Earthern Vessels

We Have a Valuable Treasure.

2 Corinthians 4:7–12 NASB 2020

7 But we have this treasure in earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; 8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who live are constantly being handed over to death because of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal flesh. 12 So death works in us, but life in you.

The believer is simply a “jar of clay”; it is the treasure within the vessel that gives the vessel its value.

The image of the vessel is a recurring one in Scripture, and from it we can learn many lessons.

To begin with, God has made us the way we are so that we can do the work He wants us to do.

God said of Paul,

Acts 9:15 NASB 2020

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;

No Christian should ever complain to God because of his lack of gifts or abilities, or because of his limitations or handicaps.

Psalm 139:13–16 indicates that our very genetic structure is in the hands of God. Each of us must accept himself and be himself.

Psalm 139:13–16 NASB 2020

13 For You created my innermost parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You When I was made in secret, And skillfully formed in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my formless substance; And in Your book were written All the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.

The important thing about a vessel is that it be clean, empty, and available for service.

The quality of the vessel does not matter.

The value is not about the vessel, its about the treasure IN the vessel.

1: Clean.

We are cleaned by the blood of Jesus.

John 15:3 NASB 2020

3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

That is our whole body has been made clean. However, we do live in a sinfully dirty world and we make regular contact with that world. The result is that even though our body is cleaned by Jesus, our feet get dirty still.

John 13:5–10 NASB 2020

5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began washing the disciples’ feet and wiping them with the towel which He had tied around Himself. 6 So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, You are washing my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not realize right now, but you will understand later.” 8 Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no place with Me.” 9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet; otherwise he is completely clean. And you are clean—but not all of you.”

2: Empty.

That is emptied of their pride.

Philippians 2:3 NASB 2020

3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves;

3: Available.

Each of us must seek to become “a vessel unto honor, sanctified [set apart], and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (2 Tim. 2:21).

We are vessels so that God might use us.

We are earthen vessels so that we might depend on God’s power and not our own.

We must focus on the treasure and not on the vessel.

Paul was not afraid of suffering or trial, because he knew that God would guard the vessel so long as Paul was guarding the treasure (see 1 Tim. 1:11; 6:20).

God permits trials, God controls trials, and God uses trials for His own glory.

God is glorified through weak vessels.

The missionary who opened inland China to the Gospel, J. Hudson Taylor, used to say, “All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on Him being with them.”

Sometimes God permits our vessels to be jarred so that some of the treasure will spill out and enrich others.

Suffering reveals not only the weakness of man but also the glory of God.

In fact the more marred and cracked the either vessel is, the more the glory of the treasure inside will shine through the cracks.

Paul knew this and this is why he boasted.

2 Corinthians 10:17 NASB 2020

17 But the one who boasts is to boast in the Lord.

Not only must we focus on the treasure and not on the vessel, but we must also focus on the Master and not on the servant. If we suffer, it is for Jesus’ sake. If we die to self, it is so that the life of Christ might be revealed in us. If we go through trials, it is so that Christ might be glorified. And all of this is for the sake of others. As we serve Christ, death works in us—but life works in those to whom we minister.

Dr. John Henry Jowett said, “Ministry that costs nothing, accomplishes nothing.” He was right. A pastor friend and I once heard a young man preach an eloquent sermon, but it lacked something. “There was something missing,” I said to my friend; and he replied, “Yes, and it won’t be there until his heart is broken. After he has suffered awhile, he will have a message worth listening to.”

The Judaizers did not suffer. Instead of winning lost souls, they stole converts from Paul’s churches. Instead of sacrificing for the people, they made the people sacrifice for them (2 Cor. 11:20). The false teachers did not have a treasure to share. All they had were some museum pieces from the Old Covenant, faded antiques that could never enrich a person’s life.

It has been my experience that many churches are ignorant of the price a pastor pays to be faithful to the Lord in serving His people. This section is one of three sections in 2 Corinthians devoted to a listing of Paul’s sufferings. The other two are 6:1–10 and 11:16–12:10.

The test of a true ministry is not stars, but scars. “From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks [brands] of the Lord Jesus” (Gal. 6:17).

How can we keep from giving up? By remembering that we are privileged to have the treasure of the Gospel in our vessels of clay!