The apostle Paul uses an illustration to remind Timothy (and believers today) that our usefulness to God is dependent on being holy. So often, we tolerate sin of various kinds and are indifferent to God’s claim on our lives.

Paul reminds us that every house has vessels that are fancy, and the owners are proud to display them. Other vessels, more common (wood and clay), are put away when guests come.

The better vessels – the ones that are clean and ready for use – will be used in the Master’s service. No one would bring out vessels for a meal that are not clean and set them before their guests.

God is the same way. He honors and uses those people who put away sin and seek to please Him in all things. Although we are not perfect, we can aim to please Him in all we do, say, and think. Notice that we are to purge ourselves, and He will help us.

If you want to be ready for the Master to use in His service, it is time to put away the sin (“purge himself”). Confess it today and ask Him for help to get the victory you need. Learn to be faithful in the things God wants every believer to do and get prepared. Then, look for places of service and seek His guidance – but also wait for His direction.

One thing that believers do not need to worry about is does the Lord know who His children are. He knows them and will make no mistake – but there are some who think they are saved and they are not.

The biggest test is whether you have trusted Christ as your Savior and have you been changed afterward. God said: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17). No change means no salvation. There ought to be a new hatred of sin and power with willpower to overcome it.

The reason that Christ was able to save us is because He was without sin – not even one. If He had sin, when He died, He would have gone to Hell and stayed there. There never would have been a resurrection or an ascension.

Even though no believer will ever be sinless this side of Heaven, we are commanded to “depart from iniquity.” Christ gives us power to have the victory He wants us to have. II Corinthians 2:14 tells us “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.” Did you notice the word “always”?

There is a sad lack of victory in Christian’s lives today. Our Lord is willing to give you a tremendous victory and to keep on giving it – but few Christians want it. They love their sin too much.

It needs to be realized that there are no rewards for carnality – living like the world. Nor are there any rewards for being someone who once was faithful.

Rewards are only given to victors. You say that you expect to have rewards – for what have you earned them? Will you be faithful today – and tomorrow?

Paul says that he prayed continuously for this church. He certainly believed in the power of prayer and spent much time in it.

His prayers focused on these people that they would be worthy of escaping the fires of Hell (vss. 8,9) and bring honor to Christ. Although salvation cannot be earned, there are many professing believers who do not show thankfulness to God by living a godly lifestyle and going to church. While all true believers will be saved, many are not worthy of this honor.

Being obedient helps us “fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness.” It makes Him glad that He saved us. It will also enable us to do “the work of faith with power.” Obedient believers who look to God in faith every day have spiritual power that disobedient believers know nothing about.

Why is this so important? “That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him.” We must remember that He saved us for Himself. He ought to get all the glory. He has made us what we are since salvation – “But by the grace of God I am what I am” I Cor. 15:10 – and He will finish making us like Himself when we get to glory.

We have been bought with a price: “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (I Cor. 16:20).

It is a common belief that people thin that God the Father will be the One to judge all people. This thinking is contrary to the Bible because this verse says that Christ will be the Judge.

It makes sense, because He became one of us. No one can say on that day that it is not fair for God to judge us because He is so unlike us and He does not understand. Instead, we are told that Jesus was “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). He knows exactly what we experience, and He also knows that any temptation can be overcome with His help.

Jesus’ life, teachings, and miracles, all show that He loves people. His sacrifice reveals it even more so because He knew that He came to be the Lamb of God for the purpose of becoming a Final Sacrifice for our sins.

Being that Jesus is also God; we know that He is holy and that sin cannot be allowed in Heaven – or it would not be Heaven anymore. Since He made all things, gave us a mind to understand His will, and made us responsible to Him, He must also judge us – and He will do it perfectly.

Believers who walk close to Christ down here will find blessing on that day. Others will find that Christ has very strong criticism of them and a loss of rewards (II Jn. 8; I Co. 3:12-15).

Paul spoke of the “terror of the Lord,” in II Cor. 10:11. Although I believe that this is a reference to God’s judgment in relation to the lost, we can see from Christ’s denunciation of the churches in Revelation 2 and 3 that He notices the big and the little failures, as well as the successes. We ought to want to please Him so that our lives are lived under His direction so that we can have His blessing on our lives – and His praise in the next.

As believers, we must remember that we will give account for what we do and do not do. Since He could return for us today, we must seek to always be ready. Thank God, that we do not have to work alone to be prepared: “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”

Paul cared much for the Corinthian church, but it was a problem church. They caused him grief because they were not very spiritual. The people had gotten puffed up (proud) about their spiritual gifts and divided as to who they should follow.

In the text verse, Paul was warning them that he did not care for what they thought or said of themselves, he wanted to see that they had the power of God in their life and work for God. That was all that really mattered – mere talk did not count.

The Bible clearly teaches that a Christian should be different after they get saved. There is a new power present in their life – the Holy Spirit – and there should be spiritual fruit (evidence or proof).

The power of God will be manifested in several ways. First, the believer will desire the things of God – reading the Bible, going to church, praying, and living a holy life. They will crave victory over sin, and they will want to tell others about their new salvation.

When these things are absent, there is reason to doubt that person’s salvation. Paul’s question about the Corinthians was correct: Where is the power of God in your life?

Worldly Christians have no power. Thank, God, though, it can be restored. Turning from worldly ways and confessing it restores the fellowship with God. Once that happens, the power of God on your life may return if you surrender to his will. Are you willing? Is it worth it to you to have power with God again?

A lot of movies have been made in recent years dealing with the living dead, also called zombies. I do not need to go into any detail about them except to say that I do not watch them.

Halloween, no doubt, is a time when many horror movies are going to be shown. It seems that people love a good scare every now and then.

Anyway, the Bible declares that no biological virus is needed for people to be among the living dead. Many are there – in God’s eyes – and they do not even know it.

God says that when you know the truth, as found in the Bible – “the way of understanding” – and choose not to walk according to it, that you are among the living dead. It means that you are walking contrary to God’s known plan for humans and are living in sin. And living that way has a severe price tag attached to it – Hell – which is far scarier.

If you are living that way, although you have biological life, you do not have the spiritual life God wants you to have and says you must have to go to Heaven. He wants to forgive your sin (walking contrary to his will) and give you true life from the Holy Spirit. If you are not regenerated by God through what Jesus Christ did on the cross for you, you remain in the congregation of the dead to this day.

I am not talking about reform or obeying a bunch of rules. Those things will not save anyone. Only by asking God for forgiveness and receiving Jesus Christ as your only Savior to give you eternal life can you go from being in the “congregation of the dead” to become a child of God.

The Bible tells us, in John 1:12: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” Putting simple faith in Christ to save you can take you from death unto eternal life – He promised it.

If you have never asked Jesus to forgive and save you from your sins and desire to live for Him – will you do it today?

There is little doubt that our nation is at a crossroads. The key to blessing and positive change has always been to see God work.

However, God works on behalf of his children when they are pleasing in His sight and are obeying His principles as found in the Bible. Right now, the most important thing is for believers to get in a position where God wants to bless His people – or He will let them be overcome with undesirable circumstances.

II Chronicles 7:14 still holds the key to the revival needed. The verse says: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Even though revival comes from God, His people need to be able to receive it. It requires four things: 1. humbling ourselves, 2. praying, 3. seeking Him – not merely going through the motions, and 4. turning from sin.

In the Bible, when people got serious with God, He was ready to do His part and bring revival. A lack of seriousness will fail to do the job. Believers need to be confessing, surrendering to His will, and doing His will. Revival only comes when His people spend considerable time in prayer and Bible reading.

God does not significantly bless those who do not spend much time with Him. Christian, are you willing to do what is required – or are you too busy?

There is little doubt that the “signs of the times” are occurring all around us. To see them, you only need to pay attention to the news and know what the Bible says about prophecy.

We are having earthquakes, droughts and famines, and a lot of talk about “wars and rumors of wars.” Talk of World War III is openly being heard often and some foreign leaders seem to want it. We are also seeing sin practiced openly and unashamedly.

In the text verse above, Jesus criticized the Jewish leaders because, although they knew what was happening (or could happen) politically, they failed to see that the promised Messiah had come and was standing before them.

In a similar way, many Christians see what is happening around the world and know that the Bible says that these things will occur in the last days, but they completely fail to get ready for Christ’s taking us home. It could not be any plainer that our time on this planet is about over.

We should be walking very circumspectly (carefully) to please God in all we do and to tell others so they can be saved before it is too late. While Christians freely discuss the “signs of the times,” it is time to do something about it.

God’s will for every believer is “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10). Are you?

There is no doubt that God wants His people to live in peace with each other and be in agreement. This leads many people to assume that denominations and various groups are wrong, and that something called interdenominationalism is best.

Historically, God has used different groups, or denominations at different times to do His work around the world. Unfortunately, organizations (religious and secular) tend to degrade and eventually become something other than what they were created for.

While one religious group, whether entirely Biblically correct or not, was spreading God’s Word around the world at one time, it would eventually lose its power and zeal to do so. Churches begin to suffer some loss, or become proud because of their past, and they lose the blessing of God. Then God would use another group.

Instead of trusting God for their power and sustenance, churches begin to create programs, drop Biblically proven methods of growing a church, and compromise with the world. Sometimes, individuals rise to power in a church who are not Biblically sound (whether it be by choice, influence of others, or just ignorant of the Bible), and they lead a congregation away from the will of God.

Most people shop for certain brands they are familiar with when they go to the store because they trust it and they know what they are getting. Interdenominationalism has no brand, and you never really know what you are getting. It may have doctrinal leanings one way or another and may drop certain teachings for fear of sounding like another group. In doing so, it may compromise the truth.

Personally, I am a Baptist – not because I was raised in a Baptist church – I was not. But after having been in different churches and doing much Bible study and teaching it, I believe that the Baptists are generally the closest group to believing and practicing what the Bible teaches today.

Denominations and various groups exist for two main reasons. The first is because people have different levels of Bible education. They tend to focus on certain verses of Scripture rather than the entire Bible and may close their ears to certain other Scriptures – often due to preferences.

A second reason, which should never be forgotten, is that Satan desires to cause division. He may do it through personalities, doctrine, issues such as tongues or spiritual gifts, baptism, leadership, dress, eternal security, and sometimes he raises up people that just want to cause trouble.

It should be remembered that God has one goal – to win the world to Himself. Every church is a little different because of people. God seems to tolerate denominations now because people are different and fail to study the Bible more to learn the truth about some matters. Another reason is that some denominations have a trend of drifting away from God and focus on minor things rather than fulfilling the Great Commission.

This part of the verse reveals one reason sin is becoming rampant in our culture – not only in America but also around the world. Some people foolishly think that because God does not act immediately to judge sin that He will not act at all.

The truth is that He always sees what people do, think, and fail to do what they should. He hears every word spoken and will even judge them for wrong words and for taking His Name in vain. Matthew 12:36,37 says: “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

It needs to be remembered that we live in time and our lives are short. God is not in a hurry to judge because He has all eternity to wait for the ungodly – and to punish them. Make no mistake – He will judge all sin, and those who have not made Him their Savior will give account for every sin committed.

Our lives are brief. Before we know it, we become old and wonder where our life went. But God never changes. He is always holy and intolerant of sin.

Another reason He waits to judge is because He would rather show mercy than judgment. His mercy, however, does have limits and He has a set day when He will judge all people. There will be no escaping that day.

The Bible tells us that when He comes, it will be as in the days of Noah. When the flood came that destroyed the old world, people were carrying on as usual – not heeding the plain message given them by God’s messenger – Noah. Because they would not turn from their sin (repent) – they perished. A way of escape was available (as it is today) – but they wanted their sin more than God’s message of mercy to them.

Which way will you take? Going the same way you have been living, or turning from it to Christ for mercy and salvation?