I. Vessel- Merriam Webster Dictionary
A. “A Container For Holding Something”
1. Some vessels used for permanent storage, i.e. an urn.
2. Most vessels hold something that is intended to be poured out later.
B. “A Person Into Whom Some Quality Is Infused”
1. A child of light
2. A child of the Lord
3. Everyone is some kind of vessel
4. We are all filled with something
II. How To Become A Vessel Of God Acts 9:3-6
A. Every Christian Is Called By God
1. Saul chosen by God before his birth. Tremendous privilege.
2. Galatians 1:15 “…it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace…”.
3. Eph. 1:4,5 He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, acc. to the good pleasure of His will,
4. Saul called & chosen for salvation & service long before he knew about it.
B. Surrender To Jesus; Make Him Your Lord
1. Though called & chosen by God, Saul still had to surrender to Jesus.
2. Don’t kick against the goads. Acts 9:5
III. Filling The Vessel Of God
A. The Command To Be Filled
1. Read Acts 1:4-8; 2:1-4
2. Saul filled w/Holy Spirit Acts 9:17
3. Be continually filled
a. Eph. 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation ( a wasting away); but be filled with the Spirit…
b. “Be ye being filled”. Continual infilling of the Holy Spirit.
c. Phil. 1:11 being filled w/ the fruits of righteousness…by Jesus Christ,
d. A command we will choose to follow or ignore.
B. What Not To Be Filled With
1. Don’t be filled with yourself: your ways, your thoughts, your desires.
2. Turn to Mark 7:18-23
3. Eph. 2:3 “…by nature, children of wrath…”.
4. Man’s nature to be filled w/sin. No effort required to be filled w/sin
C. Two Choices Regarding Being Filled
1. Natural man doesn’t have access to the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
2. Natural man is already filled with sin.
3. To be a vessel of God, man needs an external source for his infilling.
4. First surrender to Jesus, then be filled by the Holy Spirit.
5. The vessel of God isn’t filled w/self, doesn’t desire to be filled w/self.
6. Unsaved man has only one concern, being filled w/self.
7. Christian struggles between being filled w/ self or w/ the Holy Spirit.
8. The Christian makes daily, hourly choices about what to be filled with.
9. Unsaved man, can only be filled w/self, world, or spirits of darkness.
IV. Vessels Of Honor And Dishonor 2 Timothy 2:14-26
A. God’s Part
1. God chooses how we will serve Him.
2. The kind of vessel we are is up to God.
3. No shame in being wood or clay, no pride in being gold or silver.
4. That is up to God, not us.
5. We need to be what God made us to be.
6. Don’t try to be more than you are; don’t be less than you are.
7. Be yourself
B. Our Part
1. We decide what we will be filled with. No choice is still a choice.
2. Sin brings dishonor to God & us. It brings shame, pain, sorrow, death.
3. Sin makes us less useful or unusable for God.
4. Departing from sin is what we should choose.
5. That puts us in the place where God will prepare us for good works.
6. We set ourselves apart, and we become useful vessels for God.
VI. What Kind Of Vessel Are You?
A. Are You A Vessel Of God?
1. Yield to and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
2. Be filled with the Word of God.
3. Be filled with Jesus.
a. 2 Cor. 4:7 7But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
B. Are You A Vessel Of This World?
C. The Vessel Test
1. Matt. 12:34 Out of the abundance of the mouth, the heart speaks.
2. You are full of something. When you get bumped, what spills out?