Vessels of Honor

June 02, 2024

Vessels of Honor

This is the time of the year for grilling burgers and hotdogs in the backyard or at the park. While some folks get a little more elaborate with brisket, chicken, fish, etc., the outdoor meals are mostly about getting together with family and friends. It’s about grabbing your fixins and finding a place to sit down and consume while conversing. Thankfully, for these informal settings, they’ve come up with just the right containers for those fixins - paper or plastic plates, cups, and utensils are most appropriate for the content and the cleanup. There’s no worrying about washing and reusing. You just mess them up and throw them away.

There’s a need for a whole different approach, however, when special events like Thanksgiving or Christmas call for glass plates, crystal glasses, and silverware. They will be piled high with a wide variety of carefully and lovingly prepared dishes and will probably never leave the house. The cleanup of these precious vessels is often more lengthy than the time they served their purpose. Their worth is far too great to just throw them away, and you can’t just leave the residue on them. They will be thoroughly washed and carefully placed back in the cupboard for the next special occasion.

The things of the world that are available for consumption are much like the social outdoor get-togethers. Their content is common and doesn’t require vessels of honor and worth. When they are done serving their purpose, they are easily disposed of. There is a whole different approach, however, in the kingdom of God. For the things of eternal value, the very life of God, there is a need for vessels of honor that will adequately contain and present this worth. This honor is received from God by those who have valued the life of God above all the world’s enticements. They are washed and made acceptable for this treasure by the blood of Jesus. To be a vessel of honor is to be established in eternal kingdom worth, never to feel disposable and insignificant, but highly valued as a presenter of God’s glory. This honor will have risen far above every other value in life.

Notes

Honor from God is a return on honor of Him

1 Samuel 2:30 (NKJV) 30 Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the LORD says: 'Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

How to honor the Father? – serve the presence and purpose of Christ.

John 12:26 (NKJV) 26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

Serving is becoming a vessel of honor, pure and sanctified for His glory

2 Timothy 2:19-26 (NKJV) 19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity." 20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. 21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. 22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

We were chosen for this service of honor as sons

Romans 9:20-26 (NKJV) 20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? 22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? 25 As He says also in Hosea: "I WILL CALL THEM MY PEOPLE, WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, AND HER BELOVED, WHO WAS NOT BELOVED." 26 "AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ‘YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,’ THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD."

Requires presentation in honor

Romans 12:1 (NLT) 1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

Vessels of His excellent power

2 Corinthians 4:7 (NKJV) 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

Honoring God – serving His power – being honored

1 Peter 5:6 (NLT) 6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.

Overview:

  • The Father honors those who honor Him.
  • Honoring Him is serving Him.
  • Service of Him comes from vessels of honor that don’t serve other masters.
  • As vessels of mercy, we have been chosen and enabled to honor the Lord in service.
  • By presenting our bodies as sacrifices in service to the Lord, we take our place in honoring Him.
  • As vessels of honor, we become demonstrators of His power for His glory.
  • In humble service of God’s power, we are lifted up in honor by Him, made effective for the kingdom.

Prayer:

Father, I’m so grateful for Your honor of me that has made me a vessel of mercy, accepted into Your family by the blood of Jesus. As I present my body to You now, make me to be a vessel of honor, set apart to serve Your body and Your purpose in the power of Your Spirit.

Declarations:

  • I am no longer separated from God but have become His treasured child through my union with Christ.
  • I am now a vessel of mercy, given access to His presence for service in His kingdom.
  • As I present my body to Him as a holy and acceptable service, I am made to be a vessel of honor for His glory.
  • With the treasure of His life in me is His power to serve His will and purpose effectively.
  • By humbling myself to honor God’s power in me, I am positioned for God’s honor in all that I do.