Vessel of Honor

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Today's sermon is titled: Vessel of Honor. And to open up the sermon I want to read the following verses from 2nd Timothy 2:19-21

2nd 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 honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.

In today's sermon I would like to show how we can all be vessels of honor. And I will do so by explaining the following five points.

#1. I will show that Christians are the temples or vessels of God. That God tabernacles in the bodies of the Christian.

#2. That God wishes to mold the vessel that he occupies into the image of his Son. This work of molding is known as sanctification.

#3. I will show that known sin and/or any rebellion toward God will stop the process. And will eventually make the vessel totally unfit for his use.

#4. And I will show that all honorable vessels are filled with the fulness of his Spirit, and are thus fully yielded to God.

And with this in mind we shall begin by reading again verse 19.

#1. I will show that Christians are the temples or vessels of God. That God tabernacles in the bodies of the Christian.

2nd Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.

The Lord knoweth them that are his. Do you believe that? God knows who is a true Christian and who is not a true Christian, will we not all agree? But it goes a bit deeper than that. This KNOW also means he has an intimate relationship with those who are his.

How does God have this relationship? We read in Romans 8:9

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. - Romans 8:9

All that are truly Christ's have his Spirit in their heart, he has come to them and made his abode in them. Those who do not have the indwelling of the Spirit are not Christ's.

When in the Judgment Christ says "I know you not" to those who say, "Lord, Lord" he is not saying, "I've never heard of you", or "I have never saw you", he is telling them I KNOW you not in the sense that these did not have intimate communion with him through the holy Spirit.

It is for this reason that Christians are called vessels or temples, for they are containers.

The Bible tells us time and time again, that the Christian is the TEMPLE of the holy Ghost.

True Christians contain or have in them, the Spirit of GOD. And in truth every man is a vessel. He either contains the Spirit of God, or the spirit of this world.

But if we want to be saved, we must be a vessel for the Spirit of GOD. Read with me the verse in Ephesians 2:22.

"In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit". - Ephesians 2:22

We are a habitation for GOD, a place for GOD to dwell through his Spirit. And to this all who believe the bible must agree.

#2. I will show that God wishes to mold the vessel that he occupies into the image of his Son. This work of molding is known as sanctification.

Turn with me to: ROMANS 8:29

Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

It is God's predetermined will that we vessels of his Spirit be conformed to the image of his Son. It is the work and will of GOD that we be made Christ-like.

And how was Christ upon this earth? Was Christ a sinner? Was he rebellious? What fruits were made manifest in his life? Christ was HOLY, was he not? Christ was separate from Sinners And he was filled with all the good fruits of the Holy Spirit. He came to this earth, and took upon him our flesh, with its infirmities and he overcame sin in this flesh. And died for us, and then he rose again, ascended to heaven, and now has sent down the promise of the Spirit. AND WHY DID HE DO IT?

Romans 8:3-4 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Clearly Christ did all of this, so that we could be saved from sin, and so we could live soberly and righteously upon this earth as he lived. He left us an example, and we are to walk as he walked, by the power of the Spirit that he has given us and we are to truly become the sons of God.

GOD WILL SEPARATE YOU FROM SIN

Be not deceived! In God's work of conforming us to his image, he always separates you from sin. That is why Paul said:

...And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 2nd Timothy 2:19

And it is the reason that John wrote: And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. - 1 John 3:3

God's work of conforming you to the image of his Son, begins with separating you from every known sin.

NOW TURN WITH ME TO 1st Thessalonians 4:3-4

#3. I will show that known sin and/or any rebellion toward God will stop the process. And will eventually make the vessel totally unfit for his use.

1st Thessalonians 4:3-4 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 honour;

How should we possess our vessel? He says in Sanctification and honor. As a Christian you must realize that you are not your own. Your body is not your own. You have been bought with a price, and your being is the Temple of Jesus Christ.

And when you do not treat this 'Vessel' as a sanctified thing, and a honorable thing, we sin against God. When you join yourself to a sin, you join Christ to that sin, and it grieves the Spirit [1st Corinthians 6:15].

That is why we must as Christians, purge ourselves from all know sin. As it is written:

"let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us"- Hebrews 12:1

WHAT DOES SIN DO TO US?

Wilful sin hinders our prayers, for as long as we hold to it, or regard it in our hearts God will not hear us.

Wilful sin shuts out the communion of God with our soul.

As long as the sin is held onto it essentially quenches the work of the holy Spirit in our life.

And sin has a hardening effect on our hearts, and a heart that is hard is not workable in the hands of the potter.

Turn with me to Jeremiah and I shall explain.

THE POTTER AND THE CLAY

Jeremiah 18:3-5 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. [also see Isaiah 64:8]

Here we are likened unto the clay, by which God forms vessels, but along the way the vessel can be marred. Again it is sin and rebellion that mars us and makes us vessels of dishonor.

Can you imagine, here we are in the hands of God, and he is shaping us into the image of Jesus Christ, but we begin to say unto him: "What do you think you are doing? I need not be bent this way, and I will not let you bend me here and shape me there, leave me as I am".

I know it sounds foolish but that is exactly how we are. We have major defects that God is working to rid us of, but we do not want rid of the defects, and we begin to harden our hearts against God, and soon if we do not repent and let God have his way, we will become so hard and stiff that he cannot work with us any longer. We become hardened vessels that are marred with sin and glaring defects that are wholly unfit for the kingdom of heaven.

So what does God do? It is the only thing he can do. He smashes you, and brakes you. He hands you over to Satan, for the destruction of the hardened heart [1 Corinthians 5:5], so that you may be broken into small pieces for there is absolutely no hope for you as long as you are a hardened vessel of dishonor!

EXAMPLE OF PETER.

Just look at Peter, Christ was working on him for those three years, but in Peter's heart grew that deformity of pride. And it came to a head when he boasted: "though all men will forsake you, I will not! I would die for you". To which Christ answered: "Oh Peter, Satan has desired you". Or in other words, Satan has asked to have you, so he may break you, and sift you as wheat. And I'm going to hand you over to him.. But Peter, when you are converted, strengthen your brethren [See Luke 22:31].

And it was so! Peter denied Christ three times, which was the blackest of sins, but once Peter realized what he had done, he was broken! The mighty Peter, was broken into little pieces, and he was humbled and he began to weep bitterly. And again, I must say, Peter was closer to God that night, when he wondered in the darkness, crying those bitter tears than he was for those three years prior.

But I thank God that in his infinite mercy that he is willing to brake us when we are hardened so that we may be made again.

#4. And I will show that all honorable vessels are filled with the fulness of his Spirit, and are thus fully yielded to God.

2nd Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

In 2nd Timothy we read earlier: If a man therefore purge himself from these [that is filth of the flesh and spirit], he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. - 2nd Timothy 2:19-21

Now please let me explain sanctification for a moment.

#1. When we sanctify something, we set it aside for God's use. When it is given to God, it becomes holy.

#2. What does it mean, that we give it to God? If it is God's, then it should be yielded to God, it should be under his influence and in his control. Or in other words it becomes the possession of the holy Spirit.

#3. How much of our being is to be sanctified or yielded to God? Both flesh and spirit is to be sanctified isn't it? 1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; We are to be wholly yielded to God. We are to be filled with the Spirit of God, that is the Spirit is to have absolute sway over our lives.

#4. If we refuse to yield anything to God, who are we giving place to? If we withhold part of our being from God, who are we letting have that place? If we refuse to yield up any thing to God, then that thing remains a place for the devil [see Ephesians 4:27]. In other words we are saying to God, "you can have this much of me, but I reserve this part of me for Satan". And that is where we fall! For we cannot eat at the Lord's table, and the table of devils. Righteousness should have no fellowship with unrighteousness! That is why God wants us filled with him, so the devil will not have a place in us [See Ephesians 3:17-19]

To cause you to better understand, let me share a story that was recently shared with me:

"Once there was this very wealthy young man. He lived in a great, elaborate house with dozens of rooms. Each room was more comfortable and more beautiful than the one before it.
One day he decided to invite the Lord to come home and stay with him. When the Lord arrived, this young man offered him the very best room in the house. The room was upstairs and at the end of the hall. "This room is yours, Jesus! Stay as long as you like and you can do whatever you want to in this room, remember Jesus, it's all yours."
That evening after he had retired for the night there came a loud knocking at the front door. The young man pulled on his robe and made his way downstairs. When he opened the door he found that the devil had sent three of his demons to attack the man. He quickly tried to
close the door but one of the demons kept sticking his foot in. Sometime later, after a great struggle, he managed to slam the door shut and returned to his room totally exhausted. "Can you believe that", the man thought. "Jesus is upstairs in my very best room sleeping while I am down here battling demons. Oh, well, maybe he just didn't hear the knocking at the door".

He slept fitfully that night. The next day things went along as normal and, being tired, as he was, the young man retired early that evening. Along about midnight, there came such a terrible ruckus at the front door that the young man was sure that whatever it was would tear the door down. He stumbled down the stairs once again and opened the door to find that there were a dozen demons now trying to get into his beautiful home. For more than three hours he fought and struggled against the demons from hell, and finally overtook them enough to shut the door against their attack. All energy seemed to fail him.
He really didn't understand this at all. And he began to say to himself: "Why won't the Lord come to my rescue? Why does he allow me to fight all by myself? I feel so alone".Troubled, he found his way to the sofa and fell into a restless sleep.
The next morning he decided to inquire of the Lord about the happenings of the last two evenings. Quietly he made his way to the elegant bedroom where he had left Jesus. "Jesus," he called as he tapped at the door. "Lord, I don't understand what is happening. For the last two nights I have had to fight the demons away from my door while you laid up here sleeping. Don't you care about me? Did I not give you the very best room in the house?" He could see the tears building in Jesus' eyes but continued on, "I just don't understand, I
really thought that once I invited you in to live with me that you would take care of me and I gave you the best room in my house and everything. What more can I do?"

"My precious child", Jesus spoke so softly. "I do love and care for you. I protect all that you have released into my care. But, when you invited me to come here and stay, you brought me to this lovely room and you shut the door to the rest of your house. I am Lord of this
room but I am not Master of this house. I have protected this room and no demon may enter here."

The young man then cried out: "Oh, Lord, please forgive me. Take all of my house -- it is yours. You can be the Master of it all. I am so sorry that I never offered you all to begin with. I want you to have control of everything." With this he flung open the bedroom door and knelt at Jesus' feet. "Please forgive me Lord for being so selfish." Jesus smiled and told him that He had already forgiven him and that He would take care of things from now on.
That night as the young man prepared for bed and laid down. Along about midnight there was a loud banging on the door that was frightening. The young man slipped out of his room in time to see Jesus going down the stairs. He watched in awe as Jesus swung open the door. Satan himself stood at the door, seeking entrance.
"What do you want, Satan?" the Lord asked. The devil bowed low in the presence of the Lord, "So sorry, I seem to have gotten the wrong address." And with that, he and the demons all ran away.
There is a moral to this tale. Jesus wants all of you, not just a part.

He will take all that you give Him, but nothing more.

If you want Satan out of your house, stop giving him a place. Give your whole being to Christ, and Satan will have no right of entry.

If you have been hardening your heart toward GOD, today is the day to yield that point to him.

If you have been broken and shattered, today is the day to call upon GOD, for there is no broken vessel that he cannot mend!