But in a great house there are not only
vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood
and of earth; and some to honour, and some to
dishonour (2 Timothy 2:20).

Notice, in a great house there are not only
vessels of gold and silver but also of wood
and earth. Some to honor, some to dishonor.
Which are we? How do we determine which
we will be?

A Vessel of Honor

If a man therefore purge himself from these
[faults, sins], he shall be a vessel unto honour,
sanctified, and meet for the master’s use,
and prepared unto every good work. Flee also
youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith,
charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord
out of a pure heart (2 Timothy 2:21-22).

How do you become a vessel of honor?
By purging yourself. By conducting your life in
honor and humility. By fleeing from youthful lusts
and following after righteousness, faith, love and
peace with all those who call on the Lord out of a
pure—and honest—heart.

Honor God, Not the Flesh

Let no man beguile you of your reward in a
voluntary humility [or in false humility, telling you
that you are no good and so unworthy] and
worshipping of angels, intruding into those things
which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly
mind, and not holding the Head, from which all the body
by joints and bands having nourishment ministered,
and knit together, increase the with the increase of God.

Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments
of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye
subject to ordinances, (touch not; taste not; handle not;
which all are to perish with the using;) after the
commandments and doctrines of men? Which things
have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility,
and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the,
satisfying of the flesh (Colossians 2:18-23).

Don’t honor your flesh. Don’t do what your flesh
wants to do. Instead, honor God. For instance,
if you are honoring God, you will treat your
boss like you should—not because it’s your religion,
but because it’s the honorable thing to do. You won’t
act any other way, because you know what the Word
says to do. When you live by the Word and will of God,
you are living the honorable life.

Kenneth Copeland – Ministries

Study to show thyself approved unto God, a
workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane
and vain babblings: for they will increase
unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat
as doth a canker (one translation says “cancer”):

Of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; who
concerning the truth have erred, saying that
the resurrection is past already; and overthrow
the faith of some. Nevertheless the foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord
knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one
that nameth the name of Christ depart from
iniquity (2 Timothy 2:15-19).

In this passage we are told to avoid those who
babble all the time, who tell lies, who have their
conscience seared to the place that it shipwrecks
their lives.

We have seen this take place in all different
kinds of ministry and churches. It has come to the
attention of the entire world. This kind of thing has
been happening in the Body of Christ among charismatic
people, among word of faith people, in epidemic
proportions. It is an attack of the devil. He intends
to destroy us.

Honorable people do not lie.

Kenneth Copeland – Ministries

Christian people can be snobs, though. Some can
even be so upright and uptight that they don’t live
honorably, even when they think they are. I’ll give
you an example.

I knew a woman in Pensacola, Fla., which is the
home of a U.S. naval base with hundreds and hundreds
of sailors. When one aircraft carrier docks
there, 3,000 people or more may disembark and head
to town. Most of the people there know when a carrier
or some other large warship has docked.

This dear lady would take tracts with her name
and phone number on them and go to every newsstand,
pornography shop and tattoo parlor she could
find. The first thing she would do would be to open
the centerfolds in those girlie magazines and put
tracts in them.

Soon after, some sailor would open one of those
magazines. He probably had sounded big and tough
the night before, but he knew he was just a 19-year-old
boy who was a long way from home. No money. No one
to call. Nothing to do but look at that magazine.

Then he would find that tract right next to the main attraction
and call the person whose name was printed on
the tract. That is when things would start happening!
This is just the way it happened, time and time again.
That woman rescued those young sailors out of sin.

She took them home, prayed for them, fed them, took
them to church, cleaned them up and sent them back
to the Navy as different young men—by the hundreds.
Was she honored for her work? God honored her.

But her church kicked her out because somebody saw
her coming out of one of those ugly places where she
had left her tracts one night.

“Don’t you know you’re liable to get demon-possessed
if you go in there?” she was asked.

“No, I’m not going to get demon-possessed,” she
answered. “Some little puny demon is not going to
run me off—and it ought not run you off either.”

Still she was kicked out of the church, so she started
her own church. I preached in it. She didn’t want to
start her own church, but she had to have a place of
worship—and she needed a place to bring the sailors.

She was a mother to many servicemen. Some of
them would call her and say “I don’t have any business
looking at those dirty old magazines. I know better
than that. I wish you would pray for me. I haven’t been
acting like I should since I joined the service.”
The woman honored God by doing what she
was expected to do, instead of acting like a silly,
sissy, wimpy, no-faith, dishonorable “Christian.”

Those sailors were not coming in to the church, so
she went out to take the gospel to them and bring
them to the Lord. She was kicked out by those who
were too upright and uptight to recognize real
honor when they saw it.

Through it all, she kept an honorable attitude. She
held faith and a good conscience.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

We must honor God by living life as He has directed—
every day! This means honoring those above us, being
subject to them.

If your superiors mistreat you, crying and moaning
won’t help. If you keep crying, “They don’t like
me,” then they won’t. There really is no reason for
them to like you. They don’t know God, and you are
acting like you don’t either.

You are a man or woman of honor. What do you
do when someone cheats you out of your vacation or
your overtime pay or your rightful promotion? You
say: “Lord, You know what’s happening here. I’m being
treated unjustly. You know it, I know it, and they
know it. I just turn this situation over to You. You
handle it any way You want.”

Then a strange thing will happen: In the end,
you will come out ahead. How will that happen? By
honoring God, then living in His honor and by your
own honesty.

There is nothing that we can’t accomplish in
honor, in God’s honor. There is no place we can’t go, no
goal we can’t reach—if we keep an honorable attitude.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Servants, be subject to your masters with all
fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to
the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man
for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering
wrongfully (1 Peter 2:18-19).

The Amplified Bible says verse 17 this way: “Show
respect for all men [treat them honorably].”
Servants—employees—be subject to your bosses
with all honor.

In verse 17 of this chapter we are told to fear God.
If you look up the Greek word translated fear, you will
find that it relates to reverence. We are to reverence
the Lord. In the same way, in verse 18 we are told to
fear or reverence or give due respect and honor to our
masters—our employers.

We know this is true because it is verified in other
scriptures. The writings of Paul say the same thing.
He wrote to young Timothy: “Let as many servants as
are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of
all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be
not blasphemed” (1 Timothy 6:1).

Notice that we are to give reverence and honor not
only to the good bosses and gentle masters but also to
the “froward.” The word froward means “disobedient
or ugly.”

Even when our boss is not good, not gentle, not
obedient to God, we are to honor him. We are under
obligation to treat him with honor and respect, even
though he may treat us with dishonor and disrespect.
To do this is “thankworthy.” The New International
Version translates this word as commendable.

Thankworthy is an old King James English word that
is so strong, and so powerful, we need to bring it back
into our vocabulary. It is thankworthy if a man, for the
sake of conscience toward God, endures grief, suffering
wrongfully.

If you will treat with honor a dishonorable boss or
superior, you will find favor with God. Of course, you
don’t have to stay there unless God tells you to, but as
long as you work for him, be subject to him. Walk in
love. Love never fails. Treat him with honor just as you
would if he were good and gentle, even though he is
disobedient to God. This is thankworthy, worthy of
thanks from God.

In this passage, God is saying to us: “I want to
thank you for representing Me there on earth the way
I really am, instead of the way the world thinks I am.
I want to thank you for looking and acting like Jesus.
Don’t worry about the one who is abusing or mistreating
you. I will take care of him.”

God may move you out of that situation, but most
likely, you will be an influence on your superior, and
you may even win him to the Lord.

It’s imperative for you to believe God, and then act
like you believe. You must believe and show your honoring
of that belief.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries