Your Body is a Bucket

by Frederick Hoehn, copyright 2014, all rights reserved.

Chapter 1

"But the Lord said to him, Go your way, for he is a chosen vessel to me, to take my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel..." (Acts 9:15)

Paul was a chosen vessel.

"What if God, willing to show his anger, and to make his power known, endured with much patience the vessels of anger fitted to destruction,  And that he would make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared for glory, (Rom 9:22,23)

The vessels of anger are the servants of the devil.  The vessels of mercy are God's people.

A vessel is a container.

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the excellency of the power would be of God, and not of us. (2 Cor 4:7)

An earthen vessel is a vessel made of earth, or dirt.  When God made Adam, He made him out of dirt.  A potter's vessel is a pot that the potter made from a special kind of dirt called clay.

"So that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor..." (1 Thess 4:4)

What is "his vessel" in the above passage?

His vessel is his or her body.

God said, "For you are dust, and to dust you shall return." (Gen 3:19)

We're made of dust, or dirt, or earth.  The chemicals in your body are the same chemicals found in the crust of the earth.

Your body is a container.  Your body is a bucket.

What is contained in your bucket?

Two of the things in your bucket are your spirit and soul.  Men and women are spirit, soul, and body.

Jesus said, "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" (Matt 16:26)

You lose your soul if you wind up in hell.

You avoid losing your soul if you become and remain a born-again Christian (John chapt 3).  That gets you to heaven instead of hell.

I know a man who was a Christian, and then he quit.  I expect he'll go to hell.  I wrote about that man in my book, "Can Christians Lose Their Salvation?".

At the moment Jesus died, he yielded up the spirit. (Matt 27:50)  When you die, your spirit leaves your body (your bucket).

Your spirit then goes to one of two places:  to heaven, if you were a born-again Christian, or to hell, if you weren't.  In hell, there's crying and gnashing of teeth, where their worms don't die, and the fire is not quenched, says Jesus.

Beside your soul and spirit, what else is in your bucket?  If you're a Christian, you have some of the Spirit of God.

But your bucket can also contain some evil spirits, or demons, or devils.

And I believe that most people have some evil spirits (demons).

There is a man in the Bible, the Gadarene demoniac.  Jesus cast demons out of the man. (Mark chapt 5)  Jesus asked, "What is your name?"

One of the demons answered, "My name is Legion: for we are many."

Bible scholars say that a legion could be upward of two thousand demons.  That's a lot of demons for one bucket.

People who are into sex perversion are accumulating demons.  Serial killers have lots of demons.  Worshipers of Satan are in the same boat.

If you look at the end of the book (the Bible), you'll see that God wins, and Satan loses.  So why would anyone intentionally choose to put himself on the side of Satan?

Is it because they've found new friends as a Satan worshiper?

I heard a man say, "Well, if I'm going to hell, I'll have a lot of friends there."  But the point he was missing is that once you and your friends get to hell, they won't be your friends anymore.

They'll be blaming you, and you'll be blaming them for your going to hell.  There is no friendship in hell, just torment, forever.  You'll participate in the second death.

Death and hell will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone.  This is the second death. (Rev 19:20, Rev 20:14)

The Power Bible shows that Strong's Greek Dictionary says that brimstone is sulphur.

In college chemistry lab, we did an experiment that involved the heating of sulphur.  When sulphur gets hot, it smells terrible, and I understand that if you get any hot sulphur on you, it yields a nasty burn.

So, there's nothing attractive about the lake of fire and brimstone.

If you read the wrong kind of books, you can let demons in.  If you hang out with the wrong people, you can let demons in.

Don't mess around with the occult, nor with Ouija boards, nor with seances, nor with divining rods, nor with pornography, nor with seers that are not God-fearing Christians serving the Lord.

There are legitimate prophets, like Kenneth E. Hagin was, but there are also counterfeits.

I believe hypnotism is not of God.  God doesn't want us submitting our will to someone else, except that in marriage, husband and wife should try to cooperate.  And children should obey their parents. (Eph 6:1)

A Christian friend of mine told me about a church in Los Angeles that she had been going to.  So I went with her one time.

The Pastor announced "the end of death."  What?   Oh yeah, no more dying.  That was decades ago, and many thousands have died since then.

That Pastor gave out a false revelation.  The Lord never said that to him.  I never went back to that so-called church.

The Bible says, "Go from the presence of a foolish man when you perceive that he doesn't have the lips of knowledge." (Prov 14:7)

When I was a young Christian, I was not aware of the fact that a Christian could have one or more demons in him.

But Pastor Win Worley cured me of that.

I was living in Houston, TX.  A lady that I had met at a home prayer meeting told me Win Worley was in town, and would be holding a three-day seminar at that church on Satsuma.

She said, "You should go hear him, Fred, he's good."

But there was a scheduling conflict.  I was working the late shift at the time.  So, I missed the first two days of the three-day seminar.  The third day, I made arrangements with my boss to get to work a little late that night, so I could hear Win Worley.

The Bible says, "Every prudent man deals with knowledge." (Prov 13:16)

The Bible says,

5 "Get wisdom, get understanding, don't forget it, and don't decline from the words of my mouth.

6 Don't forsake her, and she'll preserve you; love her, and she'll keep you.

7 Wisdom is the main thing, therefore get wisdom, and with all your getting get understanding.

8 Exalt her, and she'll promote you, she'll bring you to honor when you embrace her.

9 She'll put an ornament of grace on your head, she'll deliver to you a crown of glory." (Prov chapt 4)

I was told Worley was good, and I wanted the knowledge that he might impart to me.

Worley said, "At our church in Highland, Indiana, we cast out a lot of demons.  And most of the people that we cast demons out of are Christians."

I said to myself, "What?  I never heard that before."

But Worley was right, Christians can have demons in them.

What is an evil spirit, or demon?  A demon is a fallen angel.  When Satan rebelled against God, and wanted to be worshiped, some of the angels followed Satan, and became the demons that they now are.  Probably, one third of the angels followed Satan. (Rev 12:4)

But demons are spirit beings, and don't have flesh and blood bodies, so we don't normally see them with our natural eyes.

When we talk about "The Devil," that means Satan.  But when we speak of devils, that means evil spirits (demons).  Satan is the head of the demons, or devils.

When demons are in people, they're not there to do you any good.  They're there "to steal, to kill, and to destroy," as in John 10:10.

Lester Sumrall, in his book, "Demons, the Answer Book," lists about seven levels of demon activity, all the way up to possession.  The website is  www.lesea.com

But how do demons get into people?  They get in through sin.  If you commit the sin of blasphemy, you open the door to demons.  "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." (Exo 20:7)

Jesus said, "He that looks at a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matt 5:28)

That sin also opens the door to demons, or any sin that people commit.

Chapter 2

The tongue is the hardest thing to control.  If you can control your tongue, you can control your whole body. (James 3:2)

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of sin, so is the tongue among our members that it makes dirty the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.

7 For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of snakes, and of things in the sea, gets tamed, and has been tamed by mankind,

8 But no man can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With it we bless God, the Father, and with it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God. (James chapter 3)

Most people have at one time or another sinned with their tongues, by speaking words they should not have spoken.

So, ask God to help you control your tongue, and ask the Lord to forgive your sins.

Unfortunately, just getting your sins forgiven, doesn't make demons go out.  Demons must be cast out by a Christian.

But if you've sinned, and let demons in, the good news is that Christians have the authority to cast out demons. (Luke 10:19, Mark 16:17,18)

If you're a Christian, ask the Lord for the Baptism with the Holy Ghost, with the speaking in unknown tongues.  This will help you control your tongue, and will help you with casting out demons.

When you pray, believe that you receive the things you ask for, and you shall have them. (Mark 11:24)

Please see my book, "What the Bible Teaches About Grumbling, Divine Healing, Prayer, Baptism with Holy Ghost."

"See, I give you authority to walk on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." (Luke 10:19)

Our main enemy is the devil and his demons, and in Luke 10:19, Jesus gave us authority over these enemies.  You exercise that authority with your words.

You command the demons to cease in their operations and desist in their maneuvers, and you command them to go out of the person that they're in.

"These signs shall follow those who believe:  In my name they shall cast out demons..." (Mark 16:17)

Please see my book, "What the Bible Teaches about Binding and Loosing, Speaking into Existence, Confessing Scriptural Promises, Casting out Demons."

But essentially, you cast out demons by commanding them to go, if you are first a Christian.  Unbelievers don't have authority over demons, and the demons know that. (Acts 19:13-16)

I was talking with a younger man, a neighbor of mine.  He had been in prison, and was out on probation.  He said that when he starts drinking alcohol, he can't stop.  He believed it was the alcohol that caused him to do the thing that sent him to prison.

I told him I believed it was a demon problem, that he had a demon of alcoholism that needed to be cast out.

He said he would pray about it.

The conversation was rather brief, and I couldn't say all that I would have said.  Not long after, I moved, and went to a different city.

The thing about getting demons out, is you don't pray them out, you cast them out, if you're a Christian.

The Lord told Kenneth E. Hagin, "People who are praying for me to do something about the devil are wasting their time.  I gave you (the Christians) authority over demons, and if you don't use it, the job won't get done."

But Jesus said, some kinds of demons don't go out except by prayer and fasting.  Fasting is, you stop eating for a period of time.

Lester Sumrall, as a Missionary to the Philippines was listening to the news on the radio one evening.  They told about a woman that was giving them trouble at a prison in Manila.

After the news, Sumrall turned the radio off.  The Lord told Sumrall He wanted him to go to Manila and cast out the demons from that woman.

Sumrall fasted for twenty four hours, and no doubt did some extra praying.  He went to Manila and cast the demons out of that woman.  It was a national news story in the Philippines at the time.  They said, "The Devil is dead."

Their theology was incorrect.  The devil wasn't dead, but the demons had been cast out of that woman.

Howard Pittman has revealed that demons are specialists, not general practitioners.  That is, the demon that tempts someone to rob a bank is not the same demon that tempts people to commit adultery.

How to become a Christian:  You hear the gospel message, and you believe it, and you act on it.

The gospel message is this:  "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Rom 3:23)  "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord." (Rom 6:23)

"That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you're saved.  For with the heart man believes for righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made for salvation." (Rom 10:9,10)

You believe in your heart, and you confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord.  It's easy.

Pray a simple prayer like this, "Lord Jesus, I accept you as my Lord and Savior (Messiah).  I believe God raised you from the dead, like the Bible says. (Luke chapt 24)   Thank you that I'm now born again, and one of yours, and on my way to heaven."

Jesus won't turn you down, for it is written, "Him that comes to me I will no way throw out." (John 6:37)

Once you're a Christian, find a Protestant church that baptizes in water, and get baptized in water, in obedience to the Bible. (Mark 16:16)  I was baptized at an Assembly of God church.

___James chapter 1

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes that are dispersed around, greetings.

2 My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations,

3 Knowing this, that the testing of your faith works patience.

4 But let patience have its perfect work, so you'll be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives to all men liberally, and won't find fault, and it shall be given to him.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.

7 For let that man not think that he'll receive anything from the Lord.

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted,

10 But the rich, in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he'll pass away.

11 For the sun has no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and the flower of it falls, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes, so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for after he's been tested, he'll receive the crown of life, that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God can't be tempted with evil, nor does he tempt any man,

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then when lust has conceived, it produces sin, and sin when it's finished, produces death.

16 Do not err, my beloved brothers.

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning.

18 He chose to father us with the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

19 So, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,

20 For the anger of man doesn't accomplish the righteousness of God.

21 So, lay apart all filthiness and the unnecessary naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man seeing his natural face in a mirror,

24 For he sees himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

26 If any man among you seems to be religious, and doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is for nothing.

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

___James chapter 2

1 My brothers, don't have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

2 For if a man with a gold ring comes to your assembly in fancy clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes comes in also,

3 And you have respect to him that wears the fancy clothes, and say to him, "Sit here in a good place," and say to the poor, "Stand there, or sit here under my footstool,"

4 Aren't you then partial in yourselves, and have become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my beloved brothers, hasn't God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

6 But you have despised the poor.  Don't rich men oppress you, and bring you before the judgment seats?

7 Don't they blaspheme that worthy name by which you're called?

8 If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor like yourself," you do well,

9 But if you have respect of persons, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as sinners.

10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

11 For he that said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not kill."  Now if you don't commit adultery, yet if you kill, you've become a breaker of the law.

12 Speak in such a way, and do, as those who'll be judged by the law of liberty.

13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has shown no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment.

14 What does it profit, my brothers, though a man says he has faith, and doesn't have works?  Can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister needs clothes, and lacks daily food,

16 And one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you don't give them the things that are needed for the body, what good is that?

17 Even so faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead, being alone.

18 Yes, a man could say, "You have faith, and I have works, show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works."

19 You believe that there is one God, you do well, the devils also believe, and tremble.

20 But don't you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

21 Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son on the altar?

22 Do you see how faith worked with his deeds, and by works faith was made perfect?

23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God."

24 You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

25 Likewise also wasn't Rahab the prostitute justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

26 For like the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

___James chapter 3

1 My brothers, don't be many masters, knowing that we'll receive the greater condemnation.

2 For in many things we offend all.  If any man doesn't offend in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

3 See, we put bits in the horses' mouths, so they'll obey us, and we turn around their whole bodies.

4 Look also at the ships, which though they're so large, and are driven by fierce winds, yet they're turned around by a very small helm, wherever the captain wants.

5 Even so, the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things.  See how great a matter a little fire kindles!

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of sin, so is the tongue among our members that it makes dirty the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.

7 For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of snakes, and of things in the sea, gets tamed, and has been tamed by mankind,

8 But no man can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With it we bless God, the Father, and with it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God.

10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brothers, these things ought not to be.

11 Does a fountain send out at the same place sweet water and bitter?

12 Can the fig tree, my brothers, produce olive berries?  Or a vine, figs?  So no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh.

13 Who is a wise man, possessing knowledge among you?  Let him show out of a good lifestyle his works with meekness of wisdom.

14 But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, don't glory, and don't lie against the truth.

15 This wisdom doesn't descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be reasoned with, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

18 And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace by those who make peace.

___James chapter 4

1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from?  Don't they come from your lusts that war in your members?

2 You lust, and don't have, you kill, and desire to have, and can't obtain, you fight and war, yet you don't have, because you don't ask.

3 You ask, and don't receive, because you ask wrongly, so you can consume it on your lusts.

4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?  Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God.

5 Do you think that the scripture says for nothing, "The spirit that lives in us lusts to envy?"

6 But he gives more grace.  So he says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he'll run away from you.

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.

9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and cry, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he'll lift you up.

11 Don't speak evil about each other, brothers.  He that speaks evil about his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil about the law, and judges the law, but if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy, who are you that judges someone else?

13 Go on now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we'll go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and make a profit,"

14 Actually, you don't know what will happen tomorrow.  For what is your life?  It is a puff of steam, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.

15 For you ought to say, "Lord willing, we'll live, and do this, or that."

16 But now you rejoice in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil.

17 Therefore to him that knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin.

___James chapter 5

1 Go on now, you rich men, cry and howl for your miseries that shall come on you.

2 Your riches are corrupted, and your clothes are moth eaten.

3 Your gold and silver are rusted, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh like fire.  You've heaped treasure together for the last days.

4 See, the wages of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which you've kept back by fraud, shouts, and the shouts of those who've reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath.

5 You've lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton, you've nourished your hearts, like in a day of slaughter.

6 You've condemned and killed the just, and he doesn't resist you.

7 Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.  See, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.

8 You also be patient.  Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is getting near.

9 Don't grudge against each other, brothers, so you won't be condemned, see, the judge stands at the door.

10 Take, my brothers, the prophets, who've spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

11 See, we count them happy that endure.  You've heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

12 But above all things, my brothers, don't swear, not by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath, but let your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you don't fall into condemnation.

13 Is anyone among you afflicted?  Let him pray.  Is anyone merry?  Let him sing psalms.

14 Is anyone sick among you?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,

15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he'll be forgiven.

16 Confess your faults to each other, and pray for each other so you'll be healed.  The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man is does a lot of good.

17 Elijah was a man subject to the same kind of passions that we are, and he prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months.

18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

19 Brothers, if any of you strays from the truth, and someone converts him,

20 Let him know, that he that converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.