We turn again this evening to Paul's second letter to Timothy, chapter 2, and I'll read verse 22. Our subject this evening is holiness at the heart of usefulness. Holiness at the heart of usefulness. Flee also youthful lusts. but follow righteousness, faith, charity or love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Many of us can remember about 15 years ago, there was a famous cricketer and he was very good at scoring runs. but he was somewhat reckless and would often give away his wicket. And there was a great sigh. And he was contrasted with an older cricketer who had by that time become a commentator who was very steady. He scored his runs cautiously, often slowly and painfully, which was right. Well, in one sense, some Christians are like that first cricketer and they are so anxious to be useful for the Lord that they lose their wicket because they never examine themselves and pursue personal holiness. Others, it may be said, are so focused upon walking closely with the Lord, that they never witness much to others. Well, it's perhaps a poor illustration. It's certainly one I've used before. But here we are reminded in the verse before us that usefulness will be greatly hampered if we are not pursuing personal holiness. Look at the previous verse, and we will allude to this again a little later. Paul says to Timothy, if a man therefore purge himself from these, and we'll look at what these refers to, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet or fit for the Master's use. So here the Apostle Paul is underlining for this young man, this young pastor, Timothy, the importance of being sanctified if he is to be prepared for the Master's use. The goal of this passage then is usefulness unto the Lord. And if we love the Lord and we are conscious of all that he has done in order to redeem us from eternal ruin, interposing his precious blood, enduring unimaginable agony at Calvary, If we understand that all that we have received by way of benefit through Christ is received by grace and we have no, we're not worthy of it, surely our hearts will say, I want to be useful to my Lord in some way or other. But the apostle says to Timothy, If you would be prepared, ready for the Master's use, and ready for every good work, then you must purge yourself, you must flee from youthful lusts, and you must follow righteousness, faith, love, and so on. What I want to do this evening, and I'm mindful it's very stuffy and warm in here, I'll try and be brief, but I want to think first of all about this word sanctified in verse 21. What do we mean by sanctification? And then I want to look at the three steps which the apostle presses upon Timothy as a young pastor but also he is an example to his whole flock and certainly to all the other young men and young women. He was to be an example to them. What are these steps? Purge, flee, follow. So to start with, think about this word sanctify. It literally means to be made holy. But the pagan priests were also sanctified in their way. The word was used by the Greeks to describe those who were set apart for a deity, for a false god. There was, of course, no association of purity with the idea of sanctification. The idea, to a certain extent, suggested that those who were set apart for that false god or deity, they became like that god by their association. But that's the rock bottom meaning of this word. But when it is used by the apostles, it means something more. It begins by meaning set apart, by God, for God, but it also involves being made like God. The word is used in two ways in the New Testament, and it's important for us to understand that there is a difference in certain contexts from one to another. So the word is used positionally. A Christian is already sanctified positionally. They are set apart for God. At their conversion, they become a set-apart person. So we can read in Jude verse 1, when Jude writes to his readers, he says that he is writing to them that are sanctified by God the Father, something that has already taken place. In other words, as a result of the purposes of God and that call by grace, every Christian can be said to already be set apart for God. They belong to Him. They are devoted to Him. They are His possession. They are apart from all the other people in the world. And you and I in that sense are already sanctified people. If we go back to 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 2, the same phrase is used. Paul writes to the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus. A difference has already been made. The distinction is there. In the mind of God, these people belong to Jesus Christ. Their position is one of being part of the family of God. In that sense, we are already made holy or set apart. In chapter 6 and verse 11, the apostle Paul describes a list of thieves and covetous and drunkards and revilers, adulterers, and he says, such were some of you, but you are washed. You are sanctified. In other words, God has taken you despite what you once were and your way of life, which was shameful and wicked, but God has taken you. and by the work of His Holy Spirit, He has placed you in Christ Jesus. You belong to Him. In that sense, you are sanctified. But then the word is used not to describe what we are by way of our status or position before God, but to describe a process that is still going on. So if we turn back to 1 Thessalonians chapter four, the apostle Paul writing to the Thessalonian believers, he reminds them to keep themselves pure from sexual sins. Verse three, he says, this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication. and so on. They were living in a very decadent society, a promiscuous society. Does that ring a bell? Similar to ours? And the apostle says to these Thessalonian believers, don't allow yourselves to fall into that sin of fornication, of loose living. Why? Because God's will is your sanctification, that you should become more and more holy and pure. Then in chapter 5 of that same letter, verse 23, The Apostle Paul says, the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. He's thinking here of a progressive work that goes on in the heart and life of every true Christian. We are positionally already the Lord's. We belong to him. But God's purpose is that through our lives, as a result of the purpose of God, we should become more and more like our God. A process of sanctification. And that's what is being referred to here in 2 Timothy. Timothy, he says, you are to purge yourselves from those vessels unto dishonor, you are to flee youthful lusts, follow after righteousness, and so on, because then you will be sanctified. You will be prepared and fit for the master's use. Well, Timothy is exhorted to do three things then, purge, flee, and follow. And we'll start with purge. It means to make yourself clean. The picture goes back to verse 20, or really before that. Paul has been speaking about false teachers and those who have embraced and identify with false doctrine. Here the particular doctrine was a denial that the resurrection is still future. And the apostle says, he gives a big description here in verse 20. He says, in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, some to honor, some to dishonor. He says, imagine a big building, a big house, thinking perhaps of a great mansion or palace. And he says, within that house, there will be lots and lots of utensils. Some will be vessels that are made of gold and silver, and there are others that are just made of wood or clay. He's describing the professing church of Jesus Christ. One or two of the early writers said, no, it's a description of the world. But the common consensus amongst most of the commentators is that the great house here is a picture of the whole professing Church of Christ, of all sorts of creeds and colors, if you like. Everybody who says they're a Christian, says they're a follower of Christ, says they want to identify with the Bible, and you and I know that that's a very broad church, as people say. And Timothy is told, well, within that great house, the professing church, there are some who are truly precious, who will stand the test of fire, they are genuine. genuine, faithful followers of Christ, true-hearted defenders of the gospel of Christ, but there are others that are more like a broken clay pot, relatively worthless. In fact, says the apostle here, some that are unto dishonor. They dishonor the Lord by their profession. by the things they teach and say, Timothy, your responsibility as a pastor, because you are to be an example to your flock and because you are to preserve the flock, purge yourself from those that are like dishonorable vessels. Keep yourself from them. We looked at this two weeks ago. Those that promote false teaching, that say evolution, I can be a Christian but I believe in evolution, I deny six day creation. Someone was talking to me like this, not one of us here, two or three weeks ago. And he was very upset because a Christian friend of his was advocating a teacher who openly admits that he thinks the world was brought into being by evolutionary processes. And so he asked me, and I said, the problem is that you have death before the fall. You deny a key doctrine. Where did death come from according to the Bible? Death is the result of sin. When was the first sin? Adam. When did Adam exist? According to the Bible, from the very first week of earth history. If you have evolutionary processes and you believe that all the fossils are millions of years old, you cannot have the biblical doctrine of the fall. You're a heretic. Timothy, you must purge yourself from those that deny such a key doctrine. It's as simple as that. You cannot be useful to the Lord if you're content to muddy the waters of the doctrine of the fall or of origins to that extent. As a pastor, you must be separate for your own safety and for the safety of your people. Then there's the doctrine of liberal theology. That's what Spurgeon brought himself to an early grave for, really. because so many in his day, men who were Baptist preachers in those days, but they had embraced liberalism. In other words, the idea that the Bible's not without error. There's errors in it. The Bible contains the word of God. But you can't trust every statement of Scripture. And Spurgeon contended. People accused him of being a schismatic troublemaker because he stood for the Word of God. But he had to withdraw his church from the Baptist Union. because he said, I cannot stand with people who deny what is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith, that the word of God is without error. We can trust every statement, whether it be on the doctrine of salvation, or on history, or on physics, or geography, we trust it. And so Spurgeon had to do what the scripture says here, purge yourself. Those that had embraced that doctrine, they'd become vessels unto dishonor. And in order to be useful to the Lord, faithful to the Lord, Spurgeon had to carry that doctrine through. Those that promote worldly worship, entertainment style, They've perverted the worship of scripture. I don't want to go into this this evening. It's something we've looked at many times, but it's a key doctrine. What's the highest activity the church engages in? Worship. If our worship glamorizes man and sends us into an emotional ecstasy based on rhythms and beats, it's perverted worship. We have to purge ourselves from those things. But let's move on to verse 22. Flee also, youthful lusts. The word also there is important for us because it shows that this is still Paul's train of thought. He's been talking about Timothy, you need to be sanctified, holy, if you are to be fit for the master's use and prepared for every good work. You've got to purge yourself, keep yourself pure from those that promote poor or bad doctrines, but also you must flee from youthful lusts. It's important, Timothy. Young Christian, do you want to be a good witness in your university or your workplace? flee youthful lusts, then you'll be prepared for that good work of soul winning, of showing others and pointing others to the Saviour. What is in mind here by youthful lusts? Well, you could include sexual or sensual sins, all the lusts that sweep the younger generation, particularly in their youth, into immorality. But Dr. Gill says that's probably not what is uppermost in Paul's mind here when he refers to youthful lusts. He's not thinking that Timothy is going to be particularly prone to those sins. They're included, and many young minister has fallen into them. Youthful lusts here probably means those sins that a young minister, and by extension, a young Christian particularly, is vulnerable to. Of course, all of us are vulnerable to every sin, but there are certain sins when we are in our younger years, and certainly as a young preacher, or a young pastor's wife as well, there are sins that we have to be particularly careful that we flee, because they will have a stronger hold upon us in our earlier years, usually, than when we are older. I've garnered many suggestions here, most of them are not original, so if you want to attack the messenger, I'll have to refer you to the old preachers and commentators. The love of pleasure, that's a youthful lust. The young particularly are prone to immerse themselves in pleasure seeking. Timothy, you're a young pastor. You've got to flee that particular vulnerability. It doesn't mean, Timothy, you cannot enjoy any pleasures. Of course not. But we are to flee the lust for pleasure, for saying, well, all my free time, I'm going to focus upon pleasures, upon having a good time. You've got higher calling, Timothy. You've got greater responsibilities to your God, your master, who has called you to serve him. That's applicable to every one of us, particularly those of us who are younger as Christians. We must beware, lest as young Christians we say I'm going to make pleasure and the love of pleasure my number one priority. And then there is a desire for popular applause. That's why the apostle said to Timothy, lay hands suddenly on no man. Be careful, Timothy, before you put people into office, because a novice will soon be lifted up with pride. We have to be careful. That's a youthful lust. All older ministers can be vulnerable to pride as well, and a love of popular applause, but The young particularly. I want everybody to admire me, to praise me, to take an interest in me. It's a youthful lust that we have to flee. We have to have a humble opinion of ourself. Not wanting to vaunt ourselves and our reputations personally if we are to be useful to the Lord. A desire to be preeminent. can be a real hindrance to fruitfulness if people think that that's our personality trait. Well, this young woman, she wants to be the top dog. She wants everyone to, life to revolve around her. She wants to be the hub and the center of attention. A man the same. Hot-headedness. I'm sure the apostle had that in mind. When we're young, we can be hot-headed, I think it was said of J.C. Philpott, who some of you will know very well, that when he was a young man, he was quite hot-headed and critical of older ministers. But he confessed in his old age, he said, all the heads that I chopped off in my youth, most of them, I had to go and put them back on when I got a little older. Not literally, of course. but he meant that when he was young, he realized he was so clear-cut in his thinking that he chopped off everybody else's opinions, and then he realized that he'd been far too hot-headed. We need to be alert to that when we're young, as Christians particularly, that we're not dismissive of everyone else thinking that we're right. We're all tempted by that. levity of spirit, that's another youthful lust, being too jokey, too quick to mock others. Of course, we can have a laugh, humor's not a sin, but if we're constantly belittling others, making fun of them, or joking around, hardly ever serious, it can be a great flaw in our character. flee youthful lusts, a fixation with novel or controversial ideas. That's another thing that often in our younger years we're prone to. We like to get our teeth into controversy. You see it at the universities, just among the secular world. It's the students that like to hold the banners and go on protest marches, and they think they want to put the world to rights. And every novel idea that comes along, they get fixated with it and preoccupied with it. Now, there is, of course, a place for earnestly contending for the faith. But we have to keep that contending for the faith in proportion. We seek the Lord. We walk with him. Our desire is to feed upon him. and be enriched by the deep doctrines of his word, not simply to live every day as if we're a spiritual gangster trying to cause havoc by promoting controversy left, right, and center. Timothy, if you are to be sanctified, fit for the master's use, flee youthful lusts, and then thirdly, but follow righteousness, and so on. Well, this word follow, it's the persecute word. Timothy knew, Paul knew what this word meant all too well, because he was himself a persecutor. He harassed those who were Christians. And that's the sense of this word, harass. righteousness, faith, love, and so on. Seek it eagerly. Give yourself no rest until you've laid hold upon these virtues, these traits. If you would be of use to the Lord, young Timothy, then you must follow these things. Now, this is not the first time that Paul has pressed this principle upon Timothy. If we go back to 1 Timothy, look at verse 12 in chapter four, just a page back, and it's important we note this. Let no man despise thy youth. Be thou an example of the believers in word, your manner of conversation, in conversation, that means your behavior, in charity or love, in your general spirit. Timothy, in faith, in purity, focus upon these things. You have a great responsibility to be exemplary. Your flock won't follow you unless your example is impeccable. And chapter six, of 1st Timothy, verse 11, we read it earlier. But thou, O man of God, flee these things, follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. So three times in the space of these two letters, Paul is exhorting Timothy, your manner of life is vital, Timothy. He kept hitting the same note. He kept pressing home this same important principle. If you're to be of use, then your life must be marked by righteousness, faith, love, and peace. So let's look at these very briefly. Righteousness. Here it means righteousness of life, not the righteousness of Christ. Of course we are to follow or to lay hold of that, but here it's practical integrity of life. It's Timothy, seek to be an honest man. There's a solemn lack of integrity today in society. We see it in Parliament, we see it in the media, People lack integrity, honesty. But amongst the people of God, integrity, sincerity, conformity to the very law of God in thought, in word, in deed is vital. Timothy, that must be the first thing that you strive for. We fail, of course. Our lives are littered with pitfalls and shortcomings, but we are to persecute it. We are to strive for this at all cost. We're not to put on righteousness with our Sunday suit and live for one day in a way that is becoming a Christian. We are to be Christ-like 24-7 in all our relationships with one another and with the world around us. and with God, follow after righteousness. Let your life be perfectly conformed with the help of God and through his spirit to his commands. Faith. Probably here the sense is not saving faith as such, but the practical life of faith. Do people look at us and see that we are living confident and dependent upon God, believing that he will be with us in all our times of trouble and sorrow. We've learned to trust him and exercise that faith that he will order our steps. He will uphold and comfort us in times of affliction. That's the life of faith. Timothy, you're a pastor. People need to see. that when trouble strikes, you're trusting the Lord. That's what Joseph did, didn't he? He was in the household of Potiphar and then in the prison. But in both those dark valleys, Joseph never ceased trusting the Lord. It made his witness powerful. people could see that he was not just a fair weather Christian, as people say. When the sun shines, I'll believe in God. But when the clouds roll over my horizon, then I'll become miserable and I'll question God's dealings with me. No, Timothy, you're to be a man of confidence, humble confidence in God, in gospel work. Do we have confidence in God's methods? in the power of God, it through his word to convict and to convert sinners. That's faith. Love or charity, a deep personal affection for all the family of God. I've told you this before, I'm sure, but Robert Murray McChain once gave a very short address to Sunday school teachers. I think it was McChain. The first prerequisite to be a Sunday school teacher is that you love the children, he said. Doesn't matter what gifts you've got, how well you can convey Bible lessons to those young hearts, unless you love them and they sense that you love them, they won't listen to you. Timothy, if you're to be a faithful pastor, a fruitful pastor, you must love your flock. Sometimes there will be members of your flock that are not easy to love. They're prickly characters. They're irksome individuals. But Timothy, you must persecute charity, a spirit of love. And that's the same for all of us as Christians. Perhaps we look around and we say, well, There are certain people I gravitate towards. I'm happy to invite them around, have coffee with them, but there are others I generally don't really have much to do with them because, well, I'm not on their wavelength. Or once they said something that annoyed me. If we would be fruitful and useful to the Lord, we have to have fervent charity, love amongst ourselves. and Timothy is exalted to that here. And lastly, peace. A state of inner harmony. That makes for good fellowship. It makes for effective soul winning. If we are at peace with God and at peace with our circumstances, and that we follow peace as far as we can with all men, We may have to rebuke, we may have to warn, but underlying that stern word, there is that spirit of peace, that disposition of kindness and gentleness. Then that makes us effective servants of Jesus Christ. when we have a peaceable disposition, tolerant of others' shortcomings, ready to overlook their faults and extend the friendship of peace towards them. So here is a exhortation to us. There's such a strong link between holiness and usefulness. Purge yourself from those that have embraced and identify with false doctrine, false teaching. Flee from youthful lusts. Persecute righteousness and all the other virtues of true Christianity. That will be the foundation for true youthfulness. The Lord can use us. Would you pour water into a dirty glass and drink it? then why should the Lord take a vessel that is soiled with all sorts of compromise and corruption and say, I'll use that person? Sometimes the Lord does. He's sovereign. If he only wanted someone who was sinless, he would have used the angels alone. He does use sinful, mortal human beings. Despite our shortcomings and our sins, But that doesn't mean that we should not strive, as the Apostle says here, to be as holy as we can be, that we may be fit for the Master's use. May the Lord bless his word to us.