Kendall Turner originally shared:
2 Corinthians 4:7-18
2Co 4:7 If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us.
2Co 4:8 As it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do,
2Co 4:9 but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken.
2Co 4:10 What they did to Jesus, they do to us--trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us--he lives!
2Co 4:11 Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus' sake, which makes Jesus' life all the more evident in us.
2Co 4:12 While we're going through the worst, you're getting in on the best!
2Co 4:13 We're not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, "I believed it, so I said it," we say what we believe.
2Co 4:14 And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive.
2Co 4:15 Every detail works to your advantage and to God's glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!
2Co 4:16 So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.
2Co 4:17 These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us.
2Co 4:18 There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.
An Earthen Vessel with a Heavenly Destiny 2 Cor(4:7-18)
4:7 Having spoken of the obligation to make the message plain, the Apostle Paul now thinks of the human instrument to which the wonderful gospel treasure had been committed. The treasure is the glorious message of the gospel. The earthen vessel, on the other hand, is the frail human body. The contrast between the two is tremendous. The gospel is like a precious diamond that scintillates brilliantly every way in which it is turned. To think that such a precious diamond has been entrusted to such a frail, fragile earthenware vessel!
Earthen vessels, marred, unsightly,
Bearing Wealth no thought can know;
Heavenly Treasure, gleaming brightly—
Christ revealed in saints below!
Vessels, broken, frail, yet bearing
Through the hungry ages on,
Riches given with hand unsparing,
God's great Gift, His precious Son!
O to be but emptier, lowlier,
Mean, unnoticed and unknown,
And to God a vessel holier,
Filled with Christ, and Christ alone!
Naught of earth to cloud the Glory!
Naught of self the light to dim!
Telling forth Christ's wondrous story,
Broken, empty—filled with Him!
—Tr. Frances Bevan
Why has God ordained that this treasure should be in earthen vessels? The answer is so that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. God does not want men to be occupied with the human instrument, but rather with His own power and greatness. And so He deliberately commits the gospel message to weak, often un-comely human beings. All the praise and glory must go to the Creator and not the creature.
It is a secret joy to find
The task assigned beyond our powers;
For thus, if ought of good be wrought,
Clearly the praise is His, not ours.
—Houghton
Jowett says:
There is something wrong when the vessel robs the treasure of its glory, when the casket attracts more attention than the jewel which it bears. There is a very perverse emphasis when the picture takes second place to the frame, and when the ware which is used at the feast becomes a substitute for the meal. There is something deadly in Christian service when “the excellency of the power” is of us and not of God. Such excellency is of a very fleeting kind, and it will speedily wither as the green herb and pass into oblivion.
As Paul penned verse 7, it is almost certain he was thinking of an incident in Judges 7. There it is recorded that Gideon equipped his army with trumpets, empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. At the appointed signal, his men were to blow their trumpets and break the pitchers. When the pitchers were broken, the lamps shone out in brilliance. This terrified the enemy. They thought there was a vast host after them, instead of just three hundred men. The lesson is that, just as in Gideon's case the light only shone forth when the pitchers were broken, so it is in connection with the gospel. Only when human instruments are broken and yielded to the Lord can the gospel shine forth through us in all its magnificence.
4:8 The apostle now goes on to explain that because the treasure has been committed to earthen vessels, there is seeming defeat on the one hand, yet perpetual victory on the other. There is weakness to all outward appearance, but in reality incomparable strength. When he says, We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed, he means that he is constantly pressed by adversaries and difficulties, yet not completely hindered from uttering the message freely.
Perplexed, but not in despair. From the human standpoint, Paul often did not know there could possibly be a solution to his difficulties, and yet the Lord never allowed him to reach the place of despair. He was never brought into a narrow place from which there was no escape.
4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken. At times, he could feel the hot breath of the enemy on the back of his neck, yet the Lord never abandoned him to his foes. Struck down, but not destroyed means that Paul was many times seriously “wounded in action,” yet the Lord raised him up again to go with the glorious news of the gospel.
The New Bible Commentary paraphrases verses 8 and 9: “Hemmed in, but not hamstrung; not knowing what to do, but never bereft of all hope; hunted by men, but never abandoned by God; often felled, but never finished.”
We may wonder why the Lord allowed His servant to go through such testings and trials. We would think that he could have served the Lord more efficiently if He had allowed his pathway to be free from troubles. But this Scripture teaches the very opposite. God, in His marvellous wisdom, sees fit to allow His servants to be touched by sickness, sorrow, affliction, persecution, difficulties, and distresses. All are designed to break the earthen pitchers so that the light of the gospel might shine out more clearly.
4:10 The life of the servant of God is one of constant dying. Just as the Lord Jesus Himself, in His lifetime, was constantly exposed to violence and persecution, so those who follow in His steps will meet the same treatment. But it does not mean defeat. This is the way of victory. Blessing comes to others as we thus die daily.
It is only in this way that the life of Jesus can be apparent in our bodies. The life of Jesus does not here mean primarily His life as a Man on earth, but His present life as the exalted Son of God in heaven. How can the world see the life of Christ when He is not personally or physically present in the world today? The answer is that as we Christians suffer in the service of the Lord, His life is manifested in our body.
4:11 This thought of life from death is continued in verse 11. It is one of the deepest principles of our existence. The meat we eat and by which we live comes through the death of animals. It is so in the spiritual realm. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” The more the church is persecuted and afflicted and hunted and pursued, the more Christianity spreads.
And yet it is difficult for us to accept this truth. When violence comes to a servant of the Lord, we normally think of it as a tragedy. Actually, this is God's normal way of dealing. It is not the exception. Constant exposure to death for Jesus' sake is the divine manner in which the life of Jesus is manifested in our mortal bodies.
4:12 Here the apostle sums up all that he has said by reminding the Corinthians that it was through his constant suffering that life came to them. In order for Paul ever to go to Corinth with the gospel, he had to suffer untold hardships. But it was worth it all, because they had trusted in the Lord Jesus and now had eternal life. Paul's physical suffering and loss meant spiritual gain to others. Robertson says, “His dying was working out for the good of those who were benefited by his ministry.”
Oftentimes we have the tendency to cry out to the Lord in sickness, asking Him to deliver us from it, so that we might serve Him better. Perhaps we should sometimes thank God for such afflictions in our lives, and glory in our infirmities that the power of Christ might rest upon us.
4:13 The apostle has been speaking of the constant frailty and weakness of the human vessel to which the gospel is entrusted. What then is his attitude toward all this? Is he defeated and discouraged and dismayed? The answer is no. Faith enables him to go on preaching the gospel, because he knows that beyond the sufferings of this life lie unspeakable glories.
In Psa_116:10 the psalmist says, “I believed and therefore I spoke.” He trusted in the Lord, and therefore what he said was the result of that deep-seated faith. Paul is here saying that the same is true in his case. He had the same spirit of faith which the Psalmist had when he uttered those words. Paul says, “We also believe and therefore speak.”
The afflictions and persecutions of Paul's life did not seal his lips. Wherever there is true faith, there must be the expression of it. It cannot be silent.
If on Jesus Christ you trust,
Speak for Him you surely must;
Though it humble to the dust,
If you love Him, say so.
If on Jesus you believe
And the Savior you receive
Lest you should the Spirit grieve,
Don't delay, but say so.
4:14 If it seems strange to us that Paul was not shaken by the constant danger of death, we find the answer in verse 14. This is the secret of his fearlessness in uttering the Christian message. He knew that this life was not all. He knew that for the believer there was the certainty of resurrection. The same God who raised up the Lord Jesus would also raise up the Apostle Paul with Jesus and would present him with the Corinthians.
4:15 With the certain and sure hope of resurrection before him, the apostle was willing to undergo terrible hardships. He knew that all such sufferings had a twofold result. They abounded in blessing for the Corinthians, and thus caused thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. These two motives actuated Paul in all he said and did. He was concerned with the glory of God and the blessing of his fellow men.
Paul realised that the more he suffered, the more the grace of God was made available to others. The more people who were saved, the more thanksgiving ascended to God. And the more thanksgiving ascended to God, the more God was glorified.
The Living Bible seems to capture the spirit of the verse in this paraphrase:
These sufferings of ours are for your benefit. And the more of you who are won to Christ, the more there are to thank him for his great kindness, and the more the Lord is glorified.
4:16 Paul had been explaining his willingness to undergo all kinds of suffering and danger because he had before him the certain hope of resurrection. Therefore he did not lose heart. Although on the one hand, the process of physical decay was going on constantly, yet on the other hand there was a spiritual renewal which enabled him to go on in spite of every adverse circumstance.
The fact that the outward man is perishing needs little explanation or comment. It is all too evident in our bodies! But Paul is here rejoicing in the fact that God sends daily supplies of power for Christian service. Thus it is true, as Michelangelo said, “The more the marble wastes, the more the statue grows.”
Ironside comments:
We are told that our material bodies are completely changed every seven years. . . Yet we have a consciousness of being the same persons. Our personality is unchanged from year to year, and so with regard to the greater change as yet to come. The same life is in the butterfly that was in the grub.
4:17 After reading the terrible afflictions which the Apostle Paul endured, it may seem hard for us to understand how he could speak of them as light affliction. In one sense, they were not at all light. They were bitter and cruel.
But the explanation lies in the comparison which Paul makes. The afflictions viewed by themselves might be ever so heavy, but when compared with the eternal weight of glory that lies ahead, then they are light. Also the light affliction is but for a moment, whereas the glory is eternal. The lessons we learn through afflictions in this world will yield richest fruit for us in the world to come.
Moorehead observes: “A little joy enters into us while we are in the world; we shall enter into joy when there. A few drops here; a whole ocean there.”
There is a pyramid in this verse which, as F. E. Marsh has pointed out, does not tire the weary climber but brings unspeakable rest and comfort to his soul.
Glory
Weight of glory
Eternal weight of glory
Exceeding and eternal weight of glory
More exceeding and eternal weight of glory
Far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory
4:18 In this verse look does not merely describe human vision; rather it conveys the idea of regarding a thing as important. As far as the things which are seen are concerned, they are not the goal of ones existence. Here they refer primarily to the hardships, trials, and sufferings which Paul endured. These were incidental to his ministry; the great object of his ministry was what is not seen. This might include the glory of Christ, the blessing of ones fellow men, and the reward that awaits the faithful servant of Christ at the Judgement Seat.
Jowett comments:
To be able to see the first is sight; to be able to see the second is insight. The first mode of vision is natural, the second mode is spiritual. The primary organ in the first discernment is intellect; the primary organ in the second discernment is faith. ... All through the Scriptures this contrast between sight and insight is being continually presented to us, and everywhere we are taught to measure the meagerness and stinginess of the one, and set it over the fullness and expansiveness of the other.
