PERFORMING LITMUS TEST ON VESSELS
“And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being *found+ blameless.” (1 Timothy 3:10)
“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
There is a great necessity laid on us to know the people around us. In the house for example, parents should endeavor to know their ward and the ward also their parents. In marriage also, the husband should accurately know his wife and the wife also his husband. The same way also in ministry, it necessitates that the Senior Pastor knows his subordinates and associates and they also their pastor.
This is very necessary to establish trust among ourselves and to prevent certain things coming to us as surprises. When we know the vessels around us, we will know when to defend them and when to suspect them. It will breed little or no ground for offences.
Even God tries out his vessels to know them despite the fact that He is Omniscient. He tried and tested all the vessels He used to effect redemption, victory, success and the like. That is why He could say something like, “There is none like my servant Job on the earth”, “David is a man after my own heart” and so on. He proved them and knew them that’s why He could give such testimonies about them and even defend them before the devil.
Jesus also knew his disciples very well. He knew Judas Iscariot even before he manifested himself as the son of perdition. That is why he could also say, “Have I not chosen twelve and one of you being a devil.”
He knew his disciples and his disciples also knew him. The Gospel of John bears record to that, “He knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him” (John 6:64).
We also have to endeavor to know the core vessels around us. And we can do that perfectly by testing them. If we fail to test or prove them to know who they really are, then we should be careful going out with them.
David before his battle with Goliath refused the helmet of brass that was placed on his head and the coat of mail he was being armed with. He told Saul directly: “. . . I cannot go with these; for I have not proved [them]” (1 Samuel 17:39). He preferred moving with the little sling he knew and trusted than with those military jackets he had never tried or proved. He knew his sling very well. He had been with it through out his life as a shepherd boy. But for those giant military apparel, he laid them off quickly and his reason was because he had never tested or proved them. So you see, no matter how fiery the battle may look, it is better to move with those little slings you know than with the coat of mail you know not.
After Paul in his epistle to Timothy have finished outlining the qualities a Bishop or a church leader must have or posses, he further went on to say to Timothy saying: “let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.” In other words, he was saying that they are to be tested first and then given the office if they pass the test.
Passing litmus test on vessels is very important especially when it comes to searching out ministerial vessels. It is important for every Church or ministerial leader to know the core vessels around him. It is by doing this that you will be able to save yourself from certain disappointments, pains and surprises.
You will be deceiving yourself to think that the most anointed, gifted, charming or beautiful are the most faithful and trustworthy. It is not always true because they are the very category of people that have sparked revolutions of rebellion throughout the years and ages. I’m not saying they are all rebel. Please don’t get me wrong. I’m only saying that, in most cases of rebellion, they are normally behind the scene.
They operate like the scroll John was made to swallow. They are always sweet in the mouth but bitter in the stomach (Revelation 10:10). With their sweetness, they convince you to swallow or take them in, but once they get down into the stomach they become bitter. So you see, in the mouth were they could have easily being spewed out, they taste very sweet. But once in the stomach were they can’t easily be brought out, they become very bitter. That’s how many folks are. So if you are deceived by their sweetness to take them into your stomach, you will only succeed in making yourself bitter.
You are not to marry just because of beauty neither are you to endorse people based on the anointing or charisma. You should be able to prove them and search out their character as well.
Since we are not in haste to take anything into our system in the natural, we shouldn’t also be in haste in appointing lifetime partners. Just like Paul said, “let these first be tested or proved.”
Testing or proving vessels to know them can be done to get a conscious or an unconscious feed back. When a vessel is tested or proved, the feed back or response is either voluntarily or involuntarily.
Paul for example was tested and proved by the authorities of his day. But in his case, it was done for a conscious or voluntary response: he knew he was being tested. That is why he could say, “mine answer to then that do examine me is this” (1 Corinthians 9:3). The Amplified Version puts it as: “This is my *real ground of+ defense (my vindication of myself) to those who would put me on trial and cross-examine me.” Paul was tried and cross examined consciously and the response he gave was also very conscious.
After proving or defending himself, the final appeal he made was, “But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates” (2 Corinthians 13:6). The New Living Translation says “As you test yourselves, I hope you will recognize that we have not failed the test of apostolic authority.”
An example of passing tests for an involuntary response is when God tried Abraham. God tested Abraham deliberately and his expectation was to receive an involuntary feed back or response. In other words, God tested Abraham, without him - Abraham - knowing he was being tested.
This is how God went about it: He told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac his son unto him. To God, it was just a simple test he was performing on His vessel. But to Abraham, he taught and felt it was a true sacrifice God was demanding of him. God passed the test consciously, but the response Abraham gave was very unconscious. Through that, He was able to know who Abraham was. Isn’t it amazing to know that God even proves and tests his vessels?
God being Omniscient knew Abraham but until he has proved him, he couldn’t say, “Now . . . I know . . . you.” It was after he has proved Abraham that he said, “For now I know that thou fearest me (God)” (Genesis 22:12). He tested the sincerity of the fear Abraham had for Him and found it true.
“And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, [here] I [am]. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of . . . And they came to the place . . . And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here [am] I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me.” (Genesis 22:1-12)
God tested all his vessels and by that he was able to know what was in their heart: whether they were for him or against him. By that, he was not surprised the least at anything they did wrong to him.
After testing and proving his people, Israel for example, he knew they would forsake him one day and therefore wasn’t surprised when it happened. God tested and proved all His vessels including Moses, David, Gideon, Rahab, Naomi, Elijah and all the rest.
Some even pleaded with God to prove them. The Psalmist for example prayed saying, “Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart” – (Psalm 26:2).
There is a saying that God can use anything. It is very true and scriptural. But I prefer saying it this way: “God can use anything but he doesn’t use anything.” He always tested and proved His vessel. He still does it. The Bible commends us to do the same.
In this particular chapter, I shall seek to look at how to prove a vessel. It’s all about creativity but I will help you out with some few steps.
We can effectively prove or seek to study a vessel by; a) Interrogation or questioning
a) Observing reactions.
b) Observing their reactions with other vessels.
c) Inquiring about them.
d) Being patient with Time.
Interrogation or questioning .
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it” . (Jeremiah 17:9)
“And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, [and] to prove thee, to know what [was] in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no” (Deuteronomy 8:2).
The human heart as described in the book of Jeremiah is deceitful and very wicked. No one apart from God can see into it. Without the omnipotent eyes of God, we can never see into it. But thank God there is a way its counsels can be revealed. Out of its abundance, the mouth speaks them all.
Words betray the counsels of the heart. It reveals to us what is in the heart of men. By it, we can know a part of the heart.
But the problem here is that, the natural man will never speak to reveal the hidden counsels of his heart.He only does so involuntarily or as a result of provocation.
Seeking to know or prove vessels by this particular method therefore needs a lot of wisdom and creativity. We can do that more accurately through careful interrogations. It should be done in such a way that the person responding to it must do so out of self unconsciousness. It requires a lot of wisdom and circumspection.
If the right punches are made on the heart, it will begin bleeding with words. It’s a matter of wisdom.
Jesus on some occasion proved his disciples by this method. He examined and interrogated them. He did it carefully and hence succeeded in receiving an involuntary feed back.
There was a need one day in Jesus’ ministry: a very urgent one. Multitude had come from a very long distance to hear him teach and time was far spent. As a very compassionate shepherd, he couldn’t afford dismissing them on an empty stomach: he felt an urge to feed them. He wanted to know what his disciples thought of that. He wanted to know the hidden counsels of their heart. He knew what to do but then he wanted to know what his disciples also had in mind.
He did that perfectly by asking them a simple question. The question he asked was, “whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? ” By this question, he was able to reveal the impossibilities and unbelief in their heart. The answer Philip gave for example was, “Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little” (John 6:7). Philip didn’t know Jesus was testing them; if he knew, he wouldn’t have answered that way. He would have been more positive. His response to Jesus’ question was involuntary revealing the whole counsels of his heart. He answered the question naturally.
Philip would have tried to be a little spiritual and full of faith if the question asked by Jesus was to be, “Do you believe I can feed these multitudes?” Of course, he would have been more positive in response if that was the question. But then, Jesus landed the right punch at the right time and by it betrayed their heart. So you see, it requires a lot of wisdom trying out vessels this way.
God used the same method in reading the mind of His prophet, Ezekiel. After taking him around the valley full of dry bones, the creative question he asked Ezekiel was, “Son of man, can these bones live?” God of course (being omniscient) knew the answer to that question, but he employed this wonderful technique to read the mind of Ezekiel. He wanted to know what was in his heart. He wanted to know his view on the matter. But Ezekiel unlike Philip and Andrew passed the test by throwing the question back to God. His response was, “O Lord, God, thou knowest” (Ezekiel 37:3) referring to God as the All-Knowing One who knows the fate of his handiwork.
The queen of Sheba employed this same method in searching out the Wisdom of Solomon. But in her case, the questions were asked for a voluntary response. First Kings Chapter 10:1 bears witness to that “. . . she came to prove him with hard questions”
Both in ministry and in relationships, vessels can be searched out this way. It helps you to know the philosophy and ideology of people and whether they are to be trusted or not.
In ministry for example, if you are in doubt as to whether a fellow’s heart is with you or not, you can wisely employ this method. If done with wisdom, it will reveal those who are potential rebels.
A senior minister for example can tease an associate – who professes to be with him for good - with a question like this: “I have started making some savings in my account for you. I’m hoping to have enough by the time you go to start your own ministry so I can support you with it. I hope you are making some savings and preparations too?” This is a nice question to ask. It is just a matter of being creative. Just be creative preacher! It might betray the heart
Men and women who are also in relationships can equally test or prove themselves by this method to know themselves. A creative question will betray the hidden issues of the heart. Just be creative and make the right punch at the right time.
Observing reactions.
Apart from words revealing the contents of the heart, actions and reactions can also do so perfectly.
Actions they say, speaks louder than words. How a person reacts or acts is very important. To some extent, it reveals the contents of the heart. When words fail in betraying a person, his actions or reactions will.
The natural man may try to shut up the content of his heart by sealing up his lips. He can decide not to speak for as long as he wills or even talk to anyone. But no matter how such a man may try to keep the contents of his heart from others, his actions will give him up in the long run. Such betray themselves even faster than folks who are talkatives do. They appear to be conservative but they betray themselves out very easily and faster too. It’s just a matter of you observing their actions, and reactions.
They can stop their lips from speaking but the fact that they can’t stop their body from motioning, they will eventually give up their heart. By observing their actions, and reactions to event, you can know what they have within their heart. It takes a very good observer to study vessel this way. It also takes wisdom as well so as not to judge a person wrongly.
Vessels who are naturally not speaking like me, can be searched out this way. But please like I said, you need wisdom in doing that so you don’t judge us wrongly.
A person’s facial expression, and the signs he put up have a lot to say about him or her. Don’t just ignore them. They are messages by themselves even including silence.
Absalom for example had a lot to say to Amnon his half brother for raping Tamar his sister. He harbored animosity in his heart against Amnon his brother but then he never confronted or assaulted him. The best way he painted a picture of that hatred was just to keep quiet. By just keeping quiet and not speaking to Amnon, he was indirectly sending some message across to him. But unfortunately, Amnon was not a very good observer and therefore wasn’t able to figure that out. If he had being a very good observer or a master of signs, he would have saved himself from his untimely death.
“And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon neither good nor bad: for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar” (2 Samuel 13:22).
Observing reactions with other vessels.
“Now these [are] the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, [even] as many [of Israel] as had not known all the wars of Canaan . . . And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses”
God in destroying the heathen nations and kingdoms that afflicted his people, deliberately left some out. His prime purpose was to prove Israel by them and also to know whether they would follow him or not.
He wanted to know whether they would be faithful in following him or rebellious in going after the gods of those heathens. He wasn’t tempting them. He was only proving them to know what was in their heart. Like James said, God doesn’t tempt anyone. He was only trying out his lovely vessels to know whether they would obey his commandment or disobey.
He did that by leaving in their midst, some of these pagan kingdoms and nations. By that way, he was able to prove them.
If He had destroyed those kingdoms entirely and had left Israel alone in the earth, it wouldn’t have been very convincing if they had proven themselves faithful or obedient. He needed other men around them to prove them (Israel) by them. He only wanted to see how they would correspond with them. He wanted to know whether they would be influenced by them to go after their gods or would be disciplined enough to stay with him for good. He knew they will definitely have an impact on them.
Other external vessels have a role to play in studying vessels. They make it easier for you to know the one you are seeking to study.
Just think of how impossible it will be to identify a gossip if he is to exist alone in the world with no one to gossip to. That would have been impossible.
We didn’t for example know who Adam was when he existed alone in the garden. It was only by his association with Eve that we got to know who he was. His reaction with Eve showed us a different side of him as an easily influenced man.
So in seeking to know vessels, there is a need to observe how they correspond, or react with other vessels. It gives a clear clue of who they are. If they slander other folks to you, they will slander you as well to them. Watch how they treat others and you will be able to prophesy how they will treat you too.
Like Jesus said to his disciples, “. . . If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also” (John 15:20)
Inquiring about them.
Another unique way of knowing vessels is by inquiring about them. This particular method is not for testing or proving vessels. It is rather employed to know vessel.
This method of knowing or studying vessels was patronized mostly by the Apostolic Authorities. They employed it to search out vessels that were being considered for leadership position in the church.
Such vessels were inquired of from others folks including outsiders. They inquired of them concerning their performing litmus test on vessels domestic and private life. After doing that, they compared it to their own version of who the person was and then came out with a report.
When Demetrius for example was being inquired of by the apostles, the final report the Apostle John gave was “Demetrius hath good report of all [men], and of the truth itself: yea, and we [also] bear record; and ye know that our record is true” (3 John 1:12). The Good News Translation of the Bible says: “Everyone speaks well of Demetrius; truth itself speaks well of him. And we add our testimony, and you know that what we say is true.”
Notice that after people had testified well of Demetrius, the Apostolic Authorities didn’t just run with that. They also added their testimony to it before finally coming up with a report. That was how it was being done. They didn’t just move with what the people said neither did they also move with their own testimony. They looked at the two, compared them and then came up with a report. They loved to inquire and to carry out some investigations.
This is the reason why the Apostle Paul was advising the people of Philippi to make their moderations known unto all men (Philippians 4:5). Because he knew a time will come where some of them would be inquired of by men wanting to access their service. It was a method the Apostolic Authorities employed in searching out vessels.
This is exactly what was done to Titus. So Paul cautioned the Corinthian Church of what to say when Titus and some other brethren were inquired of from them. Paul told them saying, “Whether [any do enquire] of Titus, [he is] my partner and fellowhelper concerning you: or our brethren [be enquired of, they are] the messengers of the churches, [and] the glory of Christ” - (2 Corinthians 8:23)
This is how the New Living Translation of the Bible presents it “If anyone asks about Titus, say that he is my partner who works with me to help you. And the brothers with him have been sent by the churches, and they bring honor to Christ” (NLT).
Inquiring or investigating about someone is just like spying into his secret life. It will open up things you don’t know about the person. But it is capable of breeding offenses when it is done outside wisdom. If you are also not very careful, you might end up judging someone with his past, which ought not to be so.
However, if it is done cautiously and strategically, it will bless you with some vital information.
The Israelites employed this method in searching out the promised land. By it, they got to know that the land was not only flowing with milk and honey as they knew, but it also swallowed up its inhabitants.
“And they told him, and said, We came
unto the land whither thou sentest us,
and surely it floweth with milk and
honey; and this [is] the fruit of it.
Nevertheless the people [be] strong that
dwell in the land, and the cities [are]
walled, [and] very great: and moreover
we saw the children of Anak there . . .
And they brought up an evil report of the
land which they had searched unto the
children of Israel, saying, The land,
through which we have gone to search it,
[is] a land that eateth up the inhabitants
thereof; and all the people that we saw
in it [are] men of a great stature.”
(Numbers 13:27, 28, 32 )
You see, even before the Israelite went ahead to possess their promised land, they searched it out first. Are you searching out yours?
The test of time
Time is very necessary when it comes to studying or knowing a vessel. As time passes by, we get more knowledge and understanding of who people are. Time unveils and betrays character. So in studying vessels, it necessitates that we become patient with time.
Time by itself is a test to vessels. It will tell whether a person is honest, faithful, proud, obedient or to be trusted. As we live with people for a very long time, we get to know them the more.
That is why Jesus was surprised when Philip asked him to show them the father. Because left to him alone, the time they had been together was enough for the disciples to have known Him by then.
“Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the
Father, and itsufficeth us. Jesus saith
unto him, HAVE I BEEN SO LONG TIME
WITH YOU, AND YET HAST THOU NOT
KNOWN ME , Philip? he that hath seen
me hath seen the Father; and how sayest
thou [then], Shew us the Father? ”
(John 14:8-9)
He said to Philip, “Have I been so long a time with you, and yet thou hast not known me, Philip?” Jesus was very surprised at the question Philip asked. Because they’ve been together for a very long time approximately three and half years and that should have been enough for Philip and the other disciples to have known him by then.
Time is the most unique and accurate way of testing or knowing vessels. Jesus knew that. That’s why he told the disciples saying, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet thou hast not known me . . . ”
When time speaks of a person, it speaks of him or her audibly. When it also presents the image of a person, it does it in a larger portrait. So for us to miss the result or the account time gives of a person, then it means there is something wrong somewhere. That is why Jesus was quite upset with Philip when he asked him to show them the father. Jesus was like, “Philip, if time has not make me known unto you, what else will.”
Time is a chronic gossiper. When there is also no one to gossip a person to you, time will.
I know my mother and my sister very well. I mean very well and they also know me accurately well. I know what they like and what they don’t like. I know what gets them provoke. I know the kind of conversation they like to entertain and so on. How did I know this? Very Simple. Time. I have been with them for a very long time, in fact throughout all my life. Time has painted them to me and me also to them. performing litmus test on vessels You see, so to know a vessel, it necessitates that we allow the time factor to have its way. By that we can save ourselves from certain troubles and woes.
Isaac wanted to bless his first son Esau. But then he made a mistake in giving his blessing to Jacob. How did that happen? He despised the importance of time. When Jacob came in first to claim the blessing, there was a whole lot of doubt that was going on there in his (Isaac) mind. Because he knew Esau had just departed from His presence. This can’t be Esau. That was what he thought in his mind.
So the question he asked was, “Who art thou my son?” When the person responded by saying I am Esau thy first born even though that was Jacob, he doubted. Because Esau just went out from his presence to get him some meat and it was very unlikely he will return that quickly. So the question he asked again was, “. . . How [is it] that thou hast found [it] so quickly, my son?” (Genesis 27:20). This question again shows that he doubted. Another statement he made which showed that he was doubting who the person really was, was when he said, “. . . Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou [be] my very son Esau or not.”
This appeal he made clearly showed that he was uncertain as to who the person really was. But after performing his own litmus test via his senses, He ended up giving a blessing to a wrong vessel. He performed the litmus test himself without considering time. Had he been patient with time, he would have known who Esau was and who Jacob was.
Because immediately Jacob left, Esau came. And since himself was unsure as to who the first person that came was, the best test he could have used to sample between the two was time. Time would have performed the test for him.
If the Israelites for example had also been patient with time, they wouldn’t have hastened themselves in making a covenant with the Gibeonites, a nation they had to destroy. Because with time, they would have known that, these people were actually living in their midst other than pretending to have come from a very far journey.
Time gives an accurate result of people. As time passes by, we get more understanding of people and things around us.
“With the ancient *is+ wisdom; and in length of days understanding.” (Job 12:12)