Values

Values - 2 Corinthians 4:5-18

Sunday, August 26, 2018

8:24 AM

In our verse this morning we see that as the old cliché has so aptly put it - you can't always judge a book by it's cover. The cover may be plain jane, not very appealing stuffy and weird looking but the contents may be full of riveting mystery, intrigue and nail biting suspense.

Sometimes value is misplaced - Paul is writing to the church at Corinth that there is an extraordinary thing hiding right in ordinary places.

Our world often manifests it's fallenness by its value system

I recently seen a clip about Jamie Chau (Pronounced Chewa) a Singaporean socialite who has a 700 square foot Fingerprint - Protected Closet

700 Square ft - let me put this in perspective - Every Apartment Mapped .org has an apartment listed at Mt Carmel Village not far from the Lights of St Paul display on Douglas is offering a 1 Bedroom 1 Bath apartment with total living area of 663 Sq. Ft. almost 40 sq. ft. smaller than Miss. Chau's closet.

Most of the hundreds of outfits were well over $1000 apiece. One coat was $19,000 one dress $27,000

Hermes (Pronounce [ere-mez] bags which can cost between $8000 and $300,000 she has 200 in all kinds of colors shapes and sizes.

over 300 pairs of shoes average of $1500 apiece

Not to mention the drawers overflowing with jewelry mostly diamonds.

Think about this for a minute - when she gets dressed for the day - her clothing and accessories cost more than some of us here make in a year.

That's a lot of money to cover up a body.

It makes me think of a song they used to sing:

Maybe no one will throw rotten eggs at me for sharing it….

003 – The Price of The Body

I’ve met many people who seem not to know

The worth of the body and the worth of their soul.

So, just to inform you, I’m singing this song

To tell you the difference and it won’t take long.

The soul of a man is priceless you see.

So, Jesus our Lord died on cruel Calvary

To purchase the souls of those who would come;

Your soul is of value to God and His Son;

And Christ Jesus loved us that if none else would come,

He surely would have done it if you were the only one.

But some think their bodies are worth more than gold;

Not knowing the difference if they should be sold;

Because of their pride they make great expense

On a body that’s worth about eighty-eight cents.

Your body contains enough iron for one nail;

Enough salt to season four scrambled eggs well;

Enough sugar to sweeten some coffee one cup;

And nitrogen enough to make one seed come up.

There is water sufficient for one baby’s bath;

And nine bars of soap can be made from the fat;

Just quite enough acid to eat a hole in your sleeve;

And sulphur enough to rid one dog of fleas.

The electricity content is too small to measure;

And inside the bones there is no hidden treasure.

What the body contains is not worth very much;

But it contains enough devils to tear up a church!

Those folks with their pride won’t hear what I said;

They wear a ten-dollar hat on a fifteen-cent head;

And thirty-dollar shoes on two five-cents feet;

And high-priced perfumes to make them smell sweet.

It almost seems foolish; it almost seems wrong

To dress so expensive and strut along.

As a Christian, your body is bought with a price;

You must keep it clean and healthy and nice.

But, we must be careful or pride will take control

And [if] we care more for the body than we do for the soul.

Now I'm sure if we took account of inflation there would be a little difference in the values listed there, but I think there was a reason Peter warned the Christian's in 1 Peter 3:3-4

1 Peter 3:3-4 (KJV)

3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;

4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

While I don't think God intended for His people to be sloppy, and unkempt - I do think he wanted our focus to be on the real treasure. The treasure beyond measure found deep within our lumps of clay. If you are born again you have treasure inside of you that the Crown Jewels of England and all of the wealth of the Oil in the Middle East cannot compare.

A Treasure of Great Knowledge - Verse 5-6This Treasure isn't about us - It's about Christ Jesus the Lord!!! - Listen to this "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the LordThis knowledge is "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" Verse 6b

A Treasure of Great Value - 7aIt's a great treasure in an unexpected place - we are jars of clay, and can so easily be shattered. But it's His all -surpassing power. It's the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ that shines through our brokenness. In fact Paul makes this even more clear when he writes n verse 10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. It's this shattering, this breaking this crushing that makes the light from the treasure shine through. Or as the late Bro. Carl Knight wrote several years ago: that a rose when broken and crushed gives us it's fragrance better.

It's of great value because this treasure is "The Gospel" Paul gives it's value in another place when he says, " For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."

Romans 1:16-17 King James Version (KJV)

It's of great value because it's eternal - Look at verse 18 -

A Treasure of Great Power - 7b - Not only a treasure of great value but of great power - did you notice that in the verse from Romans? "the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek"It's not our power but it is the POWER OF GOD!!! - We are only connected to the source. It's a power that makes the weakness of man show forth the great strength of God

I've been trying to explain to you the invaluableness of this great treasure. Not only do you have a great valuable treasure in your broken and fragile clay pot but you are valuable to God - did you ever think of that?

Matthew 10:31 (KJV)

31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

You are so valuable to God that he sent His ONLY Begotten SON to die on a cross to purchase you

While the world is going to continue to have misplaced values lets not forget the greatest treasures on earth are not what is setting in your savings account, your retirement plan or portfolio - but is hidden right in plain sight wherever you are

This treasure in earthen vessels in clay jars - an extraordinary power - that even though the earthen vessel gets crushed and broken it doesn't destroy the treasure within

Paul reminds us that the treasure in our earthen vessels has eternal rewards -

2 Corinthians 4:18 (KJV)

18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.