TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS
2 Corinthians 5:1-21
2 Corinthians 4:7
We have this treasure contained in clay vessels. From God and not man
WHAT IS THIS TREASURE?
It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ
It is the Spirit of God. It is The Love of God. It is the Glory of God. It is the
purpose of God. It is the Word Of God. It is a Gift from God.
This treasure is a life with God. This treasure is our salvation. This treasure was gift-wrapped in human flesh for you. This treasure is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This treasure is something that must be protected. We have to protect our minds and
hearts from the sins of the world. We have to contain our influence to the Word of truth.
THE VALUE OF THIS TREASURE
2 Corinthians 5:1-5
5 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
The Apostle Paul was a tent maker. You could say his day job was making tents, His real job was proclaiming Jesus Christ.
Paul understood that a tent was a temporary shelter. It could be taken down, folded up, and carried away. He knew that in time it would be worn out and need to be replaced.
It is similar to our life on earth. It is a temporary place. We grow up, we grow old, and we get
worn out. This body is the clay vessel. It can get broken and it can be destroyed.
But we have this treasure in this clay vessel. While the clay vessel is temporary, the treasure is eternal. Jesus said that if you abide in Me and my Word abide in you, you ask what you want and it will be given to you. It is a treasure in this earthen vessel that provides protection and provisions. This treasure is valuable.
This treasure orders our steps and guides us into all righteousness,
This treasure is a keepsake. This treasure is worth all the Gold in the world. This treasure is worth our time and our study.
THE PURPOSE OF THIS TREASURE
2 Corinthians 5:5
5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
This treasure is our guiding light. It is the light of the world an example for all to see
and live by.
This treasure is the strength of the earthen vessel
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Verse five says this clay vessel was made for this purpose. We were made in the image
and likeness of the Almighty God. While the clay vessel is getting worn out, the treasure is renewed every day.
This earthen vessel was born in sin and shaped in iniquity. This clay vessel was destined for death. But the treasure was predestined for eternal life.
THIS TREASURE REVIVES OUR FAITH
2 Corinthians 5:6-11
V:6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him,
We got this treasure in this earthen vessel. This treasure comes with confidence. I can trust the Lord. With this treasure, I am justified, sanctified, and clothed in the righteousness of God.
With this treasure, I don\’t have to worry about tomorrow. Because they just live by faith and not by sight.
This treasure in this earthen vessel reminds me that my goal is to please the Lord.
This treasure reminds me of my heavenly home. I look forward to being absent from the body and present with Lord. This treasure reminds me that I got some work to do. I got cleaning up to do. I got some growing up to do. I got some service to perform. I got to get ready for that judgment day.
Bear with me, I talking about the TREASURE
THIS TREASURE IS THE PRIDE OF LIFE
V:11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are allowing you to take pride in us so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ\’s love compels us because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
The treasure comes with responsibility.
The treasure makes it plain, I must first reverence the Lord. Second, It is my job to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I can\’t keep this treasure to myself. I got to share it with everybody else. This treasure makes it plain to me, that while I got the opportunity I must take pride in Jesus Christ, If boast, I boast in the Lord
It is this treasure that keeps me in my right mind. It\’s this treasure that compels me to love God first and to love you as I love myself.
It is this treasure in this earthen vessel that reminds me of hope of my salvation. Christ died for me and you. We are all raised when He was raised. It is this treasure that reminds me that I am no longer mine, but the Lord. It is this treasure that reminds me if I live I must live for the Lord.
THIS TREASURE IS OUR NEW CREATION
V:16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, and the new has come!
This treasure gives me a new point of view. This treasure elevates us to a new and higher
level of thinking. This treasure reminds me that this earthen vessel is being broken and reshaped into something new. The old man is dead and a new man has come alive.
I getting old and my steps are getting shorter, but this treasure is renewing me on the inside.
The outlook on the outside may be dim. But our look on the inside is bright and shining.
We got this treasure in earthen vessels.
THIS TREASURE IS OUR REDEMPTION
V:18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men\’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
This treasure is from God. Man has nothing to offer in comparison. Only God can reconcile us to Himself. Only God can take away the sins of the world and replace them with His righteousness.
As bad as I am, as terrible as I have been, God sent His Son to die for my sins and yours.
God has decided that any good that we do is nothing more than filthy rags. Yet, He redeemed
us from our sins and made us responsible for the message of reconciliation.
I got his treasure in this earthen vessel. I am compelled to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
WE ARE MADE AMBASSADORS FOR THIS TREASURE
2 Corinthians 5:20-21
V:20 We are therefore Christ\’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ\’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As bad as we are, As terrible as we can be, God has made us Ambassadors for Christ.
God overlooks the bad and sees the good in us. He compels us to be reconciled to
Himself through His Son.
We got this treasure in earthen vessels. It makes us conscious of the righteousness that
has been bestowed upon us.
This treasure is God’s grace and God’s mercy. This treasure is worth the praise of men
all day long.
This treasure was announced to us by God’s Holy Angels
Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, and goodwill toward me.
This treasure come with wisdom that exceeds the knowledge of all men for all times.
This treasure we have brings joy when there is sadness. This treasure we have brings peace when there is turmoil. This treasure that we have brings hope when others see gloom and doom. This treasure that we have causes us to shout when there is no one around us.
This treasure that we have lets us face trials and tribulations with the joy of the Lord.
The joy I have, the world didn’t give it and the world can’t take it away. Because I have
this treasure in this earthen vessel.
THANK GOD FOR THIS TREASURE
Rev. M. Mitchell
