EMPTIED FROM VESSEL TO VESSEL

I read this chapter, “Emptied From Vessel to Vessel” in John Wright Follette’s book, Broken Bread. He gave this message on Jeremiah 48:11 as a sermon and it impressed me so much that I also shared it in one of our women’s meetings at my church. –Danna Shirley

“Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.” (Jeremiah 48:11 KJV)

When I (Danna) heard the word “vessel,” I tended to think of myself as the “clay vessel” in Isaiah 64:8. “But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our Potter, and all we are the work of Your hand.”

John Wright Follette in his book, Broken Bread, made this comment about Jeremiah 48:11:

“Emptied from vessel to vessel is a figure that speaks of winemaking. It relates to a method used to produce a well-refined wine, which is poured into a vessel and allowed to stand for a certain length of time. Then it’s poured into its next vessel.

            “Each time this is done, there is a settling of the dregs and sediment which remains in the container, as the winemaker carefully pours the liquid into another vessel. This process is repeated until the wine is perfectly refined and yields a freshness of fragrance and color that is pleasing to the maker.

            “This result will not occur if the wine had been allowed to stay in only one vessel. Instead it would have “settled upon its lees” and become scented with the essence of the dregs. Because the intention of the Lord is to bring us to spiritual maturity, we also are carefully poured from vessel to vessel; from one dealing to another.”

"These vessels may represent the various trials, unique arrangement of trying circumstances, peculiar conditions, unexplainable leadings, tests in relation to healing and the general array of experiences and vicissitudes common in the life of a consecrated Christian. The vessels are quite different." --John Wright Follette

1.     Tinged glass – VESSEL OF MISUNDERSTANDING:  People judge the wine by the color of the glass.  The “wine” is all the time conscious of this judgment and has a prayerful time getting settled.  The wine must become absolutely still and stand long enough for the sediment to settle and cling to the bottom and sides of the vessel.  What is left behind is self-vindication and the self-life.

2.     Large, round, open receptacle – VESSEL OF PUBLIC GAZE:  Here the wine experiences public humiliation and weakness; public judgment and criticism.  The wine becomes quiet, yielded and silent.  When poured out again it leaves behind the dregs of pride and self-preservation.

3.     VESSEL OF LONG, DARK TRIAL:  Here the wine stands for hours, days, or even months in shadow and darkness.  The vessel yields no light and is not transparent so the wine must remember the light found in other days and simply trust that God will let the light shine again.  When poured out, the dregs of impatience, questioning, and unbelief are left behind.

4.     Vessel of bulges, angles, corners, dents, and ridges – VESSEL OF STRANGE GUIDANCE:  The wine has been poured and now it must find its way into all the different bulges and angles.  We do not have to know why God does everything; neither do we have to explain to the public why He leads us as He does at times.  As soon as the wine is settled and the lesson learned, the gentle hand of the Maker again lifts the vessel and pours the wine out…and the wine begins to sparkle and gleam with fresh yieldedness and obedience.  Behind are dregs of distrust and fear.

5.     VESSEL OF EVERYBODY ELSE’S FAULT:  The wine may not be to blame at all or the vessel it finds itself in but people sometimes fail to do their duty, or forget, or someone is not yet broken and yielded, or another refuses to come or go as he should.  We are often willing to go through a trial or test when WE are to blame or have some involvement in it, but to be dragged into a plight that is not our own and we are not to blame, is a to the flesh a real death.  But we must remember that we did not pour ourselves into this vessel…God did…we have only to yield, be poured into it, melt, and flow.

The next phase of the lessons is, “How may the wine act in being poured out?”

1.     We may be wine poured from vessel to vessel but if our will is not surrendered and we do not allow God to continue the “pouring” process, we can remain rigid and unbroken in spirit.  We then retain our own shape and we do not melt into the vessel of our situation so that a sediment may settle.

Did you ever try to pour out a pan of thick milk into a smaller receptacle?  The milk is thick and curdled and has become set, there is no brokenness in it.  The question becomes not, “Am I poured?” but “Am I broken?”  One may be poured and emptied into a hundred vessels and never learn the lesson God desires or “be broken.”  Let us break in spirit and as we are emptied out there will be LESS agony, pain, and distress for we will, with God’s grace, melt and fill each vessel quickly…and move on.

2.     Another way we may react is to yield to the pouring but just endure it…not learn any lesson from it.  We have a little pout in our spirit saying ever so faintly, “Yes, Lord, I am going through, but just the same I don’t think it is quite fair, for YOU could have made it easier.”  We consent in will but do not break in spirit.  Let us break and let the dregs settle.

3.     The best way is to not only surrender in will but to break in spirit and heart.  As we break in spirit, we lose our setness; our natural spirit gives way and we become pliable and run easily into the most intricate parts of the vessel.

The object in emptying us from vessel to vessel is to produce a broken and yielded spirit AND to keep us from settling on our lees.  The road of least resistance is a rut.  If we never get poured from experience to experience, the wine gets spoiled and scented with dregs.  Do not be surprised if God is emptying you from a vessel in which you have been blessed for days, months, or even years.  Maybe you are settling on your lees and He wished to refine you a little more.

Another reason for all these vessels is to broaden us in sympathy and understanding with each other.  The one who has had but little trouble in life is not a particularly helpful person.  But one who has gone through a hundred and one trials, experiences, deaths, blasted hopes, shocks, and a tragedy or two has learned his lesson – who by reason of use has his senses exercised – such a person is worthwhile.  He is able to enter into the need of suffering humanity and pray it through.  Nothing can better equip us than to break in spirit and heart and so become clear, sparkling wine, rich and refreshing.

Why should we have this broken spirit?  Because we follow Him who yielded His will, and heart, and spirit.  He became limp, weak, and broken until His life was poured out. 

Let us yield quickly and learn our lessons well so that we do not become settled on our lees.