The Great and Common
Notes
Transcript
SLIDE 2
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
2 cor 4.7-9
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There are a lot of feel good, inspirational passages in the Bible… verses we read that give us comfort… because, sometimes we need comfort. Sometimes we experience great loss, and we mourn… and in that pain, God promises comfort.
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There are verses that give us peace… promises that help us look beyond our current circumstances. In times when our understanding can’t find peace… God gives it.
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There are verses that give us affirmation… when we doubt, when we struggle, when we falter, God’s Word affirms our identity in Him.
There are verses that we can pluck out from amidst their context and use them to affirm our feelings, our politics and our decisions.
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People like the verses that are about comfort, peace and affirmation… - But, they don’t generally like the circumstances that these passages speak to.
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People don’t like to experience the loss that brings mourning… people don’t like to experience the chaos that robs their peace… people don’t like to experience the doubt that confronts their identity.
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they want comfort that speaks to their comfort. They want peace that speaks to their peace… They want affirmation that speaks to their condition.
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Because of this… they treat the Bible like it’s a spa instead of a hospital. They treat the Bible like it’s a movie theater rather than a University. They treat the Bible like it’s a Starbucks instead of the produce isle.
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They find preachers, communities and churches that give comfort for the comfortable, peace for the peaceful and affirmation to the affirmed… - And they move on, completely unaware that a majority of the Bible...
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… is a message declared in the fox holes… in the triage tents… on the front lines… in the mine fields… amongst the explosions and the shouts of panic…
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…a message spoken to those taking shelter from the storm… to those in the shadow of an erupting volcano… to those getting their terminal diagnosis… to those who are thrown behind bars..
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Those of us who are committed to studying and knowing the whole counsel of God are aware of this. And when we find ourselves in that foxhole, or in that storm, or in that doctor’s office…
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We are not perplexed, forsaken or destroyed.
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It’s difficult to read anything that the Apostle Paul writes without realizing that hardships abound in this world.
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You can’t get past the first few words of James without realizing this.
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And when you read the teachings of Jesus, you will be hard pressed to miss the words that promise tribulation.
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We address the difficulty that this world inflicts upon us on a regular basis… we talk about it a lot… and there are two reasons for this:
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SLIDE 3:
ONE: DIFFICULTY IS EVERYWHERE IN THIS WORLD
TWO: TEACHING ON THE DIFFICULTY THAT IS IN THIS WORLD, IS EVERYWHERE IN THE BIBLE.
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This passage is no exception.
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Today’s message is titled: Great and common.
We are going to talk about this passage in three parts:
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1-GREAT TREASURE, COMMON VESSEL (7)
2-COMMON HARDSHIP, GREAT RESPONSE (8-15)
3.-THE COMMON SEEN, THE GREAT UNSEEN (16-18)
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SLIDE 4
GREAT TREASURE, COMMON VESSEL
GREAT TREASURE, COMMON VESSEL
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SLIDE 5
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
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In this one little verse we learn three things.
ONE: we have a great treasure.
TWO: We are common containers… unfitting, not appropriate for such a treasure.
THREE: This contrast between a great treasure and an unfitting, common container, has a purpose.
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The first thing we need to do is define just what this treasure is. To do that, we simply have to go back one verse.
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Lohse, E. (1971). Colossians and Philemon a commentary on the Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon (p. 72). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
Paul defines this treasure as a light.
- It’s a light given by the maker of light. For it’s given to us by the same God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness”.
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So we see, it’s a divinely made light that comes with the purpose of revealing something that would otherwise be hidden in darkness.
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-It’s a light that shines in our hearts. Indicating to us, that God has brought divine illumination and revelation to a place that was once dark.
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Not only is this a revelation that God has caused us to see, but it’s a reminder that we were once in a place where we couldn’t see.
If this lights shines in our hearts, enabling us to see things… then before Christ came into our lives, there were things that we couldn’t see.
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-Finally, we see the purpose of this light. We see now what this light is revealing… - It comes, so that we might have the knowledge of God’s glory revealed in the face… which means… presence… of Jesus.
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Like many things in the Bible, this comes off as an abstract concept. We can say all this stuff about light in our lives and God’s glory and the face of Jesus...
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It sounds spiritual, and if I just brushed over it no one would really push back and ask what it really means.
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But that’s not what we do. If the Bible is just a bunch of nice sounding spiritual stuff that gently floats over our heads, and we can’t truly grasp the practical truth of it… then what good is it?
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Simply stated… this light is in our lives, so that we will, because of the presence of Jesus… recognize God’s glory when it is revealed..
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The following verses give us a few scenarios where God’s glory can be, and is revealed.
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This scenario comes to life in and through the contrast of this great treasure, and the common vessel that it is kept in.
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Where do we have this treasure? In Jars of clay. This is a term referring to common, ordinary household containers.
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If Paul wrote this letter now a days, he might say that we have this treasure in Rubbermaid containers..
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The person who read this in the Greek would notice the word play in the juxtaposition
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It’s an ordinary jar of clay… holding something with
The great treasure, and the common container, are meant to reveal something uncommon.
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Which is literally what the word ‘surpassing’ means.
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A power that is surpassing, is extraordinary… it is a power that beyond our ability.
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In this, we find the purpose… the reason why this great treasure is in this common container.
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So that, when surpassing things happen in us and through us, for God’s glory… - it will be revealed, that God did it, and we did not do it.
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This brings us face to face with a reality to consider… and a question to ask of ourselves.
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If I am a clay pot holding the powerful light of God… then my life should have some kind of testimony… of surpassing power.
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I’ll be honest with you… a lot of us here in the land of comfort and prosperity, don’t have much of a testimony which reveals uncommon, extraordinary power.
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We see it in other places in the world. I go to India to teach pastors how to study the Bible… they have a very basic understanding of the Bible… but, in most cases, their experiences of ‘extraordinary power’ … far exceeds mine.
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A lot of this has to do with our church culture, and our understanding of purpose.
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Our church culture is focused upon bringing comfort, community, entertainment, a sense of purpose, and and good vibes to the Christian. It tells the Christian culture, that if they do good, and if they be nice, then God will bless them… reward them… with cozy upper middle class lives, good looking spouses, perfect children, and financial success.
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The ultimate purpose in our modern church culture… is this sense… this feeling of success.
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The purpose of the Bible however, is quite different. Yes, we come together for comfort, community… and we might occasionally get entertained, by accident. We might feel the good vibes. But I don’t want you… I’m pretty sure, Jesus doesn’t want you… to be satisfied with having.... a sense of purpose.
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I want you to have the reality of purpose.
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A friend of mine… one of your elders… often says that much of modern Christianity can be summed up with this one statement: “God gives me stuff.”
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If this is what you are looking for in Christianity… to have your good vibes and expect your blessing stuff.... then you might as well skip over this entire passage… because this is going to be foreign.
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God wants our common vessels… our lives… to demonstrate extraordinary power. How does this happen?
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Well, it happens when we are willing, by faith, to step out and be used in an extraordinary, powerful way.
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SLIDE 6
COMMON HARDSHIP, GREAT RESPONSE -
COMMON HARDSHIP, GREAT RESPONSE -
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SLIDE 7
8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
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SLIDE 8
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12 So death is at work in us, but life in you. 13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
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Verse 8 says that we are afflicted. Affliction can reveal itself in a few different ways… It refers to a pressure that compresses from every side. Which is bad and overwhelming..
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But it also refers to those persistent minor things that wear on us. The word is sometimes translated ‘pinch’ or ‘chafe’.
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If you put your shoes on, and there’s a little pinch on your pinky toe… it’s not a big deal, until three hours later, and it’s all you can think about.
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Anything that chafes you… didn’t start out that bad. You felt discomfort, but it wasn’t a big deal… till about three hours later.
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At that 3 hour mark… the pinch and the chafe are the only things you can think about.
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Sometimes, when we are striving to live obedient lives for Jesus, the world doesn’t respond to our obedience with fanfare, good vibes and comfort food.
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Sometimes… our obedience to Jesus… produces, from the world around us... pressure… pinching and chafing. From where? From every side. This passage says, “in every way”..
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That literally means… we are afflicted, the whole way. Not just the part way… no, this is whole enchilada of affliction.
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You know how many times I’ve heard people complain, because they took a step of faith for God… and suddenly, bad things happened in their life. And they are confused, because they think that doing good for God is validated by the response of God doing good things for them.
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I decided to step out by faith and serve Jesus, and suddenly, I lost friends, people made fun of me, I got a flat tire and my dog puked on the new rug. I thought God was supposed to give me stuff.
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Listen, if you think this, I don’t doubt that you have watched some Christian tv, or maybe you have read a book or two from the Christian bookstore. But I do doubt that you’ve ever read the Bible. - This ideas… that says, “Do good, be nice, be positive, and God will give you stuff.” is not in the Bible.
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If you want God’s treasure to be revealed in extraordinary ways, you need to step out in faith… and if you step out in faith… you may very well suffer affliction.. - You might also be perplexed… which means, you are at a loss… which can also mean… get this… to be in doubt. - Now, that probably makes the hackles come up on some necks. How can Paul say that he is in doubt?
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Well… hold on for a second… let’s see the contrast..
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Here’s Paul’s testimony. - and again, he’s setting a contrast. Yes, he’s pressured from every side… but he’s not crushed. Yes, he’s at the end of his means, and even feeling some doubt… but he’s not in despair… which literally means… to be in great doubt.
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There are those who say that you should never feel doubt. Why? Because tells us that he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
2. Self-righteous in Spirit
3. Combative in Dialogue
4. Us vs Them in Orientation
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5. Demonizing Other Groups
6. Policing Borders
Yes, that is what someone who walks in doubt is like… but is contrasting that to a person who walks in faith. Listen, it doesn’t take faith to do something that doesn’t produce the opportunity for doubt.
7. Shaming Others to Coerce
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8. Picking Up Offenses Regularly
Feeling doubt is a reality of being a physical broken human being, trying to walk in a spiritual way.
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I’ve been a Christian since 1984 and I’ve been a pastor for 20 years… and I continually wrestle with different manifestations of doubt. - When the doubt arises… I seek the example of Paul… I am not overcome with great doubt… instead, I see it as an opportunity for fiath.
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Paul goes on to say that he is persecuted. But, even as the outward world comes against him, he knows for certain, by faith, that God has not forsaken Him.
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Remember the promise of Jesus to the disciples, when He let them know that He would be leaving them....
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SLIDE 9
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
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God does not abandon His children. He is, by nature… faithful. People abandon each other… people abandon God… but God does not abandon His children.
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This reminds us of that old familiar saying, “If you are feeling distant from God, know this, He is not the one who moved.”
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Paul goes on to say that he is struck down… - This is the hard one. No one wants to hear about this. This is Paul’s confession that at times, in his ministry, he has been hurt badly. He has been caused to suffer physical pain.
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But, even as the world causes injury and pain… the world cannot destroy. This word, ‘destroy’… literally means, perish, or lay to waste.
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Can persecution lead to the death of a Christian? Absolutely. Just look at your Bible… Look at Stephen… look at Peter… look at Paul… they were killed because of their faith…
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But were they destroyed? Were they laid to waste? No way!
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SLIDE 10
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
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Christian… your body… is just a tent… it’s temporary… But the real you… the spiritual you, will soon dwell in a heavenly home not made by hands… - We might die in the flesh… but we are never destroyed.
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Here’s what we see in verses 8 and 9… Paul’s faith confounds the common, expected outcome of opposition, every time.
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They tried to stop him… they tried to discourage him… they tried to hurt him… but God did extraordinary things through Him in spite of it all.
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Why? So it could be seen, known and testified to… that it wasn’t Paul’s power… it was the surpassing power, that only belongs to God.
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Note what Paul said to Timothy…
SLIDE 11
17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
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Paul faced certain death in the coliseum… to die violently and cruelly, in order to entertain the Romans…
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As he faced this potential event… God’s presence was known to him… and he received surpassing strength.
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Now… I want to shift this message a bit as we look at verse 10. Paul introduces us to a concept that is difficult to understand… at least, for me… but one that he found great peace and purpose in..
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Now… look again at this verse
10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
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Again, he’s speaking in terms of contrast.
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But this time he introduces a new plane of understanding in terms of the suffering that we as Christians might suffer, because of our ministry and our faithfulness.
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He is letting us know, when we suffer, because of our faith… when we experience hardship, or pain, or rejection, or affliction… we share something with Jesus.
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We share, in our bodies… His death… so that, in our bodies… we might experience His life.
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It’s a strange thing to consider… that life might come from suffering.
But this is what Jesus did.. His suffering led to death… which led to resurrection…
And His resurrection is a promise for us… a reminder that we too will experience resurrection..
In this … life come to us, from the suffering of Jesus..
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And in many ways… we see that life comes to the church, through the death… some times… even of its saints.
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Tertullian said… “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church”
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And none of us here, right now, cherishes the thought of dying for our faith… but I don’t think that is the point. Paul speaks of it… but he speaks of it as one who won’t die for his faith for quite some time…
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But he speaks of it as someone who suffers for his faith and as one who faces the potential of death in every step of his ministry.
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Here’s what happens when we suffer affliction. We are reminded of what affliction can do. And we are reminded of our potential death.
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When we suffer for our faith… we are reminded of the suffering of Jesus… a suffering that led to death..
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But we never leave the thought of Jesus in the grave. We never leave Jesus on the cross. We remember it… what it meant… and the purpose.... but we can’t stop at the death of Jesus in terms of his suffering and his death..
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We always have to look forward… to his resurrection.
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Let’s look at a few verses on this topic, and try to bring tangible understanding to this abstract idea.
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SLIDE 12
17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
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SLIDE 13
GAL 220
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
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SLIDE 13
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
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SLIDE 14
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
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And this one… is the really difficult one:
SLIDE 16
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,
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A few thoughts…
- This is a hard thing to understand, and I’m not pretending to understand it.
-But here’s a few things I kind of am getting a grasp on.
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When we serve Jesus, we are doing a holy and spiritual thing in a sinful and broken world. -That produces conflict. That conflict may very will translate over to suffering on our part. This was Paul’s experience…
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Paul says, that this kind of suffering… is shared with Jesus. He doesn’t share our suffering… we share in His suffering. - And this doesn’t speak of general suffering. This doesn’t speak of the things that just happen because they happen. In every case where Paul speaks of this, it’s in regards to serving Jesus.
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This means… when we are afflicted, or persecuted, or struck down… because of our ministry… and if we suffer injury…not only do we share in his suffering, but we will also bear in our body, in our scars… the marks of Jesus..
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This means, that if we suffer… we suffer with Him… and will be glorified with Him.
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And… according to … Even though Christ suffered greatly and sufficiently to save mankind and redeem them to God. - There remains more suffering, and we who serve, may experience it for the sake of our ministry.
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I tried to break this down to a simple principle.
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The context of is necessary. In that chapter, mankind sinned… and as a result, everything broke. The perfect nature of humanity became sinful. The experiences of work and child birth became difficult and painful. The earth itself changed… producing thorns…
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What is broken, in man and in the nature… produces suffering.
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What is broken in man, produced the suffering that Christ experienced on the cross. Christ fulfilled the work of redeeming mankind with His suffering.. It was sufficient, and complete in what it accomplished…
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But… according to col 1.24… there is something lacking in the suffering of Jesus for the church. Not lacking in its ability to save or redeem… but lacking, in that suffering continues… in the place where the spiritual conflict continues.
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When we serve Jesus, we create a spiritual conflict with the world.
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There is still sin. There are still sinful people. There is still brokenness.. This sin and brokenness is what Jesus suffered. This sin and brokenness still causes suffering… though for the Christian, it has lost it’s power to bring death and destruction.
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Here’s what I see in Paul. He loved Jesus. He wanted to be with Jesus. He wanted to experience Jesus. He wanted to be part of Jesus.
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so, when he suffered the same kind of suffering that Jesus suffered… that is, the conflict of holiness with sin and brokenness… he rejoiced. Why? Because Paul wasn’t always focused on himself. Paul was focused on Jesus.
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Folks, this world will provide hardship, pain and suffering. Jesus even gave that promise… we will experience tribulation.
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But with it… there is the promise… that He has overcome the world. There is the comfort in knowing… that He walked through this same gauntlet… but to a much greater degree… There is encouragement in knowing… that our experience, brings us in closer… in relating to our savior.
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Let’s hit this final point real quick.
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SLIDE 17
THE COMMON SEEN, THE GREAT UNSEEN -
THE COMMON SEEN, THE GREAT UNSEEN -
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SLIDE 18
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
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The common jar of clay… the common container… this body that we drag around.
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This rotting chunk of flesh..
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It is wasting away. It is not getting any better. It is getting closer and closer to death.
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If we suffer for our faith… the common container bears the scars of it. It might crack. It might not hold things as well as it used to. The lid might not fit as well as it once did.
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But… that great unseen treasure that is inside of it… it is continually renewed. That treasure… is eternal…and the suffering of this common container, will be but a moment in comparison to what is yet to come.
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I’m going to end with this encouragement… as you wrestle with the abstract concept of sharing in the suffering and death of Jesus and all that it means…
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Let this final exhortation tag onto the end of that mystery...
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Are we being renewed daily? Has our inner man faltered? Have we spiritually, gone dry? When is the last time we experienced a little spiritual revival? When was the last time we have woken up spiritually?
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I’ll tell you from experience.... we can’t make it happen. We can’t decide to be spiritually revived. But, we can decide to put ourselves back in a spiritual place. We can decide to renew our efforts for spiritual food. We can decide to walk away from the things hander us spiritually.
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If you are convicted by the HS today… and you are ready to make a decision… and you know that you are getting pushed a little… - then don’t shut it out. don’t wait for later…
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Take a step in that direction, right now...
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Believers should regard their sufferings less in relation to themselves as individuals, and more as parts of a grand whole, carrying out God’s perfect plan.
It is in reference to the Church’s afflictions, which are “Christ’s afflictions, that Paul here saith, “I fill up the deficiencies,” or “what remain behind of the afflictions of Christ.” She is afflicted to promote her growth in holiness, and her completeness in Christ. Not one suffering is lost (Ps 56:8). All her members have thus a mutual interest in one another’s sufferings (1 Co 12:26).
Colossians and Philemon: A Commentary on the Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon 1:24–2:5; Office and Commission of the Apostle
According to Acts 9:16* it has been decreed from the beginning that Saul/Paul must suffer for the name of Christ. In Eph 3:1* Paul is called a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of the Gentiles.31 The Pastorals are presented as the testament which the imprisoned apostle entrusts to the church before his end (2 Tim 1:8*, 16f*; 2:9*). Exactly in his sufferings did the apostle perform his office for the whole church.
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