Jun P. Espina 3 min read
Updated on July 14th, 2022
Vessels for Honor
I attended a church where the pastor blurted out: “If I could plant 500 daughter churches, it would be enough life for me.” This guy used to bang his lectern even outside of reason. His topic at that time was about faith-promise giving. I haven’t heard one preacher preaching a faith promise with an appropriate Scripture. So, I scoured the Web, believing it was false doctrine (since it requires the church members to make a vow to give to the Lord!), and found a story about the origin of faith-promise teaching by a certain Smith in Canada, who had a huge ego, according to the article. It is the problem; when religion becomes a quasi-empire, and the ego of the leaders is overwhelming. These leaders cannot be vessels for honor for the Master’s use.
To avoid this from happening, the apostle Paul said we must avoid something. What is it? Well, we must avoid teaching a false doctrine.
Observe 2 Timothy 2:21:
This divine instruction is for ANYONE who CLEANSES HIMSELF to be “a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master.” An ordinary member of the church led the prince of preachers, C. H. Spurgeon, to our Lord. A born-again Christian is useful to the Master, and not just the preacher who has planted 500 churches.
Preaching a Great Sermon or Cow Preaching — Yelling Minus a Working Outline?
The Requirement to Become Vessels for Honor
What is the requirement to become a vessel for the honor of our Lord Jesus? Aside from born-again Christianity and sanctified life, Paul said, “if anyone CLEANSES HIMSELF FROM THESE THINGS.” To understand the phrase “these things,” let us move backward to find out that a useful Christian must not spread false teaching.
Observe 2 Timothy 2:18: “[M]en who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.”
In short, the vessels “for honor” who are “useful to the Master” are Christians (not just pastors) who are careful about their cherished doctrines and who are not UPSETTING the faith of some in the church. False doctrines are what Paul commanded us to avoid.
What Disqualifies Christians for Becoming Vessels for Honor
What are these false doctrines most pastors love to preach about, thus disqualifying them to be vessels for the Lord’s use?
Well, to be honest, tons of false teaching like faith promise, salvation by good works, the new Hyper-Calvinism of John Piper, Sproul, John MacArthur, et al., or that the Bible has many errors, etc.
I’ve become a student of faithful ministers through a serious study of their books, and I learned one thing. These useful vessels for the honor of Christ were careful that they always remained biblical in their sermons and writings.
In less than a decade from now, our church will suffer from Internet-dependent preachers, who are without classical and biblical materials in their home library.
The Doctrinal Gold Mines from the Old Path
I remember Spurgeon, who once said that his beloved books were published 200 years ago. Without so much modernism and atheism swamped into cyberspace, the old path (except Hyper-Calvinism!) followed by our church fathers 600 years ago or older are always doctrinal gold mines in their purest form.
And it is alarming, because the Internet, the devil’s most compelling forum of religious ideas, is never short of false teachings.
False Teachings in Cyberspace
A certain guy, for example, wrote about Christ’s “bloodline,” deceiving people about our Lord’s so-called extended humanity after His resurrection. From India, they have a legend about the lost years of Jesus. Everything blasphemous concerning Christ is the Internet’s high-traffic stories.
Christ said that the devil is the father of lies, and some Christians who are careless of their doctrines fall prey to these lies. They could never be vessels of honor for the Master’s use.
Piper & MacArthur on One Stage. Watch
This YouTube video confirms John Piper & John MacArthur’s new Hyper-Calvinism. Most pastors praise high heavens for these two guys, whom they thought to be vessels for the Master’s use. I have MacArthur’s books in my library, but I don’t swallow hook, line, and sinker his subtle Hyper-Calvinism. (Press the image to watch.)
John MacArthur’s Hyper-Calvinism: He believes Jesus died “for somebody,” not for all.
John MacArthur’s Hyper-Calvinism: He believes Jesus died “for somebody,” not for all. Isn’t it blasphemous? Isn’t it a way of accusing Christ that He loves some and hates some? Watch.
