Sermon Tone Analysis

Hear now, the words of the living and the true God:

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; 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.

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.

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.

Read Passage and Pray (3:00)

Our text today begins saying “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”

That leads us to the question: “What is the treasure that Paul is referring to?

Well, as we look back at the first 6 verses of the chapter we see that Paul is discussing the Gospel ministry, given to him by God, namely “what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.”

This is the treasure of which Paul is speaking.

It is the message that though God created a good and sinless world, man has rebelled against God, disobeying his commands.

In this disobedience, humanity is now subject to difficulties in this life and to death, for Romans 6:23 tells us, “The wages of sin is death.”

And there is an appointed day of judgment, and on that day, each one of us will receive the just penalty for our sins.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us made us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:4).

God did this in the person of Jesus, who, being eternally God, took on flesh, living the righteous life we could not and dying the death we deserve, bore the wrath of God for all our sin and was raised from the death so that we would be saved if we confess that we are sinners and believe in him as our only way of escape from the justice of God that we are due for our sin.

Instead of receiving punishment, we will receive eternal life and rest with God.

THAT IS THE GLORIOUS TREASURE OF WHICH PAUL SPEAKS!

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay.”

It is in this phrase that we see the first of two contrasts: Treasure and clay.

Treasure is valuable.

It is desired.

Clay is common.

It is not considered valuable.

It can be used for honorable or dishonorable uses, as Paul says in Romans 9, though he is using the analogy in a different context.

It can be used to store treasure or filth.

What is inside it can be unique and treasured, though the clay itself is common.

The second contrast is a bit more subtle, though it is derived from the same imagery.

We see it in as we read the whole verse: “But we have this treasure in Jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”

The contrast is a comparison of God to humanity.

God has surpassing power, and man, like jars of clay is fragile.

By filling us, as brittle and common jars with his treasure, surpassing power, and eternal life, he highlights his power and mercy in contrast to our weakness.

And it seems that these contrasts are confirmed as we finish the paragraph, which says, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”

It is in these pairs that Paul draws out the idea that Paul is getting at with his pottery imagery.

If you were to drop a piece of pottery, say a mug or a vase, it would break into many pieces.

If you put something in a vice or a press, it would be crushed, would it not?

What Paul is saying, is that the treasure in us, which is the Gospel and life and death of Jesus prevents the expected result.

It seems to me that Paul has persecution for the sake of the faith in mind here, for two reasons

1) He mentions Persecution in the series of couplets.

2) Verse 11 says, “For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake.”

Persecution was something which Paul was familiar with.

The Story of Paul begins in Acts 6 and 7 as he presides over death of the first Christian martyr and began to lead a wave of persecution.

He put people in prison for their message about Jesus, and Acts 9 tells us that he was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.”

But on his way to persecute Christians in Damascus he is converted and then becomes the victim of persecution himself.

He details his suffering later on in 2 Corinthians 11, saying that he had been imprisoned, beaten countless times, whipped, and stoned, not to mention all the other dangers he faced.

But, this persecution, he says, is not without purpose, “For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

It is in our suffering, in being persecuted, in some cases to the point of death that the contrast of the mortality of our flesh and the new spiritual life that we have is made evident.

You see, when we believe in the Lord Jesus as our only hope to escape the wrath that we are due, the old person dies and we are made a new creation.

This is what baptism symbolizes.

Going down into the water symbolizes dying with Jesus, while being brought up out of the water symbolizes being born again and the resurrection that we will receive at the end of all things.

It is in suffering that the one who is a new creature in Christ does not look like the world any longer.

Turn with me to Galatians 5:19.

READ GALATIANS 5:19-24.

You see, what Paul is saying is that in suffering in particular, the new nature that we have been given is highlighted.

The life that Christ has given us is made evident, such that when we are afflicted we are not crushed.

When we are perplexed we are not driven to despair.

When struck down we are not destroyed.

Though this may seem strange, because he says “we who live are constantly being given over to death” and I really do think he means a literal death.

Even though the Christian may be killed, we are not overcome.

Though we die, we yet live, because Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

Though the forces of evil would seek to break your spirit, you rejoice in the Lord, because this mortal life and death are not the end.

And therefore, his surpassing power is put on display in our suffering for the sake of righteousness.

But as we get to verse 12, it seems to me that there is a turning point in the text.

Paul says here, “so death is at work in us, but life in you.”

We must be careful with this statement, because it does sound, in a way like the work that Jesus did: dying so that we might live.

But this is not what is in view here.

What he means by “death is at work in us” is found both in the verses just before.

“The death at work in us” is best understood as the suffering for righteousness’ sake that Paul and his companions are enduring – even up to and including death.

But then what is the life at work in the Corinthian church he is writing to?

It seems that the answer lies in verses 13-15.

READ 2 CORINTHIANS 4:13-15

This section contains 2 keys to understand the life that is at work in the Corinthian church.

1) The first key is the definition of what life Paul is talking about.

This life is the Gospel of Jesus and the eternal life that he gives.

They speak of what they believe – that the one justified by faith, though he dies, yet shall be raised up with Paul and with Christ on the last day.

2) The second key is to understanding this understanding why life is at work in them.

This is found in verse 15 that we find the why: “For it is all for your sake.”

But what is the “it?”

By “it,” Paul means his suffering – his dying.

His suffering, his dying, demonstrates that he is but a common and fragile jar of clay, but the life and the fruit of the Spirit which God has wrought in him puts on full display the surpassing power of God!

In his suffering, the greatness of God is put on display so that Grace would extend to more and more people – namely the grace of Salvation.

What a glorious purpose there is for the saints who suffer and die on account of the faith!

It is this that leads me into the thrust of this sermon: The reasons that we suffer.

The first purpose Paul gives is that we suffer so that others might find grace and life in Jesus Christ!

Our dying leads to their living!

Our enduring hope even in the suffering and the dying causes the world to scratch their heads and desire an answer for the hope that lies within us, as Peter says.

It is often through persecution and martyrdom that those who once were tormenters find salvation in Jesus Christ.

It was through the suffering and imprisonment of Paul that the whole imperial guard heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

But I would argue that receiving salvation is not the only form of grace received through suffering.

When we look at Philippians 1 we see that through the suffering and imprisonment that Paul endured, Christians were encouraged.

They were emboldened to preach the gospel.

In the books of Acts we see that the apostles and the church rejoiced that they suffered for the sake of Christ.

The second purpose that Paul gives for our suffering is found at the end of verse 15, “So that as grace extends to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”

It is in our suffering and more and more people receiving grace that God gets glory.

His surpassing power is put on display, so he receives glory.