Chapter 18
The Bible reveals that man was made as a vessel so that God Himself could enter into him and be his content. God’s desire was that man would depend on and live by His life. For this reason the Bible says that we are vessels of mercy (Rom. 9:23) and that we have a treasure in earthen vessels (2 Cor. 4:7). We are vessels of God and we contain Him as our treasure.
In Romans 9:20-22 there are vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy. This refers to our relationship to God’s salvation. If we reject God’s salvation we will be vessels of wrath, if we accept it, we become vessels of mercy. It also mentions vessels unto honor and unto dishonor. This refers to those who are regenerated in their spirit, however, the vessels unto honor are those who choose to live by God’s life and the vessels unto dishonor are those who insist on living by themselves.
In 2 Corinthians 4:7 earthen vessels are mentioned. Are these vessels unto honor or unto dishonor? Surely they are vessels unto honor because they have allowed the Treasure, which is Christ, to be manifested in them. If we live by Christ’s life we manifest the Treasure, but if we live by ourselves, we hide the Treasure and only the vessel is seen. This is a matter of personal choice. The Treasure is in us and it is up to us to choose to manifest it or not.
There are two distinct stages in our life as vessels. First, we must choose between being a vessel of wrath or a vessel of mercy. For this, we either reject or receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. After this, among the vessels of mercy, there are those who choose to be vessels unto honor and those who prefer to remain as vessels unto dishonor. On one hand, according to Romans 9, this is according the will of the Potter. This does not mean that God has predestinated some to be vessels unto dishonor. Rather, it simply means that He works in us according to our willingness. If we open ourselves for His life to work in us, He makes us vessels unto honor, but if we reject His work of destroying our natural man, we will be vessels unto dishonor.
The vessels unto dishonor (9:21) are those Christians who do not want the Treasure they received at the time of their regeneration to grow in them so that they will live by God. God has waited with longsuffering for almost two thousand years for His children to choose to follow Him, denying themselves and allowing His life to grow in them. The time of God’s longsuffering, however, is coming to an end. We are in the last times and Jesus will come back very soon to seek for the overcoming Christians, the mature Christians, the vessels unto honor.
It may be because of our indifference to the Lord and our unwillingness to have Him work in us that we are in a condition of being vessels unto dishonor. How, then, can we become vessels unto honor?
Paul wrote to Timothy (2 Tim. 2:20) telling him that 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. The great house refers to God’s people as a whole. Among the children of God we see much wood, grass and stubble, which refer to the human endeavors and abilities that are used to build the church; and we also see gold, silver and precious stones, which represent the operation of God in His children to produce the church. By means of God’s life operating in us, we are gradually being transformed from wooden and earthen vessels into gold and silver vessels, from vessels unto dishonor to vessels unto honor. On one hand, the Treasure is in the earthen vessels, referring to our human nature, and on the other hand, God wants the vessels to be of gold, that is, to fully manifest the divine life and nature. This depends on us.
Paul said that if anyone cleanses himself from his unrighteousness he would cease to be a vessel unto dishonor and become a vessel unto honor (v. 21). It is crucial that we repeat this. In order for this change to take place, we ourselves have to choose between living by ourselves and living by the divine life. We ourselves choose what kind of vessel we want to be and we must cleanse ourselves of our unrighteousness. How can we do this? According to 2 Timothy, there are some practical ways.
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