The Believers (1)
Message Seven
Vessels of Mercy unto Honor and Glory, Grains of Wheat, and Branches of the Vine
THE EXTRACT OF THE OUTLINES
Scripture reading:
Rom. 9:21 Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor?
I. The believers in Christ are vessels of mercy to honor and glory; we are containers to contain Christ as mercy, honor, and glory—Rom. 9:21, 23: (Monday)
A. God’s purpose in creating man was to make man His vessel to contain Christ as life and be filled with Him for the building up of the Body of Christ, consummating in the New Jerusalem, that He might be expressed—Gen. 2:7; Rom. 9:21, 23.
B. We were created as vessels of mercy to contain Christ as the God of mercy—Rom. 9:11-13, 16, 20-21, 23; Lam. 3:21-23.
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C. We were created as vessels unto honor to contain Christ as the God of honor; vessels unto honor are inoculators who inject others with an inoculant to counter the degradation of the church—2 Tim. 2:20-22; 1 Sam. 2:30. (Tuesday)
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D. We are vessels unto glory to contain Christ as the God of glory; glory is God Himself expressed and manifested—Jer. 2:11; Eph. 1:17; Col. 2:9. (Wednesday)
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II. The believers in Christ are grains of wheat—John 12:24: (Thursday)
A. The many grains of wheat produced through Christ’s death and resurrection are for the forming of one bread, which is the Body of Christ—1 Cor. 10:17; Lev. 2:4-5.
B. The Lord fell into the ground as a grain of wheat and lost His soul-life through death so that He might release the fire of His eternal life to the many grains in resurrection—John 12:24-26; 1 Cor. 15:31, 36.
C. Our outer man falls into the ground and dies like a grain of wheat, being gradually broken and consumed, so that our inner man can be renewed day by day—Titus 3:5; Eph. 4:23, 26.
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III. The believers in Christ are branches of the vine—John 15:1, 4-5: (Friday, Saturday)
A. The vine and its branches, which are Christ and the believers in Christ, are the organism of the Triune God in God’s economy to grow with the riches of God and express His divine life—John 15:1-5.
B. Apart from Christ as the vine, we are nothing, we have nothing, and we can do nothing; we need to abide in Him, living not by what we are or can do, but by Christ Himself—John 14:6a.
C. To abide in Christ is to abide in His love, that we may love Him and love one another, bearing fruit to express the divine life—John 15:9-10, 16-17.
