Series
Four

Prepared Vessel
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver,
but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to
dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a
vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and
prepared unto every good work.
2 Timothy 2:19-20

Now all that we have been looking at in the series will not mean much,
if the Lord could not find a prepared vessel to work with. Though the
Lord do not have favorites for His work, He works with the available
vessel, but the available vessel must also be prepared, for who he
foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of the son
of God Romans 8:29.

We are vessels already in Christ Jesus and at that, vessels of
righteousness Romans 6:13, the moment we accepted Jesus as our Lord and
savior we are meant to carry out His requirements here on earth, for the
bible says we are salt and light in the world Mathew 5:13&14. In
witnessing for Him, we must be a valid witness by encountering Christ as
we learnt in series two, after the encounter the witness must walk with
Him and be prepared to witness whenever, wherever, to whomever and
under every circumstances. It is imperative for that witness to be
prepared if he wants to do well in the field, for God will not use an
unprepared vessel because He would not want His work to be tainted.

A willing vessel

The truth remains that we are all still going to be used once we give
our lives to Christ one way or the other, now when we give our lives to
Christ some are more serious than the other, and so our level of
seriousness with Christ will determine to what degree we will be used of
the Lord. It is said in the verse we are considering that in a great
house there are many vessels with different make and use, some are made
of gold and silver, while some with wood and of earth, this shows that
we can not determine our assignments or how we are to be used of the
lord. God shaped each and everyone of us the way we are because of the
assignment he had committed to us, when we give our lives to Christ is
when we discover the assignment, but if we remain unbelievers, we will
never discover nor fulfill purpose. The first act of preparation is to
be willing and make oneself available, though many of us know the call
of God upon our lives, like the great commission to witness, we are not
ready nor making ourselves available. The bible says if you are willing
and obedient Isaiah 1:18, you shall eat the good of the land, the
willingness comes before the obedience, and the willingness is the state
of the heart of the believer.

Preparation

1 Timothy 4:16, Mathew 25:1-13, 2 Peter 1:3-11, 2 Timothy 3:16
When a man is willing to go for Christ, the willingness is not just
enough; the man must be prepared for the journey. The bible says who is
that man that wants to build a house not first considering if he has
enough to complete it, lest he starts and cant complete it and people
laughs at him, a king going to war not considering if he is able to with
ten thousand soldiers confronts the one coming to him with twenty
thousands, otherwise he seeks for condition of peace. We are called to
serve and not just to lazy around and wait for Heaven as we learnt in
series five. Christianity is for serious minded people, there is a work
for us to do and we must be prepared for it, the interesting thing about
that which God has called us to do is that no one of us is sufficient
enough in himself to do it. So we need something extra to be able to
perform, and that something extra is the Holy Ghost as we learnt in the
third series, but the thing is that the spirit works with prepared and
serious minded people. The bible says study to show yourself approved 2
Timothy 2:15, it also says you should be diligent to make your calling
and election sure 2 Peter 2:10, the believer must be serious and put in
extra effort in the things of the spirit because there is always an
adversary, and if care is not taken he will become lukewarm and be led
astray. Remember the parable of the ten virgins, what differentiated
them was the extra oil the wise virgins took Mathew 25: 1-13, every
Christian is meant to be prepared in this Christian race, especially a
soul winner, he must be equipped with the word of God 2 Timothy 3:16,
and training in the field.

Paying the price

2 Timothy 3:12, Mathew 19:29-30, Luke 5:11, Hebrew 12:1-2, 1 Corinthians
9: 23-27, Hebrews 11:24-27

There is always a price to pay when you are faithful and determined to
do the work of God, the first price a man pays is the price of
persecution, Jesus promises persecution as a reward to them that are
diligent enough to follow Him. You must be ready to sacrifice in order
to be a witness, one of the greatest virtues of the first disciples of
Jesus was the way they left everything and followed Jesus in order to
fish for men, you must be ready to let go of all that might hinder you
as go all out for Christ. Some of the things that hinders you might not
necessarily be bad things, but takes away your time, affection and
seriousness to the things of the kingdom. A soul winner must be ready to
inconvenient himself for the gospel, Paul said I have become all things
to all men that I might by all means save some. A soul winner must be
discipline, Paul said I discipline myself not that after I have preached
to others, I found myself cast away. A soul winner must be discipline
in fasting and prayers, fasting will help keep the body under and in
conformity to the Spirit, because the flesh will always want to go
contrary to the leading of the spirit. Prayers will keep the soul winner
watchful at all times, for the bible says watch and pray, prayers is
necessary for watch and intercession for those you preach to and also
for yourself. There will be attacks as a result of what you do, so it is
very important that you stand at watch that you do not fall victim.
There is also the price of letting go of the immediate for pleasure for
the good of others and for the sake of the kingdom.

A prepared vessel will be used by the Lord, but it must be said that you
do not choose your assignment or your calling that is determined by the
Lord, so no matter how prepared a man is, he can never fit into the
assignment God has not called him to. When a man is called he must
prepare himself and make himself ready for the master use. Just as we
have all be given the commission to win souls into the kingdom, we still
need to prepare adequately for that which God has called us to be
successful, for though the grace has been given, it is possible we fall
off grace Galatians 5:4 & Hebrews 12:15.

Stay blessed and remain rapturable

Here i am send me Lord

Re-Visiting

When God wants to use a man, he does not use his background, orientation, perfection, physical statue e.t.c as a criteria for selecting whom he wants to use, he calls those who are available, qualifys them and uses them

Yooguyz: When God wants to use a man, he does not use his background, orientation, perfection, physical statue e.t.c as a criteria for selecting whom he wants to use, he calls those who are available, qualifys them and uses them

Very true, Paul says all that were called were from humble background n none can boast