Vessels: December 2018
Table of Contents
The Purpose of a Vessel
What is a vessel? Suppose you placed one on the table at your side: Have you not two thoughts in your mind as to its use? You place it there to hold what you put in it; this is one thought. Then the other is that it is yours to use as you wish. Had it a will of its own, your use of it would be hindered. And so with God’s vessels of mercy; they are not to have a will of their own; they are for their Master’s use; they are to be filled with that which He puts in them and to be held and used by His hand. It is only in the measure that our wills, our motions and our thoughts are set aside that we are really vessels, fitted and meet for the Master’s use.
Christian Truth (adapted)
Treasure in Earthen Vessels
It is a great thing for Christians to remember that God has not introduced grace and His Son and Spirit to make us get along easily in this world, but to bring us to the enjoyment of heavenly things and to live in them. What characterizes a man is what his mind is on, and then all his ways flow from that.
Paul says that we “in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened”—that is all we have in this world. Redemption being settled, we find difficulties and exercises come in, and the Apostle gives us in 2 Corinthians 4:12 what the principle and power of his walk is. What we are called to is the manifestation of the life of Christ; our whole life is to be nothing but that. God is revealed, we have life, and the Holy Spirit is our power; we are set here as the epistles of Christ, for men to read. While waiting for Christ to manifest Himself in glory, we have to manifest Him in grace.
Freely Given of God
It is not pleasant to do well and suffer for it, but is it not what Christ did? It is what we have to do in lowliness and meekness. He first gives us a place in heaven, and then He sets us down here to do that. We have the knowledge of God and power to walk in this world; in addition, heavenly things are revealed — the things that belong to the place in which we are. “We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given tous of God” (1 Cor. 2:12). There we are to live and get the motive that characterizes us as Christians. If that were always so, we should be always really epistles of Christ — in our houses, in our dress, in our everyday life, in all the things that are the expression of a man’s heart. Is Christ the motive in everything we do? If not, we tend to leave Him for some vanity or other. What every Christian has to do is to commend himself “to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Cor. 4:2), that if they judge him, it should be for consistency.
God’s holiness, His majesty and His love have shined into our hearts that we may give it out. That is very simple, but it is not all. It is God’s way to put this in an earthen vessel: “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7). The Apostle does not speak here of wickedness, but weakness. It is not a question of sin or failure, but of the path of the Christian as such. The first element is that he has the whole glory of God revealed, but it is in this earthen vessel, “that the excellency of the power may be of God” — constant dependence.
The Vessel
Wonderful as the treasure is, He has put it in a place which, to man’s eye, is unfit for it. Therefore, in our lives we get these two elements: all the glory of God revealed in our hearts, but put purposely in earthen vessels, because we need to learn what poor, weak creatures we are. Peter said, “I will lay down my life for Thy sake” (John 13:37). We all know what happened. The flesh is treacherous, and it comes out even when we are seeking to serve Christ honestly, as Peter was. God puts the treasure in this vessel that it may learn itself, and we must learn it. We may earnestly go and preach Christ, but if we have not learned ourselves, there is some confidence in self, and we make mistakes. We must keep watching the flesh, for we know what it is; then we lean on a strength that is not ours. We wait for God’s direction and guidance, for we know ourselves in such a way as not to have confidence in ourselves, but rather in Christ.
Paul had a thorn in the flesh; he had to be kept down that he might know it was not the capacity of Paul, but that the power of Christ might rest upon him. He lived in the consciousness that the Lord was always there, and he wanted Him. Even in sincerity of heart we are apt to go on as if we did not want the Lord, and where there is not that dependence, there will be failure. We cannot do anything without Him, and we are slow to learn it.
There are two remedies for this. First, “always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus” (2 Cor. 4:10 JND). If we applied the cross to every thought that arises in our hearts, the flesh would never put up a thought at all. If I let my body live, there is flesh. In order to manifest Christ always, I hold the flesh dead. That is our part in faith. Then comes the second thing — God’s part. “We which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh” (2 Cor. 4:11). However faithful we are, God has to help us; He cannot trust us.
The Heart
The glory has shined into our hearts, but He puts it in an earthen vessel, because our hearts have to learn what we are. No will of man, no thought from the vanity of this world, can be allowed — nothing that does not suit this treasure. There are things that do not take the form of gross evil, but that are not Christ. Is our speech “alway with grace, seasoned with salt”? When I apply the cross of Christ, it stops the moving of my heart. We can bless God for it. He puts down the flesh that needs putting down. “Death worketh in us, but life in you.” Death was working in Paul, and nothing but life worked as regards others. Oh, that it were so with us!
The practical effect of it is, “All things are for your sakes.” When self is down, we begin to think the thoughts of God, and everything is for us. He makes everything work together for our good — every circumstance in our lives. Whatever is needed for that, He will do. If I am in His path, He helps me on, but I must be there with His strength. Every trouble gives the apprehension of what is to come, but the inward man is not touched; he is “renewed day by day,” and we get blessing by these very things.
Are we ready to take this place, willing to be under God’s hand and saying, “I want to get Christ, to win Him, and here I have one thing to do — to manifest Christ”? Are we willing to have our flesh put down? What Satan seeks to get us to have, even ever so little, is confidence in the flesh. Do we say, “Let the vessel be dealt with as He will, in whatever He sees needed, so that Christ may be manifested, whether by life or by death”? May that be the desire of our hearts.
J. N. Darby (adapted)
The Plentiful Provision of Grace
“Bring Me Yet a Vessel”
When the widow of the sons of the prophets was destitute of food and cried to Elisha for help, he said to her, “Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed” (2 Kings 4:3-6).
We have here in this story what the grace of God can do for a bereaved family. The pride or self-will of man opposes grace. But with this family there are no unbelieving questions or independence of God. The prophet enters into her sorrows and brings her into touch with the fullness of the grace of God. Things were all wrong in Israel, for God had been forsaken and His covenant broken, yet was He visiting His people in grace, and it was for faith to seize the opportunity to count upon Him in its confession of the whole sad truth without concealment.
The Fullness of Grace
We see in the New Testament that the fullness of grace came by Jesus Christ. “Wisdom hath builded her house” and furnished it sumptuously, providing abundantly for the need of all within it. The testimony of the Holy Spirit is to a risen and glorified Christ at God’s right hand. In Acts 2 the work of the Holy Spirit was of such a character as made its way to the hearts of those who had before despised and refused it. “The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:32-33).
The Holy Spirit
The power and grace which produced these blessed results in the early days of the church’s history still remain, though the same effect may not now be seen. The Holy Spirit is sovereign in His action and, according to the Lord’s own word, abides with us forever since Pentecost, for as long as the assembly is here, where His power and grace are needed, He remains with us. Elisha’s instructions to the distressed woman reveal the character of God’s usual way of acting when appeal is made to Him. He will have His own really exercised about the need, but we have to learn that our sufficiency is of God, who works according to His marvelous patience and infinite wisdom. He may revive long-forgotten truths in all their original power and freshness within our hearts, just at the moment they are really needed, or He may set us down to learn the value and application to ourselves of scriptures we had long professed to believe and know as expressive of the doctrines of Christianity. But the challenge, “What hast thou in the house?” sets us thinking and casts us upon that which God has given. And is not this truth peculiarly applicable in the present day, since God has given now in Christianity all that He ever will or can give for this poor ruined world? All is presented in the gospel, which if refused today will form the ground of judgment in another day.
From the standpoint of the Christian position, a completely new and unexpected development of grace is presented, in connection with Christ in heaven and the Holy Spirit on earth. What is most needed for us, then, is for us to pour out the oil— this abundant supply of the Holy Spirit which God has given us and which we have in “the house” (the church). Let us in simple faith and obedience bring empty vessels into the house and shut the door. God will fill the vessels.
Fill Them All
“When thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full” (vs. 4). They are set apart—consecrated. Righteousness is vindicated, the creditor is paid in full, the lawful captive is delivered, and there remains an infinite reserve of grace, which we can never exhaust. The oil kept flowing until there were no more vessels—a beautiful illustration, surely, of divine grace in the manner of its present working and everyday application to the personal needs of God’s people and connecting itself most blessedly with the Lord’s gracious consideration for us in this present scene of disorder and ruin.
G. S. Byford (adapted)
Faith Says, Borrow not a Few
These words were uttered by the prophet Elisha in the ear of a distressed widow who had come to him with her tale of sorrow (see 2 Kings 4:1-7). Elisha knew well on whose behalf he was speaking—on whose treasury he was drawing. He did not say, “Take care you do not borrow too many.” He knew this was impossible. Faith never yet overdrew its account in God’s bank; it has “unsearchable riches” to its credit there. Faith never yet brought an empty vessel to God that He did not fill. In the case of this widow, the oil ceased to flow only when there was no longer an empty vessel to receive it. The source was exhaustless; it was faith’s promise to keep the channel open. May the remembrance of these things have the happy effect of encouraging our hearts in the life of faith. Our Father’s heart of tender love wants us to draw largely upon His infinite resources.
Borrow Empty Vessels
Is your heart disturbed by the sense of indwelling sin? “Go, borrow vessels...even empty vessels” in which to receive the rich supplies of grace that flow from a crucified and risen Christ—our Surety—our Great High Priest—our Advocate. Jesus has borne all your sins upon the cross, and put them away forever. The eye of God can never see your sins again. He has actually reaped a harvest of glory by putting them away. Divine grace has reaped a richer harvest in the midst of a world of sinners than ever it could have reaped amidst the host of unfallen angels. “Go,” therefore, “borrow...vessels...empty vessels...not a few.”
Again, is your heart bowed down beneath the weight of sorrow? Has the cold grasp of death seized upon the darling object of your affections? Has a serious blank been made in your heart—a blank which no earthly object can fill up? Then remember the heart of Jesus is overflowing with tender sympathy. He has felt your sorrow. If He were here He would not chide your grief. He would sit down beside you and mingle His tears with yours. But you say, “He is not here.” True, but He is at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, and you can count with certainty on the sympathy of His heart. “Go,” then, bereaved and sorrowing one, “borrow thee vessels ... .even empty vessels,” in which to receive the abundant consolations which flow from the heart of Christ, whose encouraging word to you is, “Borrow not a few.”
There Is Sufficient Oil
It may be, however, that our heart is neither troubled about the question of sin, nor yet bowed down under the weight of sorrow. Our heart is established in grace, and the beloved circle in which are our affections remains unbroken. But then family or commercial cares press upon our spirit. Our children are not going on as we would like or our business prospects are gloomy. If such is our position, we too can learn a sweet and seasonable lesson from Elisha’s words. We can go forth and borrow empty vessels, for there is “oil” enough for us, even the “oil of gladness” for our burdened spirit. To us the word is, “Cast thy burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain thee” (Psa. 55:22). “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6). Cast it directly, and entirely, upon the One who is as able as He is willing, and as willing as He is able, to sustain it. In a word, “Go, borrow thee vessels...empty vessels” into which the copious streams of divine peace may flow for your perplexed and anxious spirit.
God Can Fill Our Vessels
But perhaps our exercise does not spring from a troubled conscience, a bereaved heart, or a spirit perplexed about domestic or commercial affairs. The fact is, the entire scene around has repulsed and disappointed us. And yet not so much the world; rather, in the very midst of Christian friends, all our hopes have been blighted. We had looked at those Christians from a distance, and they seemed to present the appearance of all that was lovely and attractive. Yet alas! on coming among them, we did not realize our fondly cherished hope, and our heart, once big with expectation, is now furrowed by sore disappointment. This is not an uncommon case. There is many a furrowed heart within the church of God. But, blessed be God, our heart’s deep furrows are but so many “vessels...empty vessels,” in which to receive the streams of comfort and solace emanating from “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever”; and the heart that has many furrows is ready furnished with vessels “not a few.” God will surely fill those vessels; and then one comes back to be a channel of blessing in the scene which had disappointed him.
Borrow Vessels
In a word then, whatever be the state or condition of the soul—whether it be a question of sin or sorrow, difficulty or disappointment—the message from God is one and the same. “Go, borrow thee vessels;” and mark, it is “empty vessels,” “not a few.” What magnificent grace shines in the words “empty” and “not a few”! Our vessels must be empty. God will not pour into a vessel half-filled with creature supplies. In every case the vessel must be empty, for only then is it fully manifest that the “oil” has come directly from God Himself. The word “empty” shuts out the creature. The words “not a few” leave room for God to come in.
These are simple truths, but simple as they are, they stand connected with the grand essential element of the divine life in the soul. May they be more deeply engraved on our hearts by the eternal pen of the Holy Ghost!
Christian Truth, (adapted)
The Purpose of God in the Vessel
2 Corinthians 4:6-7 (JND)
“Because it is the God who spoke that out of darkness light should shine who has shone [or ‘lit a lamp’] in our hearts for the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassingness of the power may be of God, and not from us.”
These verses express a marvelous purpose of God! To light a lamp within us and so deal with us that He may reduce our earthen vessels to a transparency in His hands — in order that the glory of God, shining in Jesus on high, should shine out from our hearts, that we may be God’s lanterns in a dark and Christ-rejecting world.
Some have referred to Gideon’s lamps and pitchers (Judg. 7) as an analogy of the glory of God shining out of our earthen vessels. However, the lamps in Gideon’s day shone out only when the pitcher was broken. Here, the vessel is not broken but is rendered transparent. All the hindering elements of flesh are so attenuated (lessened and made thin) that the “treasure” possessed by the vessel may shine forth undimmed. Thus Paul says in verse 10, “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifest [shine out] in our mortal flesh.”
Paul, a Shining Vessel
The circumstances through which Paul was passing when he wrote his letters to Corinth are worthy of our serious consideration, for they show how his own vessel was being made more transparent for the shining forth of the glory of God. His feelings and circumstances entered into all the texture of the teaching which flowed from God to us in his letters. As his vessel passed through the trial or exercise, his heart was trained. His affections were formed by these things, and he was sustained and supported of God in the sorrows of the way, so that “out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” Paul had drunk from the living stream at the fountainhead of all blessing (John 7:37-38). His thirst had been quenched by Christ. And so his inner man — the mind, the heart, the soul — became the means of refreshing streams to others. That which had consoled his own soul in its sorrow was a consolation to others. The Father of mercies so blessedly filled Paul’s soul with all His consolation in Christ that it overflowed, and the stream passed on in living power, producing fruit in the desert sands of the world where he went.
Paul had to learn how to live in the power of that which he would teach others; his purpose was to bear about in his body the dying of Jesus. How could he be helped in this? By being delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus may be manifest in his mortal flesh. This is God’s reward to those who seek to live in the power of what they teach and know.
F. G. Patterson (adapted)
The Vessel in the Potter: the Potter in the Vessel
“The Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto Me” (Acts 9:15).
“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” (Jer. 18:3-4).
“Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?” (Rom. 9:21).
God the Master Potter
It is of immense interest to us to trace the history of souls in the Word of God. In all this work His sovereignty shines conspicuously, and He would have us accord to Him His own place in this, for He “works all things after the counsel of His own will.” He has a right to do as He pleases, which man has not. Man would seek to bind God to certain laws of his own and so fetter His sovereign will. But once we know that all our blessing hinges upon this absoluteness and that He is pleased to display Himself in mercy, all is changed. In fact, we are shut up to this in God. We have no more right to claim our soul’s salvation from Him than we have power to change places with Him on His throne of glory! We need grace to surrender this supposed claim—to put ourselves before Him, conscious that He has a right to do as it pleases Him. We shall find, too, that rest of soul is found in His nature itself — which, had He not been pleased to reveal to us in Christ, we never even would have known.
He was pleased to create a world, to set it revolving in space among the countless orbs which shine in the heavens around us. He was pleased to allow sin and death to enter that fair scene. Who can reply? He was pleased to choose and to call a people out of it and to permit them to destroy themselves, while He, with long-suffering, bore with them “till there was no remedy.” He was pleased to send His Son to endure the cross and bear His wrath. Who was before Him in all this? Not one! In all things He worked, He permitted, He ordered, and it is He who challenges the stubborn heart which would say, “Why doth He yet find fault; for who hath resisted His will?” It is He who replies, “Nay, but O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast Thou made me thus?” (Rom. 9:20).
The Vessel in the Mind of the Potter
Have we ever stood in the potter’s house and watched him as he worked on the wheels? The workman takes the lump of clay; he presses it to the wheel; the wheel revolves before his eye. Where now (let me ask) is the vessel? It is in the mind of the potter, before it is formed; the design is there. His fingers shape the mass before him; gradually it grows up before his eye; gradually the thought in his mind is transferred to the clay, and it rises up before him, and the thoughts, hitherto unexpressed, grow into the vessel which his fingers mold.
The Potter Sees a Flaw in His Vessel
He sees a flaw, an imperfection in the clay. Others have not detected it, but he does, with the artist’s eye. He crushes the clay under his hand into a shapeless mass again. And again his fingers mold and fashion it into his design. Again and again defects appear. Again and again the clay is reduced to a shapeless mass, until at last it rises, in perfection of design before him; his eye surveys it with satisfaction, and he removes it from the wheel to take its place with the choice things of the earth around.
Where now is the potter? Where was the vessel before he began? It was in the potter! Where now is the potter? He is in the vessel. All that his mind designed and wrought is there seen. The vessel is fit for that which he had intended.
And this is the history of the soul. The clay is in the Potter’s hand. His fingers fashion it, and it is marred; the clay needs more of His patient manipulation and skill. It is not yet smooth and even, nor pliable to His hand. He crushes it time after time. The perfect vessel stood before His mind and purpose before His hand had taken the clay and placed it on the wheel. But when all is done, He has transferred His thought with unerring skill to the clay; the Potter is now seen in His handiwork, and it is a vessel of mercy, which He afore has prepared for glory.
How important, as these crushings take place, is the need of the interpretation of these skillful workings of the hand of the Potter! How often are the lessons misunderstood, or not understood at all! In the history of souls in the Word these actions are seen; the results are reached. In them we read the history of His dealings with our own souls and the handiwork of God. We look then for the lines of beauty, resulting from His hand; we yield ourselves to the things which happen; we see the end of the Lord. We know how it is that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).
As a Potter, the Lord God took of the dust of the ground, in the first creation, and fashioned it into a man. He then “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” But the vessel was marred. Again the divine Potter takes of the same lump, puts forth afresh His skill, and forms a vessel of mercy, for eternal glory—a new creation “in Christ.”
F. G. Patterson (adapted)
Empty and Full Vessels
In this issue, we speak of both empty and full vessels. This may cause some confusion in our minds, as to whether the Lord would have us to be empty vessels, so that He can fill us, or whether we are always to be full vessels, ready for His use. I would suggest that both are true, depending on how we look at it.
First of all, the Lord can only fill an empty vessel. Thus the woman in 2 Kings 4 was told to “borrow thee vessels ... even empty vessels” (vs. 3). Then the Lord was able to fill them with oil, speaking of the Spirit of God. If we, as vessels, are filled with the things of this world and with sinful tendencies, we cannot possibly be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19). We must empty ourselves of those worldly things so that God may pour His fullness into us.
On the other hand, God uses full vessels, not empty ones. Thus we are to be “filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18), while the apostles in Acts 6:3 instructed the brethren to “look ye out among you seven men ... full of the Holy Ghost,” when there was a need for some to supervise the distribution of funds for those in need. Other scriptures could be referenced to support these, showing that God first fills vessels and then uses them in His service.
We are once again in the realm of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. If our vessels are empty and our heart is willing, God will surely fill us with His Spirit, who delights to minister to us the things of Christ. On the other hand, the exhortation in Ephesians 5, already referred to, tells us to “be filled with the Spirit.” But the house of Israel that was left “empty, swept, and garnished” when the unclean spirit departed (Matt. 12:44), without any thought toward God, only provided the opportunity for “seven other spirits more wicked than himself” to enter in. The house that is emptied with a desire for God to fill it will always be “full with the blessing of the Lord” (Deut. 33:23), but that which has no desire for God will find that Satan is only too ready to enter into it.
W. J. Prost
Empty or Full Vessels
A good deal has been said and written, especially in poetry, about the need of our being empty vessels, ready for the use of the Master. The thought is that our being kept empty is the qualification for immediate use and that when in that condition the Lord can take us up, fill us and send us forth on any service to which He calls. Is this a scriptural thought?
We will consider, first of all, the scriptures in which the term “vessels” or “vessel” is found. In 2 Corinthians 4 the Apostle says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels” (vs. 7). This passage contains an allusion to Gideon and his men. We read that “he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers” (Judg. 7:16). The pitchers had been empty, it will be observed, but Gideon put the lights (the brands or torches) inside. This will help us to understand the meaning of the treasure in the earthen vessels of which the Apostle Paul speaks. It is evidently, from the context, the knowledge of that glory of God which, displayed in the face of the glorified Christ, God had caused to shine in our hearts. But this, once received, does not come and go, but remains as an abiding possession. The condition of its display is another thing, involving the constantly bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus (vs. 10), but the treasure remains in the vessel.
Sanctified Vessels
In 2 Timothy 2 the term “vessels” is also found. “In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and 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, prepared unto every good work” (vss. 20-21). The question here is not of empty or full vessels, but entirely one of association. To be a vessel ready to the Master’s hand, “a man” must be in separation from the vessels of dishonor, thus affirming the principle of defilement through our associations and consequent disqualification for service. Only as purged from the vessels of dishonor can one become a vessel unto honor, one which the Master will delight to take up and employ. But passing on to the next chapter, we learn that if the man of God is to be “perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:17), he must be well instructed from the Scriptures. The vessel must be filled, and in that state habitually; the word must dwell in the vessel, and then it will flow out in teaching as the Master may require.
Rivers of Living Water
If we now refer to the truth involved more generally, the same result will be obtained. When our Lord was speaking to the woman of Samaria, He said, “Whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well [fountain] of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). Here again the water once received — a symbol of life in the power of the Holy Spirit—remains as a permanent possession. Hence if we turn to John 7 we discover that the water is not only received, but that it also flows out: “He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (vs. 38). Of course, there must be the constant reception, but the vessel is never to be empty. Rather, the well or fountain is within, because it is connected with the gift of the indwelling Spirit. Possessing therefore the Holy Spirit, the normal state of the believer is to be filled even to overflowing with His power, so that “rivers of living water” might flow out for the blessing of those around. There could not be an empty vessel, for to be prepared for service is to be full to overflowing. On the other hand, if these streams should, through the grieving of the Holy Spirit of God, not be flowing out and the vessel in a sense become empty, such an one would not, it is needless to say, be in a condition for the Master’s use.
If we now refer to another class of scriptures, the same conclusion will be reached. Two will suffice: “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning” (Luke 12:35), and, “Among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15). Now the “lights” in these and other scriptures always signify Christ—Christ as shining out, in the power of the Holy Spirit, through the life of the believer. But Christ must be possessed before He can be expressed; the light must be within before it can shine forth.
A Vessel Without Christ
An empty vessel would thus be one without Christ. It was the foolish virgins, and not the wise, who had the empty vessels; they had no oil in them, significant of the fact that they were not born again, and consequently had not the indwelling Spirit. The wise had failed in not trimming their lamps, but inasmuch as their vessels were not empty, they were aroused in time to meet the Bridegroom and went in with Him to the marriage.
The question may then be put, Is it possible for the Christian to be an empty vessel? One of two things will always follow. Either he will be filled with Christ or with himself and the things which center in himself. Thus, if not filled with Christ, he is always in danger. It was so with the Jewish nation. The unclean spirit of idolatry had gone out, but finding no rest, in the language of our blessed Lord, the unclean spirit saith, “I will return to my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first” (Matt. 12:43-45). If now that nation had received Christ, He would have filled up the void, and they would have been secure from this awful intrusion of wicked spirits. In like manner, unless the believer is filled with Christ, he is ever exposed to be occupied and possessed with what is opposed to Christ.
Filled With the Spirit
It is quite true that, if the Lord sends any of His own on special service, everything must be received from Him. Nothing of our own, nothing that springs from self, can be used for Him. But the point is that the believer will not be in a condition to be employed unless he is already filled. And the more filled he is, the more Christ practically possesses his soul, the more consciously dependent he will be, and the more certain, therefore, when the privilege of any service is conferred, to look up to receive all he needs for it from the Lord. So in the primitive church, it was when they were all filled with the Holy Spirit that they spake the Word of God with boldness. (See Acts 4:31; also Acts 2:4.) It is, therefore, we again repeat, not empty, but filled vessels that the Lord requires for His sovereign disposal in service.
E. Dennett (adapted)
A Vessel With a Covering
In Numbers 19:15 we read, “Every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.” A very important principle is embodied in these words, for in our everyday lives—at school, in the workplace, while shopping— we are often unavoidably exposed to “corrupt communication.” Even though we may “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness” (Eph. 5:11), we are defiled by them. We may not allow “corrupt communication to proceed out of [our] mouth” (Eph. 4:29), but we must remember that “evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Cor. 15:33).
In a sinful world, it is easy for our minds to become “open vessels” with no covering on them. They can effortlessly be open and ready to receive whatever comes before them, and this, of course, is just what Satan wants. Our minds are often mentioned in the Scriptures, and we are to take control of them. We are reminded to “gird up the loins” of our minds (1 Peter 1:13) and to set them on “things above” (Col. 3:2). If we would keep the vessel of our mind clean, we must have a covering bound upon it. The covering must not be loosely applied either; it must be “bound upon” the vessel, so that it cannot easily be removed.
In our day, the covering would correspond to the Word of God. If the Word of God is read in the home before we go out to meet the world, it will form a covering upon our minds. A mind that is filled with the things of Christ will not easily be opened to the evil communications of this world. Let us take care, then, to read the Scriptures, first of all for ourselves, and then, if we are parents, let us read them to our children, in order that their minds may be closed to the defiling influences of this world.
A. C. Hayhoe (adapted)
Vessels to Honor and Dishonor
In 2 Timothy 2:26, we see the state into which Christianity, in its outward form in the world, has fallen: “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” (2 Tim. 2:20-21).
It will be observed that the Apostle does not exactly say that the house of God contains vessels to honor and to dishonor, though this is true when we speak of the house of God as built by man under responsibility, according to its presentation in 1 Corinthians 3. It is a comparison rather that he uses, and hence he says, “In a great house.” We must remember that this is what the house of God on earth has become—a sphere in which believers and mere professors, faithful servants and evil servants, have become so mixed that vessels of gold and silver are mingled everywhere with those of wood and earth.
Such was the state of things which had arisen even in Paul’s day and from which the Spirit of God takes occasion to lay down principles for individual guidance, as the confusion and corruption became more pronounced. The Apostle then says, “If a man therefore purge himself from these,” and the language is very strong—“purge out himself from.” Here we are to purge ourselves out from the vessels of dishonor. As individuals we have to separate ourselves from evil in order to be approved for the Lord’s service.
What Vessels Are to Dishonor?
Vessels to dishonor mean those, whether Christians or simply professors, who are defiled with evil of any kind or engaged in anything that dishonors the Lord’s name. The responsibility is not to judge the personal state and condition of other vessels, but to purge himself from what dishonors the Lord’s name, because he is under the obligation, as naming the name of the Lord, to depart from iniquity.
The consequence of separating from such vessels is that we shall be vessels unto honor (and this will explain the meaning of the vessels of gold and of silver in the preceding verse), sanctified, set apart, and serviceable, for the Master’s use — prepared unto every good work. This is a solemn word for believers. Do any then desire to be used of the Lord? Here is His own qualification for service. Then, when once qualified, it is His to take us up and use us how He will.
A Pure Heart
There is, however, also the positive side of separation, and hence the Apostle adds, “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim. 2:22). On the one hand, Timothy was to “flee” from youthful lusts, but on the other hand, to “pursue” after the things here indicated. Purpose of heart will be needed for both. Note, moreover, that these things are to be “pursued” in company with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. It is often contended that separation from evil would lead to a path of isolation. This scripture is a complete answer to such a contention, for it is evident that all who recognize their individual responsibility to depart from iniquity must be drawn together in the same company.
Foolish Questions
Once more the Apostle warns Timothy to beware of controversies: “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes” (2 Tim 2:23; compare 2 Tim. 2:16). It is literally foolish and “undisciplined” questions, and the word “undisciplined” is often used for a “mind not subject to God, a man following his own mind and will.” This will explain the kind of questioning referred to — those which spring from man’s own thoughts and reasonings, and which therefore could not fail to produce strifes. The introduction of this last word, “strifes,” furnishes the opportunity for a beautiful description of what should be the character of a true servant. “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient; in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (2 Tim 2:24-26).
Such is the revelation here made — that all who resist the truth of God, who refuse it, however eminent they may be in the world of intellect or science, are nothing more than the poor slaves of Satan, led of, if not inspired by, him, even as the servants of the Lord are led and taught by the Spirit of God.
E. Dennett (adapted)
The Potter's Broken Vessel: Jeremiah and His Times
I feel very distinctly that there is a special character in this present time through which we are passing. The great powers which are destined to fill out the action of Christendom’s closing day are practicing themselves, each in its several sphere, with great earnestness and skill. I means the civil and the ecclesiastical.
I do not doubt but that for a season the ecclesiastical will prevail. The woman is to ride the beast (Revelation 17) for a while—a prophetic symbol, I believe, signifying ecclesiastical supremacy. And this present moment is marked by many efforts on the behalf of that which takes the place of the church, thus to exalt itself. She is so adroitly directing those efforts that success may speedily await them, and then the blood of the saints may flow afresh.
The civil power, however, is anything but idle. The wondrous advance that it is making every day proves great skill and activity on its part. It is largely boasting itself, showing what it has done, and pledging what further it means to do. I do not doubt that the civil power will have to yield the supremacy for a time, and the woman will ride again, though her greatness will be but for a little, for the civil power will take offense, and remove her.
If we, in God’s grace, keep a good conscience toward Christ and His truth, we may count upon it that no inheritance in the earth is worth much. If we consent to become whatever the times would make us, of course we may go on, and that, too, advancing with an advancing world. (I speak simply of things as they are on the earth. I know that at any time, independently of them, the saints may be taken up to meet the Lord in the air.)
The Spirit of Jeremiah
I have been sensible lately of how much the spirit of Jeremiah suits these times. Iniquity was abounding in the scene around him, though it was called by God’s name, and was indeed His place on the earth. The house of prayer had become a “den of thieves,” though they still cried, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these.” He knew that the judgment of God was awaiting it all, and he looked for happy days which lay in the distance, beyond the present corruption and the approaching judgment. Over all this corruption Jeremiah mourned; against it all he testified, and like his Master, he was hated for his testimony (John 7:7). He was, however, full of faith and hope, and in the strength of that (anticipating the future) he laid out his money in the purchase of Hanameel’s field (Jer. 32). All this was beautiful—the present sorrow over the corruption of the daughter of his people, faith’s certainty of the coming judgment, and hope’s prospect of closing crowning glory.
This is a pattern for our spirit. And I observe another feature of power in the prophet. He was not to be seduced from the conclusions of faith by occasional fair and promising appearances (see Jeremiah 37). The Chaldean army had broken up their camp under the walls of Jerusalem because of the arrival of the Egyptian allies. This circumstance flattered the Jewish people into hopes, but Jeremiah left the city because he would still hold to the conclusion of faith, that Jerusalem was doomed of God in righteous judgment. All this is a fine exhibition of a soul walking by the light of God, not merely through darkness, but through darkness which seemed to be light. As in Jeremiah’s day, separation is the Christian’s place and calling—separation because of heavenly citizenship and oneness with an already risen Christ.
The Parable of the Potter
All this may admonish us, beloved, but I have another word in my heart just at present also.
The parable of the potter in Jeremiah 18 and 19 was designed to let Israel know that, though brought into covenant, they were still within the reach of the divine judgments. In John Baptist’s time, Israel is found in the like character of self-confidence. If in Jeremiah’s day they would say, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these,” in the Baptist’s day they said, “We have Abraham to our father.” But John, like Jeremiah, would again teach them that, though in covenant, judgment could reach them. In the Lord’s ministry we find the same. Israel still boasted, and the Lord again and again warned them of the coming judgment. All this has a lesson for us.
Christendom, or Babylon, has taken this ancient place of Israel. She trusts in security in spite of unfaithfulness. She boasts in the Lord, though her moral condition is vile. She says, “I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall, see no sorrow” (Rev. 18:7), though blood, and pride, and all abominations, stain her. But Revelation 18 is another action. Like that of the prophet in the potter’s house, it teaches the unfaithful one that the doom of the broken vessels, or of the millstone cast into the sea, awaits her. This is for our learning. God never sanctions disobedience. He did not go into the Garden of Eden to accredit Adam’s sin, but to bring relief in the way of grace for it. So in the gospel He utterly condemns sin, while delivering the sinner.
Nor does He ever commit Himself to His stewards. He commits Himself to His own gifts and calling (Rom. 11:29), but never to His stewards. They are always held responsible to Him, and disobedience works forfeiture. Christ is the only Steward that ever stood and answered for Himself in the conditional place, and as always, He is the moral contradiction of man. In the temptation (Matthew 4) the devil sought to inspire the Lord with confidence in spite of disobedience. He partially cited Psalm 91, quoted the promised security, omitting the required obedience. But he was utterly defeated. The Lord in answering cited Deuteronomy 6, and acted accordingly, for in that chapter obedience is declared to be Israel’s ground of security. In this way did Jesus keep His own blessings under Psalm 91, and His Israel’s blessings under Deuteronomy 6. But all other stewards, in their turn, have failed, and Babylon’s boast, which we have already listened to, is a lie.
Boasting Vessels
All this may nowadays be had in our remembrance seasonably, for we live at a time when Babylon is filling herself afresh with this boast, just before her overthrow, when she is to meet the doom of the millstone (Rev. 18:21). For the boast of “the eternal city,” as she calls herself, only the more awfully signalizes her for the judgment of God. It is a favorite thought with her, that while other churches tremble for their safety, she is above such fears; she is God’s city, and has His walls around her. This is imposing, but when considered by the teaching of the Word, it only the more distinctly declares what she is, and witnesses her more advanced ripeness for the judgment of God. This boast is defiance. It is the denial of her subjection to Him, of her stewardship or place of being answerable to Him and His judgment. It leaves her for the doom of the potter’s vessel in the valley of the son of Hinnom, or of the millstone in the hand of the angel. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again” (Jer. 19:11).
J. G. Bellett (adapted)
A Vessel of Honor or Dishonor
In the first verse of Acts 18, two cities of Greece are mentioned by name—Athens and Corinth. They were very different in character, although located within 100 miles of each other. Athens was the great center of learning and philosophy, far outdistancing any other city in the world. Corinth was a dissolute and licentious place—so much so, that if a Greek turned to lead a loose life, he was said to have gone to Corinth. Its inhabitants, although they sought after wisdom and gloried in erudition, generally wanted ease and fleshly indulgence.
The Apostle Paul visited and preached the gospel in both cities. At Athens he had to descend to the lowest point, and speak of the Creator’s power and the evidences of His work, for, with all their striving after knowledge (Acts 17:21), they did not know the living God. (How often this has been true among the wise of this world.) Notwithstanding the earnest efforts of the greatest preacher of the cross of Christ, there was little fruit from his labors. Dionysius and Damaris, with a few others, believed on the Lord Jesus, but we never read of Paul’s going there again, nor of an assembly being formed there. No apostolic letter addressed to saints at Athens has been left to us.
To Corinth, Paul went once and again. At first the opposition was strong, but he was encouraged by the Lord with these words: “Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city” (Acts 18:9-10). What? much people in the rich, profligate Corinth, and not in Athens? Yes, God has salvation for lost, ruined sinners, but the proud, philosophic reasoners against God knew no need. The Areopagites might speculate about the “new things” the “babbler” said, but they cared not for that which made nothing of man or his boasted wisdom. It was foolishness to them.
At Corinth a flourishing assembly was formed, and Paul addressed two long epistles to them. Various other brethren visited them, and the saints there came behind in no gift, so that they were inclined to glory in men and in the gifts which they possessed. They were carnal, however, walked as men and had to be reproved for it (1 Cor. 3:3), for party spirit and strife was the evidence of carnality.
Before they were saved some of them had been “fornicators...idolaters...thieves...drunkards... extortioners,” etc., but they had been saved, washed, and justified (1 Cor. 6:9-11). What a wonderful change the gospel brings into the lives of people! “Moral rearmament” and social reforms might effect certain changes in people’s conduct, but it cannot wash and justify sinners, and transform them from within.
Love of the Truth Lost
There was, however, a danger that when the love of the truth had lost its power over their souls, there might be some slipping back and occasional falling into old ways and habits. This happened at Corinth, and gave occasion to the Apostle to write to them to put out a man guilty of fornication. The assembly was responsible to judge them who were within their ranks, for they were unleavened; evil had no place there. To meet this ever-present danger, the Apostle reminded them that they had been purchased at a great price, and hence they were no longer their own; they belonged to another whom they were to please. They now were to glorify God in their bodies and not live like the careless heathen around them; the body was for the Lord, not for self and indulgence of fleshly lusts (1 Cor. 6:18-20).
These warnings in the Word of God are particularly salutary in the days in which we live. Morality is at an all-time low in so-called Christian countries. People are abandoning themselves to indulgence of the lusts of the flesh and of the mind. We are living in the last days, when Christendom, by and large, is loving pleasure rather than God (see 2 Tim. 3:1-5 JND). Our dear young people (even children in grade schools) are being brought up in an increasingly corrupt atmosphere in the world, and need to be instructed, like the Corinthians, that we who are joined to the Lord are one spirit with Him. Hence all we do and allow should bear the impress of our belonging to Him. “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).
Vessels with Pure Minds
The Apostle Peter addressed the Christians, referring to their “pure minds.” We need to guard our minds that they do not become defiled by the filthy conversation of the wicked, as poor Lot’s was after he went to Sodom (2 Pet. 2:7, 8; 3:1). “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6:17-18).
How to Possess Your Vessel
Thessalonica was not far removed from Corinth, and the same general moral conditions prevailed in that vicinity. In fact it was widespread in the days of the old Roman Empire, so the Apostle exhorted them: “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 this is the will of God....that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor” (1 Thess. 4:1-4). Our bodies here are what Paul refers to as “his vessel,” and elsewhere we read that our body is “the temple of the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor. 6:19). How important that it be kept from anything that would dishonor the Lord, and His Holy Spirit who dwells there!
What we all need more and more is attachment of heart to the Lord Jesus, ardent affection in the soul, with the Word of God having power over our consciences. Thus we shall be able to “walk and to please God.” Enoch “walked with God” and he “pleased God” (Gen. 5:22; Heb. 11:5), although he lived amid surrounding corruption and moral depravity. The world was then heading for the flood, as now it is going on to the perils and destruction of the great tribulation and the subsequent judgment of “the great and terrible day of the Lord.” Enoch so walked “three hundred years,” but that was done just one day at a time. We need grace for each day as it comes—“Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” “He giveth more grace,” and we need not anticipate the difficulties or trials of tomorrow. We have only to “walk and to please God” today with the grace and strength supplied by Himself; it is available to all who wait upon Him.
Paul Wilson (adapted)
Vessel of Wrath
In connection with the plagues the Lord brought upon Egypt, it is evident from Exodus 7:13, as well as other scriptures that follow, that the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart. This fact is also referred to in Romans 9, where the question of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility is taken up. In this chapter we read, concerning the Lord, “Whom He will He hardeneth” (Rom. 9:18). Some will not allow that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he could not let the people go only after Pharaoh had proved himself the inveterate enemy of God and His people. Rather, they insist that God hardened his heart arbitrarily before Pharaoh had displayed his wicked intentions to God’s people. We quote from one exponent of this teaching: “It is not judicial hardening ... but sovereign ‘hardening’ of a fallen, sinful creature for no other reason than ... the sovereign will of God.”
Judicial Hardening
But let us notice words which much better describe the situation: “The king of Egypt was a thoroughly selfish, cruel and profane man when God first sent him a message by Moses and Aaron. The effect of the summons on such a spirit was to bring out his blasphemy against Jehovah and more savage oppression of Israel. ... God made a most striking example of Pharaoh, not a mere exposure of his malice, but His own power on that background, so that His name might be thus told abroad in all the earth. Never does God make a man bad, but the bad man Pharaoh, made yet worse by his resistance of the most striking divine appeals, He made manifest, raised up as he was from among men to such a height that his downfall might tell on consciences far and wide throughout the world. Hard at first, God sealed him up at length in a judicial hardening. ... If it were true, as Calvin says, that those who perish were destined to destruction by the will of God, the case were hard indeed. But Scripture never really speaks thus, and the language of the texts usually cited in support of such a decree, when closely as well as fairly examined, invariably avoids such a thought, however near it may seem to approximate.”
Fitted to Destruction
Romans 9:22-23 have also been twisted to furnish support for a wrong view of God’s dealings: “What if God, willing to show His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory.” These verses are used by some schools of opinion to declare that God prepared these vessels, some to destruction on the one hand and some to glory on the other. Again we quote from a strong exponent of this theory. “[The Apostle] intimates here that before they are born, they are destined to their lot.” This is to falsify what the Apostle said, for he did no such thing as is here alleged.
A careful examination of these verses will show that it is not said that God fitted such vessels to destruction, but that He prepared the vessels of mercy unto glory. To say more than is here said is to add to God’s Word. Furthermore, instead of saying that He prepared the vessels of wrath for destruction “before they were born,” it is said that He “endured with much long-suffering” these vessels — not a word about His preparing them, but about His forbearance with them.
Vessels of Wrath
We shall again quote from a more reliable author: “Sinful men thus living in enmity against God are here styled ‘vessels of wrath,’ on the one hand, as those who believe are designated ‘vessels of mercy’ on the other. ... But there is a shade of difference, as distinct as it is refined and profoundly true, which no reader should overlook. The vessels of wrath are said to be ‘fitted for destruction.’ But it is neither said nor implied here, or anywhere else, that God fitted them for it. They were fitted by their sins, and most of all by their unbelief and rebelliousness against God. But when we hear of the faithful, the phrase is altogether different: ‘Vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory.’ The evil is man’s, and in no case is it of God; the good is His and not our own. God, not the saints, prepared the vessels of mercy for glory. More strictly, He prepared them beforehand with a view to glory. ... Thus, lost man will in the end be compelled to justify God and to take the entire blame on his own shoulders, who preferred to trust Satan as his friend and adviser rather than God, while the saved, however dwelling in bliss, will know and make known all as the riches of His glory, themselves debtors to His unfailing and unfathomable mercy.” And from the same writer: “To me I confess it looks like the blinding influence of falsehood when men overlook the difference of vessels of wrath fitted, on the one hand, to destruction and vessels of mercy which He, on the other hand, before made ready for glory.”
God Endures With Long-Suffering
We will quote from still another excellent source: “While it is true that Christians are ‘chosen in [Christ] before the foundation of the world’ (Eph. 1:4), it would never be right to say that lost sinners were in a parallel way elected to reprobation. ... In the case of the wicked, so far from being elected to eternal misery, we find that God endures them [while on earth]—vessels of wrath—with much long-suffering, fitted not by Him but by their own deeds for destruction. The word katartizo (Rom. 9:22) means to correct, repair, mend; then in its participial form, fitted, prepared. The word does not suppose a decree of God, but a work of man.” Unregenerate man continues to say, “He fits the non-elect unto destruction by His foreordaining decrees.”
Pharaoh was a cruel despot long before Moses and Aaron were sent to him with a demand from God that he let Israel go. Even before Moses was born, a previous pharaoh had issued the decree that all the male children should be drowned in the Nile, and Moses was delivered from that fate by the providential intervention of God. Pharaoh was hardened in his cruel course of exterminating God’s chosen earthly people long before God began to work to deliver them from under his power. God might justly have cut him off in his sin against Him at that time, but He endured the wicked king and finally hardened his heart in His government so that Pharaoh rushed on headlong into the jaws of death in a way calculated to demonstrate God’s power.
Beware of Hardening
A young scoffer once accosted a faithful servant of Christ about God’s hardening Pharaoh’s heart, but he received a stern rebuke in the words, “Beware, young man, lest God harden your heart.” And in like manner, Christendom, which is largely rejecting God’s grace today, is going to be given a lie to believe, so that those who will not have the truth may perish (see 2 Thessalonians 9-12). “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31). God is patient and long-suffering, but when grace is despised, He will act in judgment. It is dangerous for one to resist the overtures of grace; he may then be blinded as his just desert.
P. Wilson (adapted)
Only an Empty Vessel
The MASTER stood in His garden,
Among the lilies fair,
Which His own right hand had planted,
And trained with tenderest care.
He looked at their snowy blossoms,
And marked with observant eye
That the flowers were sadly drooping,
For their leaves were parched and dry.
“My lilies need to be watered,”
The heavenly Master said;
“Wherein shall I draw it for them,
And raise each drooping head?”
Close to his feet on the pathway,
Empty and frail and small,
An earthen vessel was lying,
Which seemed no use at all.
But the Master saw, and raised it
From the dust in which it lay,
And smiled, as He gently whispered,
“This shall do My work today.”
“It is but an earthen vessel,
But it lay so close to Me;
It is small, but it is empty—
That is all it needs to be.”
So to the fountain He took it,
And filled it full to the brim;
How glad was the earthen vessel
To be of some use to Him!
He poured forth the living water
Over His lilies fair,
Until the vessel was empty,
And again He filled it there.
He watered the drooping lilies
Until they revived again;
And the Master saw with pleasure
That His labor had not been vain.
His own hand had drawn the water
Which refreshed the thirsty flowers;
But He used the earthen vessel
To convey the living showers.
Author Unknown