2 Corinthians 4:1-10 3/2/25 a.m.
“A Treasure that Triumphs”
We’ve all had times when things were tough. Some of you more than others. Some of you all have lost the dearest person in your life. Your husband or wife. Some of you have lost children. Some of you have lost SO MUCH.
I was talking with Janice Whalen this week. Some of you probably remember her. She hasn’t been here for a while but she set right over there where _____ are setting. I was with her at the hospital this week and we were going back through the years. I’ve preached 6 funerals for her family. Her mother’s funeral, her husband’s funeral, two of her sisters, and two of her brother-in-laws. She’s battled cancer this last year. Now she’s battling pneumonia. But slowly she’s getting better. Let me tell you, these last few years have been really hard.
I have a friend that I’ve been helping this week. He’s 85 years old and he has NO ONE. He’s dealing with medical issues. Of course his parents have passed away. He was an only child so he has no brothers or sisters and no nephews or nieces. He had one daughter who died without children. And he has one son who is living a sinful lifestyle, and so he refuses to have anything to do with his father, my friend. Now this fellow is in the last years of his life and he has no relatives to depend on for help. I’ll be honest, I can’t imagine how hard that would be.
And as I look at the life of the Apostle Paul, I can see his difficulty. How tough his life must have been. The shipwrecks, the beatings, the jail time, the stonings. I mean, the Apostle Paul had it rough. And so this morning we’re going to look at something he needed to teach the people of Corinth. Let’s look 2 Corinthians Chapter 4 this morning. I love this first Verse.
“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;”
I think Paul wants to make one thing clear as he writes to the people of Corinth. I think he wanted them to know that because of God’s Mercy, he wasn’t going to quit. He was determined to keep going.
And I think we all need to MAKE THAT DECISION in our own mind. Listen, God has placed each one of us in His ministry. It may get hard and it may get tough but we’re NOT gonna quit. We need to make that DETERMINATION like Paul did that WE’RE going to keep pressing on. And so this morning let’s read 2 Corinthians 4 Verses 1-10.
“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined 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 excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
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.”
This morning I want to look at the last four Verses that we read. Verses 7-10. I’m gonna TITLE this message, “A Treasure that Triumphs” I want to talk to you about this TREASURE that makes all of the things that we go through WORTH IT.
And so before we get in to the message, let’s go to the Lord in Prayer. Brother _____, would you lead us.
Before I get into the heart of my message I want to go over a few things that are important for us to understand.
Working our way down to Verse 7, Paul starts out this Chapter by showing us his determination . And then in Verse 2 he shows us his character. Everything he did was out in the open. He was above reproach in all of his dealings.
He never gave anyone an opportunity to question his METHODS or his MOTIVES.
He never MISHANDLED the Word of God. He never TWISTED the VERSES to fit his THEOLOGY. He never used the WRITINGS of the PROPHETS and PSALMISTS to HIT PEOPLE over the HEAD.
ILLUS: I remember as a kid there was a preacher who got mad at some of the people in the church. And so he used the BULLY PULPIT to get back at them. I don’t really remember what he said or why he said it but I do remember my dad saying, “Oh, I guess he’s just got a BURR under his saddle.”
Too many PREACHERS and DENOMINATIONS use the Word of God DECEITFULLY.
They TWIST IT to GUILT people into GIVING MORE MONEY.
They TWIST IT to LINE UP with their OWN PRIVATE INTERPRETATION.
But Paul used the Word of God in the MANIFESTATION of TRUTH. Manifestation means: an event, action, or object that clearly shows or embodies something.
Paul did his best to show them the TRUTH of the GOSPEL.
And I like the way that Verse 2 ends,
“commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God”
In other words, Paul preached a gospel of integrity. Anyone could look at Paul’s gospel and his ministry, then judge it by his or her own conscience and see that it was full of TRUTH.
Not everyone would come out and agree with everything Paul had to say. Some would openly oppose him BUT IN THEIR OWN CONSCIENCE, they knew that he was right.
Paul goes on in Verses 3 and 4 to talk about the GOSPEL, the GOOD NEWS of Jesus being HID by Satan. How that SATAN is the one who blinds people’s eyes to the truth of Jesus. But then in Verses 5 and 6, Paul gives the GOOD NEWS. It’s WASN’T HOPELESS. He explains that the LIGHT of JESUS CAN and WILL BREAK through the DARKNESS and the BLINDNESS that SATAN brings upon people.
It’s NOT PAUL’S THEOLOGY but PAUL considers himself a SERVANT to these people, him BEING the ONE to bring the message for the sake of JESUS CHRIST.
Listen, not everyone is going to agree with you. Not everyone is going to support the way you live. But we should live a life that is above reproach.
The way you live says SO MUCH MORE about you than the things you say.
The way you treat other people says SO MUCH MORE about you than the MONEY you may GIVE.
And the way that the BLINDNESS of this world is HEALED is by the LOVE and KINDNESS that is found in JESUS.
We are IN this world but we shouldn’t be OF this world.
1 Thessalonians 5:22 tells us that we should ABSTAIN from all appearance of evil.
That’s the LIFE that Paul lived and that’s the LIFE that we all should live. Even though he was going through some really hard times, he never let that stop him from continuing to fulfill God’s call upon his life.
I. And that gets us on down to Verse 7.
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”
Oh I love the way Paul put this. You have the MOST VALUABLE TREASURE ever known to man and yet it’s put inside an OLD CLAY POT.
So what is that TREASURE? According to Verse 6 it is, “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
I’d call that our SALVATION. Our KNOWLEDGE of JESUS CHRIST. The GIFT He’s given to you and I.
And listen, that VALUABLE TREASURE is ETERNAL. It is INDESTRUCTIBLE and CANNOT BE DESTROYED.
And yet we see that God placed it, THAT GREAT TREASURE, inside of a WEAK VESSEL. A VESSEL that gets SICK. A VESSEL that CRACKS with AGE. (I’m getting more and more CRACKS with age.) A VESSEL that will eventually BREAK.
Listen, these folks there in Corinth knew all about CLAY POTS. They had plenty of Clay Pots. Made from the DIRT, water added, and then thrown on a POTTER’S WHEEL and formed into a VESSEL. Then these vessels would be heated up to make them WATER TIGHT. But don’t drop one of those Clay Pots. It will shatter. Don’t get too rough with one because they will break and then they are worthless.
We put so much VALUE on these CLAY VESSELS. We GROOM THEM. Clean them up when they get DIRTY. Pamper them when they’re ACHY. Put nice clothes on them. Take them to the SPA. We PAINT THEM UP so they look pretty. At least some of the women do. I’ve known a couple of guys who like to do that too.
But listen, we value these CLAY VESSELS that God has given us. And we should value LIFE. God is the One who has given us this LIFE.
And so we should take them to the DOCTOR and HOSPITAL. We should give them MEDICINE when they’re SICK.
But what Paul is trying to get the people of CORINTH and YOU and I to understand is that the REAL TREASURE is what’s on the INSIDE. Our SALVATION. Our ETERNAL SOUL. Our HOPE that CANNOT be taken away.
In his earlier letter to the people of Corinth, Paul told them in Chapter 15, Verses 19 and 20,
“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”
You see there were those who were teaching that Jesus didn’t rise from the dead. He says if that’s true then we don’t have any hope. But here’s the deal. IT’S NOT TRUE. JESUS DID RISE FROM THE DEAD. He TRIUMPHED over DEATH, HELL and the GRAVE. And because of that, this TREASURE within us brings us TRIUMPH.
II. Now look at Verses 8 and 9 again.
“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;”
I was listening to Brother John Jenkins preach a message this week on Youtube. He’s pastor of the First Baptist Church of Glenarden. It’s a LARGE CHURCH outside Washington D.C.
And he was preaching his message, giving encouragement to so many of his people who are losing their jobs because of DOGE. Department of Government Efficiency.
He was telling them. “Don’t give up. God has a plan. Don’t get down in the dumps, God will make a way.” And this is what he said. “We need to have the PROPER PERSPECTIVE during Challenging Times.”
And let me encourage you today. When SICKNESS COMES and it will. Don’t QUIT.
When FINANCIAL HARD TIMES COME. That might happen too. Don’t quit.
When JOB LOSSES COME. When FAMILY TURMOIL and DRAMA HAPPENS. When DEPRESSION REARS it’s UGLY HEAD. When LIFE seems like it’s falling apart. Just remember, this LIFE that we live is like an EARTHEN VESSEL. A CLAY POT that’s gonna break. But keep EVERYTHING IN PERSPECTIVE. The TREASURE that we have inside is Jesus, and He is ETERNAL. He told us in Matthew 6:19-21,
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
This TREASURE that is within us will be the TREASURE that helps us TRIUMPH as we enter into Heaven someday.
III. Now in closing let’s look at 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.”
This all kind of goes back to the beginning of the Chapter. I think Paul wanted the life of Jesus to be seen in him. And the only way that this could happen is if he also carried in his body, HIS EARTHEN VESSEL, the dying of the Lord Jesus.
I want to say something here. I believe that there are things that we can LEARN ONLY by going through SUFFERING and TRIALS.
People sometimes don’t understand why they have to go through things that can HURT SO BAD. Both PHYSICALLY and SPIRITUALLY. But there are things that we will only learn through HARD TIMES.
ILLUS: I have walked with several people through their journey to death. From their diagnosis all the way to the end. My dad. Brother Rob Shatwell. Sister Shelia Hurd. Several others but Brother Mike Bence is one that I will never forget. I was with him when the doctor came into the room, looked at him and said, “You have cancer all over your body. Cancer in your head, your chest and your leg. You don’t have long to live.”
Really bad bedside manner. Mike didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to say. Finally Mike asked, “How long do I have?” The doctor said, “two, maybe three months”. And he was right. He died about three months later.
But I remember driving Mike home that day. He said, “I don’t want to hurt. I don’t want to be in misery.” He was very nervous and scared as I think all of us would be. So he moved to his sister and brother-in-laws house to die. Hospice was called in. And I went by many times to see Mike in his last few days. He got to where he couldn’t eat or drink. The cancer RAVAGED his body. He suffered more than anyone I’ve ever known. But what I noticed as time went on, was the CALM that came over him. There was no CRYING. No SCREAMING at GOD or COMPLAINING. As time grew shorter Mike grew more and more PEACEFUL until he just went to SLEEP and awoke in Heaven.
Can I say this? ONLY GOD. ONLY GOD. It HAD TO BE from the TREASURE that was inside of his BROKEN EARTHLY VESSEL. I know Mike learned so much that last three months but I also learned so much watching him. I’LL NEVER FORGET IT. Mike BORE in his body the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he TRIUMPHED because of the TREASURE that was within his BROKEN, CANCER RIDDEN, EARTHLY VESSEL.
And I believe, that’s what Paul was saying when he said,
“bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus”
In closing, the SUFFERING and DEATH of Jesus Christ of Nazareth is a BIBLICAL and HISTORICAL FACT. But it can become VERY REAL in your life today.
So many want to FEEL HIS PRESENCE in their lives. They want to KNOW the POWER of His resurrection. But they don’t want anything to do with His SUFFERING or HIS WILL for their lives. They want the TREASURE and TRIUMPH but not the TRIALS and TRIBULATION.
In Philippians 3:10, Paul tells the people of Philippi,
“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;”
Paul used the EARTHEN VESSEL as an illustration of you and I. But a clay pot sitting on a bench will always be a clay pot until it goes through the white heat of the furnace to become porcelain. And sometimes the HARD TIMES in LIFE are the WHITE HEAT that forms us into what God wants us to be.
There was a Christian brother who, during a recession, lost his job, all of his money, and his beautiful home. But his greatest loss was when his precious wife died. But yet he held on to the only thing that he had left, HIS FAITH.
And so one day he was out beating the pavement, looking for a job, when he stopped to watch some men who were doing stonework on a large church. One of them was chiseling a triangular piece of rock. “Where are you going to put that piece?” he asked. The workman said, “Do you see that little opening up there near the top? Well, I'm shaping this stone down here so that it will fit in up there.” Tears filled his eyes as he walked away. The Lord had spoken to him through those words. Through his LOSS and SUFFERING God was shaping him to be what He wanted him to be.
ALL of us have the opportunity to be an EARTHEN VESSEL FILLED with JESUS. We ALL have the opportunity to know Him in a personal way.
We ALL will face troubles and trials. But we need to KNOW that God uses those things to make us what He wants us to be.
We have a TREASURE that God has placed within us that will someday be what brings the TRIUMPH as we enter Heaven someday.
Let’s Pray
