2 Corinthians 4:6-15 Shining
through Broken Vessels
Today
I have before me two different Pots – In my right hand – one I picked up in
Costa Rica – nice designs
A)In my left hand one I got
Home Depot
B)Not If I were to ask which
Pot do you think is more Valuable I am sure that most of you would say – the
one from Costa Rica
1)It looks more Valuable –
it is more attractive – more designed – nicer to look at – and put on display
C)The truth of the matter is
that I paid about the same for each one.
D)The reality of is that the
one is my left hand is actually more valuable because of what is inside of it
1)The nice looking Pot from
Costa Rica contains a blank piece of paper
E)Where as the normal
looking Pot contains a $100.00 dollar bill!
See
the Value of the pot in measured by what it contains.
A)That is precisely the
point that Paul makes in our text this morning
B)God has placed a treasure in earthen Vessels.
6 For it is the God who commanded light
to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen
vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
A) Here Paul is likening the Believer in Jesus to an
Earthen Vessel or a Clay Pot { Not very Flattering
B)It is kind of a major blow
to the ego – Just a clay – Pot?
1)Surveys online if you were
an animal what would you be? –Puppy – Lion / Rat- Car /Song/ flower
C)Nothing for if I were a
clay Pot!
But This is a
great Picture to use because A clay pot, or earthen vessel, is made to hold
something { So are We
A) We were made to hold someone/& that someone is God himself.
B)And
this is the amazing thing: By His Spirit,
God places the Treasure of His Son into the clay pots of our lives!
C)This is
like placing the Hope diamond in a Glad trash bag.
D)I mean it is only
logical that if someone has a thing of beauty and value, he would have a
gold-covered box, or something exquisite to contain it.
Therefore, it’s a mystery indeed as to why God would place the Treasure
of His Son in clay pots like us
A)
Like a Diamond on Black Velvet – God places His Son in Us –
B)But the reason becomes
evident as God works in our lives – we begin to understand –
C)The excellency – the
good that is coming out of our lives isn’t because of us – but who is in us! {JESUS
D)His greatness and glory
are magnified on the background of our weaknesses and inabilities
Fundamental truth: What makes a person valuable and really beautiful is
what is on the inside.
A)Our society by it’s
actions is saying the opposite.
Aa)Our culture places so
much emphasis on the outside – on appearances it is ridiculous
B)Get this Americans spend
$18 Billion a year on Cosemetics, $24 Billion on Skin care, $38 Billion on hair
care products
1) 5 Billion a year on
exercise and Fitness – equipments and gym memberships $64
billion on weight-loss products & services
C)$13.2 Billion on
Cosmetic surgery – $162 Billion dollars on looking good
D)Problem though – we also spend $134
Billion on fast food and $175 Billion on Alcohol.
1)We are messed up aren’t we?
Here is the facts – A lot of people who look good on the outside
are down right ugly on the inside.
A)When
the Pot gets broken for some reason – you see the contents on the inside – you
realize – that is not very attractive at all.
B)Or
when the Pot gets broken- you see just how superficial someone is.
C)But
the opposite is true in the life of the person who is living for Christ
1)Brokenness
reveals a beauty – a glory that is inside of them.
This whole section in v.6-15 is framed by
the same statement used twice in this chapter
V.1
Therefore we don’t lose heart – We don’t lose
heart when pp are not responding to the message – when they are blinded – keep
preaching
D)V.16
Therefore We don’t lose heart when our bodies
are being beaten and broken down – Outward man is perishing
We are not going to lose heart when we
our vessel gets broken – because God is doing something.
A)Paul
would not lose heart in spite of all the suffering he went through because he
realized it was accomplishing something of eternal
significance
B)He
mentions 3 things in this chapter!
#1 God’s Power is manifested in our
weakness !
A)This
is one of the most amazing things to me –
Seen it often. {God’s
power in our weakness
B)Take
a person committed to Christ a person who
might seem average or nothing special on the
outside. –
D)Something
happens – they get broken – tragedy strikes – suddenly – the glory of God in
them is revealed
1)God’s
glory and power are seen in the midst of their weakness in their brokenness
In our times of
weakness – God strengthens – Evident – the power was of God and not of us.
A)Paul
illustrates this from his own life
V. 8 We are hard pressed on every
side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but
not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed--
Here we see the weakness of the Pot but also the Power of God!
A)Notice
the weakness of the "pot" Paul says "We
are hard pressed; we are at Preplexed or at our wit's end, we are persecuted,
we are knocked down."
B)On
the other hand, notice the Power of God "We
are not Crushed ; we are not in despair,we are never forsaken or abandoned
& we are never destroyed – never knocked out."
C) What Paul is saying is
that whenever we go through hard times, there is opportunity for God’s Power to
shine forth thru the breaking of the vessel .
D)Brokeness is sometimes
the means of God getting out of us – what He as put into us!
1) Or
it is the means thru which he gets us going in His direction.
Damian
Kyle – It is simply my will being broken to God’s will – My ways being
broken to God’s ways.
It is Ironic that
most things lose their Value once they are Broken/ less Value when they are
Cracked – But not so w/ the Christian
A)God puts a Premium on
Broken things – especially on Broken People
Psalms 51:16-17
“For You do
not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not
delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken
and a contrite heart-- These, O God, You will not despise.”
B)Brokenness leads to
humbleness and dependency – two traits that are attractive to God! He resist
the proud but gives grace to the Humble.
Psalms 34:18
18 The LORD is near to those who have a
broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
Isaiah
57:15 15 For
thus says the High and Lofty One Who
inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy
place,
With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of
the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
C) Paul understood that It
takes weakness in order to have the strength
1) that is the place where we struggle. That is what we
do not like.
D) We all want to see the
power of God in our lives, but we want it to come out of untroubled, peaceful,
calm, circumstances.
We want to move through life protected from all the dangers and all the
difficulties.
A)Like a ride at
Disneyland a little adventure – a little frightened – be we come out untouched
B)But that is not the way
that it works – Brokenness is a part of the Christian life
1)It is
a means thru which God’s Power is Revealed
C)And we are not even
permitted to the method of our brokenness.
D) God
doesn’t give us a Menu - "Well, I'll take a
few afflictions, but I don't want to be knocked down."
1)We get what God sends. Whatever
He allows
E)But
we are never Destroyed / Never Knocked
out { that is the Point
1)His
Power is manifested in our weakness – for His Glory
Christians can
get cancer, Christians can have financial collapse, Christians can go through
difficulties, family separations, divorce,
A)We
are not hidden from Life – we like anyone else encounter problems of every
sort. But we don’t go thru it ALONE
B)How
did you get through that ? Answer it was God!
1)So we do not lose heart #1 because God’s
power is being manifested in our weakness
#2 Because God's Son is exalted in our daily dying!
10 always carrying
about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life
of Jesus also may be manifested in our body
A)Notice that the "life of Jesus" always rests upon the "death of
Jesus."
B)We
must have, in our experience, the "death of
Jesus" in order to have the "life of Jesus."
C)Talking about that process of daily dying to self
11 For we who live are always delivered to
death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our
mortal flesh.
A)Paul clearly understood
that the More that Paul died the More that Paul was Broken the More opportunity
– Jesus had to be Seen
B)Every new city was an
opportunity – each day for Paul to present himself to God as a living Sacrifice
C)Paul
understood something – that we need to understand – that in & of Himself –
he had nothing to offer to those in bondage / darkness / in need
D)John the B said – I must
decrease so that He can increase
Jesus said that if anyone wanted to be His disciple he needed to pick up
His cross daily follow Him.
A)Picking up the cross is
to assume a life of dying to self.
B)So much of the Christian
life hinges on the death of self. – Jesus is seen in us when we die.
C)To love the unlovable or
the undeserving Death to self comfort and self preservation.
1)In that the love of
Christ is manifested.
D)To show forgiveness to
those who have hurt you.
1)Death to my rights: “I
have a right to be mad to be bitter-
E)I have to choose to die
to all that { my rights}
1)In doing so the
forgiveness of Christ is manifested
Paul understood the more that He died – the more Jesus was seen in Him!
Galattians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who
live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live
by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
A)I die daily
not a complaint or a sacrifice but a Mantra a necessity
B)The
Light of Jesus shined brighter when
Paul was broken – Story of Gideon
So we do not lose heart #1 because God’s power is being manifested in our
weakness
#2 Because God's Son is exalted in our daily dying!
#3 Because
others are made alive!
12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.
It
was piano craftsman Theodore Steinway who said that it is the forty thousand
pounds of pressure exerted on the 245 strings of a piano that creates beautiful
harmony.
A)Sometimes,
it is only the pressure, the persecution we undergo that causes a song to
resonate in the hearts of those with whom we share.
B)Paul knew this. That is
why he could say, The sufferings we go thru are producing death in us – but
life in you!
C)The sufferings that Paul
encountered brought a credibility to His message.
1)beaten/ stoned/ jailed/
etc – He kept coming back with the same message. JESUS
This
is, of course, the great principle of the cross. A)Christ died that we might live. The great exchange of the gospel is:
Christ’s life for ours.
B)And those who are used
most to spread the good news of Christ embrace death as the operational
principle of ministry.
“Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it
remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life
loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal
life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my
servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” (John
12:24–26)
When we allow God to plant
us – which will include death to us. Our plan/ comfort/ - result is fruit
A)The result is life to
others!
Now,
in verse 13-15, Paul brings it all together – by sharing what sustained him to
keep going / keep preaching.
A)Faith
Hope and Love
B)V.13
Faith: Paul cites a brief line from Psalm 116:10, the heart of Psalm
116: 13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what
is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and
therefore speak
C)For
Paul, a brief reference like this served as a pointer to the full context of
the Psalm upon which he based his statement of faith.
D)Psalm
116 describes a time when the writer (King David) almost died but God delivered
him from death David “believed” that God had delivered him and therefore he
spoke of it!
As
this statement from Ps 116v 10 is the center and pivot of the Psalm, it places
faith at its very heart.
A)The Apostle Paul felt a
spiritual kinship with King David because, like him, Paul had been also
delivered from death numerous times
B)Paul had likewise
believed, and so he also spoke He preached the word with Boldness
1)Believing
that he was spared for that purpose.
C)It is from this platform
of faith that Paul spoke with unflinching certainty and power.
This
being said, we must understand that while the foundation of Paul’s faith was in
the past,
A)Paul now goes on to show
that the focus of his faith was on the future.
B)A Future Hope – In the
reality of heaven. V.14
14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also
raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.
C)Paul was living for that
Day – Stand before Jesus receive a reward for His faithful service.
Heaven was more than a
destination it was His motivation
V.15
Love
15 For all things are for your
sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to
abound to the glory of God.
A)It was His love for others and His love for the glory of God that
kept Him going –
B)Impact
on the Church.
So we can see that what Paul
believed about the future had everything to do with the way he lived.
And more, the difference
between Paul and many Christians lies right here