MANY CHRISTIANS ARE NOT VESSELS UNTO HONOUR BECAUSE THEY DO NOT JUST LEARN HOW TO OBEY
SOUL WINNING IS AN ORDER FROM OUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF (GOD). IT IS NOT AN ADVICE
WHEN YOU COME TO JESUS CHRIST, YOU ARE COMING UNDER A NEW MASTER – A LIFE OF DISCIPLINE BEGINS
JESUS CHRIST IS NOT COMPELLING ANYBODY TO COME TO HIM. YOU EITHER OPEN UP TO HIM OR NO
WHEN CORO WAS COMING, THE LORD TOLD ME THE WHOLE WORLD WILL BE ON HOLIDAYS
I AM NOT A PROPHET BUT I AM A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR
THUS SAITH THE LORD, YOUR JOY IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!
I WANTED TO BE A SOLDIER BUT MY MOTHER DID NOT ALLOW ME
I WATCHED ANYTHING THAT HAD TO DO WITH THE MILITARY AND SAW WHAT CHANGED THE CIVILIAN TO THE IRON MEN
WHEN YOU ARE A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR, YOU HEAR CONVERSATIONS GOING ON IN THE HEAVENS – SOME OF WHICH YOU CANNOT SHARE
YEARS AGO WHILE ON A WHIRL WIND TOUR OF SOUTH AMERICA WITH MY CHILDREN, THEY WERE EMBARRASSED BY MY STRENGTH
WHEN YOU ARE A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR, THE MASTER IS CONSTANTLY TOUCHING YOU
WHEN GOD TOUCHES YOU, YOU GET STRENGTH THAT HUMAN BEINGS CANNOT EXPLAIN
– Pastor E. A. Adeboye on “VESSELS UNTO HONOUR” at RCCG April 2023 Thanksgiving Service || 2nd April, 2023
Today I have been asked to speak on the topic, “VESSELS UNTO HONOUR.” It is a very serious topic probably because of the calibre of people we have among us today.
2 Timothy 2:20-21. In every house, you have dustbin. That’s where you drop refuse, leftovers. You have brooms that you use to sweep the ground. Church Gist. Then you have cutleries, drinking glasses. You have vessels that never come near the master of the house. You also have vessels that you can find on the dining table of the master. One is called vessels unto honour, the other vessels unto dishonour but they are all vessels. The big question this morning is: what kind of vessel will you like to be? The answer should be between you and God and by the time I finish, you will probably want to think again.
Let us look at the advantages of being a vessel unto honour before we talk about that it will cost you to be a vessel unto honour. Church Gist. Let’s consider the advantages of the spoon, fork, drinking glass on the dining table of the President.
1. The master is constantly touching you. If for example you are the spoon on the dining table of the Most High, from time to time he touches you. Church Gist. When God touches you, you get strength that human beings cannot explain. 1 Kings 18:46. When God touches you, you get your strength renewed in a manner that will embarrass others.
Some years ago I took some of my children on what you will call a whirl wind tour of South America. Today we are in this country, we arrive in the morning, hold a crusade in the evening, return home by 11pm – that’s when we break our fast, then we get to bed probably around 1(am) by 5(am) I phone them, “it is time for morning prayer so that we can get on our way by 6am to beat the traffic because we are going to another country and we are going to repeat the whole process. Church Gist. They were all younger than I by at least by 20 years, decided that they will gang up against me. They all took their phones off the hook – the phone in the bedrooms. So when I woke up at 5am and I was phoning, all the phones were sounding engaged. We slept by 1am, you are waking us up at 5am. If you don’t need sleep, we need sleep.
– I am praying for somebody here today, God will lay his hand on you and that strength that nobody will be able to explain will become your portion.
2. When the President, may be the Vice President may be Chief of defense staff, Inspector General of Police, may be they sit down together to have lunch. The cup is on the table. Everything they are discussing, the cup is hearing. When you are a vessel of Honour in the hand of the Almighty God, you will hear what is going on in the Heavens. Church Gist. If you’re a vessel unto honour in the hand of the Almighty God, you hear conversations that other people don’t hear and some of these conversations you can’t even share.
2 Corinthians 12:2-4. When you become a vessel of Honour in the hand of the Almighty God, you hear things. You don’t belong to the class of those who call themselves, “prophets” who prophesy all kinds of jokes. “Thus saith the Lord it is going to rain in June.” Ha! June is the raining season; you don’t need to prophesy there. Church Gist. One prophet in Nigeria was prophesying some time ago: “3 nations were going to compete for soccer. He said, “thus saith the Lord, if Nigeria will do this and do this, they will win.” I laughed. When God is going to tell you the winner he will tell you the winner – period, no guess work. When you are a vessel unto honour, the Almighty God will tell you things that many at times you find it difficult to repeat.
When Coro was coming, the Lord just said, “the whole world will be on holidays.” I think I told you then. How can the whole world be on holidays? What will be happening? What is it that we will say we are celebrating? Church Gist. Until the lockdown came and you find the streets of London empty, streets of New York empty, etc. I am not a prophet but by God’s grace, I am a vessel unto honour and I just want to tell someone in particular listening to me now that thus saith the Lord, your joy is about to begin.
3. When you’re a vessel of honour because you’re at the dining table of the Most High, constantly he breathes on you. This is because he is breathing and you are present and part of his breath will be coming on you. John 20:21-23. Church Gist. When God breathes on you, things happen. It is like as if the Holy Spirit comes upon you suddenly. If you want an example of what could happen as a result of that, you can find it in Judges 15:14-15. I have good news for someone here today who is going to become a vessel unto honour,
– God will breathe on you and all the yokes binding your hands so that you have not been succeeding the way you should succeed, binding your legs so that you should not be making the progress you should, all these yokes will be burnt today.
4. But there is something even deeper still. As a matter of fact I will just mention it, I won’t be able to discuss it deeper because this is Sunday Service not solemn assembly. That is: if you are a vessel unto honour from time to time God kisses you. You say, “no no, that cannot be possible.” Numbers 12:5-8. I thought God would have said, “I talk to him mouth to ear.” You know when you want to whisper to somebody and you don’t want anybody to hear, you put your mouth near the ear and whisper. God said, “no.” I can’t begin to tell you what happens when you get a kiss from God. Church Gist. I will leave that to the Holy Spirit to manifest it in the life of someone. I will pray that someone will get a kiss from the Almighty today and then you come and tell us the result. But I can tell you at least this much: if you have ever received a kiss from the Most High God, from that moment onwards, you rule by decrees. Everything you say comes to pass. I will just remind you of a story:
One of my sons who came and said, I want a big post. I have applied and I want you to speak a word so that the interview will go well. I was going to pray and he said no, just speak a Word. I spoke a word, the interview will go well. He went, prepared very hard, got to the place of interview, went to the board room. Church Gist. When he got there they asked him 3 questions:
a) What’s your name? He told them
b) What post did you say you want? He told them
c) They asked him the third question, When can you start?
So he came rejoicing, Daddy I got the job. So I said congratulations. He said, no speak another word. I said alright: I pray that your progress in that place will be rapid. He said Amen. The following day he came, trembling. What happened? Church Gist. I reported for work and they sent me to the board room. I met the same people that were there the other day. They said, young man after you left, our managing director resigned. The position he got was Assistant Managing Director. Now, are you ready for the post of Managing Director?
So he came back the following day trembling. I said, Congratulations. He said, speak another word. I said, the God who started the good work in you will complete it. He got to the place of work the following day, they asked him to go to the board room. Church Gist. He met the same people there and the people said, young man we have discovered why our Managing Director resigned. It is because they have given him a higher pay somewhere else. Now we don’t want you to leave so we double your salary. Then he came back again and said, Daddy speak another word. I said, ha! You want to take the company from the owner? I want to speak a Word to somebody today:
– Everything that you deserve from God, you get it today!
When you get a kiss from God whatever you speak, it’s done.
You can’t have all these benefits without requirements. In the text we read, it talks about vessels unto honour: gold, silver. Unlike wood and mud. Church Gist. Anyone who is going to be a vessel unto honour in the house of God must be:
1. Tough: he must be someone who can endure. I’m sure that’s why they chose this special day when we are having the military and the police with us. 2 Timothy 2:3. I wanted to be a soldier; it’s my mother who didn’t allow me. When I told her that I wanted to join the army after I graduated, she said to me, “you’re my only son. I’m not asking you not to join the army. Just wait till I die and you have buried me, then you can do whatever you want. Church Gist. That was in the 1960s. By the time she died in 1990, it was already too late for me to join the army. But I love the Army. May be another time, I will tell you the reasons why. Because I loved the army, I watched every film, cinema, anything that had to do with the military. I am telling you, I saw what changed the civilian (and they have a name for those of us who are civilians) to the iron men. You see them in beautiful dresses, they look nice. May be you should check what goes on from the day they enlist till the day they begin to march in ceremonial dress. You will know what is called hardness, endurance. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 2 Corinthians 11:23-24. You want to be a vessel unto honour in the hand of God? You will love fasting more than you love food.
There are certain things every vessel unto honour has in common with another. Church Gist. Something that you will find is present in every soldier, paramilitary officer or police officer. They have certain things in common.
1. Instant obedience: John 15:14. A vessel unto honour obeys first. If he has any complain he can complain later. That is if the complaint is allowed. Those of you who are civilians, (I am a civilian but I am more on the military side) do you know that when your senior officer gives you a command and you feel you should put in a word, you have to get permission? Church Gist. You have to say, permission to speak Sir. If the officer says, permission denied, that’s the end of the story. You obey – that’s the thing and if there is anything that is lacking in the life of many Christians why they are not vessels unto honour is because they don’t just learn how to obey.
For example: the Lord gave us a command at the beginning of the year. He said his Church must double every 3 months. It’s not an advise; it’s a command. That command now, I want to put it in a more pleasant way for you. Every one of us, members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in particular, from this moment onward every month you must win a soul. Church Gist. It’s an order; it’s not an advise. It’s not an appeal; it’s an order from our Commander-in-chief. You want to be a vessel unto honour, the first thing that must be driven into that your little head is obedience. When God says, do, you do; don’t, you don’t. Why? Because God knows the future more than you do. He knows what is best for you. At times, God will give you a command that will sound completely unreasonable. But don’t forget, he is the all knowing God.
When I was preparing this little sermon I remembered an occasion: I went home on holidays. I went to my village and when I got to the village in my own house, they prepared pounded yam for me. You know me and pounded yam (laughs). They prepared pounded yam, very good combination okro soup with bush meat. Oh God! I was not fasting so I prayed, Lord bless this food… and I heard from God: “Son, don’t eat.” Church Gist. I know his voice so I can’t pretend that I didn’t know who was speaking but I pretended. What could be wrong? This food is prepared in my home by my people, my best meal, I am on holidays mehn, I am not fasting. You know God doesn’t repeat himself when he is dealing with vessel unto honour. “Son, don’t eat.” Pim and he kept quiet. I ate. I am sure you are thinking may be they poisoned the food – no. As soon as I finished eating, a messenger came from my elder sister. “You are wanted urgently; your elder sister is dying. We heard you are in town, come.” I followed them. I got to my elder sister and I saw her covered from head to toe with small pox. Church Gist. I am talking about several years ago. “Huuuh! You don’t face small pox with a belly full of pounded yam.” I ran to the back of the house, put my hand into my throat, vomited the food then I can now come back and face the devil. While all that was going on God said, I warned you. Is there anybody here today who will say, from now I will obey God?
2. Submission to authority: total surrender to authority. I don’t want to go into all the details of what goes on in the military but I am sure some of us have a rough idea that if they ask you to march forward and you decide to march backwards, you might not even live to tell the story. Church Gist. God expects every vessel unto honour in his hands to be 100 per cent surrendered to him. Why? Jeremiah 18:1-6. If you surrender to God he will make a vessel unto honour out of you. You don’t surrender, he will make another vessel.
Years ago, I preached a sermon called, “SEEING THE INVISIBLE.” I gave an illustration: a sculptor will look at a log of wood. We all see a log of wood but a sculptor can see a lion inside that log of wood. So he takes his chisel and hammer and began to cut a little wood away from here and there. Church Gist. Very soon you see the head of a lion appearing. You say, ahn ah, so this was in the wood? Then he keeps going. Occasionally, he will strike a piece of the wood and the wood will split into 2 because there is a fault in the wood. He will look at the wood and say, ‘what’s wrong with you? I want to make you a lion; now you’ve broken into two. Okay, if you can’t be a lion, you can still be a cat’ and then he keeps going to work again trying to make a cat out of what would have been a lion. Then another stroke and the thing split into two again. “Ah, what’s wrong with this wood? Well, if you can’t be a cat, may be we can make a rat out of you.” Church Gist. Then he keeps working and the thing split into two again. He will say, “alright, if you don’t want to be a lion, cat or a rat, then you can be firewood.” I think it sounds like a proverb but I hope somebody understands.
If you are not 100 per cent surrendered to God, you might end up where you don’t want to be.
Let me conclude: do you want to be a vessel unto honour? Matthew 11:28-30. When the Evangelist wants to talk to you because he wants to talk sweet so that you could give your life to Jesus Christ, he says, ‘come to Jesus, from now on everything will be honkey-dorrey.’ Church Gist. God bless the Evangelist. When you come to Jesus Christ, you are coming under a new Master. When you are in the world living under the devil, you can do what you like. You can be drunk, keep late nights, do whatever you like, the devil doesn’t care because he has got you and when he wants to use you, he will use you.
When you come to Jesus Christ, a life of discipline begins. You want to be a vessel unto honour, 100 per cent surrender. You can’t surrender completely? No problem; Jesus Christ is not compelling anybody to come. He will say, “behold I stand at the door and I knock. Church Gist. If you want to open the door I will come in. If you don’t, up to you.” But if you surrender to Jesus Christ, the moment you invite him to come in to your life, he takes over.
A friend of mine when I asked him to give his life to Jesus Christ he said, “ah, thank you. Wait till I am old. I want to enjoy myself first because the moment I surrender, I know that there are rules and regulations.” Fortunately, he didn’t surrender and he never became old. You used to be a vessel unto honour. God was using you; you knew it. Church Gist. You were hearing his voices, feeling his breath upon you, from time to time he was touching you, then you messed up. If the master is eating and all of a sudden, an accident happens and the fork drops to the ground, for that fork to come back to the Master’s table it will have to undergo serious cleaning.
You are a backslider, you want to come back and become a vessel unto honour again, God will cleanse you but it is by fire. Malachi 3:2. That is why those of us who by the grace of God are vessels unto honour in his hands are afraid of backsliding. Church Gist. In the Army of the Almighty God there is no room for naughtiness, any kind of sloppiness; you have to be sharp all the time. You are a vessel unto honour and you want to remain a vessel unto honour all the time?
1. 2 Timothy 4:2. The price of safety is unresting vigilance.
2. You want to be a vessel unto honour? All the days of your life you must understand the Bible says you pray without ceasing. Church Gist. You must be on your toes 24/7. Ask the military, policeman, they will tell you wherever you are posted to, you are there at the moment, at the pleasure of your commander.
Like one of my friends told me, “when they say you are transferred to some place, you don’t unpack all your loads because you could be asked to be here today and be somewhere by tomorrow. Signal comes from above. Instantly, you are on the move.” That’s the way it should be for the vessels unto honour. Church Gist. So I thank God, all my brothers and sisters – the military, paramilitary, the police who are here, you are a very good example of vessels unto honour and you will remain vessels unto honour forever. I want to tell you one thing: if nobody is praying for you, I am because I appreciate your value, I know what you stand for.
– It is my prayer that you will remain vessels unto honour forever!
As for those of us who are civilians but we want to join the Army of the Lord, we want to be vessels unto honour in hand of the Most High God, you have not given your life to Jesus Christ before and want to do so today, I’ve told you the truth: you come to him, all things must become new. You can’t live any kind of life you want. Church Gist. The moment you give your life to him, he will take over. But one thing is certain: if you are a vessel of Honour in his hands, he will protect you. The protection that the President will give to his favourite cup, favourite cutlery, etc is not the same thing that he will give to the dustbin. Let me tell you brethren, there are great days ahead only for the vessels unto honour.
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