Treasures New and Old

Christian Convictions: Vessel – A Vessel of Blessing

-Author unknown

This month I would like to explore the idea that Christians are to be vessels. Specifically a vessel of blessing both to the Lord and to the people that God had brought into our lives. As a disciple, you want to reflect your Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, in all that you do – and that includes blessing those around you as well as our Master – the Lord Jesus Christ.

So let’s start with a key foundational truth that underpins (or should) all that we say, think, and do.

John 14:15: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.“

Which commandments? All of them? Whoa! That is a lot to keep track of! Is there a shorter, simpler lists I can learn? As it happens, a young man once asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment – thinking that he could catch Jesus in some failure that the Pharisees could exploit. But as it happened, Jesus turned their quest upside down with His answer:

Matthew 22:35-40: “Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

So, all the law and all the prophets’ words and warnings boil down to these two commands: Love the Lord and love your neighbor. This provides a foundation for all that we think, say, and do towards both God and those around us. If we act out of love, true love as described in the Bible, we are bound to become a blessing to them.

So I now ask – are we vessels? (the title of this article . . .)

Let’s examine the following:

Acts 9:15-17: “But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.”

Ananias was told to meet Saul of Tarsus, later called Paul, and pray for him that he might receive back his sight. He hesitated, knowing his reputation to persecute the saints. But God said to go because Paul was to be his chosen vessel to communicate the gospel to the Gentiles, to kings, and to Israel. Then Ananias obeyed, and, of course, Paul went on to be a major figure in the early church.

So what exactly is a vessel?

Definition of vessel from the American Dictionary of the English Language:

VES’SEL . . .

1. A cask or utensil proper for holding liquors and other things . . .

2. . . . any tube or canal in which the blood and other humors are contained, secreted or circulated, as the arteries, veins, lymphatics, spermatics . . .

3. . . . a canal or tube of very small bore, in which the sap is contained and conveyed . . .

4. any building used in navigation . . .

Chosen vessels, ministers of the gospel, as appointed to bear the glad news of salvation to others ; called also earthen vessels, on account of their weakness and frailty.

We will concentrate on definition 1 and the very last which basically say that we are a living human container designed to carry or hold something. Add the idea of the blood vessel (definition 3 and 4); we are also designed to deliver something. So as a vessel, we are to hold and deliver God’s love to those around us as well as share the gospel and many other things as Jesus commanded us.

Vessels come in all sizes, shapes, and purposes. Consider the following:

2 Timothy 2:19-21: “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 honor, and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”

We already know this passage to be true. Not just for great houses, but for most houses we all have experienced using many different kinds of vessels. Pots and pans are vessels designed to help cook food. Bowels and plates deliver that food to the table from which we eat.

The garbage cans throughout the house (kitchen, bathrooms, etc.) of various sizes hold our waste that we no longer need and are very different from pots, pans, drinking cups, etc. Rich homes may have silver and even gold drinking vessels, but they tend to be the special occasion vessels, and the vessels of wood (plastic today) and earth (ceramic) tend to be the everyday cups.

Vessels are automatically designated as either honorable or dishonorable by the user. Take garbage cans for example: who would generally use a garbage can to eat from? (The homeless not withstanding). The toilet is a vessel, and we would never even think to go there for drinking water. (In an emergency, the tank part of the toilet may be potable with a drop or two of bleach to kill any bacteria). I use a new-clean metal garbage can to hold large bags of dog food because the local vermin can’t break through to eat and contaminate the food.

I guess you get what I am trying to say. All of us are familiar with the concept of people being a vessel for something, just as various vessels in our homes and businesses do something for us. The question is, what kind of vessel are we to be?

Look at this passage:

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8:

Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit.

Although a passage that deals with moral and sexual purity, the principle is the same for us – we want to be a vessel of honor, not dishonor. This separates us from those around us who are not saved and may not have the same standards that we are called to: “be ye holy as I am holy” God said.

So what are the meanings of some of these key words?

• Sanctification: Greek word is hagiasmos and means purification, purity, holiness, set apart for holy uses (Strong’s G38).
• Honor: Greek word is time and means a value, valuable, high esteem, high dignity, precious, great price (Strong’s G5092).
• Dishonor: Greek word is atimia (note the a in front of timia – a is a pronoun that negates the word following it in Greek. So muse means to think deeply and amuse means not to think at all!) Dishonor then means to be a disgrace, a reproach, a shame, a vile thing, without dignity (Strong’s G819).
• Iniquity: Greek word is adikia and means injustice, morally wrong, failure of character, an unjust, unrighteousness, a wrong thing or act (Strong’s G93).
• Bless: Hebrew word barak which means “to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit) . . . abundantly, X altogether, X at all . . . bless, congratulate . . . greatly, X indeed, kneel (down), praise, salute, X still, thank.” In other words, act out of great love for God and (I might add) purity of heart. Greek is eulogeo (speaking well of someone) (Strong’s G2127).

To Be a Blessing

In order to be a vessel of blessing, we must first become an honorable vessel. One that is morally upright and pure before God’s eyes, and we must learn to possess our bodies (our vessels) in a pure manner. We do this by:

• Eschewing sin and asking God to cleanse us from all iniquities within us (we can’t do it ourselves!).
• Purposing to be a sanctified vessel – set apart for the Master’s use.
• Removing those things in our lives that pollute us from the inside (the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life).
• Basing our behavior on love – love towards God and towards our neighbor.

We must also manage our speech. For as James 3:10 says: “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be” Stopping gossip, cursing, grumbling, and all manner of vile speech.

• Controlling our response to those who have hurt or slandered us. Consider this verse in 1 Peter 3:9: “Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.”
• Lies do not become a person who wishes to be an honorable vessel of blessing.
• Doing good to those around us even if they can’t repay you.
• Where possible, putting others before ourselves.

I have often wondered how this verse in the Psalms is realized:

Psalm 103:1-5: “A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

Get that first phrase – “and all that is within me”?

Let it be our goal to be a vessel of blessing, an honorable, morally upright vessel that serves God and man with a pure and loving heart.

Maranatha!

May God bless you all!

Bro. Joe

Strong, J. Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries. Meyers, R. (2005). e-Sword. [computer software] . Franklin, TN: Equipping Ministries Foundation. (Original work published 1539)

Webster, Noah. Noah Webster’s First Edition of an American Dictionary of the English Language Facsimile Fifth Edition. San Francisco, CA now at Chesapeake Bay, VA: The Foundation for American Christian Education. 1987. (Original work published 1828)

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