Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and
verse 7. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse
7. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of us. to Corinthians 4 and 7. The Apostle
Paul is very desirous when he's writing to the Corinthians to
draw attention away from man and unto God. They were people
that had been going after others, some after Apollos, some after
Peter, Cephas, some after Paul, some after Christ, and all the
time there is the danger that instead of the one that is being
preached and set forth is gone after, the preacher is the one
that has the attention. And this is why he is not just
in the word of our text, but through the rest of the portion
that we read as well, is making these references to draw our
attention from the vessel, from the messenger, to actually the
message, the treasure of it, the value of it, so that that
is seen, that is valued, and that it's not detracted from
the messenger. And so in this way, the first
application of this word of those in the ministry, in speaking
of the treasure that they are preaching, the Gospel, the preaching
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and then saying that we have this
treasure in an urban vessel, we are but men, and frail men,
men of the earth, men in whom there is no beauty in themselves
at all, nothing really to attract, and yet it is a treasure. And
so on one hand, he's directing them from making too much of
the preacher. On the other hand, if they look
on the preacher, which again the Corinthians were likely to
do and say his speech is contemptible, he's not like these other ministers
that are more eloquent and they preach more forcefully, then
he says, well, yes, but my vessel is. like an earthen vessel, you're
not to measure the blessedness, the value of the message by the
messenger. And so the emphasis is on the
treasure. And really a very simple illustration,
isn't it? That we might have a container,
an earthen container, a pot, a fired pot, and outwardly, it's
not even glazed, it's not picturesque or anything like that, but in
it we might put something of great, great value, and the contrast
between what is holding it and what is in it is absolutely immense,
and you wouldn't detract from it. If you put gold in this vessel,
if you put diamonds, if you put things of great value in it,
someone that really knew the value of what was in it, wouldn't
think any less of it because of seeing what it was in. And they certainly wouldn't go
after the pot and say, oh what a wonderful pot this is, if they
really realised what was inside of it. Some of the most powerful
teachings in the world are centred around very simple illustrations,
and really this is one of them. with an earthen vessel. The Apostle
speaks in another place of being sanctified and meat for the Master's
use. Well, if we wanted a vessel,
say, to put something in, we might think, oh, I know, maybe
it is, you want to carry water in it. And you think, I've got
such a thing, it's out in the garden, I'll go and get it. And
you get it and you think, oh, I forgot I left it there, it's
all dirty inside. You think, that may be a good
vessel, it may hold water, it may be the right volume, but
it's not sanctified, it's not set apart, it's all unclean and
certainly unfit for bringing beautiful drinking water. It
needs to be dealt with first, washed, cleaned. out and then
it can be used. And so this illustration is used
again for those in the ministry, those that are bearing the Word
of God sanctified and meet already for the Master's use. A bearer of tidings, a vessel,
a messenger, one that is conveying from one place to another something,
or in this case conveying the word of the Lord to the people
of the Lord, and it is to come unsullied by the vessel, not
marred by it or marred by things that have been in it before,
but to be pure from the Lord. But as much as this may apply
to those in ministry, and it's one of the words that was a blessing
to me when I was exercised on the ministry. I can remember
a spot over in Australia. I used to go on the Saturday
and back to my hometown, which we were brought up ten miles
from where I was then living, and sit and watch the boats go
out on the seashore and read. And this time I was reading Edward
Carr's In Green Pastures and he was He mentioned this verse
and it was a great help to me because exercise in the ministry
is very mindful, very but an earthen vessel and to find that
the Word of God, it allowed for that, it spoke of that, it fitted
with how I felt I was and it was an encouragement. God does
not send angels. When Cornelius was to send for Peter,
God did not choose that the angel was to bring the message and
preach the message. It had to be Peter. But Peter,
didn't he deny his Lord and Master three times? Wasn't he rebuked
by the Lord? Get thee behind me, Satan, for
thou savest not the things of God, but the things that be of
men. Isn't this Peter? Yes, and he is the one that personally
knows the Gospel. He is partakers of it, and so
then he can preach it. And incidentally, he was the
one that preached at the Pentecost, which was when the Spirit was
given to the Jews, and so then he was the one chosen to when
the Spirit was given to the Gentiles ten years later. The Jews couldn't
say, you Gentiles are inferior to us. The Apostle Paul preached
to you when the Holy Spirit was given, but to us we had the Apostle
Peter. The Lord saw fit He'd take away
that deflection, as it were, by using one man. to be used
in both cases. And the other side of that is
that Peter could recognize the effect of the Holy Spirit, not
by what he had been told happened at Pentecost, but what he saw
happen under his own ministry, and ten years later he saw the
same thing happen. and he knew that this was the
Holy Spirit's Word. The Lord's dear people, the Lord's
servants must be partakers of that which they preach and set
forth and this is bound up with this Word as well. So I want
to not just confine my thoughts, our thoughts this evening to
a minister, but also to the people of God. Because if the minister
is to have the treasure of the Gospel in him, then it is the
desire that his hearers also have that same treasure imparted
to them. And so we don't want to just
look at it in one way. So first I want to look at this
treasure, that we have this treasure, so the treasure first. And then secondly, where it is
placed, and just under two heads, in that point that we have this
treasure, is actually by the Apostle, by the people of God
having that treasure, and then placed in what is described as
an earthen vessel. And then we have in this text
the reason why it is so. God doesn't always give reasons
why he does things, but sometimes he does. And he tells the reason
here, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not
of us. And that is the reason. So that is our third point. But
firstly, the treasure. Our Lord often referred to the
Kingdom of God as a treasure when the ruler came to Him and
what good things shall I do to inherit eternal life and He said
before Him the commandments and He said all these I have kept
from my youth up and He said well go sell all that thou hast,
give to the poor, and come, follow me, and thou shalt have treasure
in heaven. And he sets before him a treasure. That rich man, he valued his
earthly riches more than the treasure that the Lord was setting
forth before him, more even than eternal treasures. And that event
is a warning to us. Here are those who have gone
before us that could hold in their hand and have their earthly
treasures and things on one hand and have the things of the kingdom
on the other and they value the things of earth more than that
which is of heaven and of their souls. Then we have the Lord
speaking the parable where one found the treasure that was hid
in the field and that he went then and sold all that he had
so that he could buy that field so that field would be his and
he would have that treasure. And again it is setting forth
the one that has identified that treasure, knew the value of it,
knew it was worth more than everything else that he'd had, and he ran
apart with everything so that he could have that treasure. And the Lord is using these examples
of the treasure and the treasure that is in the gospel and that
is in heaven. It is very evident from the context
here that it is the gospel, the good news of salvation, which
is meant as the treasure. And implication as well, going
to our last point, When he's speaking of the excellency of
the power, he's speaking of this treasure actually being an active
treasure, a treasure that is being used. The power of God
is conveyed through that treasure. And of course it is the Gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we have in verse 4, in verse
3, If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in
whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which
believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach
not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. And again we have the
same idea, we preach not ourselves, we're not setting forth this
earthen vessel, but we are setting forth Jesus Christ the Lord,
and ourselves your servants, or the way of conveying this
blessing to you, for Jesus' sake. for God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. He refers back to the creation
and we should always notice that in the beginning of the word
it begins with the creation and it begins with God speaking.
God coming to where there is darkness, no form, without void,
darkness over the face of the day. What a picture of a heart
that is benighted by nature. But upon that comes the Spirit
and upon that comes the Word of God. And right through the
creation we have the Word spoken. God spoke and it was done and
it was formed. And that is set before us right
at the beginning of the Word of God. And right through the
Word of God, every blessing, every promise, every revelation
of God, every type, every shadow has come from the Word of the
Lord. The Lord speaking through his
prophets and giving the Word. The Lord gave the Word, it is
in the Gospel day, great was the company of them that published
it. Remember of course that with Philip and the eunuch, Philip
is publishing the Word, he's preaching from the Old Testament,
the same as our Lord did to the two on the way to Emmaus. And you have that example of
that treasure being brought forth. I wonder how much we really value
the Word of God. And of course in the dark ages
when the word was not available, not available in the tongues
of the nation, many nations now do not have it, and or shut up
in Latin and held from the people. and they did not know the Gospel,
they did not know the good news of salvation as declared and
set forth in the Word of God. And our Lord said, Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. And the command to his servants
is to preach the Word, and that man shall not live by bread only,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. And
again referring to the last point concerning power, the apostles
were told to tarry at Jerusalem until they be endued with power
from on high. No use preaching, no use sending
forth a word without that power, but they were to go forth and
that treasure of the word was to be with them. And so it is
to Value the word. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. And it is through the word that
the gospel is made known. Going back to the eunuch. He
is reading Isaiah and he cannot understand it. Whom speaketh
a prophet this of himself or another man? He was not going
to prophet him. He was not going to be brought
to faith. He was not going to be brought
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. unless he understood
those words. And the Spirit sent Philip then
to preach the gospel to him. He began at the same scripture
and preached unto him Jesus. And that treasure then is the
gospel in the Word of God. all the scriptures, that's what
Christ spoke to them on the way to Emmaus, in all the scriptures,
the things concerning Himself. And I've often felt this for
these Gospel days, the days from Christ, the days from the Holy
Spirit, to the end of the world, and in preaching of the Word,
what a great repository of matter, of treasure to preach from, in
all the scriptures, in those 4,000 years from the beginning
of the world to Christ, in which is the Old Testament, and there
is really all the matter for the people of God to preach.
And remember the Apostle Paul and those who were preaching
with him, were preaching from the Old Testament. The Bereans,
more noble than they in Thessalonica, searched the Scriptures daily
whether these things were so. And he's pointing that what Paul
was preaching was from the Scriptures. The treasure he was bringing
out was from the Scriptures. That's where the treasure is.
Now it comes to mind, one of the Lord's dear servants, Mr.
Cornford, and his minister, And I always picture his method of
preaching. He doesn't have points organized
in that way. He gives out his text and you
might think ten minutes later he's said all he had on that
text. But then he starts at the beginning
again, he goes through it again. And I picture a piece of ground,
a meter square, and he's got a rake, and that ground represents
his text. And he rakes over that ground,
and 10 minutes later he's raked over it, and then he gets the
rake, and he rakes over the other side of it. But each time he
goes over that text, you watch for a gem. You watch for some
thought, something from the Word that's precious. that remains
and if you're those that look for an ordered sermon you're
going to be disappointed you won't find anything but when
you can picture in your head like I picture it and I listen
to it then you do get something because you're looking for that
which the Lord will give you and it's coming from the word
it's what is brought up from the word raked up from the word
and that is what we want the Lord to Take of the things of
God. Reveal to us the treasures of
the world. Under thy shoes shall be iron
and brass." One of the blessings, the ashes blessing. And it is
the deep that couches beneath. We can be walking over a piece
of ground and not realize that underneath it there is treasure. Underneath it there's gold or
something like that. You go to the beach and you see
someone with a metal detector going around, and what are they
doing? They're looking for something hidden, something underneath.
And it is the minister's privilege to have this Gospel, this Word,
and to bring up from it the truths, and from it those things that
are precious. Break it. And I'm not saying,
I come up to this all the time, but when I first started my ministry
at Cranbrook, a dear aged saint named Glory, she said to me,
I like your ministry because you break the word up into small
pieces so I can digest it. And I hadn't thought of that,
and I thought, well that's a good aim for a minister, he's able
to break the word up into small pieces so that people can digest
it. They don't have to do the work,
he does the work. And when we think when the Lord did the miracle
of the loaves and the fishes, what did He do? He broke the
bread. And the disciples, they distributed
it to the people. And what a wonderful thing. If
the Lord broke the bread, the Lord gave the text, He gave the
word, great was the company of them that published it, and we
published just a little bit, just this text and this part
of this Gospel. But it is broken up and is given
to the people. What was the commission for Peter?
Feed my sheep and feed my lambs. And what are they being fed with?
They're fed with the good news of the Gospel. And that's what
they're feeding. They're not taken to Mount Sinai,
the contrast given in Hebrews 12. The mountain that might be
touched, that might not be touched, that's smoke, that even Moses
said, I do fear and crave, but unto Mount Zion, they're coming
unto that good news of salvation, a finished work in our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. What the Lord has accomplished,
and when at Calvary, all that He did, that the Scriptures might
be fulfilled, even in the garden, When they had the sword, he said,
put up the sword within its sheath. Thinkest thou not that I may
pray my father, and he would presently give me twelve legion
of angels, but how then should the scriptures be fulfilled? And rather than the scriptures
not be fulfilled, he would go through all that sufferings,
all his death, his subject, under the wrath of God and under the
will of the people, so it appears like the people, well they did
go by wicked hands, crucified and took Him. And there the determinant
for knowledge and counsel of God was brought about. But the Lord would do that so
that the Scriptures be fulfilled in every part. So this treasure,
may we really view it As the treasure of the Word of God,
all the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ. And right
through from the first promise, the seed of the woman that should
bruise the serpent's head, that has been prized by the Church
of God. Have you a promise? If the Lord
has given you a promise from the Word, you will prize that,
you will value it, you will hold on to it, you will plead that,
And it will be precious to you that those promises are all in
the Lord Jesus Christ. If the Lord wasn't promised right
at the beginning, if He was never to come, the world wouldn't have
continued. It couldn't have continued at
all. The very expectation of Christ, the very promise of Christ,
was the reason why the world could continue at all. The world means What we could
do without these religious people prompting our consciences and
it'd be better they weren't on the face of the earth. Once the
Lord's people are all called by grace, the world will end.
The world is only here for the Lord's people, for his chosen. And until the last one is born
into the world and born again, this world cannot finish. It
must continue. But the treasure of the world,
word of God, is for the people of God. It is stored up with
precious promises, with precious truths. I've given them thy word,
the world hath hated them. The truth of God, we think of
Ephesians, the truth is in Jesus. We had in one of the young people
a strength in truth. What is truth? It is reality
as perceived by God, an absolute truth, not perceived by man,
not perceived by any but God Himself. He knows the truth and
the truth is revealed to His people, revealed in the Gospel. And that is why we have in verse
2, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking
in craftiness, nor handing the word of God deceitfully, but
by manifestation of the truth." There is the treasure, the truth
of God, the truth is in Jesus, commending ourselves to every
man's conscience in the sign of God. The treasure comprises all what
is bound up in the Lord Jesus Christ, the payment price, the
redemption of his people, a righteousness that is to be theirs, imputed
to all that believe, eternal life, I give unto them eternal
life, they shall never perish, the words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit, and they are life, those things that are in
the Gospel for the people of God, they are everything that
they need. Man shall not live by bread only,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. May we always view or rightly
view the treasures of the Word of God. Sometimes I There's a
saying that we don't value something until we lose it, until it's
gone. And I fear today, you know, I look on our shelves at home,
we might see ten Bibles lined up, and we've got them electronically,
we have them in the house of God, we have them every so many
coffees, and you think, there were days that They used to pay
a farmer, pay a whole cart load of hay for one leaf of the Bible. And do we just take it for granted? So sometimes you need to stop
and think, all right, what if, what if we did not have the Word?
All our Bibles had to be taken away, electronically, written
ones, printed ones, didn't have it at all. How would we feel then? Some of us might be able to memorize
quite large parts of them. In the Chinese church, when they
were threatened with their Bibles taken away, when they met together,
they never met with Bibles. One was delegated, you remember
that chapter, and you remember that chapter, and they got up
and they recited the Word. So if they got raided, there
was no Bibles there, no Bibles to take, because the Word was
in there. Word was found in them. Thy words
were found, and I did eat them. They were to the joy and rejoicing
of my heart. Thy word have I hid in my heart,
that I might not sin against thee. Wherewithal shall a young
man take plenty's way by taking heed thereto according to thy
word. And everything is centred around
the world. You take away that word. You
take it out of the hearts and out of the minds. And what is
left? May it be that we have a renewed
sense of the treasure of the word of God and of the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's no longer hidden in types
and shadows is no longer the expectance that Christ will come,
He has come and He has fulfilled the law and made it honourable.
So if anything from this evening, it may be that the word, the
gospel is to us a treasure, a precious treasure and we have here, it
is hidden from many. But if it has been revealed to
us, it may be renewed to us again how precious it was. And maybe
you can remember too, those times that it was made precious. Where the Holy Spirit shall receive
of mine and shall show it unto you. He shall bring all things
to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. And this
is the Gospel, and this is the practical working of that gospel. So I want to move from that and
think of where it is placed. Our text begins with, but we
have this treasure. Have we stopped it there and
didn't put in first the earthen vessels? What a wonder that that
is, we have this treasure. You might say, well, yeah, we
have it in the Bible, we have it in the preaching, But let's
think about it personally. Do we personally have that treasure? Is it in our hearts? Are we possessors of it? We mentioned
before about men, Peter preaching, not the angel. The angel, however
much would understand or know of the gospel, could never have
it as receiving it as one interested in it, one that needed to be
saved from it, one that was bound up in it, one that was a sinner
saved by grace. But every minister is, is one
that is preaching those things which he relies on to stand before
God. He relies on to stand faultless
before the throne. He relies on to enter those heavenly
mansions, that his sins are put away, blotted out, pardoned,
forgiven. And he sets forth those things
as a personal recipient. So where is this treasure found? He says, but we have this treasure.
May we be able to answer this evening. I have this treasure. You have this treasure. May you
ask, has the Lord formed his word in your heart? Do you have
this treasure? Do you value it? But do you have
it as one that has first perceived it, the very way it's set forth
in the word of God? Man by nature does not value
it. Man by grace does value it. Man by nature, Christ is as a
root out of dry ground, no form nor comeliness that it should
desire him. But one that is called by grace
as what the eunuch, then he sees a beauty and a desire for him. How is it with us? It cannot
be that we come forth from the womb and this is a treasure.
Always been a treasure, always been precious. But for those
people, there'll be a time when it first began to be precious. First began to be the one thing
needful. And they could not be without
it. They wanted, they needed the
word. Remember the Lord said, Accept ye, eat the flesh, and
drink the blood of the Son of Man, ye have no life in you.
And the children of Israel, they needed that manner in the wilderness
all the journey through. And yet even then, most solemnly,
because it was so constant, even when they sinned, He took not
the manner from their mouths, they murmured, and they despised
it. and we can do the same with the
Word and with the Gospel, because it is so constant, because we
always have it, because we always have it preached and take it
for granted, and it's not renewed as precious to us. But then we
have the, where is it placed, in an earthen vessel. And the
way I feel this is really a comfort to God's people, He knows our
frame, he remembereth that we are but dust. In Paul's first
epistle, he draws in chapter 15, when he's speaking of the
resurrection, the beautiful contrast between the terrestrial body,
the celestial body, this corruption must put on incorruption, this
mortal must put on immortality, and all the time there's this
contra, this wonderful change that is to happen at the resurrection. But when Paul comes to this second
epistle, he's saying, now I'm speaking to you that are in this
mortal, in this corruption, in this earthen vessel, this vessel
that one day is going to be laid in the grave, And this treasury
is put in this vessel, in this vessel. He knows, He knows our
friend, He knows what we are. It is for sinners. Hymn writer says, Sinners can
say, and none but they, how precious is the Saviour. And it's put
in that vessel. And one of the greatest Things
that would mar a Christian profession or be a hindrance to the gospel
is pride. And the Lord deals with that
with his people, and he shows them what they are. He shows
them their nature, he shows them their corruptions. Turn again,
son of man, see greater things than these, but to balance so
that they are not passed down and to have no hope. Yes, what
they see humbles them, But they are to know that this earthen
vessel, this vessel in whom no beauty, this humble, insignificant
vessel, carries this rich, rich treasure. And that's really encouraging. It is really helpful for the
people of God. It's helpful as well when we
hear a preacher to look past the man and his infirmities and
his weaknesses and hear what he has to say. So where it is found, is it found
with us? And how do we view ourselves
is another question, as much as the question, do we see the
gospel and the word as a treasure, are we humble enough to view
ourselves as an earthen vessel, just a recipient of no inherent
value in itself, but carrying great treasure? And the word
is very clear in this, that all of those to whom Christ is precious,
they are God's people. Peter says, unto you which believe,
He is precious. He's not precious to the world,
but He is precious to His dear people. So however low you may
feel, however discouraged, however much beset by sin, however much
troubled, you may know this, is that seal of the Spirit as
to whose you are and to where you are going. It is the hope
of the calling of God's dear children. One of the great hopes
bound up is that they, of all people, not only know their sinnership
and what they are by nature, but they know the preciousness
of Christ and of the gospel. You know, it's a sad thing today
that many, many churches They have no need of the word or of
the gospel. In Cranbrook they're looking
for a new vicar and they've got online all what they're looking
for in a vicar. No preacher, no child of God,
none called. One gets to bring in the people
of Cranbrook and to utilize the church for concerts and to raise
money to keep the building going and everything like that. But
no value on the Word, no value on the Gospel. Three vicars ago,
he used to meet at the gate of the school. He said, I don't
know how they listen to you for 45 minutes. He said, they won't
listen to me for 10 minutes. But he had no idea of the value
of the Gospel for himself. When he was ill and laid aside,
I said, you go to the church to hear the preaching? Oh no,
I wouldn't go to work. He said, they're dragging me
in to do things. I said, well, where do you get food for your
soul? Where do you hear for your own soul? He looked at me absolutely
blank. Oh, he said, sometimes I go to
another parish to get ideas for when I return to work for my
sermons. He had no idea for the preciousness
of food for his soul or desire at all. And if the Lord has given us
that value of it and that it is precious to us, who has given
it? The Lord has given it. Given
us something that he has not given to others and shown us
something that he has not shown to others. And may we have it
renewed to us again and again, our precious that word is and
how precious our Lord Jesus Christ is and all the words that he
speaks, how precious they are. They are treasure on earth, they
are treasure in heaven, they are treasure that will never
ever pass away. Well lastly there is a reason
that is given here as to why the Lord orders this great treasure
to be put in such a mean vessel, an earthly vessel, that the excellency
of the power may be of God and not of us." Of course in the
first place he is speaking of as a minister. A minister does
not have power to convert the soul. He does not have power
to change a heart. Was it not William Gadsby as
he was walking along the street, someone called out to him and
said, look at that drunk lying in the gutter. That's your work,
Mr. Gadsby?" He said, yes, it looks
like my work. He said, if that had been God's
work, he would not be lying in the gutter. Gadsby knew full
well it was not his eloquence, it was not his preaching, it
was the power of God that changed the heart, renewed the will,
and turned the feet to Zion's sinner. When they preached, as
many as were ordained unto eternal life believed. Some believe the
word, some believe not. What made the difference? The
sovereign power of God. That is what made the difference. None can come unto me except
the Father which sent me. Draw him and I'll raise him up
at the last day. The power of God. You think how
jealous the Lord is of that. You go back to Judges, you go
back to the Midianites in the land, and Gideon raised up, and
Gideon gets his army, and the Lord says it's too big. You reduce
it right down, it's reduced to 300, lest Israel said, my own
glory has got me the victory. And so it's reduced low. And
then the Lord works. and that's what the Lord does
in the Gospel too. How he speaks of the Gospel as
treasure, how he speaks of the power of God as the excellency
of the power. This is God's work, the Spirit's
work, our Lord's work, the work of a triune God, that in all
things is to be praised and honoured and glorified. In our day when
there seems to be a real withdrawing of the spirit, and we don't often
see and perhaps feel the power of God, we may perhaps think,
well, maybe it's not the same. But it is still the same today. The Lord has said, lo, I am with
you always, even unto the end of the world. Bless each time. Bless the Lord. those times when
you felt the power of God melt your heart, send you out, make
you do something you weren't going to do, make you stop something
that you were going to do that was wrong, make you love something
that you once hated, make you hate something that you once
loved, that it had a profound effect on you, and that power
of God moving the heart, hear James saying, Be ye doers of
the word, and not hearers only. Paul rejoiced with the Thessalonians
that the word came unto them, not in word only, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power. And may we know that, and may
we be able to discern the way the Lord has sent his blessing
to us has been a way that echoes John the Baptist, he must increase,
I must increase, and the power and the glory be unto God and
God alone. May the Lord add his blessing
and grant us to be found in the text, in the text as an earthen
vessel that we treasure in our vessel. Amen.