VESSELS OF MERCY
[p. 36] VESSELS OF MERCY
There is a very precious touch in the apostle’s description of the saints as “vessels of mercy”. It shows that all those who have blessing from God have it purely by reason of His mercy, and His saints love to have it so. There is no thought of any merit or worthiness on the part of His people. They are taken up entirely on the ground of what God is Himself, and He is “rich in mercy”. He takes up “vessels of mercy” to make known the riches of His glory upon them. Let us weigh this well. Our sister who has departed, and all the saints, were once in a condition where they came short of the glory of God. But as vessels of mercy they are taken up to be adorned with the riches of God’s glory so as to display it eternally. He is going to make His glory in all its richness shine out in the vessels of mercy. Nothing could be more wonderful and precious than this to those who love God.
It may be that some of us have only a vague thought of what “glory” means. It will be found that in Scripture “glory” is contrasted with dishonour, as in 1 Corinthians 15:43, and glory and honour go together in several scriptures. So that “glory” is a condition in which God is fully expressed and honoured, in contrast with that condition of sin in which He was dishonoured. He is going to make the “vessels of mercy” eternally expressive of His own glory.
God has shown that He can blot out the sins of His people; He can annul all that Satan brought in; He can swallow up death in victory; He can bring to an end all the weakness and infirmity of His people. In the “glory” condition there will be nothing left but what is expressive of God.
But divine preparation is necessary for this. The vessels of mercy are “afore prepared unto glory”. The precious redemption wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ is the basis in divine righteousness of all our preparation for glory. We ever think of it thus with praise-full hearts. But the work of God in us enters [p. 37] into the preparation also. New birth and the gift of the Holy Spirit result in the saints becoming partakers of the divine nature, and such are “prepared unto glory” as having desires and affections that can cherish the thought of being conformed to the image of God’s Son.
There is also a refining process carried on in every vessel of mercy, and it is with a thought of this that I read Proverbs 25:4. The “silver” speaks of what the saints are as having redemption in Christ, but as soon as we have the light of this we realise what the flesh is as we never did before. What we are by nature is of such a character that it is quite unsuitable to be found active in one who wishes to be a vessel for the Refiner. But in a practical sense the dross is not taken away in a moment. In one blessed sense the refining process began at conversion, and goes on all through the lifetime of the saint. So long as we are here there is need for purifying. We have hope in Christ on the ground of redemption, that we shall see Him as He is and be like Him, but everyone who has this hope purifies himself even as He is pure. And all the chastening ways of God come in to help the refining process. Sometimes we have the joy of seeing the dross being taken away, and a vessel coming forth for the Refiner’s pleasure. We have been able to recognise something of this wonderful process going on in our dear sister. To observe it has been a great comfort to my heart — to see her restfully, and even thankfully, accepting God’s ways with her in circumstances of unexpected trial. She has honoured Him in a way that has testified happily to the taking away of the dross, and the coming forth of “a vessel for the refiner”. When we next see her it will be as having the riches of God’s glory made known upon her.
A Word given at a Burial, 1941