Empty Vessels Filled

With all of the persecution, battles, conflicts,
books written, religious arguments, there were
three things that formed the very foundation of the great
Reformation of the Middle Ages, three things that brought These
men and women out of dead religion. Three things that gave them a
good hope of eternal life. Three things that were great
enough to them and important enough to them to die for it. Three things. And I know there's a wealth of
material and a world of material and libraries after library filled
with books on the Reformation, but this is the foundation of
it, these three things. Number one, the scriptures alone, they accepted only the Word of
God as their rule of faith and practice. The Word of God. Not tradition, God's word. Not custom, God's word. Not human
creed, God's word. Not denominational guidelines,
God's word. Not the word of the Pope, the
word of God. That's what these people believe.
In Isaiah chapter 8, verse 19 and 20, I want you to turn to
that and read it with me. Isaiah chapter 8 verse 19 and
20 And when they shall say to you Seek unto them that have familiar
spirits And unto wizards that peep and
that mutter should not a people seek unto their God For the living
to the dead To the law and to the testimony. If they speak
not according to this word, it's because there's no light in them.
No light in them. This was the foundation, number
one, of the Reformation. They accepted the scriptures
alone. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness that the man of God might be
mature. And the Scriptures came not in
old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The Scripture alone. Books are
fine to be read and to be received as they are in keeping with God's
Word. But our confidence and our faith and our hope is not
in the writings of men or in the creeds and catechisms of
men. nor in denominational guidelines, nor in tradition or custom, or
what we think. God's Word. God's Word. Not adding to it nor taking from
it. God's Word. I've not shunned to declare unto
you, Paul said, the whole counsel of God. Secondly, grace alone In Ephesians 2, verse 8 and 9,
read that with me, Ephesians 2, verse 8 and 9. Ephesians chapter
2, verse 8 and 9, the Apostle Paul says, For by grace are you
saved through faith, and that not of yourself, it's the gift
of God. My friends, what these men believe,
what Paul preached, and the foundation I hope upon which you're building
is this, God Almighty will be gracious to whom He will be gracious,
and He'll be merciful to whom He will. Our salvation from its
beginning in eternity past to its completion in eternity future
is of God and of Him only. The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. Grace is a charming sound, harmonious
to the ear, Heaven with the echo shall resound, and all the earth
shall hear. God first contrived the way to
save rebellious man, and all the steps that grace displays
which drew that wondrous plan. Grace first inscribed my name
in God's eternal book. It was grace that gave me to
the Lamb who all my sorrows took. taught me how to pray, and made
my eyes overflow. It was grace that kept me to
this day, and grace will not let me go. That's what they used
to sing. That's one of the old ancient
hymns. It was grace that first inscribed my name in God's eternal
book. Grace gave me to the Lamb who
all my sorrows took. Grace taught my soul to pray
and made my eyes overflow. Grace keeps me to this day and
grace will not let me go. In the book of Romans chapter
11, turn over there just a moment, here's a verse of scripture that
I dealt with in my Sunday school class this morning. Romans chapter
11, verse 5 and 6. Even so, at this present time,
there is a rim according to the election of grace. Now listen,
and if it's by grace, then is it no more works. If salvation
is by the grace of God, works enter in at no place and have
nothing whatsoever to do with it. Otherwise grace is not great,
but if it be of works It is not of grace Otherwise work is not
work This was the foundation of the Reformation. This is what
sent him to the state, but this is what gave him hope of life
after the state This is what brought them to be excluded from
the churches of that day but this is what brought them into
that blessed family of God and body of Christ and The Scriptures
alone. Grace alone. Salvation by grace,
apart from works. Not Christ plus anything, but
the grace of God. All right, thirdly, the third
foundation of the Reformation, Christ alone. Christ alone. Christ is the only Savior. He
said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to
the Father but by me. Turn with me to 1 John 5. If
I had just one scripture to give you regarding the sufficiency
of Christ, the effectual work of Christ,
the anointing of Christ, the setting aside of Christ, the
sanctification of Christ by the Heavenly Father as the only Redeemer,
this is the Scripture to which I would turn, 1 John 5, 11. This
is the record. This is what God is saying, that
God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. And he that hath the Son of God,
1 John 5, 11, 12, he that hath the Son of God hath life, and
he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Christ is the
only Savior. There's none other name unto
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Christ is the
sufficient Savior. He's able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by Him. Now this, this, these three things,
the Scriptures alone, grace, grace, not of works, grace, God's
grace, God's unmerited favor, God's grace, Christ Jesus alone. This was
the foundation. This was the offense. This brought
the persecution. This is my hope, and this is
the foundation of my life, and this is the sum and substance
of my ministry. And if I could sum up in just
a few words what I want for you, what I want for this church,
and what I want for all who hear me, but what little I have to
say, but who hear me. would be total dedication to
these three points total dedication totally sold out to these three
points i believe those who are totally sold out to these three
points the scriptures alone grace alone crashed alone have a good
hope they have a good foundation don't you turn to our text now
with that in mind second king's chapter four you know When Thomas
Goodwin was a student, he went to hear Mr. Rogers preach. And
during the message, Rogers began to speak to the people about
their neglect of God's word. He said, in essence, God has
trusted you so long with his word. In it are the words of life.
In it are the precious promises. And you have ignored it. And
you have slighted his word. It's in your home, but it hasn't
been opened. It's in your home, but it's covered
with dust. And God says, do you treat my
word so? You shall have it no longer.
I will remove my word from your home, I will remove my word from
your nation, I will remove my word from you, and I will leave
you in the hands of ministers who explain away my word. And your generation shall be
a generation of darkness and spiritual ignorance. You shall
not treat my word with such contempt." Thomas Goodwin said when he left
the church, he was under such a heavy burden. that he hung
for a quarter of an hour on the neck of his horse and just wept
and wept and wept. And he added, oh, that we might
weep for ourselves, that we might weep for our generation, a generation
who has ignored the blessed word of God. Let's ignore it no more. In chapter 4 of 2 Kings, there
was a woman whose husband had died. She was a godly woman,
and her husband was a godly man. Our servant, she said, feared
the Lord. Elisha, you know that, he feared the Lord. And he left
us without any support. She came to Elijah, and she said,
the creditors are coming to take away my sons, to be slaves, to
pay the debts of their father. And Elisha said, what do you
want me to do? What do you have in the house? And she said, I
have nothing in the house. We have nothing. Only a pot of
oil. And Elisha the prophet said,
well, go to all your neighbors and borrow as many vessels, empty
vessels, as you can find. Don't get just a few, but borrow
as many as you can get, empty vessels. Then, when you have
as many empty vessels as you can borrow, go into your house
and shut the door. you and your sons, and pour your
oil into those empty vessels. As each one is filled, set it
aside." Well, the widow did just that. She went to her neighbors
and she borrowed vessels. She brought them into the house.
She shut the door. She and her two sons, and they
began to pour that oil out of that, the one she had, into the
empty vessels. And as each one was filled, they'd
set it aside. And finally she turned to one
of her sons and she said, bring me another vessel. He said, there's
not a vessel left. And the scripture says, and the
oil stopped. And she sold the oil and paid
her debts and she and her sons lived the rest of their lives
on what they had earned from the sale of the oil. What do
you see here? Our hearts If we are filled with,
as I've said before, these principles, this foundation, the Scriptures
alone, we take this to be God's Word. This is God's Word. He has something here for us.
It's the inspired, infallible Word of the Living God. And He has something here concerning
His grace. And He has something here concerning
Christ His Son, because this is the foundation of all Relationship
with God are all spiritual interest the scriptures. This is where
I start right here what God has given His grace and his son. Now, what do you say? First of
all, what kind of vessel did the Prophet command this woman
to bring? Empty vessels This is perhaps now listen to me here's
something for me and for every one of us I This is perhaps the
most difficult thing that you and I have to learn. It takes
a lifetime to learn this. It takes a lifetime. Some people
learn it more quickly than others. The sooner we learn it, the sooner
God's peace and joy and happiness is coming our way. This is the
most difficult thing that we have to learn, that we come to
Christ empty, totally empty. void of any merit, void of any
talent, void of any goodness or contribution of any sort to
God Almighty. Go out, he said, and get some
vessels. Get empty vessels. Don't want any primed with powder.
Don't want any with a magic portion. I want empty vessels. If there's
anything in the vessel, when you get it, turn it upside down,
empty it. In my hands, no price I bring. As I say, this is the most difficult
lesson, and I'm not just using words there. This is the most
difficult lesson that any preacher or any believer ever had to learn,
or any sinner, that we come empty. We bring nothing. Our Lord said
when they had nothing to pay, he forgave them. In my hands
no price I bring, simply the cross of Christ I claim. I say
to you young people, let other preachers invite you to bring
your talents and give it to God. I tell you to come to Christ,
don't bring anything. There is nothing in your natural
self that God Almighty needs or can or will use. That's so. That's so. You know Spurgeon,
someone came to him one time and said, don't you think, now
listen to this, don't you think that the greatest hindrance to
salvation is our sinful self? Do you like that? The greatest
hindrance to salvation is our sinful self. I probably would
have said yes, I believe it is. Most of us would have said yes.
That great man said no sir. not in any way. The greatest
hindrance to our salvation is not our sinful self. Christ is
able to save the chief of sinners. He's able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by him. Though your sins be as scarlet,
he said, I'll make them white as snow. Though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool. The greatest hindrance to our
salvation is not our sinful self, it's our righteous self. There's nobody too bad to be
saved. There's some folks too good to
be saved. That's so. There ain't nobody too bad to
be saved. But there's some folks too good
to be saved. Our Lord came to save sinners. All right, turn
to Matthew 9. Let's see what he said about
it. This is a lesson, he says, you better learn. It's the most
difficult lesson to learn. I'll say John Owen had a struggle
with it till his deathbed. And the sooner you learn it,
the happier you're going to be. The more glory you're going to
bring to Christ. The more blessings you're going
to receive. In Matthew 9, verse 10, it came to pass, Jesus said
it meet in the house, behold many publicans and sinners. And
I'm talking about publicans and sinners. came and sat down with
him and his disciples. They sat down with him. Publicans,
ordinary ornery publicans and sinners. And when the Pharisees,
the religious people, the church crowd, when they saw it, they
said, why does your master eat with publicans and sinners? Why
does he associate with folks like that? Jesus heard that. He said, they
that behold need not a position but they that are sick. Go ye
and learn what that means. I will have mercy. Mercy. Who's
mercy for? The guilty. Mercy is for the
guilty. When a man stands before a judge
and pleads guilty, guilty, I cast myself on the mercy of the court. Mercy is for the guilty. I will
have mercy, he said, not your religious sacrifice. I didn't
come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Have you learned what that means?
Empty, empty. Now Elisha said you go get some
vessels, but you get empty vessels. Empty vessels, no thing in them. Now one thing in 1 Corinthians,
want to look at this? 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 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 mine. And God hath chosen the base,
things of the world. And things which are despised
have God chosen. And things which are not, to
bring to naught things that are, that no flesh hath glory in his
presence. That's right. God doesn't need
your movie stars, your athletes, your talented people. Not many
wise men, not many mighty, not many noble are called. I didn't
say not any, I said not many. But I'll tell you what God will
do. If he calls a talented man, he'll strip him. He'll show that man that he contributes
nothing. When will we learn that in our
flesh dwelleth no good thing? When will that cease to be just
a scripture and become an experience? When will we learn that in the
flesh no man can please God? That the flesh can make no contribution
whatsoever to the spiritual kingdom of God? That's one of the greatest
faults of churches today. It's trying to run the Church
of God and the Kingdom of God like they run a business. Some
of you men are very successful businessmen, but that doesn't
make you a successful church leader. The Kingdom of God is
not run by natural wisdom, it's run by faith. Don't bring anything. Don't bring your natural talent
or your natural wisdom. I'm telling you the truth. I'm
telling you the truth. Why do you think that a man can
be a preacher of the gospel just because he has a good voice?
Why do you encourage young men to enter the ministry because
they are sociable and likable and have good voices and meet
people well? You ought to be in the pulpit.
No, he doesn't belong in the pulpit. He belongs on the stage. He doesn't
belong in the pulpit. The man who belongs in the pulpit
is the man who has nothing, is nothing, knows nothing. God picked
him up out of nothing. And that way, God can speak through
him and get the globe. That's true. Empty. In John 6, 63, the scripture
says, the flesh profiteth nothing. God won't use it. He will not
use it. The flesh has got to be nailed to the cross. We don't
bring anything to God. We don't give anything to God
out of our bondage into his freedom. out of our sorrow into his joy,
out of our night into his light, out of our sickness into his
health, out of our want into his wealth, out of our sorrow
into his balm, out of our storm into his calm, out of the depths
of ruin untold into the peace of his sheltering fold. Elisha said, You go buy some
empty vessels. Empty. And I'll tell you, my
friend, that's what God Almighty is looking for, and that's what
he's going to use, is an empty vessel. It won't be a combination
of grace and works, of man and God, of flesh and spirit, all
spirit. Has nothing, knows nothing, can
do nothing. Empty. Empty, that's right. How many vessels? What did she
say here? Look at 2 Kings 4 again. Go get
some empty vessels. And he says in verse 3 here,
barry not a few. Now don't you go out and get
two or three vessels. Get as many as you can. As many
as you can. God said to Sarah when he told
her he was going to have a son, she was going to have a son,
and she didn't believe him. And he said, is anything too
hard for God? Our Lord is able to save all
who come to God by him. If you can find an empty vessel
in the White House, bring it. But bring an empty one. If you
can find an empty vessel down there among the Mayan Indians
in the Yucatan, bring it. If you can find an empty vessel
in the pulpit, bring it. If you can find an empty vessel
in the prison, If you can find an empty vessel
out there at Armco, bring him. If you can find an empty vessel
down there in Ashland Oil's executive suite, bring him. But don't bring
anything but an empty vessel. Go ye into all the world, preach
the gospel to every creature. God is able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by him. Go ye into all the world. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Go everywhere. He said go out there and get
those vessels, empty vessels. Borrow empty vessels. And don't
borrow just a few. Don't borrow just a few. One
of our ladies, turn to Ecclesiastes 11. I want to show you a scripture
we studied last Thursday in the ladies' fellowship. Ecclesiastes
11, verse 5 and 6. Verse 1 says, cast your bread
on the water, you'll find it after many days. But look at
verse 5. Ecclesiastes 11, verse 5. Verse 4 says, he that observeth
the wind will not sow, and he that Regardless the clouds shall
not reap farmer goes out. So it doesn't look like it's
gonna rain good this month I just won't sow my seed or goes out
looks like gonna be a storm so I won't bother about planting
or he won't reap either But verse 5 is thou knowest not what is
the way of the Spirit? You know not how the bones do
grow in the womb of her that's with child even so, you know,
not the works of God who maketh all You don't know who God will
call or how God will use your efforts. Wait a minute. I'm gonna
read another verse. I You don't know how God takes the small,
infinitesimal seed and makes a child out of it in the womb.
You don't know. And you don't know the way of the Spirit. You
don't know the works of God. So you go out, verse 6, and in
the morning you sow thy seed, in the evening withhold not thy
hand. For you don't know whether shall prosper either this or
that, or whether both alike shall be good. I don't know. You just go where God opens a
door, drop a little seed, God's Word. They may not believe it. They may not believe it. You may not find an empty vessel.
A vessel may not be emptied by God's Spirit. Just go and sow
the seed, though, in the morning and evening, noon, be faithful.
And God, who worketh all things after the counsel of his own
will, he'll use it. I tell you honestly, I'm on the
trail of God's sheep. I'm trying to find some empty
vessels. I'm like this woman. I'm trying to find some empty
vessels. I'm not caring a bit in the world for those vessels
that are full of pride and full of materialism and full of self-glory
and full of good works and full of their own righteousness. As
far as I'm concerned, you can just leave them sitting right
over there on the dunghill where you found them. I don't want
them. I'm looking for some empty vessels. It doesn't matter to
me where I find them. I may find them among the wealthy.
I may find them among the poor. I may find them among the learned. I may find them over here in
the college. I may find them in the ghetto. I don't care.
One requirement, they've got to be empty. Got to be empty. What was done with them, verse
6, came to pass when the vessels were full. They were filled.
Now listen to me, it's not a question of will God save, the question
is this, will an empty vessel be brought? It's not a question
of whether God will fill it. The prophet of God said to the
woman, you get some empty vessels, don't you worry about how many
you get, you bring all you want. You bring all you can find. Nothing
too hard for God. And every one of those vessels
were filled, every one of them. Not a question of will God fill,
but here's the question, will an empty vessel be brought? That's the only kind he fills.
He gives great pardons, pardons so great that he forgives all
sin. This is good, listen. He gives
pardons so great that the criminal becomes a judge. He gives pardons
so great that the slave becomes a king. He gives pardons so great
that the guilty becomes a priest. He gives pardons so great that
the enemy becomes a son. He gives pardons so great that
the alien becomes a citizen, and pardons so great that the
fool is made wise. Oh, he fails. He fails. You're complete in him. He'll
fail. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness, they shall be filled. He has
made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
all that we need. He fills the empty vessel. If you've never filled me, preacher,
you've never been emptied. You're not going to be clothed
till God strips you. You're not going to be saved
till you get lost. That's right, you're not going
to be filled or God empties you. You're not going to bring Him
that, finish it Lord, see I've got it up so high and I just
need that much. I shall appreciate it, and I
know I need it. I know I'm not good as I ought to be, and I
know I'm not strong as I need to be, and I know I'm not all
that I want to be, and Lord if you'll just finish it now, I
got it started. You go back where you came from, you bring empty vessels He's
going to get all the glory, all the glory. It's going to be all
of grace, or not at all. Not of what? As long as you can
wiggle your little finger, you're helping God out. Well, the last point, when did
the oil cease? Now look at it, when the oil
ceased. The woman said to us, bring me
another vessel. And the son said, Mother, there
is not a vessel more. And it stopped. Another drop
of oil. When the vessels were full, when
there wasn't an empty vessel left, the oil stayed. I'm not concerned about the well
of grace running dry. God's plenteous in mercy. The
grace of God is all about Whither shall I flee from thy presence?
David said, If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the
uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall hold me.
If I send him to heaven, thou art there, and to hell, thou
art there. I'm not worried about the well of his grace running
dry, and I'm not concerned about the cupboard of his mercy being
bare. God delights to show mercy. You know what I'm concerned about?
I'm concerned about running out of empty vessels. They're getting
hard to find. They're getting hard to find.
When men are in need, God will supply. When men are lost, God
will save. When men are empty, God will
fill. When men are naked, God will close. And dear dying lamb,
thy precious blood shall never lose its power till all the ransomed
Church of God be filled, be saved, be closed to sin no more. Turn to Matthew 5. We'll read
this in close. Matthew chapter 5. These are
the closing words of our Lord's, I mean, these are the opening
words of our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. I'm preaching tonight
from his closing words, but these are the opening words. Matthew
5. Seeing the multitude, he went
up into the mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came
to them, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed
are the poor in spirit. Arthur Pink said, The poor in
spirit are those who are nothing, know nothing, and have nothing.
Theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are they that mourn,
mourn over sin, mourn over inability, mourn over failure, they shall
be comforted. Blessed are the meek, they shall
inherit the earth. Blessed are they which hunger,
that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, they shall be
filled. Empty vessel. My prayer, and
I mean this with all my heart, my prayer desperately before
God is, Lord, empty me that I might be filled. Make me a fool that
I might be wise. Strip me that I might be clothed.
Those are paradoxes. But that's what a Christian is.
He's paradoxical. He's the greatest sinner on earth,
but he's a saint. He feels total, complete inability. I can do nothing. Paul said,
though I'm not one whit behind the greatest apostle, but I'm
nothing. And when you figure that out,
it's when you experience it, and not until. How can a man
be empty and be filled? You have to experience it. But
when you do, you'll know it. But you've got to be empty first.
Empty. Our Father, bless the Word. Bless thy Word. It is thy word that will not
return void. It is thy word that accomplishes
that to which thou hast sent it. Bless thy word. Don't let
one of us get away from thy word and thy grace and thy son. This
is our foundation. We believe this book. We trust
thy grace. We have nothing, we are nothing.
We profess nothing, we boast of nothing, we bring nothing.
It's grace and grace alone. And we rest in thy Son. Christ
Jesus is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.
Christ died that we might live. Christ is our great high priest.
He puts his blood on the mercy seat of glory to put away our
guilt. and to enable thee to be just
and justify. It's Christ who is our hope and
our foundation. Do for us a work of grace that
we might enjoy thy glory. In his name we pray. Amen.

Empty Vessels Filled

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