ROBERT@kontu.utu.fi (Robert W. Johnson) (10/03/90)
The Treasure In Earthen Vessels
PART I
II Corinthians 1:8, 9; 4:7-10; 6:8-10; 12:7-10
THE PAUL OF II CORINTHIANS
As we read II Corinthians carefully we seem to meet two persons--Paul in
himself and Paul in Christ. Everything Paul speaks of, from the opening
chapter of this epistle to its conclusion, is in one strain. There is one
governing principle throughout, which we might summarize in his own words:
"We have this treasure in earthen vessels." In the very first chapter we
see "this treasure" in an earthen vessel; and right to the last chapter
we keep meeting the earthen vessel, yet we keep meeting the treasure too.
II Corinthians is the most personal of the New Testament books. Other
epistles bring the revelation of God to us, but II Corinthians is unique
in this respect, that it shows us the kind of man through whom God imparts
His revelation. Had we not this epistle we might still know what work Paul
accomplished, but we should not know what kind of man he was who accomplished
the work. He was an earthen vessel.
When I first became a Christian I had my own conception as to what a Christian
was, and I tried my utmost to be that kind of Christian. I thought if only
I could attain to the standard I had concieved, then I should have attained
perfection. To be perfect was my ambition, but I had my own mentality as
to the standard of perfection. I thought a perfect Christian should smile from
morning to night; if at any time he shed a tear he had ceased to be victorious.
I thought a perfect Christian must be a very courageous person; if under
any circumstances he showed the slightest sign of fear then I said he lacked
faith, he could not trust the Lord, he was not perfect.
PAUL WAS A MAN
I retained these clearly defined ideas as to what a Christian should be like
until, one day as I was reading II Corinthians, I came to the passage where
Paul said he was sad. I was arrested. Paul sad? I thought. Then I read
that he shed many tears, and I thought, Can it actually be that Paul wept?
I read that he was pressed, that he was perplexed; and I thought, Was Paul
really pressed? Was Paul really perplexed? This also I read: "We were
weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so that we despaired even of
life." And I wondered, Can it be that Paul despaired? It had never occurred to
me that a person like Paul could have experiences such as these. But as I read
on I gradually awakened to the fact that Christians are not another order
of angelic beings, and that Paul was not so very remote from us. In fact,
I discovered that Paul was a man and that he was the very kind of man I
know.
Here is man who is afraid, yet he is strong; he is encompassed by foes,
yet he is not bound; he looks as though he is overcome, yet he is not
destroyed. You can see he is weak, yet he declares that when he is weak
he is strong. You can see that he bears in his body the dying of Jesus,
yet he says the life of Jesus is also manifested in his body. You hear his
"evil report," but you also hear his "good report." He appears to be a
"deceiver," nevertheless he is "true." He seems to be "unknown," yet he is
"well known." He is as one "dying" and still he "lives." He is "as
sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing: as poor, yet making many rich: as having
nothing, yet possessing all things." Here is a Christian!
Part II will follow tomorrow and Part III on Monday, the Lord willing.