2 Corinthians 4:7-18
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Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.
But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
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.
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.
So death is at work in us, but life in you.
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,
knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.
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.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
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.
Introduction
Introduction
What makes a good preacher? What makes a good christian?
Who are the most likely to make an impact?
It depends on who you ask.
Someone may say, that a good preacher is winsome and charming, has a command of the language. He must be encouraging and present himself well.
Those who make an impact certainly must be well-spoken and people with intelligence and pleasing attitudes.
This was the question before the Corinthian church. Started by Paul after being called to Macedonia in a dream, this church was not without its problems.
But Paul loved them a devoted much time in ministry to the church.
He wrote the first letter to the Corinthian church correct many problems there.
One of the problems he dealt with first were divisions in the church. The people were lining up behind their favorite preachers and a sort of competition formed over who the best Christian was.
And now in the 2nd letter he has to clear up another issue, but this time it was with false teachers.
The false teachers came in with a different gospel and teaching than what Paul ha left the Corinthians with.
In order to get the people to believe what they were teaching, they had to first discredit Paul in the eyes of the church.
They did this by appealing to the human nature in the believers.
It is a nature that we still contend with today, and is unbridled in the world.
The churches, so-called, that appeal to this nature seem to be the most successful.
The human desire to judge the value of something by the outside was a lever that was easily pulled especially with Paul as the target.
He was not the handsome, gentle orator that some think is necessary for a successful ministry.
These false teachers were called by Paul the Super Apostles, sarcastically.
They came to the Corinthian church and called Paul weak, ugly, and stupid.
They called him weak because he apparently had some kind of health problem.
and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.
What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.
It is thought that Paul had some kind of problem with an eye that made it difficult for him to see, and maybe difficult for others to look at.
It may have been that he wasn’t the best orator, or he may have purposely made his messages simple for the sake of the hearers understanding.
For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
Whatever the attacks, they were based on appearance and on external things.
And if Paul wasn’t defending the gospel by defending his ministry, he would probably agree.
He was just as amazed that God chose him as anyone else was.
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,
though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,
And so it is with all of us. If anything good comes out of our lives for the glory of Christ, it is not because of what is on the outside, but what is on the inside.
I don’t mean what’s naturally on the inside, I mean what the passage before the one we are looking at today speaks of.
For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Every believer must look to the light and power of Christ for ministry and hope, not to the way things are on the outside.
Every believer must look to the light and power of Christ for ministry and hope, not to the way things are on the outside.
By valuing the treasure over the container
By valuing the treasure over the container
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
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.
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.
So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Paul, a master at communication, uses this wonderful illustration of the light of the gospel in us.
To him, it wasn’t what the outside looked like that mattered, it was what was going on in the inside of man.
And truly, when compared to the treasure that is the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are but jars of clay.
We recognize this illustration today, even though we don’t use clay pottery that often.
In a person’s house, their were dishes used for everyday things, and their were dishes used for special purposes and times.
The special dishes were made of glass, which was very expensive and precious. You were very careful with them. You only brought them out for special occasions, like the china your grandmother keeps for Christmas dinner.
If something were to happen to them, you could usually melt them down and remake them.
The Jews would allow them to be purified by washing and ritual if they were touched by something unclean.
But the clay pottery, you were less careful with. You would use it for everyday things and unimpressive tasks. You wouldn’t care too much if it was ornamented or colored.
If it broke, you couldn’t re-kiln it, nor would you want to. It was cheap, so you would throw it out and buy new ones.
They couldn’t be ritually purified if the became unclean, just discarded and replaced.
This is why, compared to the light of the gospel, Paul likened himself and his ministry to clay pottery.
The vessel wasn’t special, or prized by anyone. The vessel wasn’t important.
But treasure was in it. The most valuable treasure kept inside of the most common of containers.
What is this treasure? We go back to verse 5 to see.
For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The treasure is the light of the gospel, without which we would never be able to have the knowledge of the glory of God in Christ.
The treasure is the most prized possession of everyone who understands what is truly valuable.
This world is not capable of grasping its value, but tosses it to the side for other less worthy things, their eyes have been veiled and blinded as verses 3 and 4 say.
But to us that have had our eyes opened by the gospel, and, because of grace, unveiled by the truth, we see the treasure for what it really is, worth everything.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls,
who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
The jar of clay is the servant of God.
In comparison to the treasure, the jar of clay is of no consequence.
It is weak and fragile, easily chipped and broken.
It is infinitely less than the treasure it holds, no one decorated or really cared what they looked like.
It is expendable, not worth repairing when it broke.
There is no earthly reason why anyone would keep anything of value in a piece of clay pottery.
So why did God, who is all-wise, decide to trust something so valuable in such lowly containers?
God did this to show that the power of the gospel, the surpassing power, comes from Him and not man.
It is natural for us to look at the appearance of something to judge its value or success.
But God turns this on its head, and show His power through the lowliest means.
A baby in a manger, born to the poorest of the poor, is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Someone with no home or place to lie His head is the owner of a thousand hills.
The suffering Christ, executed in the most horrible way on a criminal’s cross, defeats the powers of darkness, sin, and death and rises again in victory over His enemies.
This is His modus operandi.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
He does it on purpose so that He gets the glory, and not the vessel that He uses.
And amazingly, it is the treasure that protects the container!
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
Paul gives 4 examples where we are held by the power of God.
We are afflicted, or caused to be distressed.
But we are not crushed, or put in a corner.
We are perplexed, or at wit’s end.
But we not driven to despair, or to a final end.
We are persecuted, or pursued.
But not forsaken, or left by ourselves.
We are struck down, or physically hurt.
But not destroyed, or lost for good.
All of these things are common for the Christian to varying degrees in all parts of the world and in all times.
And all of these things were true of Christ, He is the example of ministry as a Christian.
He suffered on the cross, He was perplexed in ministering to His own people, He asked God on the cross why He was forsaken, He was struck down in our place. And in the end He wasn’t put in the corner, driven to ultimate despair, left alone forever, and in His resurrection He proved He wasn’t destroyed.
So no matter what happens to us, the ministry of the gospel working in and through us by Christ holds us together.
So instead of giving up, Paul glories in his own weakness, he glories in his own suffering, so He can, through his weakness and through his suffering, show the power of God is working in him!
always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
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.
So death is at work in us, but life in you.
He carries around the death of Christ like a pallbearer carries around the coffin of a loved one, but the One in this coffin is powerful enough to come back out again!
There were several religions and gods in Roman theology. Sometimes in order to bring honor and to attract new followers to whichever Roman god was important to its followers, they would have a parade. The idea was to show that whatever god had the power and wealth to help his followers in their lives, they would make the parade as extravagant as possible. They would have music and dancing, art and flowers, and they would use gold and silver objects to attract followers to the god’s worship.
But Paul contrasted this type of triumphant parade with a show that the glory and power of the true God, wasn’t in all the trappings of an extravagant parade, but with a parade of trouble, and poverty, and pain, and even martyrdom. But when you got to the end of the route those things were all transformed into the life and light of Jesus shown in our meager jars of clay.
So we hope in the light and power of Christ by placing the true value on the treasure that is kept in the most common containers, and
So we hope in the light and power of Christ by placing the true value on the treasure that is kept in the most common containers, and
By understanding the goal of the treasure
By understanding the goal of the treasure
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,
knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.
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.
The Psalms was probably the most well known part of the Old Testament in Paul’s day. They were constantly being read by the Jews, in the synagogues, in their homes, and at work.
They would be singing them constantly and had a Psalm for almost every circumstance.
It is the most quoted book of the Old Testament in the New Testament, and Paul quotes it here.
Specifically, he quotes from Psalm 116
I believed, even when I spoke: “I am greatly afflicted”;
In this Psalm, the author is crying out to God in some form of trouble.
He says in verse 3
The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.
He says in verses 6-7
The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
He trusts God even in his despair, so even though he starts out in fear of death he ends in praise for God’s salvation from his trouble.
The he writes the quoted verse
Psalm 116.10 “I believed, even when I spoke: “I am greatly afflicted”;”
Paul brings to mind a Psalm that many Jews probably sung in persecution and trial.
The psalmist knows that even in the most painful of times, God hears him and answers his prayer, and so he will speak of the greatness of God all the more because of his deliverance.
It’s interesting to note that Paul is quoting from the Greek translation of the Psalm, which doesn’t exactly line up with our English translation.
But the meaning of the Psalm shows that the ministry that Paul has is in the same spirit.
What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord,
I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
Because he trusted God’s power and His purpose, he spoke of God’s salvation and name in the presence of all God’s people.
The Psalmist’s example is used by Paul to show his ministry is based on this same truth.
knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.
Christ is the forerunner, He was raised up, and so we will be also.
If that is true who or what do we have to fear?
The ultimate goal of Paul’s life was to increase the gospel’s reach by the power that God showed through Christ, so more and more people would give Thanksgiving to God.
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.
Why go through the hardship and pain. Why put you life in danger? Because of the ministry that brings the treasure of God’s light to more and more people, so that more and more people can bring their praise to God.
We have so many that came before us that sacrificed their pleasure and easiness, all the way to giving their lives for the ministry of the gospel.
From most of the apostles, to the many martyrs in the early church up until this day!
The wise of the world looked at Paul’s appearance, but he didn’t care what he looked like! He had Christ.
He didn’t care for his health or his safety the world needs Christ.
There are many missionaries and pastors who we could look to as an example of this mindset.
One of the ones that hit closest to home is the ministry of our dear Ed Lacy.
What a gifted man for the gospel, but he would even come to Providence for our spiritual growth.
Multiple health problems, including a sensitive stomach, but went to India and Africa and ate food with them at the expense of his comfort and health.
What an amazing testimony! And the ministry that he had all the way around the world will result in more men and women bringing glory to God for the light of the gospel for decades to come.
Long after the Romanians forget the name Ed Lacy, the name of Christ will be remembered because Ed was willing to suffer for the gospel’s sake.
We hope in the light and power of Christ by placing the true value on the treasure that is kept in the most common containers, by understanding the goal of the treasure and
We hope in the light and power of Christ by placing the true value on the treasure that is kept in the most common containers, by understanding the goal of the treasure and
By remembering the treasure is the source of our strength.
By remembering the treasure is the source of our strength.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
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.
For the most part, we live pretty easy lives in the west, especially as Christians.
The poorest of us here are still among the richest in the world.
We have access to clean bathrooms and abundant food and clean water.
Our poverty here in the States usually comes with a cell phone.
It can be easy to compare ourselves to others and downplay the pain we go through.
It is unlikely, but still possible, that we will never see persecution like Paul and the early church saw in their day.
So how did he stay motivated? Why didn’t he draw in his horns and try to please those who said he was too bold, not wise or smart enough?
Because he had this treasure, and sure it was in a cheap vessel that was weak, inferior, and replaceable, but this treasure was able to empower even the most ordinary of containers.
This treasure renewed the vessel day by day from the inside out.
The Corinthians (and often times we do, too) looked on the outside of the vessel to determine if it was effective.
God makes us effective in life and ministry from the inside.
Paul looked at life and ministry, not as if this is all there is, but considering the end of it as well.
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
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.
Notice the ways he uses pairs.
He’s already compared the outer and the inner man.
Light momentary affliction
eternal weight of glory
Things that are seen
things that are unseen
Transient, or temporary
eternal
There isn’t a Christian who hasn’t faced the most difficult of troubles.
We can’t look around this room and think of anyone who hasn’t been afflicted, perplexed, persecuted or struck down in this life.
But this treasure, the light of the gospel that we have been given at such a price, is what keeps the hope alive in the inner man.
It is what reminds us that the hardest of trials on this side of eternity are but light momentary afflictions compared to the eternal weight of glory.
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
ὑπερβολὴν εἰς ὑπερβολὴν, αἰώνιον βάρος δόξης
Paul uses the word beyond twice, beyond all beyonds!
Literally, an eternal weight of glory beyond all others that go beyond all others.
We aren’t in a position to comprehend how much better glory with Christ will be for us, then any trials we face on earth are hard.
He ends the passage explaining how we can think this way.
Because of faith we don’t look out the outside. We don’t see the cracks and breaks in the jar, we see the unseen.
This is what God sees, praise Him.
Aren’t you glad He can see past the outside and to the inside where Christ’s light is?
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.
Those are the things that are forever. Those are the things that really matter.
Conclusion
Conclusion
And the things that really matter are the things we hold on to tightly.
It is no little thing, although we often take it for granted, that a Holy God, worked His will out for thousands of years to send the Son to live on this earth in poverty and in suffering, so that He could save jars of clay.
God doesn’t work in the ways that we think.
Our minds and flesh are so fallen, outside of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, we don’t see the world around us rightly.
We look on the outside, when God looks on the inside.
We hope in things we can touch and feel, not in the things that are really worthy of our hope.
Paul writes in Romans
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
And so through trials and sickness, though hard times and even death, we wait for the treasure to complete its work on the container that holds it.
The light and power of the gospel in Christ is the treasure kept in jars of clay.