Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries |
The riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy; Prt 3. which He prepared beforehand for glory.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The Doctrine of the Riches of His Glory upon Vessels of Mercy.
Point 1. First of all, the Bible uses vessels as a reference to the doctrine of election where the believer is said to be a chosen vessel unto God.
At the end of his blinding light experience, the Lord told Ananias in ACT 9:15, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
Before Paul could be a usable vessel, he had to be filled with doctrine.
We never fulfill the plan of God designed for us in eternity past until we become filled vessels, until we contain maximum doctrine in our souls.
Point 2. Vessels were used to provide an analogy between Bible doctrine resident in the soul and capacity for life among those who are mature believers, EPH 4:22-24; 2CO 4:7-18.
EPH 4:22-24, that, in reference to your former manner of life, [your former lifestyle], you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, [strong pressures from the sin nature in your area of weakness], and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
This passage emphasizes rebound as the beginning of the means of victory over the old sin nature but, more than that, it also refers to the shattering of the OSN and, at the same time, the emptying of the treasure found in our new nature which is also found in our earthen vessels.