Vessels of Love

The phrase “vessels of love” came to my mind last week. I believe that God was speaking, telling me that as humans, our number one purpose is to receive God’s love, to be vessels of His love. I keep thinking about that phrase. We know that we are vessels, that God is living in us.

1Co_3:16  Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

1Co_6:19  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
2Co_4:7  But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

The Holy Spirit lives in believers, and John says, “ God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1Jn 4:16) 

So, God is love. God lives within us. That makes us vessels of love. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Mat_22:37) 

But, as John said, “We love because he first loved us.” (1Jn 4:19)

We cannot love God until we receive His love. Sometimes, we strive to love God more, but we cannot work it up. We cannot love God as an act of obedience on our own. We tend to want to work for God, do good things, earn his favor, but He is full of love, mercy, and grace. God is pouring His love out, and He wants us to receive it.

Joh_15:9  As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

This was such a refreshing thought to me, because every single person can receive God’s love.

We humans see people as worthy based on their abilities. Where does that leave the person who is very limited in their abilities…a child born without the ability to walk or communicate; the elderly person with dementia who doesn’t even know her own children; someone who has suffered a head injury and no longer has brain function, but continues to live?
What purpose do these individuals serve?  Every one of them can be vessels of God’s love. Every person has that ability. That gives purpose to everyone.
   
Two weeks ago, if I had been asked, “What is the primary purpose of man?” I am not sure what I would have said. Maybe, to reflect God’s glory; or to bring the kingdom of God to the earth; just to do God’s will; to do the good works that God has already created for us to walk in; to take dominion of this earth as directed in Eden; to enjoy God and be satisfied in Him; or some other Biblical answer that would have been a pretty good answer.  Today, I want to say that the primary purpose of man is to receive God’s love, to abide in His love, to be vessels filled to the brim with His love.  

Mercy that is too good to believe

God's mercy even to the almost total failure-Samson

Heb 11:32-34  And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

 Hebrews 11 is the great list of the faithful... all the heroes of the Old Testament are listed here. And did you notice that Samson is included? WHAT! Samson didn't do anything right.

Samson was a special child, promised to a childless couple, chosen before birth to serve God in a special way, set apart as consecrated to God. God told his mother that she would have a child, and from this moment to not drink strong drink or touch anything unclean, and that the child’s hair should never be cut. These were the conditions of anyone taking the Nazarite vow to be consecrated to God.

First glimpse of Samson we get is in Judges 14:1-3.

Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines.   Then he came up and told his father and mother, "I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife." But his father and mother said to him, "Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes."

Based on these verses, we see that Samson was headstrong, rebellious, and ruled by the lust of the flesh. If you read the next 2 chapters, you can see that this glimpse is truly representative of his life.

 Samson did nothing right. He had supernatural strength from God, but he fought the enemy for selfish revenge, or in anger. He pursued pagan women who were not Israelites, who worshiped idols. He seemed to care nothing for God, for God’s laws, for God’s people. He did not even value the special gift that God had given him enough to hold it sacred. His exploits read like a bad romance novel.

Everyone knows the name Deliah.

Jdg 16:4-9  After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, "Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver." So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you. Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man." Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner chamber. And she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But he snapped the bowstrings, as a thread of flax snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.

 One would think that Samson would have learned a hard lesson with this experience, but he apparently was so smitten with Delilah that he had no sense left. He stayed with her. She kept after him to tell her his secret. He told her that if he were bound with seven new bow strings he would lose his strength. She tried it, called his enemies in, but he was still strong. She kept nagging, until her told her to try seven new ropes, which did not affect him. He then told her to weave his hair into a loom. Amazingly, he kept coming back, and she finally wore him down.

Jdg 16:15-21  And she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies."  And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. And he told her all his heart, and said to her, "A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man." When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up again, for he has told me all his heart." Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.  And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.

 It is hard to understand how Samson fell into this trap. Was he so proud that he thought that even if he broke the vow of the Nazarene that he would remain strong? Did he think that he was invincible on his own? Samson ends up blind, shackled, working like an ox in the mill for the enemy.

”But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.” (Jdg 16:22)

One day, as the Philistines were celebrating a great feast in honor of their god, who they said gave them this great victory, they decided to bring in Samson for entertainment. They had him stand between the two pillars that supported the building.

 

Jdg 16:26-30  And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, "Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them."  Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained. Then Samson called to the LORD and said, "O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes."

And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other.
And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.

In  verse 28, Samson prayed. This is the only recorded time that Samson prayed or called out to God.

But, he did, and God, this amazing, merciful God, answered his prayer. And, because of this one act of faith he is recorded in Hebrews 11 as one who God called faithful.

What amazing grace and mercy. This is shocking. One who we would call a failure, God calls faithful.

God’s Impossible Mercy

God’s mercy is impossible to understand. Because of the sacrifice of Christ, God forgives ALL of our sins. I know that, but it is such a hard thing to understand. We talked about this in our Ladies Bible Study this morning. Our study was about repentance. We looked at the big sins of David recorded in 2 Samuel 11-12. David was King, the chosen and anointed on of God, the man who God declared had a heart like His, the man who had fought the giant for the sake of God’s glory. This man, this great man of God, took another man’s wife, a man who was his friend and trusted warrior. David then had the husband killed.

After some months, God sent his prophet, Nathan to confront him. David’s response is in 2 Samuel 12:13; David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.”

Wow, just like that? David confessed, and the Lord forgave him. David suffered consequences from his sin, some very severe consequences, but God forgave him completely. As we talked about this situation today, I was filled with amazement. Although David suffered because of his actions, God never again mentioned the sin to him, and David never mentioned it.  That is an amazing thing. David did not have the benefit of understanding the death of Jesus and what that meant, but he had a better understanding of God’s mercy than I do. In 2 Samuel 22, well after his big failure, David wrote these words.

“The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his rules were before me, and from his statutes I did not turn aside. I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from guilt.

  And the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight. "With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless.”

When I read those words, I said, “Blameless? Righteous? Cleanness of hands?... Did David forget his unforgettable sins?”

I sometimes remember sins from 40 years ago and feel guilt and shame, and I have never committed adultery or murder! How could David be so free from those debilitating feelings?  I have great theology. I know that God said He would “remember our sins no more”, that he casts our sins as far as the east from the west, casts them behind His back, blots them out, that when I confess my sins He is faithful to forgive me and cleanse me.

I know those things, but I can’t seem to fully convince my inner heart and soul. But David seemed to really get it.

 We see this in what David recorded in Psalm 51.

Psalm 51:1-19 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a      burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

David plead for mercy with full confidence that God would blot out his transgressions and cleanse him from his sin. He confessed his sin against God, then declared that God would cleanse him make him whiter than snow. He asked for a clean heart and a right spirit. He asked God to not take away His presence or his Spirit from him, and to restore his joy. David then determined to sing and praise God, to speak of Him and teach others about Him.

He would not let his great sin disqualify him or shame him.

David knew His God. He really understood His great love and mercy in a way that not many of us do. He walked in freedom that not many of us do.  I am so thankful, because, today, I caught a glimpse of the depth of forgiveness that I have not seen before.