A New Cruse
A New Cruse
Preached By Rev. James Reynolds Sr. at the Deliverance Center on March 25, 2007
OPENING THOUGHTS
I am reminded of a time when they asked the elder Bro. Powers to testify. It was after probably eight or nine other preachers had been asked. Each preacher went on and said, "I just, I just can't, I just can't sit down. I got to preach a little. I just can't sit down." Each one was saying the same thing for seemingly a half-hour or more—just carrying on. "I can't sit down, I got to preach a little." Bro. Powers then got up and he said, "Well brethren, you asked me to testify and I'm going to tell you how to testify. I'm gonna go sit down."
Sometimes a short sermon like that is more effective than a long one. I know I have a reputation for being long, but I never spend a lot of time just to spend a lot of time. I feel like God has given me something, and I need to deliver that to you in such a manner that you can grasp it because if you don't understand what I am saying then it won't do you any good. So, we try to lay it before you so you can understand it, grasp it, and apply it to your own life. This morning, I want to share some things with you that I believe God has been sharing with me, and I believe it will be a help to you—not only for today, but for the future.
How many know that we need to have a move of God? I am talking about a genuine move of God, and not the kind we just advertise on a flyer saying we are going to have revival. I am talking about a revival when the Holy Ghost comes down and changes and gives direction to lives. We need that kind of revival.
OUR TEXT
II Kings, 2:19-22:
And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is nought, and the ground barren. 20 And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. 21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. 22 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.
The prophet's response to those that were declaring to him the problem was, "Bring me a new cruse."
The Condition of Jericho
I want you to look with me at the condition that is behind this lesson. The city of Jericho is revealed here in three aspects. You need to understand that there was a condition that existed that needed God's help.
PLEASANT.
The men of the city came to Elisha and said unto him, "Behold I pray thee the situation of the city is pleasant." One aspect of the city was that it was pleasant. Looking up the word in the Hebrew gives the idea that there is something very wonderful about this situation. Now, as far as the outward appearance of the city, it was good, pleasant. The Hebrew word brings out the idea that it was favorable, privileged, and prosperous.
BAD WATER & BARREN LAND
Jericho is a privileged, prosperous, and pleasant city, but the water is bad. Notice that the Scripture says the water is nought. Nought is the translation of the Hebrew word rah, which means bad or evil. The water is contaminated. Because there is an element of poison mixed with the water, it is producing a barren condition in the land. Verse 19 says, "the ground barren." The ground could not produce. The land was not producing, and the reason why the land was not producing was because the water was bad.
The Condition of the Church
To me, this is a revelation of a spiritual principle that is in the Church today. First you look at the outward appearance of the church, the church is in a favorable condition. How many know the church is doing well as far as the outward appearance? They say there has never been a time when more people are going to church than today. Outwardly, the appearance is pleasant, favorable.
Jesus used the words in Revelation, He said, "Your rich, increased with goods, and have need of nothing." He's talking about the latter day church. A church that has wrenched the reigns out of the hands of the Lord and is now in control of itself. And He said, "Your rich, increased with goods, have need of nothing." Could we agree with what Jesus was saying, that the church has become very prosperous as far as the outward appearance is concerned? But the water is contaminated.
Listen to what He says as He goes on there in Revelation, "…and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and blind, and naked." Not producing spiritually. A church that He called has drifted so far away, they have become spiritually barren. Number wise, they are doing well. Financially the do well, but spiritually there is a problem.
The water is contaminated. What does that speak of? The Bible speaks about the Word as water. Water of the Word produces life, but the Word here, in the hour that we face has become polluted, mixed with all kinds of heresies. A mixture in the teaching that is controlling the lives of many, and its producing barrenness.
The apostle Paul said in Romans 16 verses 17 and 18 "…mark them…" You hear people say, "You should be careful." Here is Paul saying, "…mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ… and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." The word 'simple' doesn't mean that they are simpletons, but they are unlearned, (they) don't have the knowledge. And people are being swayed by the words of men that have become orators and not simply preachers.
They can spin all kinds of things and make people… I remember when I was in school myself, a Nazarene brother came to the church. And we had an orator for a preacher. He used to tell the folks, he says, "You know I can preach." He knew he could. And he had a lot of psychology. The Nazarene brother said to some of the students as they came out of church, he said, "I don't understand." He said, "That man gets me to clap my hands when I don't feel like it; (he) gets me shout when I don't feel like it." And he says, "When I'm in there, I feel these things but (when) I come out, I'm empty." That's what the water without the truth, does to people. It leaves them empty and barren. You need the truth! The Word of truth is what will put life into your spirit. Can anyone say amen?
Good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. Again, Paul says in II Timothy 3: 4 and 5 he says, "Lovers of pleasure…" And the saddest thing is, its not just the world that is involved with pleasures, even to the degree that all of these sports events are being promoted by the church. Now I'm not against these things to such a degree that… But I don't think that they ought to be promoted in the church. "Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God." Now you listen to what he says, "Having a form…" These are the same ones that he said love the world and pleasures more than loving God, and having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. And he said, "Don't join up with them. Get away from them."
The word 'denying' comes from a Greek word, to forsake, renounce, refuse to accept, reject. And what is he saying? Because they love pleasure more than loving God, they reject what God has for them. Refusing, renouncing… And isn't it true that we hear of a lot of voices today say, "Oh, you don't have to do that, you don't have to do this, you don't have to do the other." Listen, if you're a Christian and you've been born of God, there is an obligation upon you to live like Him. We name Him as our Savior, then let us walk like Him. How many know that's the Word of God?
Peter said this, II Peter the 2nd chapter verses 1 and 2, "…There shall be false teachers…" Now they've warned us… Why is it that as many warnings that we have had through the Scripture, that we can't seem to see where we are at? Jesus warned us, the apostles warned us. And here Peter is saying, "There shall be…" He didn't say, "There might be…" He said there is going to be "…false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, …and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many… and many shall follow…" See this is the problem. This is why the church has become barren, because many have followed "…their pernicious…" their evil ways, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many… many… Dear God.
By reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil… Isn't it true? Boy, they can say all kinds of things about us, they can call us a cult, they call me a cult leader. I've even got letters where they said, "You are the antichrist." I don't know if an antichrist that is going to follow the Word of God. But you see, they speak very freely against the truth because they don't love the truth. And they're in a very dangerous position because God said because the people did not love the truth, God will send them strong delusion. How many know we are living in a time when a lot of people have come under that spirit of strong delusion and they are going to hold to that? They believe this is alright, all you got to do is go to church once in a while and be at least a good upright person in society… It takes more than that, you must be born of God, and live it!
Jude, the fourth verse, one little chapter, said "There are certain men crept in unawares, ungodly men…" Turning, they've come into the midst of the church and are turning the grace of God into lasciviousness. That is, it's a license. They can do as they want to.
Rather than speak concerning their name at this time I'll refrain from that, but there is one church they say is growing in leaps and bounds. The minister said himself, "I don't preach against sin, I just preach about grace and faith." Grace and faith without principle will cause the church to become barren; spiritually I'm speaking. Now, the water has become polluted. You have to agree with me at least to some degree that the water of the Word of God has become polluted because men have mixed their doctrines and their ideas into the Scripture. Now there is nothing wrong with the pure Word of God, but when you mix it, it produces death and barrenness.
So the church has become barren and unfruitful, spiritually. At the same time, the appearance is pleasant. And they can… And I've heard some of them say, "Boy we have come across the tracks. We are living on the other side of the tracks, and God is blessing us and prospering us." One woman claims that she just bought a ten million dollar airplane to fly around. Can you imagine Jesus, who wore sandals, and went around from town to town bringing the gospel without a place to lay His head… Could you agree with me at least to some degree that the church is become spiritually barren? I'm talking about spiritually. Numbers, finances…
Now what is the cure? Look at what he says there in verse 20, and he said, the man of God said, "Bring me a new cruse." With the condition that we face right now, we need a revival of spiritual truth. There needs to be a reviving of spiritual truth, not men's ideas. There needs to be a spiritual application of the life of Jesus being made manifest in the life of the believer. I see a lot of people that they… Its like a drudgery, its almost a hardship to serve Jesus. If you have Christ in you, and His life is flowing in you, it will not be a hardship, it will be a joy, it will be a thrill, it will be exciting to live for Him! Not just on Sunday, but on Monday, and Tuesday, and Wednesday, through the week. Thank God there is something more than a religious experience.
Not only do we need spiritual life, spiritual power, but we need spiritual purity. The man of God says, "Bring me a new, a new cruse, a new cruse." Again the word comes from a Hebrew word that means to be fresh, new, not chipped, not cracked, not broken, a new cruse. God is looking for vessels today that He can use. The man of God is standing in the position of God and he is saying, "Bring me a new cruse." God is saying, "I need a vessel, I need a vessel, bring Me a vessel that I can use." A vessel prepared by God. Did you hear what I said? A vessel prepared by God. See there is types. A new cruse.
Do you know when a pot, a piece of pottery is made, it is made by the potter, molded and fashioned in the hands of the potter. And he is saying, "Bring me a new cruse, bring me a new pot, bring me a new vessel." Now, not only is it prepared by God, but the potter always puts the clay, after it is formed, into the oven. It takes fire… The vessel that God will use is going to have to go through the trials, go through the fire and not be cracked, chipped or broken. Are you listening? Oh yeah, there is a price.
Why does He put the believers through the fire? The same reason the potter puts the clay through the fire. To make it strong, to make it durable, to make it hard. It won't crack, it won't fall apart. Now we know the story, in the hands of the potter… the pot or the vessel became marred in the hands of the potter and the potter always did one of two things. Actually three things, he would throw it back if it was the clay was not hard, he would throw it back into the mud and make it another vessel. But if it had gone too far, its beginning to get hard, he would set it up on shelf there to remain. It would never be of value to anyone. Then there was the third thing, if it was just falling all apart, he would throw it through the window out into the potter's field and it was shattered.
Dear God, don't ever let the Lord get to the place where He throws you through the window. You say, "Well I can't stand the heat!" If you want to be a vessel that God can use, you are going to have to stand the heat.
Now the vessel must also, not only be made by God, but it must be available to God. He said, "Bring me, bring me a new cruse." A vessel that has paid the price, gone through the fire… A vessel that now becomes an instrument in the hands of God. A new cruse. A vessel conformed to the image of Christ. How many know that God wants to make you like Christ? And we must understand… This is what God is after, a new cruse. One that looks like the original.
A vessel that God can pour Himself into and through. See the whole thing is, this is what God did. It wasn't the vessel, it wasn't the cruse. It was what God did, and this is what the world needs, this is what the church needs, this is what this generation needs is a move of God in the life of the believers. Some of you understand what I am saying, and some of you are enduring it. But I want you to understand that God is looking for a vessel, a new cruse.
We don't need new dynamics, power teams, showmanship, and all of that kind of stuff. That's taking the place of the gospel. They say, "Well we use this…" They produce after their kind. That's the principle that's in the Word of God. If you get people to accept what you are teaching and preaching, they'll be hooked on that and they'll be just like you taught. But if we teach them the truth, the truth will transform their life's and make them like Christ, a vessel that God can use. God is looking for vessels. A vessel that is the image of Himself.
Now, when he says, "Bring me a new cruse…" he said, "…Put salt therein, salt…" If there was ever a time when we needed salt… Where are the salt of this age? We need the salt. Salt, according to what I see in the dictionary is seasoning, preserving, and healing. Some of you probably didn't even understand that salt is good for healing sores.
My grandfather used to cut wood for us, he lived with us quite some time, and he had a very sharp axe. And one day he was chopping, and evidently holding the block of wood and he gashed his thumb way down deep and he would take salt and pour it on to that. Ooooouuuuuwwweeeeeee. Yeah, it might have a healing element but it smarts. And my daddy used to say, "No smart, no cure." But that thing healed because he kept putting salt… I mean he'd just pour that salt in there.
The prophet is saying, "Put salt in the vessel." Salt is a type of the truth. Jesus said in Matthew 5 and 13, "Ye are the salt…" Talking to the believer, talking to those that were real. "Ye are the salt of the earth…" If the salt is in you… not something that you carry under your arm. He said, "Put salt in it." We need to have the truth in us, not just carrying it around. We need to have that salt. This is what the world needs. This is what the church needs because its become barren. It needs the salt. "Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein."
The results. Look at verse 21, "And he went forth unto the spring…" He didn't just take salt and through it into the water, he went to the fountain head. We need to get back to the fountain head where we missed God. How many know that we have lived in a time where we have drifted so far away from God we don't even know where we began? This might shock you, but my mother told me one time, way back (in) my early experience with the Lord, she said, "You know James, the church wouldn't even allow people to clean the church unless they were filled with the Holy Ghost." Not only saved, but filled with the Holy Ghost. I think that's missing today.
You know, the old timers, they say, you go into the church sometime and see them cleaning and then they'd go by the chairs and they would be praying for the chairs. Listen, you get a Holy Ghost man praying for the chairs and praying for the people that set in those chairs, you're going to have revival. There is something missing. Right? Bring me a cruse with salt.
Went forth to the spring of the waters and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters. There shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed. He didn't say the waters might be healed, he said, "So the waters were healed." God is still looking for vessels. A new vessel with salt in it.
The salt being poured into the waters made it pure, made it alive. Notice what he said there in the latter part of that verse, no more death or barren land. No more death… Pour the salt in and there won't be any more death. There is a lot of death today. One church he said, "You say you have a name that you live and aren't dead…" Dear God, I trust that we have something more than just a name, that we live. I want to be recognized, not by men… I was thinking as I picked up the newspaper yesterday, there was a couple women I think came up from Boston, claim they are preachers and are going around town… And like that its such a wonderful thing that they are doing. We've have been doing this for thirty-nine, forty years going through this city trying to teach people that Jesus Christ is the only way. Trying to rescue the perishing, care for the dying… They don't come our way and put us in the newspaper.
What is it the world needs? Somebody to just sit along side them and say, "You know things can be different." There has to be a difference in the heart. The waters were healed. Not only was the waters healed, but there was fruitfulness, no barrenness. The church has lost its saltiness. How many know most places that you go, and I've heard it… I've been in some of them and there is not an ounce of conviction. Boy it used to be when the preachers would preach, sometimes you'd see somebody slip out of their seat and head for the altar long before the altar call was given. Why? Because the Holy Ghost was getting a hold of somebody's heart and bringing them to the cross. No more death, no more barrenness, life!
Listen to what Jesus said continuing on in that statement, "If the salt has lost its savour, it is thenceforth good for nothing but be cast out and be trodden under foot of men." What did Jesus say in Revelation to the church of Laodicea? "If you don't repent, I am going to spue you out of My mouth." He is talking about the condition that exists in the church today. You say that you are rich, increased with goods, and have need of nothing, but I say unto you that you are wretched, you're poor, you're blind, you're naked, and you have need of Me, and He counsels them.
What am I saying to you this morning? I am saying God is looking for some honest, true, dedicated, committed new cruses, new vessels that are willing to serve God unreservedly, with truth, with salt. Salt that might bite a little, but in biting it brings healing. There will no longer be death nor barrenness.
I am asking you this morning, are you willing to be a vessel God can use? Are you willing to pay the price? Are you willing for God to put you through the fire, to form, mold (and) make you hard and strong to stand against the opposition? Are you willing? I am asking you, Are you willing to stand alone?
I won't tell you who it was, but one of the local pastors said to me, I was at a convention and he came up to me and he said, "Bro. Reynolds, I believe it just like you preach it, but if you preach that, you'll walk alone." What was he saying? "I am not willing to walk alone." But I can say to you this morning, I may stagger along the way but I am willing, I'm willing… So I am putting it on you, are you willing to be that vessel that God is calling for? A new cruse that's got salt in it, that can bring healing to the pollution of this hour, of this day? We must admit that there is something wrong somewhere…
The doctrines have become polluted by heresy, false doctrines… What is going to stem that? What is going to turn that around? What is going to bring revival? It's not just that we pray that God will do something. God is looking for a vessel that He can take and use in this day. That He can pour Himself into and through and touch the lives of men that are now bound in their sin, even though they confess Christ they need to have the life of Jesus flowing in them. And I am asking you, Are you willing to be a vessel that God can use? That God can pour Himself into and through, and change the complexion of the church today? Dear God.
The gospel has become polluted, has made the land barren. In closing, how many is willing to say, "God, I am willing to be made a new cruse, and I am willing for You to put me through the fire, and I am willing to yield myself totally to You, where You can put truth into me that I can be a means of turning this thing around and seeing the name of God…" We need revival folks, we need a real revival. We need a moving of the Holy Ghost that'll get a hold of people's hearts… I'm not talking just about sinners, I'm talking about the church, I'm talking about loose living people. We need to see them changed. There's barrenness, there's pollution, there's mixture, but there's a gospel that we have here that can change the lives of people and turn them around and make them fruitful for God. The land will not be dead and barren any more. Can we pray…
Father, I've tried to deliver my soul that I felt You wanted me to deliver to the people. God, You are looking, You're looking… The message has gone out this morning, Bring me a vessel that's got salt in it, that'll stand for the truth, that'll love truth, that'll believe truth, that'll promote truth. Dear God, dear God. Bring me a vessel…
How about it? Is there some here this morning that will say, "I am going to bring myself, I am going to bring myself to God. I am going to lay myself down, let Him mold, make and fashion and ultimately put truth in me for its truth that will prevail. Its truth that will take away the corruption, the pollution, the mixture and glorify the Son of God." Stand with me please…
I'd encourage you this morning, if there is anything in your heart, if there's any desire in your heart at all to be a vessel that God could use, would you get out of your seat and find a place at this altar? If the altar's not big enough kneel behind somebody, kneel in these front seats. Let's make a commitment saying we are going to bring our vessel to the Lord and we want Him to fill us with the salt of truth that we can be a help in these last days to stem the tide of the pollution that is corrupting the lives of people across our land and around the world. Would you come? Would you kneel before Him? Will you surrender yourself?
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