A Chosen Vessel

Serving – June 2019 – Grace & Truth Magazine

A Chosen Vessel

An old Irish proverb is quaint but still true: “Cometh the hour, cometh the man.” This has proved true in the secular history of the world, for good and for ill. Similarly, there are times in the history of God’s people when He raised up a man to accomplish an important work at a critical time. This can be seen in the biblical record as well as in the later Church history.

A man of God prophesied that God would raise up a descendant of David who would destroy Jeroboam’s idolatrous altar and burn the bones of the false priests upon it (1 Ki. 13:2). This prophecy would not be fulfilled until 300 years later. So sure was the prophecy that it even specified the name of one that would fulfill it: a man named Josiah! Indeed, it came to pass exactly as prophesied (2 Ki. 23:14-20).

When we turn to the New Testament we see the same thing. Paul told the Galatians that God had set him apart while still in his mother’s womb. Growing up, however, he was trained as a rabbinic scholar and became a persecutor of the Church – until God called him through grace (Gal. 1:15). Even while in the womb God’s eye was upon him, for he was an “elect vessel” (Acts 9:15 JND). We see the same thing with the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 1:5).

In the 1700’s a man was born in England by the name of George Whitefield. He started preaching in the open fields of England in a time when field-preaching was unheard of and even considered sacrilegious. Yet, tens of thousands came to Christ in what was known as the Great Awakening! How striking that his family name was “Whitefield” when we consider, “the fields ... are already white for harvest” (Jn. 4:35). His name prefigured his calling.

Truly, God knows His servants before He calls them. We take great encouragement from this.

By Brian Reynolds