“Jars
of Clay” – David Wilhauer
August 15, 2021
The very first word of our text for
today is “Therefore.” Therefore
what? Well, it’s “therefore” something
that came before 2 Corinthians 4, verse 1.
Specifically, what “therefore” refers to starts in chapter 3, verses
7-9.
7 Now if the ministry that brought
death, which
was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could
not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory
though it was, 8 will not the
ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry
that brought condemnation was
glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!
“Therefore” refers to the ministry that
we have. The ministry through God’s Holy
Spirit. This passage first makes
reference to the law. Paul writes that
the ministry that was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory. He’s referring, of course, to the Ten Commandments. And he notes that ministry brought
death. That means that if you broke the
law, you were condemned. And keep in
mind that no one could keep the law.
That is true of both the law and its many, many requirements. There was the Mosaic law, then the Talmud,
which was comprised of the Mishnah, (rabbinical discussions of the law), and
the Gemara, (a commentary on the Mishnah).
And then there was a commentary on the commentary. It was nit-picking at its finest. And no one, especially the common person,
could ever hope to keep the Jewish law.
Jesus brought new meaning to the law
(took it to a higher level) when he said that if you even think wrong or evil thoughts, it is just as sinful as if you had
committed them.
Bottom line: The law brings death.
And yet, Paul tells us that it brought
glory. It certainly was delivered in a
glorious way, on Mount Sinai. That glory
could be seen on the face of Moses when he came down from the mountain. And we have to acknowledge the fact that the
law brings glory to God. It demonstrates
his authority, his power, and his sovereignty.
Paul recognizes this, but then adds,
“will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?” He goes onto say, “If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that
brings righteousness!”
Paul frequently used logic in his
writings. And we have to agree with his
line of reasoning. If the ministry which
condemned was glorious, the ministry that brings righteousness, the ministry
that saves souls for eternity, would be so much more glorious.
He brings it home in verses 10 & 11.
10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the
surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is
the glory of that which lasts!
That is the “therefore” in our text
for today. This amazing, glorious,
unsurpassed ministry that comes to us as the result of the love, life,
sacrifice, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The ministry that brings righteousness. Wow!
This is really, really special.
In fact, at the beginning of our text
for today, Paul tells us that “since through God’s mercy we have this ministry,
we do not lose heart.” This new ministry
that we have through grace, gives us encouragement.
Paul next goes on to assure his readers
in Corinth that what he is telling them is the truth. That he has not changed or manipulated the
message in any way. Look at verse 2.
2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor
do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth
plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
Notice that Paul refers to “every man This new ministry was not something that was
reserved for the scholars, not something that was intended for the spiritually
elite, those who had special intelligence or unusual insight. The message certainly appeals to scholars,
but it is in its essence a message for the uninstructed mind and sincere
conscience of the ordinary person. And
that was revolutionary. That certainly
flew in the face of what everyone believed about the religious authorities of
Judaism.
What we find in the gospel is the truth
about God and man, and therefore it corresponds to universal human needs and
aspirations.
Paul next clears up a common
misconception. When someone dies who
never received Christ as their Lord and Savior, there are those who say, “Well,
I guess it was God’s will.” Or some
other statement that indicates that God has some say in who does and does not
receive his free gift of salvation.
Nothing could be further from the
truth. It is God’s will that EVERYONE is
saved. In John 6, we read…
39 And this is the
will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal
life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
It is not God who prevents a person from seeing the message. Look at our text, verses 3 & 4.
3 And even if our
gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are
perishing. 4 The god
of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light
of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Notice that Paul refers to the “god of
this age,”, has a lower case “g”. And who is the “god of this age?” It is Satan, of course. Satan knows that he has lost the war. Jesus has triumphed over sin and death. But the battle for the souls of those who are
still on this earth is one that Satan is very serious about.
He
wants to cause as many as possible to be blinded to the “light of the gospel of
the glory of Christ.” And how does he do
it? It’s all about choices. If we can’t see the light, the true light, we
make the wrong choice. And one wrong
choice leads to another, and the next thing you know, we are so far from the
truth that we can no longer see the glory of Christ.
That is NOT God’s will. He sent his Holy Spirit to open our eyes to have us know and understand the gospel.
Look at verse 6.
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge
of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
So, we have this glorious ministry. We have this incredible message that brings
light…true light…into our lives. It is a
light that gives us “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Christ.” And where do we put it? Verse 7:
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay…
The light of the knowledge of the
glory of God is a treasure. It is this
infinitely precious thing that we have been given to carry with us and most
importantly pass it on to others through our lives and our witness. Why would we put it in a jar of clay? Think about it. What exactly does that mean? You see, a clay jar is not exactly the best
vessel in which to keep something of value; especially something this
valuable. First of all, a clay jar can
easily be broken. Next it is hardly
secure. And finally, being made out of a
porous material, it leaks.
Of course, Paul isn’t talking
about a literal jar of clay. He’s
talking about us. So why then would we
be chosen to carry this treasure?
Look at the rest of verse 7. To
show that the power comes from God and not us?
Well, that’s good, because we
certainly know that we are imperfect. In
fact, Paul gives four examples of contrasts or paradoxes that are present in
our lives when we carry this treasure.
Look at verses 8 & 9.
8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
It sounds like there is going to
be trouble, doesn’t it? [P] I don’t like trouble. If we then, are the imperfect ones
responsible for carrying this treasure, it would be easy…in fact almost
expected for us to make excuses:
“We’re only made of clay.”
“We’re not very good. We’re imperfect.”
“We’re not very strong.”
“We’re easily broken.” In fact, sometimes we embarrassingly say, “I
was broken and have been patched back together.”
“We are hard pressed, perplexed,
persecuted, and struck down.”
“I’m sure that you can find
someone else who would be better.”
But then it’s not the vessel that
others are to see. Others are supposed
to see the treasure inside. And the
vessel doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s
good enough. Look again at verse 7.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power
is from God and not from us.
Anyone who sees such treasure,
held by our feeble and imperfect bodies, and put into practice by our daily
living and actions, would understand that such living could not come from our
own strength or power. And it certainly
would not come from our own goodness.
He says in verse 5, “5For
we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.” The
focus is not on us, but on the treasure.
It’s the treasure that sustains
us. Paul further describes that
treasured knowledge in verse 14: “14because
we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us
with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.”
Yes, in our world today, it would
be easy to give up. It would be easy to
make excuses…and there are many that are available. And isn’t that the way of the world today? No one wants to take responsibility for
anything. But Paul tells us through his
letter that we are “it.” We have been
chosen to carry the saving message of Jesus Christ…not to those who already
have it…but to those who are in need of it.
“16Therefore we do not lose heart,” Paul writes in
this letter. “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed
day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are
achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For
what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Outwardly, we are
wasting away. Most of us certainly know
what that is all about. Recently, I saw
this book at the store. [READ TITLE] There is a certain segment of our society
today who is obsessed with maintaining their youth. Granted, we have an obligation to take care
of our physical bodies. But let’s face
it, they wear out. Paul tells us that
even “though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed
day by day.”
This graph shows the
reciprocal relationship that should exist between the physical and the
spiritual. As the physical, (the red
line), declines, the spiritual, (the blue line), should increase. It’s as if we are building up deposits “on
account.” Some have said that “old age
is like a bank account. You withdrawal
what you have deposited along the way.”
I would say that
eternity is like a bank account. We
should be laying up treasure in heaven, and when we carry the treasure of the
“glory of God in the face of Christ,” we are doing just that.
Paul says that our
“light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all.” Be reminded that
our works do not earn us our eternal reward. The Greek word for “achieve” is
katergazomai (kat-er-gad'-zom-ahee), and is more accurately translated “to do
work fully” or “to finish”. We are
called to consistently live for Christ, to have his example in the forefront of
our lives daily, to carry it to the finish line, and in doing so, we bring
glory, not to ourselves, but to God.
Paul issues a
reminder in verse 18. He tells us to
“fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is
unseen is eternal.”
That is hard to
do. All we know is what we see. And how do we fix our “eyes” on what is
unseen anyway? Impossible, right? Yes it is…without faith. Faith is what is required if we are to
successfully carry this treasure in our clay jars.
When we get “down”
about the limitations that confront us from every angle, we must learn to be
content, as Paul also wrote in Philippians:
12I know what it is to be in need, and I
know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in
any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty
or in want. 13I can do everything through him who
gives me strength.
And in Romans
12: “2Do
not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s
will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
And we have the promise…the
glorious promise that God will sustain us, in our text for today.
8
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in
despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
And we get to do it all with jars of
clay. Correction: God gets to do it all
with jars of clay.
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