at the result. In a great house there are not only precious vessels but the commonest, “and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor.” God's house therefore is here regarded as reduced to a human comparison. It was becoming just like what we find among men on the earth, it has no longer that exclusively divine stamp which one used to expect in God's house. Failure in many ways has vitiated the testimony; and the result is that mixture which is so abhorrent to God and to those who love His will and Himself.
What is to be done then? Are we to accept His dishonor, and to lie down in despair? Or must one be bound hand or foot to unity, and shut one's eyes to all the sin and shame? A lowly-minded saint would feel bitterly the dilemma, and could not satisfy his soul by verbal protests against the evil he was sanctioning by his actual life and ways. In such a state it is well to humble one's self, and like Daniel to confess the sins of all one is associated with, as well as one's own sins. But is this all? Thank God, it is not; the apostle immediately gives precise and authoritative direction. The most timid need not fear to follow; the heart most oppressed is entitled to be of good cheer; and those who cleave to the allowance of evil, under the plea of not breaking unity, are rebuked and confounded by the apostle's call, “If one therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, &c.”
When the assembly is in its normal condition, and an evil-doer, however gross, is among the saints, the word is, “'Put away from among yourselves the wicked person.” But here it is the converse. Evil may prevail in an assembly, and the moral sensibility be so low that the mass refuse to purge out the old leaven: the vessels unto dishonor have influence enough to remain in spite of all efforts for their removal. What then? The apostle commands that the God-fearing man should purge himself from them. This meets the conscience if it were of only one; but the self-same principle, it is plain, applies to all who discern the evil, after patient waiting on the assembly and every scriptural means also employed in vain to rouse the conscience. At bottom it is evidently the same principle of separation from evil, which in 1 Cor. 5 is applied to put the evil-doer out. In 2 Tim. 2 it is a far more developed case where the well-doer, having striven without effect to correct the evils sustained within, is bound to purge himself out. Impossible that the Spirit of God would seal evil under the name of the Lord Jesus. We are unleavened as surely as Christ our passover was sanctified for us. “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” The assembly which professes to be of God cannot bind Christ and known evil together. If any therefore hear the Lord's name, who, under the plea of unity, in the love of ease, or through partiality for their friends, tolerate the evil which scripture shows to be hateful to God, a godly man has no option, but is bound to hear the divine word and to purge himself from these vessels to dishonor.
Doubtless this application of God's immutable holiness to guide the saint in these sad and difficult circumstances is a novel one. The apostle only gave it in the last Epistle he ever wrote. The reason is manifest: no occasion as yet had risen to call for so serious a word. Disorders had often been, and some of extreme character; but hitherto the saints, however faulty, had broken down, and obedience at last had prevailed. No need had ever existed for a just abandonment of those who had walked together in the assembly. But here the Spirit of God brings before the apostle's eyes a new and still more appalling result of the increasing power of evil. Whenever vessels to dishonor are forced on our acceptance, we have no choice: the honor of the Lord is above all other considerations; and, whether it be the most valiant, or the most timid, we are alike called to obey the apostle's command which applies to this state. Let us only be sure that the evil does really call for absolute separation; and, further, that patient and godly remonstrance are duly applied to get the evil judged, rather than to separate. But if it be sheltered and sustained to the dishonor of the Lord and His word, there is no alternative but to purge one's self out.
In these circumstances to give up conscience is in effect to give up God and His Christ; humbly but firmly to purge one's self from the vessels of dishonor is to be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, serviceable for the Master, prepared unto every good work. So it is ever found in experience: godly separation costs much but gains more. He that separates lightly for a mere idea or reasons of his own, is but sounding brass, and gathers profit for neither himself nor anyone else; yea, he is a standing reproach against the Lord and His word where it truly applies. But the saint who purges himself out with the deepest pain to himself and godly sorrow for others, and the rather because he believes them to be the Lord's, enters into fresh blessing, and renews, as it were, all that is proper to a saint, with fresh power to his own soul. “He shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, serviceable for the Master, prepared unto every good work.” Such an assurance is the more comforting, because he must make up his mind for the keenest shafts from those he has left behind, as well as from all who confound easy indifference with love for the, church of God. Besides, he might dread a narrow circle for his affections, and a contracted sphere for his work. How gracious that the Lord should forestall all these apprehensions and give him the promise, if he have gone through the great trial with God, of enlargement of heart in all that is for His glory.
It may be noticed that there is no such thought as quitting the house, though some have fallen into the misconception in their zeal for holiness. But we could not, and would not, so long as we bear the Lord's name. An apostate no doubt has abandoned His name. But to purge one's self from vessels to dishonor is here laid down as a positive duty, and, so far from being presumption, is simple obedience to the word of the Lord if done rightly: It is therefore the path of true and divinely given humility, whatever be the terrorism sought to be exercised by those who seek dominion over the faith of the saints. Purging one's self from evil-doers within the house is not to leave the house, but to walk there as one ought according to scripture:
So it was at the Reformation. Luther, Calvin, Zwingle, Crammer, did not leave the house of God when they rejected the mass, the worship of the saints, the authority of the pope, and other evil doctrines and practices. On the contrary, they were learning, however slowly and imperfectly to renounce what disfigured that house, and was most antagonistic to Him Who dwelt there. It was only the gross bigoted ignorance of Romanists which taxed them with leaving the house of God. The papal party assumed, as other pretenders are apt to do, that they exclusively form that house; whereas, as far as the Reformation went, the godly among the Protestants sought to purge themselves from vessels to dishonor, while the Romanists clave only the more pertinaciously to the evil, and thus became increasingly guilty. But both were in the house all the same; only some more acceptably to God, others more offensively, than before.
The principle applies no less when the godly amongst Protestants, and Romanists began to discern the true character of the church, and the wrong done by prevalent error and evil practice, not merely to the members, but to the Head of the body. This led, through a better knowledge of the written word, to the distinct conviction of the injured rights of the Holy Ghost in the assembly as well as in ministry. And those who were thus taught of God clearly saw that they must carry out the truth in faith practically, and so seek to glorify the Lord. It were wretched and ungrateful to grieve the Spirit by treating all they had learned as mere ideas for discussion or criticism of existing thoughts and ways. But by thus acting faithfully as far as they knew, did they thereby leave the house? The very reverse; they were only striving, in deference to scripture and in dependence on the Lord, to behave themselves better in that house. Christendom is not given up by walking more according to God's will in the true path for Christians, whether individually or corporately. And the self-same principle is no less valid at any time, no matter how truly gathered the saints may once have seen. Vessels to dishonor cannot enjoy Christ's sanction, and ought to be intolerable to the faithful. “If one purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel to honor.”
But the tendency is great to press this searching truth on others, and to claim, without saying so, an immunity for ourselves: so readily does the assembly slip away, from the faithfulness of the Lord when really leaned on, to set up a gradually growing plea of indefectibility. For faith degenerates into superstition the more rapidly as spirituality declines, love decays, knowledge becomes more self-complacent, and forms displace reality. A new and pettier Rome soon develops and is cried up as the only right thing. Yet the truth abides for the Spirit to use for Christ's glory, whenever the eye is, or is made, single. We are bound, if we would please Him, to sift ourselves by His word even more rigidly than others.
Nor does the apostle forget personal dangers when one might be pre-occupied with public evils. “But flee youthful lusts, and follow after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (ver. 22). It is of high moment, especially in the circumstances of clearing ourselves from what ensnares many a saint, and perhaps had ourselves too more or less in times past, that we should not give occasion to them that seek it. In vain do you testify against that which is ecclesiastically offensive to God, if you fail in conduct plainly enough to be seen by those virtually censured. Hence the care of Paul to urge earnestly on Timothy to beware of that which might hinder or trouble, and the rather then and thus. Lusts youthful must be shunned, not only worldly or carnal but “youthful,” such as impetuosity, self-confidence, levity, impatience, or the like. Nor is it enough to watch against what elders might chiefly resent: he was to pursue practical consistency or righteousness, to walk in faith, not mere human prudence or policy, to hold fast love, not selfish interests and to maintain peace, not allow strife or push for his own will.
But more; he is encouraged to do all this in personal association and mutual action with those that call on the Lord oat of a pure heart. I cannot agree with a German's suggestion (followed by Alford, Ellicott, &c.) to remove the comma after “peace,” so as to separate “with those that call,” &c. from the verb, and connect it only with the substantive immediately preceding. Heb. 12:1414Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: (Hebrews 12:14) has no real analogy with the clause; for to limit the pursuance of peace to those that so call on the Lord would give the poorest possible sense, as being such as presented the least strain. Not so: the faithful man, if he purged himself from vessels to dishonor, and walked in self-judgment and cultivation of ways pleasing to the Lord, is cheered with the prospect of companionship in his path. He need not fear isolation, as he loves the communion of saints. God will not fail to work in those whose hearts are cleansed by faith. Let him then pursue that path, not doubting but with good cheer. He will not be alone, he is to follow after the way that is acceptable to God, “with those that call on the Lord with a pure heart,” i.e. true-hearted saints, in contrast with the promoters or defenders of pravity in word or deed.
Thus is the will of the Lord made plain for a day of ruin. It is not for the faithful to abide in evil with empty protests, after the resources of patience are exhausted. It would be presumption in the face of scripture to stay in the vain hope of mending that which is publicly maintained and justified. The unmistakeable call of God is to purge one's self old, and, carefully watching against one's own dangers, to follow the path of righteousness, faith, love, peace, not in pride or carelessness of isolation, but in the fellowship of the like-minded that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.