Meeting Transcripts

This Treasure in Earthen Vessels

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Introduction

Today we will focus on 2 Corinthians 4:7, though we will also look a bit at the entire chapter. The chapter begins by referring to this ministry and then continues by stating the challenges that accompany it. The first verse boldly declares that we faint not: “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not.” Verse 7 speaks of the vessel and the treasure. You are the vessel, and the treasure is Christ in you. If the object of our trust is the vessel, we will faint. If the object of our trust is the treasure, we will faint not.

Behind me is Debbie’s hope chest. Most ladies acquire a hope chest before they get married to accumulate things in, with the hope that someday they will marry and use those items to set up a home. A hope chest is built to last long and maintain items in it free of bugs. The idea is that a hope chest will last forever. Where I grew up, we heated the house with wood, and I happen to know that there is no better kindling wood than cedar. So, despite the fact that it promises to be enduring, we all know that it is not. The hope chest can be symbolic of the vessel—our bodies. I do not know exactly what is in Debbie’s hope chest, not because she would not tell me, but because I just have not been that interested to know. However, I know that there are keepsakes in it, treasures, things that represent memories. If I had a hope chest, I might have stored the first wrench that I was given, or maybe my old baseball cards (had I not given them away when I got saved). She has memorabilia in it that has been handed down to her from her grandmother, and it also includes things that belonged to our children, as well as other items along those lines. We do know that even those could be destroyed with the hope chest. 

Trust the Treasure

Notice the contrast in the Bible between the earthen vessel and the heavenly treasure. Like the vessel, we deteriorate; we are human. We are also flawed in that sense that we do not know everything. Consider the treasure; it is just the opposite. The treasure is eternal, omniscient, and certainly enduring, so we want to remember this verse 7 and that “we have this treasure in earthen vessels.” We want to trust the treasure, rather than the earthen vessel, which this chapter points out.

We see two lessons here. The first is to trust the treasure rather than the vessel, and that should not be hard to do considering the weakness of the vessel. Before camp meeting is over, someone will comment about someone else having aged during the past year. Someone may comment about you to someone else, mentioning how your hair has grayed, or how you are beginning to show your age. Well, that is the nature of the vessel, so it should not be hard to trust the treasure.

Paul records four aspects of suffering that relate to dying with Christ and then four aspects of victory. Verses 8 through 10 say that we are troubled, perplexed, persecuted, and cast down. That is the vessel, but we trust the treasure. We are not distressed, in despair, forsaken, or destroyed. Along the way, we may find ourselves under assault in this vessel, but we also see that we are sustained through the life of Christ in us—that is the treasure. The treasure is found in dealing with circumstances that we do not have the resources to deal with. These situations force us to rely upon Christ in us. God could have given this treasure in a glorified, rather than an earthen vessel, but then the excellency of the power would be in us rather than in the vessel. It’s in dying that we live. It’s where God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for thee; my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). We may try with all our might to lean on our own wisdom, our own understanding, our own strength, and to forget that the treasure is where the victory lies, not in the vessel. So, we must be reminded to trust the treasure, and we are reminded by the nature of life through what life brings to us. Life forces us to trust the treasure.

Look to the Unseen

The second lesson is to keep the unseen in clear view. We can be baffled by challenges. If we find ourselves frustrated or discouraged, we can mark it down that it is the result of trusting or looking to the vessel; we are guilty of looking to what is seen. The things which are seen are temporal, whereas the things unseen are eternal, so we must look at the unseen.

I’ll read three verses toward the end of this same chapter. Notice the contrasts presented in verse 16 between outward and inward, perish and renewed. “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” The next verse states, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Light and weight, moment and eternal, affliction and glory. 2 Corinthians 4:18 refers to the seen and unseen, temporal and eternal, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, and the things which are not seen are eternal.” We usually think of challenges or difficulties, or the things that come upon us as working against us, but here we see where our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us. The very things that we think are opposing us are actually for us. They are for our development and strengthening as we rely upon that treasure. It does not pay to be overly excited when things are going extraordinary well. Nor does it pay to be overly discouraged when things are not going so well. It pays to keep our treasure in plain view.

This idea was illustrated to me a couple of months ago when we had a Valentine’s Day assembly of married couples in their twenties and thirties. There were fifty couples involved, which is quite a group. They were a vibrant group, most of whom, by the way, are wholeheartedly supportive and loving of this Latter Rain Gospel and their church. One person came to me very excited about the turnout. Within a day or so someone else came to me lamenting, saying he was disappointed in his peer group. Frankly, I was not overly excited about the turnout of the Valentine’s event, nor was I impacted by one who saw some in need of stirring. We are impacted by confidence in the mission God has given us to continue upholding this Latter Rain Gospel and this holy way of life. Our direction is not changed by whether this Latter Rain Gospel is looked upon in a pleasing manner or looked upon as outdated. We are confident of our mission, and that it is God-given, and we strive to do our best to fulfill it. There will be waves of revival or encouragement along the way, and different times where that is lacking. Either way, we look to the God who gave us our mission and are confident that He will fulfill it. And we are, therefore, encouraged in it.

If we look at what is seen, we can at times be discouraged. We must look to God; we must look to the treasure of Christ in us. That will always leave us encouraged. We cannot be encouraged just because we know we should be. We must be encouraged because we see there are many reasons for it. If our eyes are upon the treasure, upon the unseen, we have every reason in the world to go forward with a buoyant spirit and believe that God is going to work everything for good as He always has done.

Victory Ahead

Verse 1 and 16 of chapter 4 each declare, “We faint not.” We do have this treasure in earthen vessels, and we have confidence that God is working in us and through us. We believe that there are more victories ahead, and we are excited to look forward to these next two weeks. We can go into camp meeting with optimism that God will do what He does best. We fill our spot and put our trust in God. We cannot create a convert or stir a prayer meeting; it takes the Spirit of the Lord to do that. So let us go through this camp meeting with high expectations, knowing that God will fulfill them.

Closing Remarks

It is a privilege to welcome all of you to this great camp meeting. We look Heaven’s way. Thank you so much for coming. Thanks to all of you who do your part to carry the load around the altars of prayer and in the prayer room. Prayer is still the wheel that moves this Gospel along. Let us not be slack in that direction by any means, and let’s expect God to work and move. We are confident He will do that. We will stand now and be dismissed.

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