Cleansed Vessel
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The Vessel
01-31-2021
Welcome to Maranatha Baptist Fellowship
This morning we will pick up where are state of the church address almost left off
Remember last week we looked back and were able to see what God had done in 2020, and we also saw the direction where God is leading our church
This morning we continue on with the idea of repentance
That is the direction God is leading our church
That we as individuals, as a church repenting
To walk with Jesus and to walk with Jesus that requires us to repent and run to Jesus
That is what it is to grow in your relationship with Christ, to grow and grow
I know that at first sound it sounds that you and I have to be good on our own and then God does somethings
Please understand that if your relationship with God is 100% what Jesus did on the cross
With that said you and I do have a responsibility and I have long said that it is to be obedient
And that obedience church starts with repenting of the sin in your life
Some of you may sit here and say we have heard this before, or move on I already know that
In talking with a pastor friend of mine, I determined to preach it and until we hear it, until we respond to it
This morning we will look at our response to repent
You and I were created for a good work by God
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
You and I were created for a good work
Which Christ does through us
The problem or the issue is that we have become dirty
FOr instance This dish here
It was created with a purpose and I have tasted the end product that dish help produce and boy are they good
But I use this dish and don’t clean it
The dish does me no good
See right now this dish is not being used for its intended purpose
You and I are this dish, and God has called us to repent to be a clean vesssel this morning
So that you and I can be used by our created for the Good work that He intended, that He will do through us
Unless church we respond to His call to repent and be cleansed then we are no better than this dish
Some of us will hear this this morning and continue to force ourselves to be used
Much like this dish I can use it but the outcome won’t be the same
At the end of the service this morning we are going to partake in the Lords Supper
I could use this dish to serve the juice
It we are honest it would accomplish that but it wouldn’t tase good, it wouldn’t be healthy, and probably no one would take the Lords Supper knowing about this dish
Paul explains this to Timothy
20 Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.
We are in a big house there are many different vessels
We know that you and I are a vessel to be used by God
Like this vessel we have been used and reused not so much by God by by ourselves
And we are dirty
Paul calls Timothy to cleanse himself from the dirty vessels
That is a direct call from God to repent, to be cleansed
Church that is what God is calling us todo this morning as well, to be cleansed
To repent from the sin in our lives
We would all agree that this dirty vessel is of no use until it is cleansed
If this vessel could talk it would tell you that on the outside it is cleansed
Church that is exactly what you and I do
Some of us are dirty on the inside but on the outside we are clean
And when the pastor calls you to repent you say this
But I am clean no need to repent look how clean I am and I give this much to the church, and I know this much scripture
Let me be clear this morning
If that is you Jesus calls you a white washed tomb
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
The church is no different
IF you are here this morning and miss the call to repent this morning
Or miss the call to be cleansed which is a nice way of saying this morning repent from your sin
Turn from the evil
Turn from the junk
If you miss that this morning I don’t know what to do, we can turn the volume up any louder
Do you understand church that you and I cannot and will not be used if we are dirty vessels
I had a roommate in college that we lived in a house together
Good friend of mine
Except He never did dishes
He would dirty the plates but He would never wash them, and I wasn’t going to wash His dirty dishes, except that I needed to use them and I sure wasn’t going to use the dirty ones
We know that it just makes sense
Those dirty ones just sit there and sit there and sit there
Church that is stagnate
No growth
But those vessels can grow or be used until and only until the are cleansed
REPENT
30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct,” declares the Lord God. “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. 31 “Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”
God calls the nation of Israel to repent to be cleansed
Church I believe we are the nation of Israel in this verse this morning
I believe He is calling us as a nation to repent, as a state to repent, as a church to repent
We are to repent so that we won’t die
God takes no pleasure in death
God tells them and us this morning to REPENT and LIVE
You may sit there in your Sunday nice clothes and think I have nothing to repent of
Then ask God to search your heart
Give God the keys to your entire heart
Church this is a call to repent and turn from the sin in your life and be on your faces before God this morning and cry out to Him
Church this morning is a call for our nation to repent
Would you know that the US leads the world in illegal drug use, car theft, rape, and murder, we lead the world by total number of crimes, we lead the world in divorce and abortion
Since 1973 the US has aborted over 63 millions babies
1.5 million unborn babies each year are killed in the US
Church I would say we are past time to repent
God has issued us a call to repent to turn from our sins, to be cleansed this morning
We are also first in sitting on the couch and watching TV
while we kill 1.5 million innocent babies each year, we watch TV
You and I cannot expect the county to immediately stop and turn from its ways
The repentance of a county will start in the church
If and only if that church those people in the church respond with obedience to the call of Christ to repent, to turn from your sins, to be cleansed
It is only when we are cleansed that we are to be used by God for His good work which is Christ at work inside us!
WASH THE VESSEL
Understand that cleansing your vessel is allowing God to clean you out
This is our pray this morning
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And then church it is the action that follows
19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
Repent, after God has searched your heart, and brought to your attention the sin in your life and His desire for you to stop it
Then stop it, turn from, flee from it, and then again, and then again, and again
Church This is a call to repent from our sins and seek the Lord and His forgiveness so that we may walk in His righteousness with Him
CLOSING
As we move into the time of Invitation
The invitation is very simple this morning
Would you be obedient and repent
Would you be cleansed this morning
Would cry out to God this morning and repent from the sin in your life
The altar is open