Acts 9:14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon Your name. (15) But the Lord said to him, Go, for this man is a chosen vessel to Me, to bear My name before both the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.
In [Acts] 9:15 we see that Saul of Tarsus was a chosen vessel. In reading the Scriptures we may not pay adequate attention to the word "vessel," an important spiritual term. A vessel is a container and therefore is different from a tool or a weapon. In the Epistles of Paul there is a strong emphasis on the importance of vessels. For example, Romans 9:23 speaks of God making known "the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory." In Romans 9 we have the thought that human beings were made by God to be vessels to contain Him. In 2 Corinthians 4:7 Paul again speaks of vessels: "We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." God's intention in saving Saul of Tarsus was to fill him with Himself and thereby make him an outstanding vessel. In Paul's writings we see the development of the spiritual significance of the word "vessel." It may have been from Ananias that Saul learned that he was a chosen vessel. Saul of Tarsus was chosen by the Lord not only to be His apostle, His servant, and His minister; he was also chosen to be His vessel. In Acts 9:15 the Lord Jesus seemed to be saying to Ananias, "Saul is a chosen vessel. He will contain Me, and his ministry will be to convey Me to the Gentile world." We all need to see the importance of Saul being a chosen vessel.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Acts, pp. 216-217. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
To unsubscribe from the mailing list, either: Send an email to: [email protected] (No subject or message needed; a blank email will work) or visit www.emanna.com and fill out the unsubscribe form there.
