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HIGHLIGHT: 2 Timothy 2:20-22 20Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also those of wood and

clay; some for honorable use and some for dishonorable. 21So if anyone purifies himself from

anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master,

prepared for every good work.

22Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with

those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

EXPLAIN

Leaders: Feel free to use any of the “Explain” materials to guide discussion as it is needed or to expound on a certain area of the text as it comes up during your Life Group time, but the purpose of this section is to deepen your own personal understanding of the Word. Your members have access to all of this material as well.

In the last section, Paul reminded Timothy to be a faithful teacher of God’s Word. Now, he is going to explain how to be the kind of person God will use. If you want to ensure that God will use you in this life, Paul has the answer: purify yourself from things that are dishonorable.

v.20 Here, Paul is using an analogy that everybody can connect with: dishes. We all have dishes in our homes that we use for various things. Some people have decorative dishes that merely look good. Some have a sink full of dirty dishes that they’d never dream of serving food on. In this analogy, Paul is imploring Timothy to be a vessel that plays an important part in the household—one that is used to get things done. You don't want to just sit on a shelf, and you don’t want to lie dirty and useless in the kitchen sink.

Notably, the people that Paul is comparing to dishes in this verse are believers. He is not making a statement about every person in the world; the things addressed in the following verses are not necessarily salvation issues. While someone’s actions do display the state of their hearts, Paul is not saying that

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one set of vessels will receive eternal life and the others will not. Instead, he is drawing a distinction between which will be useful to the Master and which won’t. A believer who has been saved by the grace of God will want to be put to good use by the One who saved them.

v.21 The previous section referred to teaching and doctrine, which can certainly be dishonorable, but here, “anything dishonorable” refers more specifically to behavior. We can tell this because it is sandwiched between two verses that speak of personal holiness: “turn away from wickedness” in verse 19 and “flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness” in verse 22. Honorable vessels pursue both honorable doctrine and clean living.

v.22 Many times, “youthful passions” is translated as simply sexual sin. However, Paul means more than simply fleeing sexual sin. By examining the context, especially verses 23-25, we notice that youthful passions includes the temptation to quarrel, to be unkind or respond brashly to others, and being cruelly harsh. In light of this, “youthful passions” seems to mean general unrestraint, the way childishness is unrestrained. If a believer is pursuing righteousness and desiring to be used by God, that person will display self-control (Titus 1:8, James 1:19-21).

The condition of your usefulness is not how skilled you are, but your holiness. Spurgeon wrote, “But let a man once become really holy, even though he has but the slenderest possible ability, and he will be a fitter instrument in God’s hand than the man of gigantic accomplishments who is not obedient to the divine will, or clean and pure in the sight of the Lord God Almighty” (Soulwinner, 41).

APPLY Your Leader Guide will have material that the participant guides do not have. The bolded material is what the people in your group will have, the other material is only for you to help guide discussion.

This guide can be as strict a script or as general a resource as the leader needs it to be.

1. What stuck out to you or challenged you in what you heard in the sermon or read in the text?

2. What is the difference between “honorable” and “dishonorable” use? What are examples of things that have these types of use in your own home?

3. What are examples of “dishonorable” things that believers may be engaged in? What does “youthful passions” mean, and what are some examples?

Paul gives some examples in the following verses: being overcome by youthful passions, engaging in ignorant disputes, being quarrelsome, etc. Youthful passions refer to the quick-fuse fervor of youth. Not thinking before speaking, acting and responding irrationally, and behaving without regard for how that behavior will affect the people around them could all be included in this description. Paul’s is a call for believers to put off immaturity and behave in a way that is becoming of a child of God who is fit for His use.

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4. Why is it important for believers to be “set apart” for good use? What kinds of things can believers be used by God for? Judging by the gifts and talents He’s given you, what do you feel God has set you apart to do?

Yes, the things Paul addresses in these verses are not things on which your salvation hinges, but if someone has been born again, they will be filled with a desire to please and be used by the One who saved them.

When someone is aligned with God’s heart, they will be open to doing the things He prompts them to do. They will look at the people around them with different eyes, will be broken over their own sin and the sin of others, and they will act out of a love for the Kingdom of God, not out of any sense of self-aggrandizement. As you submit to His will with a pure heart, there are no limits to what He can use you for.

5. How can discipleship help us both avoid dishonorable things and pursue righteousness? What are some ways you’ve seen discipleship help you in these areas?

Discipleship gives you an avenue to receive and speak encouragement in deeply personal ways with other believers. You engage in active pursuit of spiritual discipline and battle against the desires of the flesh. If you have people walking alongside you, they can help you examine your heart by asking the tough questions that sometimes need to be asked.

RESPOND Challenge your group to respond either privately or corporately:

• Spend five minutes in prayer. Ask God to shine a light on your heart and search it for things that need to be removed so that you can be a pure, useful vessel for Him to use. Then ask God to use you this week, and come back next week prepared to share how you saw the Lord using you.

Encourage one another through email, text messages, or coffee dates throughout the week to build up and encourage each other.