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In this message we shall cover five more symbols of the believers used in the New Testament: vessels of mercy unto honor and glory, branches of the cultivated olive tree, a spectacle, the offscouring of the world and the scum of all things, and the temple of the Holy Spirit.
The believers in Christ are vessels of mercy unto honor and glory. Romans 9:21 says, “Has not the potter authority over the clay, out of the same lump to make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor?” Verse 23 goes on to speak of God’s making known “the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory.” As vessels, we are not instruments or weapons — we are containers. According to Romans 9, we contain mercy, honor, and glory. This mercy, honor, and glory are actually the Triune God. In the initial stage of our experience the Triune God is our mercy, in the progressing stage He is our honor, and in the completing stage He is our glory. At present we are enjoying our God as mercy and somewhat as honor. When the Lord Jesus comes back, we shall be fully brought into honor and also into glory. Then we shall be filled with the Triune God not only as our mercy but also as our honor and glory.
Mercy is the most far reaching of God’s attributes. Mercy goes further than grace, for mercy reaches into a situation that is pitiful and unworthy of grace. According to our natural condition, we were far removed from God, totally unworthy of His grace and eligible to receive only His mercy. How wonderful that God’s mercy does not depend on our being in a good condition! Rather, God’s mercy is shown in man’s pitiful condition. It is God’s mercy that has reached us. We were so poor and pitiful that there was the need for God’s mercy to extend to our fallen condition. We need to see the preciousness of God’s mercy and praise Him for it and testify concerning it. Once we were sinners far from God; now we are one with the all-inclusive Christ. What a mercy! We are vessels containing the Triune God as mercy. In the words of a hymn written by Charles Wesley,
’Tis mercy all, immense and free; For, O my God, it found out me.
(Hymns, 296)
When Paul wrote chapter nine of Romans, his thought was fully occupied with God’s mercy. He says, “It is not of the one who wills, nor of the one who runs, but of God, the One who shows mercy” (v. 16). It is altogether a matter of God’s mercy that we are believers and that we are in the church life. Because all is of God’s mercy, we have nothing to boast of in ourselves. Our going on with the Lord is a matter not of our willing or running but of God’s mercy. Our willing is of no avail, and our running is vain. God’s mercy, however, works in a wonderful way. We are changeable, constantly fluctuating. Therefore, we should not trust in ourselves but in God’s mercy. We praise the Lord that we are vessels of mercy unto honor and glory. We now contain Him as mercy, and we shall contain Him as honor and glory.
As vessels of mercy unto honor and glory, we were chosen by God according to His sovereign mercy (Rom. 9:11-16). The expression “sovereign mercy” means that God’s mercy is absolutely according to His sovereignty. Being a vessel of mercy is not the result of our choice; it originates with God’s sovereignty. It is of God’s sovereignty that He created us vessels of mercy to contain Himself. His sovereignty is the basis of His selection.
In Romans 9:15 Paul quotes the Lord’s words, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.” Because of God’s mercy we responded to the gospel when others did not respond, we received a word about Christ as life when others refused to receive it, and we took the way of the Lord’s recovery when others drew back from taking this way. Concerning the gospel, the ministry of life, and the church life, God, in His sovereignty, has had mercy on us. Therefore, we must praise Him for His sovereign mercy.
In society selection is related to birth, upbringing, education, and success. Divine selection is absolutely different. God chose us even before we were born, in fact, before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). Human selection depends on what people are in themselves. Those who are good, promising, or successful are likely to be selected. God’s selection, on the contrary, does not depend on what we are; it depends entirely on God’s sovereignty and His desire. This is illustrated by the case of Jacob and Esau. Before they were born, God told Rebecca, “The greater shall serve the less” (Rom. 9:12). God’s choice was made before the children were born, before they had done anything good or bad. This was that the “purpose of God according to selection might remain, not of works, but of Him who calls” (v. 11). If we were to ask God why He chose Jacob and not Esau, He might reply, “I am sovereign, and I have the full authority to do whatever I desire.”
Another illustration of God’s sovereign mercy found in Romans 9 is that of the potter and the clay. Paul says, “O man, who are you that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, Why did you make me thus? Or has not the potter authority over the clay, out of the same lump to make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor?” (vv. 20-21). God is the potter, and we are the clay. As the potter God has authority over the clay. If He wills, He can make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor. This does not depend on our choice — it depends on His sovereignty.
In 9:23 and 24 Paul goes on to ask, “And what if He should make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory, even us, whom He has also called, not only from among the Jews, but also from among the nations?” All depends on God’s authority. God has the authority to make us, whom He has selected and called, vessels of mercy to contain Him so that the riches of His glory may be made known, manifested. According to His sovereign authority, He before prepared us unto glory. We were predestinated by His sovereignty to be His containers, vessels of mercy unto honor and glory to express Him. This is altogether a matter of God’s sovereign mercy.
We have pointed out that in 9:16 Paul tells us that “it is not of the one who wills, nor of the one who runs, but of God, the One who shows mercy.” Our concept is that the one who wills will gain what he wills to obtain and that the one who runs will gain what he runs after. If this were the case, then God’s selection of us as vessels of mercy would be according to our effort and labor. But it is not so. God’s selection is of God who shows mercy. We do not need to will or to run, for God sovereignly has had mercy on us.
The Bible reveals that man was created as a vessel to contain God. In His creation of man, God made man a vessel to contain Him with the intention of coming into this vessel and filling it with Himself. When God enters into the vessels created by Him, He finds that they are a proper match for Him. For example, God has emotion, and His vessel, His container, also has emotion. Hence, in the vessel God has a place to dispense His own emotion. In this way human emotion and divine emotion become one. The divine emotion is the content, and the human emotion is the container and the expression. We thank the Lord for showing us the fact that man is a vessel to contain God and that God feels at home in this vessel.
Romans 9:21 discloses God’s purpose in creating man. This verse is unique in its revelation of God’s purpose in the creation of man. Without this verse it would be difficult for us to realize that God’s purpose in creating man was to make him His vessel to contain Him. We need to be deeply impressed with the fact that we are God’s containers and that He is our content.
God’s selection in His sovereign mercy has a goal, and this goal is to have many vessels to contain God and express Him eternally. God created us in such a way that we are able to take Him into us and contain Him as our life and life supply, to the end that we may be one with Him to express what He is and that He may be glorified in us and with us. This is God’s goal in His selection and in His creation of man.
Romans 9 reveals that the climax of our usefulness to God is that we are vessels to contain Him and express Him. We are His container and His expression, and He is our content and our life. He lives in us that we may live Him. Eventually, He and we, we and He, will be wholly one in life and nature. This is our destiny as vessels of mercy.
The believers are vessels unto honor with Christ as their treasure through regeneration. Romans 9:21 speaks of vessels of honor. Second Corinthians 4:6 and 7 say, “The God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts for the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” This treasure is the Christ who dwells within us. We are containers of honor because Christ Himself is honor. He is the treasure within us. Although we have this treasure in earthen vessels, this treasure has not yet been manifested. When the Lord Jesus comes back, Christ as our treasure will be manifested. Then others will be able to see that we, as vessels unto honor, are containers of such a treasure.
The believers are vessels unto honor through their cleansing of themselves from the vessels unto dishonor. Second Timothy 2:20 says, “In a great house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also wooden and earthen, and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor.” In the great house spoken of here, there are not only gold and silver vessels but also wooden and earthen ones, and some unto honor and others unto dishonor. The house of God defined in 1 Timothy 3:15 and 16 is the genuine church in its divine nature and essential character as the foundation of the truth, whereas the great house in 2 Timothy 2:20 refers to the deteriorated church in its mixed character, as illustrated by the abnormally big tree in Matthew 13:31 and 32. In this great house there are not only precious vessels but also base ones. For this reason we cannot believe that the great house refers to the church as the house of the living God in 1 Timothy 3:15. The great house is certainly not the house of the living God. The house of the living God is the great mystery of godliness and also God manifested in the flesh. Such a house does not contain vessels unto dishonor. Therefore, the great house must refer to Christendom. Furthermore, this great house is equal to the big tree in Matthew 13. The genuine church today is the house of the living God, whereas abnormal Christianity is the great house. How great today is this abnormal house! Just as many unclean birds lodge in the big tree, so in the great house there are vessels unto dishonor, wooden and earthen vessels. In the genuine church, however, there are only gold and silver vessels.
Honorable vessels are of both the divine nature (gold) and the redeemed and regenerated human nature (silver). These, like Timothy and other genuine believers, constitute the firm foundation (2 Tim. 2:19) to hold the truth. Dishonorable vessels are of the fallen human nature (wood and earth). Hymenaeus, Philetus (2 Tim. 2:17), and other false believers are of these.
In 2 Timothy 2:21 Paul goes on to say, “If therefore anyone cleanses himself from these, he will be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, useful to the master, prepared unto every good work.” To cleanse ourselves is to “depart from unrighteousness” (v. 19), as an outward evidence of the inward divine nature. The word “these” in verse 21 denotes the vessels unto dishonor, including those mentioned in verses 16 through 18. We should not only cleanse ourselves from anything unrighteous but also from the dishonorable vessels. This means that we must stay away from them. Hence, we must cleanse ourselves from the unrighteous things and from the dishonorable vessels of wood and earth. If we cleanse ourselves from these negative things and negative persons, we shall be vessels unto honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared unto every good work. “Unto honor” is a matter of nature, “sanctified” is a matter of position, “useful” is a matter of practice, and “prepared” is a matter of training.
Second Timothy 2:20 and 21 indicate that, based upon God’s mercy, which has made us vessels of honor, we must cleanse ourselves from the vessels unto dishonor. We need to separate ourselves from these vessels. For example, we should separate ourselves from today’s modernists, who deny that Jesus is God and that the Scripture is inspired by God. Such ones are vessels unto dishonor, and we should not be with them. In order to be vessels unto honor we need to separate ourselves, cleanse ourselves, from the dishonorable vessels.
As vessels of mercy unto honor and glory, we have been prepared by God unto glory through glorification — the last step of God’s full salvation. Romans 9:23 tells us that the vessels of mercy have been prepared unto glory, and Romans 8:30 indicates that glorification is the last step of God’s salvation. We are predestinated, called, justified, and, eventually, we shall be glorified. Glorification includes the redemption (transfiguration) of our body (Phil. 3:21) and full conformity to the Lord. In this final step of His salvation God will redeem our fallen and corrupted body (Rom. 8:23) by transfiguring it into the body of Christ’s glory. He will also conform us to the glorious image of Christ, His firstborn Son (Rom. 8:29), making us wholly and absolutely like Him in our regenerated spirit, transformed soul, and transfigured body. Thus, our body will be freed from the slavery of corruption of the old creation into the glory of God’s new creation (8:21).
We have seen that the believers are symbolized by the branches of the vine (John 15:5, 8). Now we need to see that the believers are also symbolized by the branches of the cultivated olive tree. Romans 11:24 tells us that we “were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree.” In this way we “became a fellow partaker of the root of the fatness of the olive tree” (v. 17).
The cultivated olive tree in Romans 11:24 is the God-chosen race of Israel with Christ as the reality of their life and everything (Rom. 9:4-8). The cultivated olive tree is not merely Israel — it is Israel with Christ as reality. Apart from Christ, the children of Israel are empty, void of reality. The book of Romans reveals that they are God’s chosen people with Christ as their reality.
Christ is the root of this cultivated olive tree. Apart from the root a tree is nothing. Christ is the root of the God-chosen race of Israel. Furthermore, the riches of the olive tree for our enjoyment are in Christ as the root of this tree. If a tree is cut off from its root, it loses everything. Today Israel is still rejecting Christ and thereby cut off from Him. But one day they will come back to Him. During the time in which Israel is cut off from Christ, we, the Gentiles, are being grafted into the cultivated olive tree that we may enjoy Christ as the root of the fatness of this tree.
Hosea 11:1 and Matthew 2:15 prove that Christ is the reality of the life of Israel as the cultivated olive tree. Hosea 11:1 says, “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.” Matthew 2:15 applies this prophecy to Christ’s being brought out of Egypt. Therefore, this prophecy and its fulfillment join Christ to Israel. Hosea 11:1 and Matthew 2:15 prove that Christ is absolutely united to the race of Israel. In fact, God even considers Christ to be Israel, because He is the root of the cultivated olive tree. If the stump and branches of a tree are regarded as the tree, surely the root of the tree must even the more be considered the tree itself. This certainly is true of Christ in relation to Israel.
The Gentile believers as the branches of this cultivated olive tree have been grafted into it to be fellow partakers of the root of its fatness, that is, to enjoy the riches of Christ, who is the root of the children of Israel. We praise the Lord that we, the wild olive tree, have been grafted into God’s cultivated olive tree that we may be fellow partakers of its root of fatness. This is our enjoyment.
Our being grafted into the cultivated olive tree is altogether a matter of life. For the branch of a wild olive tree to be grafted into the cultivated olive tree is for it to receive the life of the cultivated tree. What we needed as Gentiles was not to change our religion but to receive the life of the root of the fatness of the cultivated olive tree, which life is Christ. Through our faith in Christ we have been grafted into the olive tree cultivated by God with Christ as life, and now we are enjoying the riches of the root, the riches of Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 4:9 the believers are symbolized by the unusual figure of a spectacle, a public gazingstock: “God has set forth us the apostles last of all, as doomed to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.” In the New Testament all the overcoming believers, not only the apostles, are likened to such a spectacle, such a gazingstock for the public.
In 1 Corinthians 4:9 Paul uses the phrase “last of all.” This expression, commonly understood at the time, refers to the last part of the performance in the Roman amphitheater. According to ancient custom, when the criminals fought with wild animals in the amphitheater for the entertainment of the populace, the criminals, who were regarded as nothing, the lowest of people, were exhibited last of all. The last act, the last show, was that of condemned criminals fighting with wild beasts for the entertainment of the people. The phrase “last of all” refers to this. In verse 9 Paul uses this expression metaphorically to convey the thought that God had set forth the apostles, and all the overcoming believers, last of all, as if they were the lowest criminals condemned to death, to be entertainment for the people. The apostles, therefore, considered themselves criminals doomed to death before the world.
Paul also says in 4:9 that the apostles had become “a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.” The Greek word rendered “spectacle” is the word for theater. It refers to a show, a display, made in a theatrical way as entertainment. This also is a metaphor, referring to fights between criminals and wild beasts in the amphitheater.
The apostles became a spectacle to the world, seen not only by men but also by angels. Both men on earth and angels in the air were watching the exhibition of the apostles. Hence, they were a spectacle to the whole universe. This is related to their becoming “the offscouring of the world” and “the scum of all things” (v. 13).
The metaphors in 4:9 present a vivid picture of the situation of the apostles and the overcoming believers they were criminals condemned to fight with wild beasts for people’s entertainment. Today this is also our destiny in the sight of man. However, in the sight of God our destiny is to enjoy Christ. We who enjoy Christ have become as criminals in the sight of man for their enjoyment. But in the sight of God Christ is our destiny for our enjoyment. While others mock us and ridicule us for their entertainment, we are enjoying Christ. This shows that we have two destinies. Our destiny in the sight of God is to have Christ for our enjoyment. Our destiny in the sight of men is to be regarded as criminals condemned to death for others’ entertainment. If we are faithful to the Lord, as Paul was, this will be our destiny before men. We shall be set forth last of all, and we shall be made a spectacle both to angels and to men.
Hebrews 10:33a speaks of our “being made a spectacle both in reproaches and in afflictions.” This is to become a show exposed to the public, a gazingstock.
Hebrews 10:33b speaks of the apostles and the overcoming believers “having become partakers with those who experienced the same.” On the one hand, we are made a spectacle; on the other hand, we become partakers with those who have experienced the same thing. Many of the overcoming ones in the Old Testament had the experience of being a spectacle. Now the apostles and the overcoming believers are partakers with them, being the continuation of such a gazingstock. Therefore, we are a spectacle to the world. We in the Lord’s recovery should be like the apostles — criminals doomed to death and a spectacle both to angels and to men. We should give others the impression that we are as criminals condemned to death and a spectacle to the whole universe.
In 1 Corinthians 4:13 Paul says, “We have become as the offscouring of the world, as the scum of all things until now.” Offscouring and scum are synonymous. Offscouring denotes that which is thrown away in cleansing; hence, refuse, filth. Scum denotes that which is wiped off; hence, rubbish, refuse. Both synonyms are metaphorically used, especially of condemned criminals of the lowest class, who were cast into the sea or to the wild beasts in the amphitheater. Here Paul likens himself to the lowest criminals, to offscouring, scum, rubbish, refuse. This was Paul’s estimation of himself with respect to both the Jews and the Gentiles. In the eyes of certain worldly people our situation is the same. Compared to them, we are scum and offscouring. They may be extremely successful and wealthy, but we have become the offscouring of the world and the scum of all things. We are qualified only to become cast aside as waste.
The believers are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:16-20). In 1 Corinthians 3:16 Paul asks, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” In 6:19 he inquires, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” The temple of God in 3:16 refers to the church corporately, not to the believers individually, whereas the temple of the Holy Spirit in 6:19 does refer to individual believers. In particular, 6:19 reveals that a believer’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:16 tells us that the Holy Spirit is with the believers’ spirit. According to 1 Corinthians 6:19, the Holy Spirit from God is also in the believers’ body as His dwelling. The Holy Spirit is in our spirit, and our spirit is within our body. Hence, our body becomes a temple, a dwelling, of the Holy Spirit.
The believers are not their own, for they were bought by God with a price. In 6:19b and 20a Paul indicates that the believers are not their own because they were bought with a price. This price is the precious blood of Christ (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 5:9).
In 1 Corinthians 6:20b Paul concludes his word concerning the believers being a temple of the Holy Spirit: “Therefore glorify God in your body.” As the dwelling of the Spirit, the believers should glorify, that is, express, God in their body. To glorify God in our body means to let God, who dwells in us (1 John 4:13), occupy and saturate our body and express Himself through our body as His temple, especially in the matters of eating and marriage, according to the context of the section of 1 Corinthians from 6:13 through 11:1. For this, we need to exercise a severe and strict control over our body, bringing it into subjection (1 Cor. 9:27) and presenting it to God as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1).
In 1 Corinthians 6:15, 17, and 19 Paul covers three crucial matters: that our bodies are the members of Christ (v. 15), that we are joined to the Lord as one spirit (v. 17), and that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (v. 19). In actuality and practicality these three are one. The key to all three is in verse 17. Apart from being joined to the Lord in our spirit, it is impossible for our bodies, which are sinful and lustful, to become the members of Christ. Another crucial matter related to this is Paul’s word in verse 14 that the Lord “will raise up us through His power.” Even now the Spirit of the resurrected Christ who dwells in our spirit gives life to our body. This impartation of life makes our bodies the members of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Hence, the key to our being the temple of the Holy Spirit is that the indwelling Spirit of the resurrected Christ imparts life to our mortal bodies. Because this is the key, we must exercise and practice to experience the Lord as the life-giving Spirit dwelling in our spirit. This is to practice being one spirit with the Lord. If we exercise ourselves to experience and enjoy this, we shall open the way for the Lord to impart life to our physical bodies. Then our bodies will be full of the resurrection life of Christ and will become the members of Christ. When our body becomes a member of the indwelling Christ, it automatically becomes the temple, the dwelling place, of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in our experience the three matters of our bodies being members of Christ, of being one spirit with the Lord, and of our body being the temple of the Holy Spirit are three aspects of one reality.
