Turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter
4 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 And I'm going to read verse 7 But We have this treasure in
earthen vessels that the excellency of the power of may be of God
and not of us. I'm going to endeavor to speak
this morning to earthen vessels, about earthen vessels, as an
earthen vessel myself. I'll state it plainly here, this
is written to believers. Gather here as believers. I did written down. I didn't
steal that from Rowan yesterday We gather here as believers And
I'm going to preach to believers Now people may say what about
the poor sinners I say hey, that's us That's us We're right here The gospel will only profit those
who believe that hear it. Those that hear it but don't
believe, it's of no value. It's of no profit. Our message
is for believers. I don't know who all the believers
are, but we are the poor sinners. That's what this is about. We
are earthen vessels. I'm not excluding anyone, but
the scriptures are clear, only believers hear the gospel of
Christ. Verse three says, if our gospel
be hid, it's hid to them that are lost. In preaching to believers,
the preacher must keep in mind he is preaching to sinners, to
earthen vessels. But with the context of these
verses, I must speak to that treasure. that God has put in
these earthen vessels. It has real value because it
is a real treasure. And this is the message I have,
I hope, because this is clearly something God has done to his
people while here on this earth. And I think we need to know.
I want to know. But to start it off, I wrote
down a quick synopsis of the fourth chapter here. Verse 1,
Paul writes to us that there is a ministry. And this ministry
is given. We have received this ministry,
is what it says. Therefore, seeing we have received
this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not. Verse 2 says, this ministry is
a ministry of honesty and truth. He starts off in the negative.
No hiding in dishonesty, no craftiness, no handling the word of God deceitfully. We are surrounded by that, even
today. But Paul had the same thing going
on in his day, 2,000 years ago. This is part of his Defense of
himself and the ministry, but it applies to every believer The gospel is hid verse 3 to
some That's the definition of the
loss they're the ones to whom the gospel is here There's your
definition of the loss now from this point also you take the
opposite point and The gospel is not hid to believers. If our gospel's hid, it's hid
to the lost. It's not hid to believers. Then we find out, verse four,
the lost are blinded by the God of this age. This eon, it's not a place, it's
a time. The gospel of the world, it says
that in whom the God of this world has blinded, that word
world is this age, this eon, this time period. And he hath
blinded the mind of them which believe not, lest the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. It's the mind that's blinded.
In those that are lost. The gospel is proclaimed openly,
but the lost don't see it, don't hear it, don't understand it,
will not grasp it. They won't have it, exactly. There's nothing wrong with the
gospel. There's nothing wrong with the gospel. The gospel shines
forth. Paula well, I still think Paul
wrote Hebrews. I'll say Paul in Hebrews 4 it
says The word preached The word preached did not profit some
They heard it I heard it we heard it, but the word didn't profit
them Not being mixed with faith in them that heard it In verse five, I think we find
the true nature of the believer's ministry. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord. And ourselves your servants for
Jesus' sake. We preach not ourselves, but
Christ. And we are your servants, your
ministers. That's what the definition of
a minister is. You are to minister to each other. We are to minister
to you. You are to minister to us. This
goes both ways. It's not just I say things or
Walter says things and that's the way it is. No. That's not
the whole ministry. But we are to preach, not ourselves,
but Christ. And be servants for Jesus' sake. Verse six. The light shined in
our hearts by God who is light and who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness originally. Verse 7, this treasure is in
earthen vessels. And verse 8 through 18, you'll
see the life and the walk of those earthen vessels who have
been given this treasure. There's a walk after the light
shined in your hearts. We don't walk perfectly, but
we are to walk. We have been created. We are His workmanship. We are created in Christ Jesus
unto good works. And Paul goes on to talk about
it. But what I want to start here in verse 7 is, but we have
this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power
may be of God and not of us. But we have. Now, who's the we? Well, the letter's addressed
to the church at Corinth and to all the saints in Achaia.
This chapter's addressed to those who have this ministry. Verse
one, we have this ministry. Verse three says, those who know
our gospel. Verse five says, those who preach
not themselves. Preach not ourselves. I'm sorry, that was verse, yeah.
That was verse 5, point 5. Those whom God has shined in
their hearts the illumination of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. This is something we have right
now. We have this treasure in earthen
vessels. This is a current thing. in Paul's
time. We have it right now. This treasure,
we have it. It has been given and in that
sense it is ours. We have it. This treasure, this specific treasure that Paul
is writing of here, just written of in the previous verse, verse
6. Young's little translation puts
it this way, because it is God who said, out of darkness light
is to shine, who did shine in our hearts for the enlightening
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The God who commanded light to
shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts. There's the treasure. There's
the treasure. This treasure comes from God,
it comes from the Father, like a perfect gift. Every good and
perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights. And Paul
deliberately is comparing this illumination. That's what the
word shined in our hearts, the illumination. God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, that's the light. But the word
where it says to shine in our hearts is a different word and
that is the illumination. The light has always been there. We just didn't see it. If our
gospel be hid, it's hid to them that were lost. And we were lost
at one time. But God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness in a moment of creation, has illuminated
our hearts. He compares this illumination
with the creation of the world. Why? Because this is the creation
of a new creature. God commanded light to shine,
to radiate, and he commanded it to radiate in our hearts to
the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. This treasure is knowledge, but
it's not just any knowledge. It is the knowledge of the glory
of God. And this knowledge of the glory
of God Almighty is only in the face of Jesus Christ. Because in this case, I want
to make this, put a little separation here, but while keeping everything
still together, because it is the knowledge of Christ, but
it is the knowledge from Christ. Luke 24 and verse 45, it speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ
talking to his disciples at the very end of the chapter and it
says, then opened he their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures. Understanding is the mind and
the thoughts. Understand is to comprehend Specifically
by putting things together God has illuminated in our hearts
his glory which is in Christ Jesus These are the words of Christ
opening the minds of his disciples on the roads to Emmaus so that
they could put together and Comprehend the scriptures that's in Luke
also 24 verses 46 to 49. The scriptures are about Christ. Old Testament and new. And we are to comprehend them.
We have been given that. Yes, it's limited. Yes, we are
limited, but this is a treasure that the
world knows nothing about. The scriptures are about Christ,
who is the glory of God. Start in Genesis with Abel's
sacrifice, Abraham's ram as a substitute for Isaac, the Passover lamb,
The rock that followed the children of Israel, that rock was Christ. Paul states it plainly. Moses
was shown God's glory in his goodness, his grace, and his
mercy. Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Psalm 23,
Psalm 51, matter of fact, all the Psalms. Hosea Zachariah and the whole
New Testament here The glory of God is revealed in the face
of Jesus Christ The glory of God has always been
in Christ Jesus from the beginning There's an eternal father. There's
also an eternal son. There's an eternal spirit None
of this. Paul, you read it. There's nothing
new under the sun. And that goes from the front
of this book to the end of it. The glory of God has always been
in the face of Jesus Christ. And we are given to know this. It has been illuminated in our
hearts. The knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ is not natural. It's not a natural
thing. The natural man understandeth
not the things of the Spirit of God. We're told in 1 Corinthians 2
and verse 16 at the end of that passage, For who hath known the
mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the
mind of Christ. God who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts. Believers are different than
the lost. Now who maketh thee to differ
is God. who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness. He's the one that shined in our
hearts to give the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus
Christ. That's where it is. The natural man cannot know. The spiritual man does know. It's given to him. Now the mind
here Which says we have the mind of Christ is the same word is
in Luke 24 and verse 40 45 the mind and the thoughts Christ
opens the understanding of His people and what he has opened
no man can shut Now what he shut no man can open That's also true
But what he has opened no man can shut No one instructs the Lord, but
we have the thoughts of Christ that he has given to us by his
spirit, the comforter which he promised that would come. And
he has given to us to understand the scriptures are about him. Now, I looked at some of the
commentators about part of this stuff, and some of them speak
of this treasure as being given the gospel so we can preach.
And that's a true statement. That's a gift also. But I don't
think it's limited to just that. It's not even close. We are given
this knowledge that we may speak, but it doesn't matter who you
are. Whether you're up here or you sit there, we are all a part
of the ministry of Jesus Christ. We are all to minister to one
another's needs. You cannot speak of what you
don't understand. Well, wait a minute, I'll take
that back. You can try. I know a lot of people who try.
And it leaks out on them usually that they don't know what they're
talking about. And that can go for the religious
or the secular world. It leaks out. Because I'll tell
you this, An empty earthen vessel is a useless thing. But this knowledge, this knowledge
is the treasure that we have in earthen vessels. This mind
of Christ, the gift of God, this understanding of the scriptures,
this is what Paul is writing of here, this understanding of
Christ. The glory of God in Christ has
not been created. It always has been. Our knowledge
of it, it's new to us. And I can read these scriptures
and see something I've never seen before. And I think, boy,
I've learned something new. No, it's old. It's just I wasn't
paying attention. If there's any fault with seeing
something in the scriptures or not seeing in the scriptures,
It's on me. It's not on the scriptures. They've
always been here for my lifetime. The truth of the glory of God
in Jesus Christ has always been so. In the Old Testament, they
were looking for the Messiah to come. In the New Testament,
he has arrived. And in the epistles, he's coming
again. And here's what happened while
he was here. And here's where Paul is telling us right here
where we are now. We have this treasure in earthen
vessels, in a very small word but very large repercussions. This wonderful treasure This
spectacular treasure, this miraculous treasure, is inside believers. Did I say it was a treasure? This is not an outside treasure
that the world can see. The world will never see this
treasure. I don't think in the world to
come they're going to see this treasure. They're going to live ignorant
and die ignorant. And if it wasn't for the grace
of God, so would I. But this treasure has been given
in side every child of God that he has brought into himself. It is in us. That's a glory that took a miracle
of grace. That took a miracle of mercy. That took the death of Jesus
Christ and the shedding of His blood. The redemption, the atonement
had to be made because He is a just God and a Savior, but
He is a just God. and everyone that he shed his
blood for their sins are remitted whether they know it or not yet
I believe they will know it from what he says here I believe they
will hear the gospel and they will believe it because it says
so in here the God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts right now
if we know him and there are others I believe he is shining
in their hearts maybe right even now but if they are his sheep
he's going to bring them in to this fold and there's going to
be one fold and one shepherd and there's going to be one fold
filled with his sheep and those sheep He's going to shine in
their hearts. And give this treasure, this
knowledge of the glory of God in Christ Jesus. It is given
to be in earthen vessels. And the gospel is hid to them
that are lost. And it is given within. The word there is radiated. The light was already shining.
We didn't see it. The lost don't see it now, but
he radiates it out. It's already shining, but it
radiates within. In earthen vessels. And earthen
vessels literally is clay pots. That's what it is. However, it
does include the concept of frailty. Frail clay pots. Earthen vessels that are frail.
Now I don't know about you people, but I have broken a lot of flower
pots over my years. And I found out a few things.
It doesn't take much to break a clay pot. You don't have to drop it from
here to this. If you hit it on the wrong corner,
it's going to come apart. Clay pots are frail. That's us
right there. We are without strength. I like what Earl said, but that
means no strength. That doesn't mean we're weak.
Yes, we're weak, but that's not what without strength means.
You have no strength. We are frail earthen vessels. That's the description of the
believer right now that Paul is giving us. This is the description
of the us, the we, the our that Paul is referring to here, earthen
vessels. frail earthen vessels. We are
mortal beings. Finite mortal beings. Created beings. But in being
finite beings, we are limited beings. We are vessels, earthen
vessels, who are made of that same love. by the potter. Some unto honor, some unto dishonor. But we're made of the same lump.
We are no different. Roland said it yesterday. By
nature, we were just like the children of wrath. By nature. Earthen vessels. Vessels who cannot naturally
understand the things of the Spirit of God. Vessels who are
still in the flesh and who still have their old nature within
them even after the light has shined into them The flesh hasn't gone anywhere
It's still here That's why we talk about an old nature in a
new nature. We still have both We're still
earthen vessels even with knowing the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ and What's the point here? There's no difference
in the vessels. None whatsoever. Not even a little
bit. We are still waiting for the
redemption of the body. It's promised, but it ain't happened
yet. It's sure, but it's not happened yet. What we have been given is gracious,
glorious, and miraculous. It is a treasure. But don't be
puffed up in yourself. The only reason you have it is
that God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has
shined in your heart. You're still an earthen vessel. Now you'll have that war in this
earthen vessel now. With my mind, I serve the law
of God, but with my flesh, what? The law of sin. We're earthen
vessels. And Paul tells us the reason
that we're still earthen vessels. God could have changed us completely
if he wanted to. But that, the excellency of the
power might be of God and not of ourselves. Here's the reason. Here's the reason we have this
treasure in earthen vessels, and we're still earthen vessels.
The excellency, a literally super abundance, throwing beyond. Hyperbole
is the word. The power, the dunamis, the dynamite,
the force is of God. We are still in earthen vessels
that the excellency of the power is of God. Right now. This treasure in these earthen
vessels only gets in there by force and it only stay there
by force and that force is not of us. It's his power. We believe by the working according
to the working of His mighty power. And that's today. That's not just when we first
believed. Now, after you believe, you were
sealed. But if you believe today, it's
because of what? According to the working of His
mighty power. The excellency of the power may
be of God, Believers do have this gift. They are earthen vessels,
but we have this gift, but we take no credit for this gift,
this treasure that we have been given to know Christ, to know
the glory of God. It's in Christ. Why? There is no boasting because
the excellency of the powers of God We're just earthen vessels. We're still earthen vessels. There's no difference on the
outside. The only difference is on the inside. There's no difference in the
outside. There's no difference in the flesh. The only difference
is in the spirit. Now it is in the mind, it is
in the understanding we do have the Holy Spirit dwelling within
us and teaching us the things of Christ. He has shined in our
hearts to give the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Christ Jesus. But outwardly we're just still
clay pots, just like everyone else. Let there be no doubt Let
there be no discussion and there is no argument. It's all about
God's glory. Because if there is any power,
it's of God. He's the only one with the power.
We give lip service. I know a lot of other places
give even. We say the all-powerful almighty
God, but that's who he really is. We call him Almighty God. He's called Almighty God in here.
Why? Because he has all might. He has all power. We have none. Absolutely none. Every true power is God's. It belongs to him, it is given,
or it is withheld by him at his pleasure. Because he is all power. Don't kid yourself. Don't delude
yourself. We do not have anything that
we have not received except for our sin. That's ours. That's mine. But also remember this. If God
does it, it's forever. If God does it, it's forever. God who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. If God does
that, it's forever. Nothing can be put to it. Nothing can be taken from it. God does it. That men should
fear Him. Men don't fear Him, but they
should. God does it. It's forever. And
I love how Paul adds that this is that the excellency of the
power may be of God and not of us. Why do you have to say that? Because we're dumb enough to
think sometimes that we have something to do with it. I wrote down here, Paul writes
to us like we're stupid. Okay, what's your point? We are. Some days Paul can't stop putting
men down. Well, yeah, we need that too. We're earthen vessels. We're
earthen vessels. Paul must give the contrast because
we need to have this firmly, and I put it this way, in our
feeble little minds. And comparing that to God's thoughts,
that's actually being generous, using the word feeble. We do
have this treasure, but we have it in earthen vessels. With the excellency of the power
is of God and not of ourselves. Sin is still in us. Earthen vessels
have a tendency toward rebellion. Mason, we can't ever forget Romans
7. Even when I do good, evil is present within me. And even when I do do good, I
don't get the credit for it. Because don't miss this point.
It's not of us. It's His glory. What is the chief
end of man? To glorify God. What's the chief
end of this world? To glorify God. What is the chief
end of Christ? It was to glorify His Father.
He said, glorify thou me with the glory I had with you. We owe everything to God, especially this treasure in earthen
vessels. There are no exceptions, no exclusions,
no honorable mentions. It's not of us. Period we owe
it all to him Wow sorry We are sinners conclusion
we are earthen vessels We are depraved we are in the flesh
earthen vessels We still have our old nature our vessel is
flawed weak frail earthen frail clay pots we are. Now that's
all true, but it ain't all. Because there's more for the
child of God, the sons and daughters of God. We have a treasure in
earthen vessels. We do have this treasure and
it is a treasure. It is a glory in itself to know
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We who were
darkness sometimes, now are light in the Lord. We are the light of the world.
We live in Christ. We have eternal life. We have peace with God in Christ,
who is our peace. We are sealed with the Spirit
of God. We have the eyes of our understanding
enlightened, and in Him we live, we move, and we have our being,
even though we are earthen vessels. We've been given the mind of
Christ. We've been given to know the glory of God. We've been
given the knowledge of the glory of God. Verse 16 of this chapter, Paul
wrote this, for which cause we faint not, but though our outward
man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. There's an outward man, there's
an inward man now. For who? Those whom the Father has shown
in the hearts, who has radiated, illuminated the hearts. to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in Christ Jesus. That outward man perishes day
by day. We get, you know, more aches and pains and things are
falling apart. We all know this. But the inward
man is renewed day by day. The spiritual man. The one who
sees the light. The outward man is the earthen
vessel, the inward man is the one that's renewed. And the inward
man is the one where the treasure is. The world doesn't even know
this exists. The glory of God doesn't exist,
much less that it's in the face of Christ Jesus. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels. for his glory. We have been given this. Paul
goes on to state in the rest of the chapter, walk. Walk therefore. Walk as children
of light. Walk. Act like it. Our Heavenly Father, I'm thankful
for this time, this place. Most of all, thankful for you.
You've given us everything. You gave Christ, your Son. He gave His life, shed His blood
for the remission of sins. And is bringing many sons to
glory. His glory, your glory. Thank
you, Lord. In Christ's name, amen.