1) The foundation of God Stands Sure
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. 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. (2Timothy 2:19-20)
In the context Paul is arguing against wrong doctrine. There was an error in belief being preached that there would not be another resurrection. Paul says the basis of the truth in the power of God is so strong that it will defeat any error arising from within the household of faith. He says that in any great house there are many items, some of which are rubbish. This is not analogy, but the substance of a description of the only building that matters: the eternal.
Let us for a moment enter the world of the architect, where even the humblest has many real plans fully documented for people who for one reason or another do not build. Some are even priced by the full team of those who could build them to make them concrete reality. Plans can exist in the minds of many as if they are real.
It has been the great mistake of evolutionists to think that there can only be functions that are from functional and material causes. The human mind has no problem visualising 'as-if' reality in dreams. Non- concrete structures in dreams can have a more powerful existence than concrete material buildings. Non material associations of people can be more real than the building they meet in.
The reason why we may not see a matter is that it is so everyday that we miss it. Gravity is everywhere, but who saw it to understand it? Do you day to day see gravity, or only if you need to? When we read Paul speaks of the household of God as a Great House, do we dismiss it as analogy? Let us see the people and organisation of meetings and relationships as a strong immaterial structure, yea even a more real structure than a great house of a king. Consider that in a great house there are servants and great heirachy in structure and order in the activity in the house. The great house is a decayed shell unless it is occupied by people doing things and maintained to be fit for the functions it contains.
Paul asserts that Yahweh Elohim of Israel laid the foundation, the basis, the order, the laws, the heirachy and even the type of people carrying out each function in his house. He has made many great teachers but some are made to be fine gold. But others are of earth to be thrown out. If we can see the house of Yahweh Elohim that Paul is speaking of as a great structure of people built on the foundation laid in Christ, we can be less upset at error, as the earth and rubbish does not endure. We are not lord of the house as Yahweh Elohim is making it, not us.
Can this thesis be tested? Let us look at the context of ideas we know in recent recorded history. How many ideas have arisen to then have failed? Communism's failure is famous in 1989 after less than 100 years. National Socialism was even more a spectacular failure in 1945. Evolution, after only 150 years if it be examined in depth is a theory in crisis at its foundation. It must be of great annoyance to evolutionists that they are still facing young dynamic people taking up tried and tested ideas from the Bible which are over 2,000 years old. Anyone can still find exceptionally well educated people who build successfully on the sure foundation of the Bible, despite every form of theological error tested in bitter controversy. It must be even more galling that science is littered with failed ideas. Science by its very nature of testing, ensures no idea is ever safe. By contrast the Bible stands the same for two thousand years, as a sure foundation.
It is the very nature of the world, as if a law, that only truth can stand the test of time.
We can also test Paul's thesis of inequality - is it indeed true after 2,000 years that there is inequality as a feature of a house, firm or organisation? Why are some people, who seem not to have more useful skills than another, more honoured than others? Can evolution explain it? Is there any hope that any more recent efforts to change what appears a natural inequality will work, when it was part of a theory tested in practice for over 100 years on all scales that failed, at every level it was tested?
Paul also gives a warning to all – in this great structure and organisation no error is, in the end, tolerated. The servant of a king who willfully does their own thing, finds very shortly they have no job - but there is much worse judgment for those who seek in any way to let error corrupt the household of faith. The wrath of an earthly king, is nothing compared to the wrath to be poured out on the willful sinner. It is up to each to diligently, by reference to the laws of the house, make all the work of the household true from the strong foundation, and ourselves as much as possible remove the dross and earth, just as a garbage is taken out each night – and unsound parts such as rotting timber removed.
And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. (Luke 12:42-43)
