In 2 Tim. 2:20-21 Paul speaks of honorable and disohonorable vessels; we believers in Christ need to cleanse ourselves from unrighteousness and any dishonorable vessel and we need to simply be living vessels open to the Lord for what He wants to do in us today. Amen!
This week we come to a new topic in our morning revival within the morning revival on the 2024 April ITERO.
The title for this week is, Being a Vessel unto Honor, and Pursuing Righteousness, Faith, Love, Peace with Those Who Call on the Lord out of a Pure Heart. Thank the Lord for His speaking to us today.
Day by day we need to have His fresh speaking, so we need to come to Him in His word and have His shining.
In 2 Timothy Paul wrote to his spiritual son, Timothy, to give him some words of warning and some words of strengthening and encouragement.
Paul realized that, in a real sense, the baton was being handed off from Paul to Timothy.
One of the things Paul speaks of in this last epistle of his is being a vessel unto honor, fully equipped men of God, being empowered in the grace which is in Christ Jesus, so that we may fully accomplish our ministry in the unique ministry of God’s economy.
We need to be equipped. We need to not only eat the Lord in His word, something which is vitally necessary for our spiritual existence and growth in life, but even more, pay the price to be equipped and perfected.
We need to be edified and educated so that we may be equipped.
As we live the church life and interact with the saints, as we live in this age of the degradation of the church, we need to be perfected and equipped to be proper persons in God’s economy.
For our job we need to be constantly trained and equipped so that we are better at our job; how much more as believers in Christ who aspire to be used by the Lord for the building up of the church and the perfecting of the saints!
For us to shepherd others and perfect them, we need to be equipped and perfected.
We need to be a pattern to the believers.
Paul was a pattern to the believers when he was preaching the gospel and living the Christian life, and he charged Timothy, his young co-worker, to also be a pattern to the believers.
No matter how young we are, we can be those who enjoy the Lord, are filled with His word, are enlightened and supplied, and are trained and equipped so that we may be a pattern to others.
When others see us, they should be encouraged and strengthened, and they should be so happy to follow our pattern in the Lord, for we follow the Lord’s pattern and we live Christ.
May we be the living vessels open to the Lord that He needs today!
As Vessels of Honor Prepared unto Glory, we should Cleanse ourselves from Unrighteousness and Dishonorable Vessels
In 2 Tim. 2:20-21 Paul mentions honorable and dishonorable vessels; he mentions both vessels of gold and silver, and vessels of earth and wood.
And he tells us to cleanse ourselves from these so that we may be vessels of honor unto glory, useful to the master for every good work.
In a great house, referring to the deteriorated church in its mixed character, there are many vessels.
This great house is also seen in type in Matt. 13 where the Lord spoke of the parable of the mustard seed being sown and, instead of growing small and bearing fruit, grew into a great tree with all kinds of evil things inhabiting it.
Honorable vessels are constituted both of the divine nature (typified by the gold vessels) and the redeemed and regenerated human nature (typified by the regenerated human nature); dishonorable vessels are constituted of the fallen human nature, as typified by wood and earth (Eph. 2:2-3; 2 Pet. 1:4).
In the great house there is a mix of honorable and dishonorable vessels.
The dishonorable vessels do a work that is worthless and cheap, and the materials they use are worthless and cheap, for they use wood, grass, and stubble.
Sometimes you sense that some people say things, but they speak a cheap truth, and they speak worthless matters.
Others, however, speak honorable things, for the impart the truth of God’s eternal economy into others.
They are willing to pay the price and be dealt with by the Lord throughout the years to gain something of God, and they speak something of their constitution of God.
When the honorable vessels speak something, they are full of worth, and precious things come out of their mouth.
What are we speaking today? What are we eating today? What things do we spend time in and what are we constituted with?
Are we filled with honorable things such as the riches of Christ and the healthy teaching of God’s eternal economy?
Or do we spend time in worthless things and are filled with worthless matters, which amount to nothing in the building up of the church?
Are we willing to be dealt with by the Lord?
It’s not just a matter of our ability or zeal; we need to allow the Lord to make His home in our hearts and work Himself into us as the deep things of God, the precious things of God.
In Rom. 9:21 Paul speaks of vessels unto honor and in Rom. 9:23, of vessels of mercy prepared unto glory.
The fact that we are vessels of honor prepared unto glory means that we have been designed to contain God as our honor and glory. Amen!
We believers in Christ have been chosen by God to be vessels unto honor, even vessels of honor prepared unto glory.
God wants to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory.
We are here under the Lord’s mercy, and we have been kept on the Lord’s way and in the church life by His mercy.
It is by His mercy that we are faithful and can be found faithful.
So we want to allow the Lord to work Himself into us more and more as our honor and glory, trusting not in our ability but in His mercy.
One aspect of being a vessel unto honor is cleansing ourselves from anything dishonorable, even from dishonorable vessels.
We need to cleanse ourselves from these. God chose us so that we may be vessels of honor filled with the processed and consummated Triune God (Rom. 9:21-23; 2 Cor. 13:14); however, we on our side need to cleanse ourselves from unrighteousness and any dishonorable vessels.
We need to cleanse ourselves not only from anything unrighteous by allowing the Lord to shine, expose, remove, and purge us from anything unrighteous, but even from dishonorable vessels.
Our association with some dishonorable vessels today cause us to not be useful to the Lord as vessels of honor, and we need to stay away from them.
May the Lord have a way in us to make us and keep us as vessels of honor unto glory!
Lord Jesus, thank You for making us vessels of honor unto glory for You! Amen, Lord, we praise You for coming into us as the precious things, even as preciousness itself. You are our treasure in our earthen vessel. We want to be a vessel unto honor, even a vessel of honor unto glory. We cleanse ourselves from anything unrighteous. Shine on us, Lord, and expose anything unrighteous, wicked, and sinful in us and in our living. We want to be fully cleansed. We want to be cleansed from any dishonorable vessel that causes us not to be useful in Your hand. Oh Lord, our desire is to be vessels unto honor! We want to be sanctified, useful to the master, and prepared unto every good work! Hallelujah, we are chosen by God to be vessels of honor filled with the processed and consummated Triune God! Praise the Lord, the God of glory has come into us to be our treasure, and we are vessels of honor containing God as our unique treasure today!
Not Focusing on Knowing or Doing things for God but being Living Vessels Open to the Lord
If we realize we are vessels for God to fill, we will realize from God’s word that nothing pleases God so much than us being open to Him.
He doesn’t want us to merely know about Him and about His purpose, nor is He satisfied with doing things for Him; He wants us to be living vessels open to the Lord.
In a sense, God doesn’t want us to do anything; He only wants us to love Him, open ourselves up to Him, and let Christ live from within us.
From the very beginning, when God created man, He only wanted man to be a vessel to contain God.
He didn’t command man to do this or that for Him, nor did He give man a list of rules and regulations; rather, He put man in a garden in front of the tree of life.
If our vessel is open to the Lord, He can work Himself into us and live out from us.
But if we are not open to Him, if our vessel is not open to the Lord, He is frustrated in what He wants to do in us.
In our fallen nature, however, there’s something that always wants to know things and also likes to do things.
On one hand, we want to know about God and His purpose, and we also want to do things for Him.
While this does not seem to be wrong or evil, this frustrates God, for in knowing and doing things for God, our vessel is closed to God.
Today in Christian seminaries many are educated to know and to do; the people in those seminaries are not taught to be living vessels open to the Lord but rather, how to know this and how to do that.
No wonder that, among the thousands of Christians today, God can hardly fill people or use them for His purpose, for everyone wants to do things for God or know things about God. Oh, Lord.
Where are the ones who open their vessel to the Lord and just want to be open to Him from within for Him to flow in them, fill them, and be expressed through them!
We need to realize that we are just empty vessels, and we need to open our vessel to the Lord.
We were created by God according to His eternal plan to fulfill His heart’s desire.
And we have seen something of God’s economy and desire, which is for Him to gain those who are living vessels open to the Lord.
Many times, however, we need to confess that we’re not that open to the Lord.
We may think we are open, we may touch something of the Lord in His word, but we are not really open. Rather, we are quite closed.
We may receive and welcome the Lord into the “living room of our heart” but He may not be welcome into our bedroom or study room.
Even though we pray, we may not open to the Lord; even in our prayer, we still keep ourselves closed. Oh, Lord Jesus!
When we were saved, we truly had an opening to the Lord, and He could come in.
But then we started to know and do things for Him, and so many times we are just closed to Him.
We may open to Him only partially, but we are not fully open from within.
God created us as vessels to contain Him and express Him; however, we as vessels are not inanimate objects but rather, we’re living vessels.
We have feelings, thoughts, desires, decisions, and many things that are our own, are part of us, and do not match God or open to God.
God in a sense took a risk in creating us as living vessels, for now our vessel becomes a big problem to God. It would be so much easier for God to create beings that by default cooperate with God.
But we have a strong will, we are filled with emotions, and our mind wanders and thinks many things. Oh, Lord Jesus!
Even as believers in Christ, we are either cold and indifferent toward the Lord or we are too hot in knowing and doing things for Him.
May the Lord really gain us as living vessels open to the Lord in all things.
May we learn to open to Him and enjoy Him, even to let Him work Himself into us and live in us.
We are joined to Him as one spirit, we are one with Him in spirit, but we need to open our vessel to Him and let Him do in us what He wants to do.
Lord Jesus, thank You for creating us as a vessel in Your image and according to Your likeness that we may be filled with You. We love You. We open to You. We realize we are just an empty vessel, yet You treasure this earthen vessel because we were created by You according to Your eternal plan to fulfil Your heart’s desire. Amen, Lord, teach us how to open to You. Save us from not being an open vessel. We love You and we open to You. We want to contain You. We want to be filled with You. Amen, Lord, empty us from anything else and fill us with Yourself. We want to be filled and saturated with the Triune God. Have mercy on us, Lord, that we will keep ourselves open to You all the time! Oh Lord, we give You our day with all the things in it. We give You our whole being. We don’t want to close any part of our being toward You. We open to You our emotions with all our feelings. We open up to You our wandering mind with all its thoughts and opinions. We open up our will with its decisions and desires. Amen, Lord, we just want to be a vessel open to the Lord today!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1980, vol. 1, “Perfecting Training,” msg. 4, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Being a Vessel unto Honor, a Fully Equipped Man of God, by being Empowered in the Grace which is in Christ Jesus to Fully Accomplish our Ministry in the Unique Ministry of God’s Economy (2024 April ITERO), week 6, Being a Vessel unto Honor, and Pursuing Righteousness, Faith, Love, Peace with Those Who Call on the Lord out of a Pure Heart.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– Man being a vessel of God, a portion from, The Living and Practical Way to Enjoy Christ, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
– How Can I Be Useful to God? More via, Bibles for America blog.
– 8 – The Ministry Abounding with Glory (3) – We must humble ourselves and admit that we are all earthen vessels. You are an earthen vessel, and I am also an earthen vessel; we all are earthen vessels. Nevertheless, a treasure is contained in these earthen vessels. More via, Shepherding Words.
– A Vessel unto Honor, Pursuing Righteousness, Faith, Love, Peace, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– The Divine Trinity in the divine economy, article by Kerry S. Robichaux in, Affirmation and Critique.
– Did You Know You’re a Vessel God Wants to Fill? More via, Bibles for Europe Blog.
– Vessels of Clay, Prepared unto Glory, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– Man being a vessel to contain God, a portion from, Four Crucial Elements of the Bible, The—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
– Do You Consider Your Body as a Temple of the Holy Spirit? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– A vessel, a camera, a portion from, Autobiography of a Person in the Spirit, An, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
– Man – A Vessel to Contain God, via, Living to Him. - Hymns on this topic:
– Father, to us Thy mercy Thou hast shown, / In Thine own way; / Sinners like us as dear sons Thou wouldst own, / In love for aye. / Vessels of mercy, Thou didst us prepare; / Vessels of honor, we Thyself declare. (Hymns #25 stanza 1)
– Earthen vessel I was made, / Christ in me the treasure laid; / His container I must be, / As the content He in me. / In His image I was made, / Fit that Christ should all pervade; / Thus the vessel God did form / With the content uniform. (Hymns #548 stanzas 1-2)
– God created us His vessels / His expression to achieve; / Thus He made a heart to love Him / And a spirit to receive. / With our heart we have to love Him, / With our spirit Him possess / As our life, of Him partaking, / That Himself we may express. (Hymns #743 stanzas 1-2)
About aGodMan
Life-study of 2 Timothy, 2nd ed., p. 34, by Witness Lee
God created us as vessels to contain Him and express Him, but our vessel may not be that open to Him.
Even in our prayer time with Him, we may only open partially or in a superficial way. We need to just be a living vessel open to the Lord for Him to come in and fill us with Himself so that He may be expressed through us.
Amen! We need to see that a vessel can only contain something, and even a lampstand is merely a vessel to contain the oil and to shine.
God doesn’t want us to know/do.
May the Lord have mercy upon us that we would keep ourselves open to Him all the time. God only wants us to be a living vessel.
Yes, He created us as a living vessel to contain Himself.
To do so, we need to make ourselves empty.
All negative things need to be discharged to receive Him fully.
Amén. made vessels of mercy for God
Hallelujah Lord make us open vessels!
Amen Lord Jesus! May we be open and pure vessel to You!
God’s desire, and His original intention is that we would be a living, open vessel to contain Him.
This is to be a vessel unto honour with the divine nature, which is a matter of our position as sanctified ones, useful in our practice and those who would be trained (prepared) for every good work.
Being a Vessel unto Honor, and Pursuing Righteousness, Faith, Love, Peace with Those Who Call on the Lord out of a Pure Heart.
Morning Nourishment.
Praise the Lord! 🙌😃🙋🏼
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We need to realise from experience the Lord does not want us to do anything!!!
He only wants us to love Him, to open ourselves up to Him and to let Him live from within us!! Amen!
Amen, Lord Fill us, Saturate us, Be expressed through us. We want to be an open vessel to You.
Ameen!!!
May we be vessels redeemed, regenerated, and constituted of the divine nature unto honor sanctified, useful to the master prepared for every good work.
May we love Him, open up to Him, and allow Him to live Himself from within us.
08/26/24 Being a Vessel unto Honor and Pursuing Righteousness, Faith, Love, Peace with Those Who Call on the Lord out of a Pure Heart (Week 6, Day 1)
“In 2 Timothy 2:20-21,Paul Speaks of Honorable and Dishonorable Vessels: (Part 1) God Chose Us so that We May Be Vessels of Honor Filled with the Processed and Consummated Triune God”
In Romans 9:21, Paul says, “Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor?” In this verse, Paul reveals to us that the Potter God has authority over the clay man, out of the same lump to make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor.
God is the Potter, and we are the clay vessels. As the Potter, God is sovereign. He has authority over the clay. If He wills, He can make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor. This does not depend on our choice—it depends on God’s sovereignty.
In this verse, we learned from Paul that God has made man into two categories of vessels:
1.) Vessels of honor or honorable vessels ~ constituted of both the divine nature and the redeemed and regenerated human nature, and
2.) Vessels of dishonor or dishonorable vessels ~ constituted only of human nature.
Also, in 2 Timothy 2:20-21, Paul says, “But in a great house, there are not only gold and silver vessels but also wooden and earthen; and some are unto honor, and some unto dishonor. If, therefore, anyone cleanses himself from these, he will be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, useful to the master, prepared unto every good work.”
The great house in the above verse is certainly not the house of the living God, which is the great mystery of godliness, and also God manifest in the flesh. Such a house can not contain vessels unto dishonor. Hence, the great house must refer to Christendom. Furthermore, this great house is equal to the big tree in Matthew 13.
The genuine church today is the house of the living God, whereas the apostate Christendom is the great house. Just as many unclean birds lodge in the big tree, so in the great house, there are vessels unto dishonor, wooden, and earthen vessels. In the genuine church, however, there are only gold and silver vessels.
Initially, as unbelievers, we all were vessels of dishonor. But at the time we believed into the Lord Jesus, we received His divine life into our innermost part, which is our human spirit. We are then destined to become vessels of honor by allowing the divine life to overflow from within our regenerated spirit into our soul and into our body. Eventually, we shall be transformed from a vessel of dishonor into a vessel of honor.
The means for us, who once were vessels of dishonor, to become vessels of honor is by being filled and saturated with the divine life into our tripartite being. Since, initially, our vessels were filled with unrighteous things and contaminated with dishonorable persons, we need to be cleansed by being sanctified by the divine life into our tripartite being. Only then shall we become sanctified vessels unto honor, become useful to the Master, and prepared (ready) unto every good (God’s) work (2Tim 2:21).
In Second Corinthians 4:7, Paul says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.” God created us as earthen vessels (containers) to fill in, not with any other things, but only Himself to be our priceless Treasure. We are earthen vessels because we are made of clay, out of the dust of the earth (Gen 2:7). As vessels, God’s intention is for us to be filled with him.
Due to the fall of man, we were filled with Satan and his nature into our body, which became the flesh and contaminating our soul, which became the self. We had thus become vessels unto dishonor. But because of God’s love, mercy, and grace, He chose us, saved us, and dispensed Himself as life into us.
How much we are filled and have gained the Lord is determined by how much we are open to Him. If we are open to Him, He can work Himself into us. If we are closed, His work is frustrated. Therefore, in order to fulfill God’s purpose in us, we need to keep ourselves open to Him all the time.