One thing that is said about empty vessels is that they make the loudest noise. But there are one or two things that are good about an empty vessel. The man of God shared with us a vision that he had in which he saw a congregation of God’s people, dancing, celebrating jubilating and praising God; yet they were in form of bottles, containers in a fridge, and they were dancing and praising God. You may wonder what empty bottles are doing in the fridge, what are they being preserved for? Those are some of the questions we would be looking at.

The bottles represent vessels, and vessels are things that can contain things like liquids. The Bible speaks extensively about vessels; and one of such is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:4, where it says, “Let every man learn to keep his own vessel in sanctification and honour,” God also likened all of us to vessels. In 2 Timothy 2:20,21; the Bible makes us understand that there are different vessels in the house of God, some unto honour, some unto dishonour; some of earth, some of wood, some of gold and some of silver. So this make true of the vision of empty bottles that were dancing and praising God; that it refers to God’s children. How come they were empty?

In the first case you have to understand at salvation, you were not empty; you received something. In John 20:22, the Bible says that after Jesus resurrected and they had doubted whether He rose or not, He suddenly appeared to them while they were behind closed doors, and after talking with them, He breathed upon them and said, “receive ye the Holy Ghost.” This shows that they received something, because they then believed that He resurrected. If you do not believe that Jesus has resurrected, you are not born again. At salvation you receive something.

In Deuteronomy 15:12-18, the Bible states there that when you free a slave, maybe during the jubilee, you must not just send that slave out empty. This was what happened at salvation. We were slaves to sin with no hope of ever being delivered. The tyrannical ruler over us was sin, but Jesus came on the scene not only to forgive us, but He also broke the power of sin over us. Actually, Jesus came to break the power of sin, not to forgive sins per say; but because we had arrears by the reason of the sins we committed when sin still had power over us, He needed to clear that first so that as He has broken the power of sin over us, we can live positively from then onwards. If He only forgave us, we would be in trouble. But He did not just forgive us; He also gave us the power not to sin again.

What I am trying to prove is that you were not without something at salvation. Now what happened to what you had? How come these bottles are preserved in the fridge even when they are empty?  He is preserving the bottles because of the latter end, because He can see that those bottles will be filled. If those bottles are discarded now, there will not be anything to contain what He is going to pour out. He said that at the end of time, He would pour His Spirit upon all flesh, but as for His children, He will pour His spirit into them because they are vessels, containers. So they have to be preserved until they are filled to do what He wants them to do because without being filled, they are useless. In fact, one of the meanings of empty is useless. And I present this opportunity to you today that God believes in you in spite of your seeming uselessness; you will yet be useful to Him, but that is not without being filled with Him.

What can make empty bottles so happy that they are dancing and jubilating in God’s presence? Peradventure some don’t even know that they are empty. In fact if a call was made for those that are full to come out, they would appear, in all sincerity. As we look at those things that make people to be empty, you will then know whether you are empty or not. It is important for us to check ourselves whether we are still in the faith as the Bible says (2 Corinthians 13:5). Remember, if we judge ourselves, we shall not be judged (1 Corinthians 11:31); so let’s judge ourselves now before the Great Judge Himself will come.

The preservation of the empty vessels does not work without a point of compliance that cannot be escaped. That is the point at which it makes itself ready for something to be poured into it. There could be two things out of others that could be advantageous for being empty. Every bottle that is empty is not necessarily empty for evil. There are certain of those bottles that are empty and they have a reason to rejoice that they are empty.

The Bible speaks about us purging ourselves from the old leaven of malice, envy, etc (1 Cor. 5:7). If you are not purged of those things, you cannot be filled because God cannot fill a filled vessel. So if you have been filled of wrath, murder, hypocrisy, lying and you are purged, you will definitely be empty. That is when you are ready to receive what has to be poured into you.

In Leviticus 14:34-57, in a home where there is leprosy, the leprosy must be cleansed or else it will be counted against everyone in that house and the priest of God won’t be able to come in until the house is emptied. In that case, emptiness becomes a good thing for a new start, the beginning of another era. So until you are empty, Christ cannot really come in and dwell. This is one of the things that are not bad about emptiness. In this situation, the emptiness is preparing you for a filling.

The Meanings of empty:

1. Useless
2. Having nothing inside
3. Complete absence of content, i.e. there nothing that is contained in that vessel
4. Destitute of effect or force i.e. cannot do anything. So if you are empty, your presence or absence does not make any difference; you are just there to increase the number by one.
5. Lacking reality or substance i.e. fake, counterfeit. You might be looking at the substance as big and mighty, but it has no weight, anything can carry them.

There are saints who are devoid of force; they have no impact, no effect. All they think about is themselves – no one feels them; nothing to show for what they appear to be. Could you be such? You need to check yourself.

When we talk about empty vessels, what could make someone who received something at salvation to now become empty?

Preparing To Be Filled

Emptiness is not just that you are not containing something; but that you are not containing what produces fruit unto God. You can be so full; in fact your fullness may be your emptiness before God. We saw that God cannot fill a filled vessel and a filled vessel with anything aside of God cannot be identified as being filled, God sees it as being empty. Many times we are filled with who we are, with which ministry we operate, how much we have and so many other encumbrances of life. There are so many other things that fill us apart from what God wants. And the problem we have is that each time we are praying to be filled, anything we are filled with is contaminated by what is already in there, so there is no effect. Remember, one of the meanings of ‘empty’ that we looked at is useless, vain. The word translated vanity in Ecclesiastes is also translated as emptiness. When you study the book of Ecclesiastes, you see that what he is saying there is that every labour on earth is emptiness. So why are you labouring for emptiness?

We saw also, that to be empty means to lack reality; that is more or less like a fake or counterfeit. We just demonstrate in church, when we get to our offices we don’t make a difference; people in our offices don’t know there is a Christian around. That is a form of emptiness.

Another definition of emptiness is a complete absence of content; there could be a positive aspect of this.

Then, emptiness also means being destitute of effect or force.

There was another vision where a fully dressed athlete was seemingly ready to run a race. But at the end of the day when the whistle was blown, he could not move from the same spot. That shows lack of effect and force. This means that the athlete who appeared so ready, prepared and equipped did not have what it takes to run. He has all the externalities, but nothing on the inside of him. It takes more than clothes to run.

When you see a bottle in the fridge, you will quickly assume that it is filled. So also when you see somebody completely dressed up for sport, you will think he has all it takes to competesports. That means God is telling us that we are not as filled as is expected of us at this end of time.

If you leave your office today, will there be a gap that will be difficult to fill? Not in terms of just your hard work, but in terms of spiritual impact, in terms of the environment you leave behind and the atmosphere. Are you really that effective in your neighbourhood? Those are the issues that are more important than speaking in tongues and disturbing the whole neighbourhood.

We read from Psalm 80, Isaiah 5 and Hosea 10. We read about how god laboured to plant a vineyard which was given the most extensive kind of treatment to make it grow well. And it really grew well, extended its canopy from sea to sea; but suddenly we heard the God tore the edges. When God was asked why He destroyed the edges, He said the He made it strong for Himself but when the vine grew, it grew and became strong for itself. The endowments God has given you, the graces upon your life, the abilities that heaven has bestowed upon you, your talents; how are you using them? Just for your self aggrandizement, or partly for God and partly for yourself, or is it all about God? God is calling us unto a life of absolute surrender, which we cannot do, being empty. God is looking for people to do things for Him, but we are useless as long as we are empty. He is looking for people that will make an impact, but we can’t make it until we are filled. And we are not filled yet with the Spirit of God, because we are full of other things.

We saw that in Hosea 10, it was clearly stated in verse 1 that the vine was producing fruits unto itself. The problem was not that the vine did not produce fruits, yet God said it was empty. He said “Israel is an empty vine, it bringeth forth unto itself.” It was empty because of its uselessness to God. Then God removed all its hedges then Satan, Assyrians, Medo-Persians and different people began to deal with them, because they had forsaken the Fountain of Living Waters and were looking for water from broken cisterns. How many of us are fallen into this lot? This is a time God is calling for repentance unto restoration, for there cannot be restoration without genuine repentance. Are you bringing forth fruits unto God? Remember that the vine that was planted brought forth wild grapes even though wild grape was not what was planted. It became wild while carrying out its own agenda and not that of its planter.

Note again that God cannot fill a filled vessel, therefore there’s a need for you to empty yourself of all those things that have taken the place of the things that God wants to be on the inside of you. In nature, there is no room for vacuum, it’s either one thing or the other is occupying a space. That was why Jesus said in Matthew 12 that if a demon is cast out of a person, the demon goes away for a temporary time. It will come back to check whether the person is occupied or not. If he is not occupied, it will go and call seven more deadly demons to come and occupy that body with it. Since nature does not permit vacuum, that means you are either filled with this or with that. So when a person is said to be empty, it is not physical emptiness; the person is empty to the extent that of who is describing him as being empty – God. Thus he is useless to God, he has no effect as touching the things of God; he has no force; though he has an appearance as if he has it. They Bible say some have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. In other words, they are hypocrites; there is nothing to back what they are professing. That is a vessel that is empty.

But how then do we get filled?

1. Purging: the first step in getting filled is to purge yourself. On Monday morning. God showed me a vision. I saw myself in a very severe condition, defecating and defecating, I couldn’t even wait to get to a very good toilet, I just must defecate. And when I came out of it He said, “That is the church, that is what I want for My Body.” The afternoon of the same day, God spoke to me and said, “Tell them and teach them how to cease from their labours, and not to labour to be rich.”

So that means that the reason we are empty is because we are full. Can you pour water into a bottle that is full of oil? You can try but you would be pouring it out. So the first thing we need is to purge ourselves. Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.  1 Cor. 5:7-8

We are supposed to be unleavened, but we have been leavened by the different things we have gone through in life, things that we have allowed, indulgences and the rest of them; these are things that we need to be purged of. Until then, even if we are praying to be filled or something was to be poured into us, it would have no effect.

Now those things which are the leaven in us are identified as malice and wickedness. It is wickedness for a person to know your faults or weakness and use it against you. The Amplified Version of 1 Corinthians 5:7 says: Purge, clean out the old leaven, that you may be fresh, new tone, still uncontaminated as you are. That means those things actually have the power of contaminating you. So even if you were asking to be filled and they are inside of you, whatever you are filled with will be contaminated. That is why you don’t need to talk about being filled until you are purged. “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of vice and malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of purity, nobility, honour and sincerity, and unadulterated truth.  1 Cor. 5:8 AMPC

If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”  2 Timothy 2:21-22.

The more relevance of the meanings of emptiness that we looked at is the aspect of uselessness. God cannot use us if we are empty, but why He is keeping us is because He believes that we will get to where He is taking us – the point of being filled so that we can be useful. We are still “works in progress.” This Scripture says that if a man will purge himself of these things, that is when he will become a sanctified vessel meet for the Master’s use. That means that before then he is not meet for the Master’s use, yet is a vessel in the house of God. God is saying that is our category – we are vessels that are not useable, but not useless.

It is after you have been purged and sanctified that you can be meet for the Master’s use. That means that you are useless until you are filled, because is God that will work through you, not you working through yourself. But many times we get frustrated because we think we can do it by our own strength. I see what people go through to be good Christians and I cry, because it doesn’t take that much. Just be filled and live, that’s all! Christianity is not supposed to be frustrating by any means. God is bold enough to tell us that there would be troubles, but He is so confident that what He has given us is more than able to subdue whatever we face.

If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.  Whenever I see an all-inclusive word in the Bible, it puts me in fear – all, every, none, nothing. Please check your Scriptures very well and wherever you see such words, pay serious attention; because that means that anything that seems to work outside of that thing is nothing. Or if there is anything that you will include apart from what He has said, it is useless. He said you shall be made fit for every good work. That means when God needs an apostle and you are the one on ground He will give you the apostolic anointing to do the work for that time, yet that does not make you an apostle. The peak of the Christian walk is not attaining the level of working in the five-fold ministry. God is raising many Jesuses. Jesus did not operate by gifts, He operated by love. That was why anytime He met a sick person, love ministered to that person, but you will say it is the gift of healing. He was operating by what was higher than gifts – love. When we get to that level, there is no apostle, no prophet, no pastor, no evangelist or teacher again, whatever comes your way you will do it, because you have been made fit for every good work. If you make yourself fit for the Master’s use, when God needs a teacher, you will teach and by the time you hear the tape of what you said, you will fall down flat before God and ask “Lord, who said this?” and yet you are not a teacher.

Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22). There’s is a need for us to purge ourselves, so that God will not waste His investments pouring His pure water into our dirty vessels, thereby rendering His pure water dirty.

Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby 1 Pet. 2:1-2

From this Scripture, do you notice that laying those things aside comes desiring the milk? That means even as a babe who was born again just yesterday, you have what it takes to purge yourself of envies, evil speakings, hypocrisies, rancour, and the rest of them. And as long as that is not purged, there is no need to desire the sincere milk – don’t worry about Bible Study or Prayer Meetings. God is looking for real people, who have substance to use.

The Amplified Version puts it as: So be done with every trace of wickedness, depravity, malignity, and all deceit, insincerity, that is pretence and hypocrisy, grudges, envy, jealousy and slander and evil speaking of every kind. Like new born babes, you should crave, thirst for, earnestly desire the pure unadulterated spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and grow onto completed salvation. You hear a sister asking another, “Sister, how are the children?” yet she is envious of that same sister. So how do we expect God to fill that sister even though she cries to Him “Fill my cup, Lord?” He will not fill it because her vessel is full, of envy, malignity, murder, hatred and wickedness.

The Bible says, “as babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby.” But you can’t grow no matter how much you are taught because you are accumulating knowledge on top of malice, hatred, hypocrisies and envies. That is the secret of ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of truth.That means your salvation is yet to be complete when those things are still in place.

We cannot continue to pretend, the Almighty Creator is coming and He is not going to judge by my assessment, your assessment, by how people rate you as a Christian, He will rate you with His standards, which He set even before you were born. So what good will it do you if after all, He comes and you are not found fit? That is why you’ve got to purge, we need to purge. You can now see why God looks so wicked when you fast and pray asking Him to fill you and you can’t see any difference in your life. It is so because even if you were filled, there will not be any effect due to what is on ground in your life.