Vessels of Wrath—Vessels of Mercy

Vessels of Wrath—Vessels of Mercy

“For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.’ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.”

It may appear to be unjust, but we can rest assured that God makes no mistakes—He who knows all things from the very beginning. “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” 1 Pet. 1:1-2.

“As it is written . . . ‘there is no one who seeks after God. They have all gone out of the way.’” Rom. 3:10-18. There are both vessels for honor and vessels for dishonor in this situation we have come into through the fall. Jesus says, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.” John 6:44-45. The message goes out to everyone, but only a few people hear and learn from the Father. However, those who do are vessels of mercy; they come to Jesus. Jesus wants to do a work with them. Eph. 2:10. Then God can also “make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory.”

The vessels of mercy are prepared for glory during the time when God “with much longsuffering” endures the vessels of wrath. There is much evidence of this in the Old Testament. We read about God’s longsuffering in the days of Noah. Those were terrible times, but Noah did not go along with the sins and the way of life of his days; he was being prepared as a vessel of honor. We also read about Joseph. It did not appear as if he had God’s blessing over his life. But Joseph was being prepared to be a prince of Egypt and a savior of his generation while God’s longsuffering rested over the vessels of dishonor. Israel was being prepared as a people on whom God could show His glory during the time when Pharaoh had dominion over them. Moses went through the same experience. We find the same thing when we read about David and Saul; also with Haman and Mordecai (in the book of Esther), and many, many more.

Paul commended himself as a servant of God when he was in great tribulation. 2 Cor. 6:4. “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” 1 Pet. 5:6. “Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.” 1 Pet. 3:9.

God does not use vessels of honor to do evil or to avenge something. He uses vessels of dishonor for that. 1 Sam. 24:13-14. And Jesus says, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” Matt. 5:44. He called us to be such people, “even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles.”

Be conscious of your calling. As a vessel of honor God wants to use you only for what is good and blessed. Through God’s longsuffering with the vessels of wrath you are to be purified and prepared until God’s time has come to declare the riches of His glory over you as a vessel of mercy which He has prepared for His glory. Rom. 12:19-21; 2 Thess. 1:5-10.