Transcription
Greetings in the name of my Lord and King, Jesus Christ, the tried and tested precious Chief Cornerstone, rejected by men but chosen of God and laid in Zion for a sure foundation. [Music]
I give thanks to God for 2025 and also for this opportunity to serve Him again on this platform of precious stones, to give a message from Him that will help and guide us throughout 2025. So I welcome you to the precious stone platform, and I want to release grace that comes from God because our God is gracious and merciful. Grace is a companion given to help us on life's journey. We need grace when we hear God's word because it helps us understand and grasp much more than we can naturally. May God's grace abound as you listen to this message and take it into your life, so that it may be a guiding light as we travel the journey to 2025.
The message God has laid upon my heart for precious stones, for us, for believers, for those who hear this message, is to upgrade into a vessel of honor through cleansing. It's a calling from God to upgrade spiritually, physically, materially—in every way—so that you can become a vessel of honor, fit for the Master's use, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work.
The foundation for this message from God is found in 2 Timothy 2. Apostle Paul encourages Timothy, who lived in discouraging times where people were backsliding and overthrowing the faith of others. In verse 19, it says, "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his: and, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work."
This is God's promise: you can choose what kind of vessel you are. God's house is a great house with many vessels, but they are not all the same. They vary in use, type, and material. You can choose to become a vessel unto honor. Some vessels are to dishonor, but you can choose to be a vessel unto honor—useful for the Master's use, prepared for every good work. Your choice is to purge and cleanse yourself to become a vessel of honor. Departing from iniquity and presenting yourself to be cleansed makes you a vessel unto honor.
To understand this message more, we need to ask ourselves a few questions: How can I be useful to the Master? What does the Master want to do with me? Answering these helps you make choices, work on yourself, and upgrade into that vessel of honor.
God has always desired to dwell among His people. When He spoke to Moses, He said to build a tabernacle so He could dwell among His people (Exodus). From the creation of Adam, God breathed life into him to represent God on Earth. God desires to dwell among His people. He seeks vessels where He can dwell.
In Revelation 21:3, it says, "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." This is His expressed desire to dwell among His people. You can be a useful vessel if God can find a dwelling place, a sanctuary, in you.
2 Corinthians 6:16-18 states, "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Then, in 2 Corinthians 7:1, "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." God makes us conscious that we are the temple of the living God; He desires to dwell in that temple.
First Corinthians 6:15-20 also encourages us: "Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." This is a call to be conscious that God gave you your body and seeks accommodation—a temple where He can dwell.
You can be a useful vessel by providing accommodation in your body where God can dwell. The scripture before the one I read talks about a soldier enrolled in the army of the Lord. You can be useful by fighting the Lord's battles. David was acknowledged as one who fought the Lord's battles. While on Earth, there are battles for the Lord to fight. You can become a useful vessel by upgrading yourself into an instrument God can use.
Jeremiah 51:20-23 states, "Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; And with thee will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; And with thee will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers." God calls His people battle axes and weapons of war. You can be useful by fighting the Lord's battles. These are two aspects of upgrading yourself into a vessel of honor: winning battles for the Lord and being a dwelling place for God. To be that, you must cleanse yourself from all filthiness.
Let's look at the cleansing process. Romans 12:1-2 says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." This is where the cleansing process starts. Present your bodies a living sacrifice. This is an altar where sacrifices are brought. This is your reasonable service to God. When your body is holy and acceptable to God, He can dwell in it. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by renewing your mind. This allows you to know God's will. This sacrifice involves cutting ties with the world.
In 2025, if you choose to upgrade, see yourself coming to an altar to interact with God, bringing your body as a living sacrifice. God searches the heart and tries the mind. He uses the light of His word to search you. As it shines on your life, you come to yourself, like the prodigal son. God will use His word to bring you to repentance. David is an example; he sinned, hid it, but God found it and brought him to repentance. Let God's word search your life and bring you to repentance.
The word God laid on my heart, from Ezekiel 16, is suitable for precious stones. Let it shine on your life to search you. Ezekiel 16 begins, "Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations," and continues to detail Jerusalem's history, highlighting God's love and mercy despite her unfaithfulness.
This is a good searchlight, reminding us of our abominations. It's a beautiful story, typical of any of us. God goes back to our birth, showing the hopelessness we came into this world with. He highlights our inheritance and lack of hope, showing that He was there all the time. He saw us struggling and said, "Live." He reminds us of His great love and mercy. He points out that He is the one who caused us to grow, matured us, and protected us. He washed, anointed, clothed, and adorned us. He fed us and prospered us.
He then shows how we, trusting in our own beauty and abilities, turned His gifts into idols. We used clothes to worship other gods, sacrificed our children, and failed to remember the days of our youth. God wants to bring us to remembrance of where we came from. This allows for repentance.
Ezekiel 36 promises cleansing: God will sprinkle clean water upon you, give you a new heart and a new spirit, take away the stony heart, and put His spirit within you. He promises cleansing, a new heart, and a renewed spirit. God will work with you. Jeremiah 17:1 describes the heart acquired in the world as deceitful and desperately wicked. God gives a new heart. David recognized this in Psalm 51. You need an overhaul of the heart, which only God can do through His living water and His process. God renews your spirit, damaged and deformed by the devil, back to its original state in Genesis 1. This journey requires presenting yourself and allowing God to highlight and search your heart. David says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart." God cleanses, enters into a new covenant, writes His laws on your heart, and puts His spirit in you to help you walk in His ways.
John 14:23 shows that those who love God keep His words; the Father loves them, and they make their abode with Him. The Holy Spirit sheds the love of God in your heart. This leads to loving God, yourself, and your brethren. Jesus gives a new commandment: love one another as He loved you. The ability to keep God’s word comes from the Holy Spirit. God makes a home with you. This is how you become a vessel unto honor.
At this altar, you come to the Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus offers living water (John 4); receiving this water takes away thirst, becomes a well, and grows into rivers of living water. Communion with the Lord grows this well. Jesus takes you to the cross, where you are crucified, buried, and raised with Christ (Colossians 2). Baptism is essential in this process. Repent and be baptized to be saved. Jesus shares the power of the cross, destroying principalities and powers.
Jesus takes you to the fountain of blood for cleansing. The blood of Jesus cleanses from all unrighteousness; it washes and cleanses. When you confess your sins, the blood of Jesus washes you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7,9). Psalm 51 mentions cleansing with hyssop. Jesus is the light that overcomes darkness. He gives you light to deal with the darkness you were born into.
Of darkness, but this light will shine in darkness and disperse the darkness from your inner person. Disperse darkness around you. So Jesus Christ also gives you light; it's all this process of now being cleansed, uh, being upgraded into that vessel unto honor. So you have light, and this light you can use to overcome darkness. And also you find this Jesus; he baptizes you with the fire and with the Holy Ghost. So these are processes; all these processes are there to cleanse you. Uh, he baptized you with the Holy Ghost and the fire; the fire portion of it is referred to in Malachi as the refiner's fire. This is the refiner's fire. And also in Isaiah chapter 4, God says I'll use that Spirit of burning and the Spirit; he baptizes you with the Holy Ghost and the fire. The fire portion of it is referred to in Malachi as the refiner's fire. This is the refiner's fire. And also in Isaiah chapter 4, God says I'll use that Spirit of burning and the spirit of judgment to take away the filth of the daughters of Zion. So it takes away filth as well; this blood takes away, this fire takes away filth. Uh, it washes it, burns away all the filth that needs to be burned so that you are refined into that vessel of honor by that fire. And that fire also is for your protection; uh, it's there to protect you because you are going to fight, you're going to be in battle for the Lord. So the fire also is for your protection, and also that fire is a weapon because we hear that the fire of our God is a consuming fire, and this fire goes before him and burns up all his enemies. So you are being kitted out to be useful for the Master.
So it's a process of cleansing that you need to present yourself to that place so that you can be purified, you can be cleansed, you can be upgraded into a vessel of honor. Then also he baptizes you with the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit—you are presenting yourself also before the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit destroys yokes; the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. So the Holy Spirit will destroy the yokes that are tying you back into the world, back into the places where you were born, where there are generational issues that are still pulling you down that you're struggling with. The Holy Spirit destroys the yoke, and also the Holy Spirit opens prison doors because out there in the world where you were brought up, where you were born in the kingdom of darkness, the devil imprisons souls; he takes souls into prisons, but this Holy Spirit opens prison doors for you so that you can be a vessel that is available to the Lord. And this—we find also in that world of darkness, kingdom of darkness—they are different kinds of traumas that you are exposed to that are there just to destroy your life, just to make your life miserable. The Holy Spirit will also comfort and give you the oil of joy for mourning and change things in your life because you are being a vessel of honor. And the Holy Spirit will give you beauty for ashes, just to make you that vessel that God is looking for; he will clothe you with garments of salvation; he will clothe you with power. The Holy Ghost will also teach you; is available to teach you in 2025, to guide you and lead you into all truth. The Holy Spirit also is a powerful entity because the Holy Spirit will help you to mortify the deeds of the flesh; where you came from, you were being led by the flesh, by the love of the world, the lust of the flesh, but the Holy Spirit has his capacity to mortify the deeds of the flesh. So you can also work with the Holy Spirit and walk in the Spirit, and as you walk in the Spirit, not satisfying the desires of the flesh, you'll be able to become a fruitful tree. You'll become a fruitful tree; the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, goodness, meekness, faith—all these will begin to show up in your life, and you are becoming that vessel of honor that is meet for the Master's use.
Basically, in this word that I'm bringing to you, I'm exhorting you to keep the fire burning on the altar, to keep the fire burning 24/7. This is what we are encouraged to do because in Matthew 25, we learn about two kinds of virgins that were there waiting for the bridegroom, waiting for the bridegroom. And when the time came, they needed their lamps; five of them who were foolish could not light their lamps because the lamps had gone out and they had no oil. But the five which were wise, they trimmed their lamps, and then they entered with the bridegroom. The times we are living in—the Spirit shows that you know these are the perilous times that we're being talked about, days of the last that Apostle Paul was talking about. These are days where the bridegroom is preparing to come to take his bride. And the exhortation is for us to watch and pray and be ready so that you can be part of that marriage feast of the Lamb; that you can be prepared. So it says what you do not know the time when he comes. So I'm exhorting you that as you continue to serve the Lord, you may also keep that fire burning; you may keep that altar serviced; you may keep that altar where you are meeting with the Father, meeting with the Lord Jesus, and you are continuously being upgraded into that vessel and owner fit for the Master's use. Then you can be useful for the Master; at the same time you are ready when he comes, you'll be ready to go with him. So this is my exhortation to you.
And let me say, for this engagement with God, this relationship we're going to take place, there is a New Covenant. The New Covenant that Jesus Christ came to put into effect; this is something that was on God's heart right from the days of Jeremiah. He said I'll make a New Covenant, and in this New Covenant it is not like the old covenant; it is a New Covenant that you enter with God. And when you enter into that covenant with God, you become his; you become his; you start a relationship with him, a close relationship that you can then grow into that intimate relationship. And he says in that New Covenant, Jesus Christ is the mediator of that new and better Covenant, which is actually established on better promises. And the promises in this New Covenant are there; promises to say he will forgive your iniquities, and also you will wash away your sins; you will write his laws in your heart and put them in your mind, and you'll become his. He's calling for a personal relationship; he says in this New Covenant you will not need to say to your brother, "Know the Lord"; you don't need people to chase you that you know the Lord. God promises you will know him in that New Covenant; you will know him. So it is important to respond to that New Covenant. Jesus Christ came; we've just celebrated Christmas; we are celebrating that coming, and that coming was so significant because Jesus was coming to establish that New Covenant. And for you, for your part, all you have to do is to believe; you have to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; you have to believe that God raised him up from the dead, and you have to believe he is the Savior, and you receive him in your heart. And when you receive him in your heart, you become a child of God.
So allow me to pray with someone today, to lead you in a prayer with this Covenant. Also you become a partaker in this New Covenant; it's a beautiful Covenant, and you become a partaker through praying, by receiving Jesus Christ into your heart. So you can take some time and just talk to the Lord: "Dear Lord Jesus, I come to you today. I know that I'm a sinner, but I appreciate your great love wherewith you have loved me. I believe in my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; he came here on Earth to save sinners. I know I am a sinner; I was born in the world of sin, but I open my heart and I invite you, Jesus, come into my heart. Forgive all my sins; wash me with your blood; make me into a child of our God. I repent of all my sins, and I say be the Lord of my life. I surrender my spirit, my soul, my body to you that you may cleanse me and make me a vessel of honor, useful to you. Thank you, Father, for hearing my prayer. Thank you, Jesus, for being the Lord of my life. Thank you. Amen." When you pray that prayer, God hears you, and this Covenant kicks into place in your life, and you also become a partaker of the New Covenant. Then you can enjoy this communion that I've been describing, where the Lord continues to cleanse you. We are exalted that you know we need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling because once you get born again, God hears you; you become a child of God, but now you have to work on that cleansing; you have to keep clean because the Bible says you need actually to be alert because the devil is prowling around seeking whom he may devour. So you need actually to be constantly on the alert, and the best way to do that is to develop this communion with God. Present your body as a living sacrifice; present your mind, your spirit to this God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and you shall be a vessel of honor, fit for the Master's use. I want to release a blessing upon your life; may the Lord carry you on the wings of his grace, cover you under the banner of his love as you continue to walk in covenant with him, as you continue to walk in the Spirit and desiring and aspiring to be a vessel of honor, useful for the Master. God bless you.