Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal; The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 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. 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. 2 Timothy 2:19-21 KJV
2 Timothy 2:20 MSG In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets-some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.
This is one of the greatest revelations of the Bible... God looks upon the church not just as members of his body, but also vessels.
This scripture reveals to us that there are vessels of honor, and vessels of dishonor. Or we could say vessels that serve high and worthy purposes, then there are those that are still vessels, but they serve a much lower or less noble purpose.
This scripture makes it clear that this is not simply a soveriegn choice and decision of God, that says... this is my vessel of honor, but this one can never be more than a vessel of dishonor for lower uses.
No, sir, it's just the opposite. The truth is, the vessel is the one who decides whether they will be a vessel of honor or dishonor.
Everything is created to fulfill a purpose. A vessel is created to contain something. To receive something, and to hold something.
But more than that, a vessel is not only created to receive, and contain, and hold something. But if the vessel doesn't go any farther than that, it hasn't fulfilled the full purpose for which it was created.
Because the purpose of the existence of a vessel, is to receive, and to hold or contain, but then to take what it has received, and what it contains, and to carry it to others.
To move it's contents from one place to another, to transfer what it contains, from the place that it received it's contents, to the place where the contents are needed.
Declare this with me: I am a vessel, chosen by God, to carry his glory, his presence, and his power. He has chosen me, and I choose him.
I choose to be a vessel of honor, to carry the excellency of the presence, and power, of the Holy Spirit.
Wait for the promise of the Father, which sayeth he, you have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, “meaning the anointing” and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. Acts 1:4-8
In our text, Jesus is getting ready to leave planet earth, he had walked in total obedience to his fathers will, and fulfilled his mission, and completed his assignment. Now he’s turning his work on earth over to his disciples, and apostles, and followers.
But Jesus knows that they cannot carry on his work without his power, so he commands them to wait for this power.
Behold I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high. Lu 24:49
To endue means to invest, to clothe, or put on. Power means ability, might, and strength, specifically power for performing miracles.
Jesus was saying: Don’t leave Jerusalem until the anointing comes upon you.
What is the anointing? The Anointing is the power of the Holy Ghost. The anointing is the supernatural might, and strength, and the ability of God to do the work of God.
Jesus knew that the only way we could continue his work on the earth was to be clothed upon and invested with, and empowered with, the supernatural ability, and power of God... and that power is the anointing.
Lu 4:18 says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
The greatest need of the church in this hour is to have this same anointing, this same supernatural ability and power of God that was upon Jesus to be upon us.
The only way we can continue the work and the ministry of Jesus is to have this anointing upon and flowing through us. Jesus said: when this anointing comes upon us we would receive power. That power is supernatural yoke destroying, burden removing, miracle working power.
We don’t need better singers or bigger churches or better preachers, or better sermons, (what we need is the anointing) the supernatural, yoke destroying, might, and ability, and power of God.
The anointing is not a concept or theory or an idea just to be grasped by the mind. The anointing is tangible it is substance, it is real, it is the electricity of heaven, it can be carried, and it can be transferred. (When it touches you, you know it).
Just as your house is powered by electricity, so also the house of God, the body of Christ, is powered by the electricity of heaven, which is the anointing.
Unfortunately the church has often sought to substitute other things for the anointing.
Many times we try to substitute talent, and education, and tradition, and religion, and programs for the anointing. And sadly, we’ve become like a house with an electric outage.
There’s no heat, no lights, no power.
We’ve got to get back to the anointing.
We’ve got to get our fire back.
We’ve got to get our power back.
Our churches are dying. Entire organizations and denominations are dying, because there is no life, no fire, no power, no anointing.
There is only one answer... It’s the Anointing, the Power of God, and the Mighty Holy Ghost.
One of the greatest problems in the church world today is: we don’t know what we already have. We don’t know the value and the capability of what we already have.
Like a man who comes into possession of a rare archeological coin worth millions of dollars, but to him it just looks like a plain old normal everyday coin. Much of the church world is just like that:
Jesus said: You shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.
Multitudes of believers have received the precious gift of the Holy Ghost, been baptized in the Holy Ghost and spoke with other tongues, but have failed to recognize and appreciate and experience the accompanying power.
Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. (The greatest enemy of the church is not the devil, its ignorance.)
The devil knows if he can keep us ignorant of what we have, and who we are, he knows he can keep us defeated, and he knows he can keep us in a perpetual struggle, and he knows we will be no threat to him or his kingdom. But when we discover the value, the ability, the strength, and the power that we already have, then hell is in trouble.
Matt 16:18 Jesus said: Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
2Co 4:7 The Bible says, we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the Excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.
We have this treasure! Not we’re looking for, hoping for, praying for, fasting for, dreaming about, and, not one of these days, if we’re good enough, we’re going to get this treasure.
No! “We have” We have it now... That treasure is the anointing.
It’s the same anointing that Jesus spoke of in Lu 4:18 he said, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me.
It’s the same anointing of Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with him.
It’s the same anointing that was upon the Apostle Paul 2Co 1:21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ and hath anointed us is God.
Friend, have you received the Holy Spirit? If you have then you’re anointed.
Now say: I’m anointed! Now look at your hands and say... My hands are anointed... My feet are anointed... My lips are anointed.
We have this treasure in earthen vessels, why? So that, the Excellency of the power, may be of God and not of us. 2 Co 4:7 or in other words, so that the Excellency of the greatness, and the power, and the wonder, and the glory, and the goodness, and the mercy of God, can be expressed and manifested in the world, even through the weakness and the frailty of our humanity.
Do realize that God has intentionally chosen weaker vessels, fragile vessels, to display his glory through? Well he did, and he does. Look at these verses with me, we find them here in 1 Corinthians...
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. 1 Co 1:26-29
Are you seeing that? God looks for, and chooses the foolish things, the weak, things, the base things, and the things which are despised, so that he can manifest himself through them, so that the world will see the greatness of God manifested through them, and God will receive all the glory.
God does this so that it is unmistakable, and undeniable that it is his power that is being, and manifested, and it is his power that is doing the work.
There is only one thing that can heal sick bodies, deliver the demon possessed, set captives free, open blind eyes, unstop deaf ears, make cripples walk, and heal broken hearts, and that is the power of God, or the Anointing.
Isaiah 10:27 says, And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
Jesus said in John 7:37-38... He that believeth on me as the scriptures hath said: out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water, thus spake he of the Holy Ghost.
Jesus was speaking about the anointing that would flow out of the innermost being of these earthen vessels, who would receive the Holy Ghost.
All around us today people are dying, people are sick, and afflicted, bound and oppressed by the devil, because we have not fully comprehended this treasure we have.
And we have failed to let this treasure, this anointing, and this power flow out of us.
Your feet and my feet are the only way Jesus has of going to them.
Your hands and my hands are the only way Jesus has of touching them.
Your lips and mine are the only way Jesus has of speaking to them.
If you’ve been baptized in the great Holy Ghost you have this river in you. You have this same spirit, the same anointing, the same power that Jesus did.
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Never before has there been such an urgent need for men and women boys and girls to appropriate and walk in the anointing, and manifest the power of God to this world.
There is only one thing that can undo the works of the devil.
There is only one thing that can pull down Satan’s kingdom.
There is only one thing that can penetrate the darkness of this world and turn the tide of wickedness in this world, and that one thing is the power of God, the Anointing.
There must be a valid, visible, tangible, manifestation of the supernatural power of God.
How many are ready to be carriers of that anointing? How many are ready for God to send the fire upon your life, and increase his fire, and his anointing upon your life?
If you’re ready for God to anoint you and put his fire on you, then raise your hands to heaven right now. If you’ll let him, put his fire in your hands and his fire in your feet, and his fire in your belly, and in your mouth... Then lift your hands and tell him you’re available.
Tell him you’re willing
Tell him you’re hungry
Tell him you’ll go
Tell him you’re not satisfied with yesterday’s fire, you want a fresh anointing.
Tell him you want more. Cry out to him: Lord send the fire, anoint me with your holy fire.
I want the move of God in my life; I want to be a carrier of your anointing.
Dear friend, I do believe it’s high time for a move of God in our lives, in our churches, in our homes, and in this country. But I also believe the first move is ours.
Instead of us sitting around with our hands folded in silent meditation waiting on God to move, let us stir ourselves up, and stir up the anointing, and the power that is in us, and be the move of God that is needed, be those chosen vessels, that will carry his glory, his presenc, and his power to the dry places of the earth.
Say it with me: I am a vessel of honor, God has chosen me to carry his anointing, everywhere I go.
