The making of a useable vessel in God’s hands.

The making of a useable vessel in God’s hands.

Malachi  3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

2 Timothy  2:19 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.  2:20 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.  2:21 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.

Beloved for you to be a useable vessel in the hands of the Lord, you will undergo purging.

This purging most times, comes with unavoidable pains, sometimes loses of great things or loved ones.

At times, it would be great unavoidable persecutions.  But if God will ever use any vessel it must as a matter of compulsion undergo this painful purging.

2 Timothy  4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;  4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.  4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;  4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.  4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Joseph went through painful and cruel suffering for thirteen years.

Moses went into shameful humiliation for forty years, before God called him, to go and deliver Israel in Egypt.

David was running and hiding in caves and even ran to the land of the Philistines that took God to save him, before becoming king.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was not exempted, He went through pains and shame.

But then you can not say because of purging you will not serve the Lord.

All Bible believing believers are called to serve God.

Luke  19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

God has given each of us, unique ministry that no other person can fulfill.

Romans  12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;  12:7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;

This ministry will earn you reward at the marriage supper of the lamb.

1 Peter  5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:  5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;  5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

If we fail, it will earn us condemnation and even separation from God, for all eternity.

Ezekiel  3:17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.  3:18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

The Bible reveals how some of the saints and even our Lord were purged.

Jesus.

Isaiah  50:4 The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.  50:5 The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.  50:6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.  50:7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

Hebrews  12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Moses 

Exodus  3:1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.  3:2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.  3:3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.  3:4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

Hebrews  11:24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;  11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;  11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.  11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Isaiah 

Isaiah  6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.  6:2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.  6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.  6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.  6:6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:  6:7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.  6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Jeremiah 

Jeremiah  20:1 Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.  20:2 Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.  20:7 O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.  20:8 For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.  20:9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.  20:10 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.

Paul 

2 Corinthians  12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.  12:8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.  12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Beloved, perhaps you are going through purging, presently, remember what our Lord said.

Matthew  10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.  10:17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;  10:18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.  10:19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.  10:20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.  10:21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.  10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Revelation  2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

His grace will be sufficient for us till He comes in Jesus name.

2 Corinthians  9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: