The Gospel of Restoration
Thomas Edward Lawrence, who became world famous as Lawrence of Arabia, was a British Army officer during World War I. He helped organize Arab revolts against Turkish domination. He made friends with many Arab sheiks, and, as he was passionately devoted to the Arab cause, he recuited them to fight against the Turks. After the war, he invited some of them to England.
The guests had a wonderful visit; they appeared before a joint session of Parliament and had an audience with the queen. On the last night of their visit, Lawrence offered his Arab friends anything they wanted to take back with them to their desert homes.
One of the sheiks led him up to the hotel room, into the bathroom, and pointed to the faucet in the bathtub, and said that he wanted to take faucets with him that would provide him with running water in his desert home.
The amused British Army officer answered that the water did not come from the faucet! It is what is behind the faucet that gives the water! You cannot see it all, but everything is there nonetheless!
The faucet can be made of bronze, silver, or gold, but if not attached to a water supply, it is useless! If the reservoir, the pump, or the plumbing is broken or ever out of service, the faucet is useless! It’s what’s behind the faucet that gives the water!
So it is with us, if we are not connected to Jesus, we are nothing - we are useless, powerless creatures. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
“Man is dependent upon God for every breath he draws. The beating heart, the throbbing pulse, every nerve and muscle in the living organism, are kept in order and activity by the power of an infinite God.”1
“[God] chooses human beings, men compassed with infirmity, as instruments in the working out of His designs. The priceless treasure is placed in earthen vessels. Through men His blessings are to be conveyed to the world. Through them His glory is to shine forth into the darkness of sin.”2
Throughout history, God has chosen enfeebled and defective human instrumentalities. Let’s look at a few examples:
Abraham doubted God’s promise and consented to his wife’s plan.
Jacob became a deceiver.
Moses was a murderer. And he smote the rock while speaking words of self-exaltation.
Aaron was pliable.
Gideon made an ephod from golden rings, which became an object of idolatrous worship.
Samson got involved with a harlot and nullified his vow.
David was guilty of adultery and murder.
Solomon loved many women and forgot God.
Elijah challenged King Ahab but acted cowardly before the threats of Jezebel.
Jonah tried to run away from God.
Peter denied Christ.
Mary Magdalene was under the control of seven evil spirits.
Paul was an accomplice in murder.
“All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But those who turned to God with true repentance came to the end of their life as overcomers, and their names remained written in the book of life.
“Many of us are rough stones from the quarry. But as we lay hold upon the truth of God, its influence affects us. It elevates us and removes from us every imperfection and sin, of whatever nature.”3
With all our weaknesses, let us come to Jesus to be transformed into sanctified vessels.
“Let the repenting sinner fix his eyes upon ‘the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world’ (John 1:29); and by beholding, he becomes changed.”4
“The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes; for your vision will be clearer, and your imperfections will be seen in broad and distinct contrast to His perfect nature.”5
Before the Lord can use us, He will change us with our consent and cooperation. The experience of Isaiah is an example.
“In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:1-8).
God has ever been ready to pour down blessings on His people as His chosen channels. Jesus said:
“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).
“Every member of the church is to show his loyalty by inviting the thirsty to drink of the water of life.”6
Jesus reveals here that He wants to use you and me as His vessels to convey the water of life to thirsty souls. Our responsibility is illustrated by the miracle that happened in the home of a poor widow.
“Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed” (2 Kings 4:1-6).
Among the vessels used in the home of the poor widow, some were big and some were small, and some were wide-mouthed while some were narrow-mouthed. But all were occupied. Likewise, in the church, all are to feel a heavy responsibility to promote the cause of God. The Lord needs human vessels - men and women - through whom He may impart blessings to others.
“As His representatives among men, God does not choose angels who have never fallen, but human beings, men of like passions with those they seek to save. Christ took humanity that He might reach humanity. A divine-human Savior was needed to bring salvation to the world. And to men and women has been committed the sacred trust of making known ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ.’ (Ephesians 3:8).”7
In Isaiah 43:13, the Lord said, “I will work, and who shall let it?”
Do you understand the important position you are holding in the work of God? He wants to use you and me, because His blessings will not flow where there are no vessels.
One of the dangers we are facing today is that of taking for ourselves the glory which belongs only to God. He blesses us with talents, and He wants us to use them and develop them in His work to the best of our God-given ability. But there is a danger. Preachers often get into trouble right when they learn how to preach eloquently! Singers get into trouble when they become famous! Doctors get into trouble when their names reach celebrity. Do you know why? It is because human beings, when they attain to the peak of their achievement, they have the tendency to forget that God is the one that gives them the power to do it. My friend, we should not become so smart that one day we come to feel - even unconsciously - that we don’t need God any more.
“ ‘Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not’ (Jeremiah 45:5). The Lord has no place in His work for those who have a greater desire to win the crown than to bear the cross. . . .
“It is those who perform faithfully their appointed work day by day, who in God’s own time will hear His call, ‘Come up higher.’ ”8
Today most people measure their greatness and fame through their money, the beauty of their appearance, the education they have attained, and the achievement they have reached. It is common for people to become obsessed with breaking world records. That’s why the Guinness World Records came into existence. The apostle Paul understood this concept:
“Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless” (Philippians 3:4-6).
“Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren” (2 Corinthians 11:22-26).
Once the apostle met Jesus on the way to Damascus, his orientation changed. Although he labored with extreme fidelity and efficiency when he commented how he had fought the good fight and had kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7), he did it to give glory to Christ. Notice his declaration after knowing Christ:
“What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:7, 8).
The Lord is the potter. I’m just an earthen vessel. The power is of God - and without the touch of the Holy Spirit I am nothing. The Spirit of Prophecy assures that “without the presence of the Spirit of God, no heart will be touched, no sinner won to Christ.”9
John the Baptist was declared by Christ to be the greater of all prophets. The Lord said, “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11). But as John the Baptist discovered that his fame was slowing down when Jesus Christ ministry had started, he said: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
The most valuable discovery that you and I can make will be this: No matter how far we may excel in any field, we are just poor sinners saved by grace. “For without me,” Jesus said, “ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).
If we want to be God’s vessels we must be connected with the spring of living water. Bear in mind the words of our Saviour:
“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (verse 16).