Intro:
A. Did you know that the Milky Way Galaxy has about 100 billion stars, and that scientists estimate that there are over 100 Billion Galaxies in the Universe. That means that there are over 10 billion trillion stars. A one followed by 22 zeros. And that the Bible says that God knows each star by name.
B. And that so far as we know, we are the only life in the Universe. Is it any wonder that the Psalmist said “Who is man, that you are mindful of him?” Yet, just as God knows each star by name He knows each of us by name as well. And despite all of our problems, our shortcomings, our struggles He desires to place the Greatest Treasure in all of the Universe in each one of His Children. Paul calls us Clay Pots.
C. No two of us are alike, we all have different talents, gifts, abilities. We all struggle with sin, doubt and fear. We each are unique. We have people in this Church who are musicians, teachers, administrators, prayer warriors, encouragers, people of great faith. No two of us are exactly alike, no we are all different clay pots. Look at some of the Clay Pots that God has used in the past. Fearing for his life Abraham twice pretended that his wife Sarah was his sister. Moses had a fiery temper and like me, was afraid to speak publicly. David, a man after God’s own heart was guilty of adultery and murder, Peter repeatedly denied the Lord, and the list goes on and on. No, none of use are perfect, we are all Clay Pots. The Key to being a useful Clay Pot is to be Humble, Invincible, Sacrificial, Faithful and Hopeful
I. The Key is to be a useful Clay Pot
a. Useful Clay Pots are Humble
1. “But we have this treasure in clay pots, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. “
2. The treasure that Paul is referring to that resides in each one of us is the message that the eternal God came into the World in the person of Jesus Christ, and died on the Cross and rose again to provide the forgiveness of sin and eternal life for all that would believe. It is the Gospel.
3. This treasure is of incalculable worth, yet amazingly God places that treasure in clay pots like you and me. If that doesn’t humble us, nothing will.
4. These clay pots that Paul refers to were just everyday common pots; cheap, breakable, easily replaceable pots. In Paul’s day sometimes these pots were used to store gold or silver and buried in the ground. The dead sea scrolls were found in some clay pots just like these. But mostly these pots were used for everyday things like taking out the trash or carrying water. There was nothing extraordinary about these pots.
5. Friends, God wants to use humble, common people, those who are overlooked by society because they appear to lack something. Within these people God places the greatest treasure ever given to mankind, the Gospel of Christ.
6. We should all strive to be a humble clay pot, the World is already full of people enamored with their own cleverness, importance and ability who believe that they are doing God a favor by lending their skills. No when God chose to give His Word to mankind he did not choose the learned scholars of Alexandria, the philosophers of Athens, the orators of Rome, or even the religious leaders of Israel. No He passed all in favor of simple fishermen like Peter, John, James and Andrew, despised traitors like Matthew and obscure men like Phillip, Mark and Nathaniel.
b. Useful Clay Pots are Invincible
1. “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not despairing; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed.
2. Rather than being downtrodden about his weakness, Paul embraced it as an opportunity for the power of God to flow through him. Paul knew what it was like to be beaten down. He said that he endured afflictions, hardships, distresses, beatings, tumults, labors, sleeplessness, hunger. He said that he knew what it was to be roughly treated, hungry and thirsty, poorly clothed and homeless.
3. But despite all of this, there was something about him, the power of God flowed through him.
4. He was afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Afflicted is a word that means under constant pressure. He was under a ton of pressure, but not crushed. Crushed is a word that means being confined to a narrow, tight space. The pressure that he faced could not keep his ministry bottled up.
5. He was perplexed but not despairing. This is a phrase that means he was at a loss but not a total loss. He was on the brink of defeat but not defeated.
6. He was struck down but not destroyed. Struck down is a word that means to be hit with a weapon or thrown down in a wrestling match. Destroyed means to be ruined or lost. Paul was knocked down but not down for the count. He triumphed not by escaping adversity but by successfully enduring it. We have read the end of the book, God Wins. Life will batter us, it will bloody us at times. We’ll all be thrown down on the mat. But we are invincible, why, because we have eternal life firmly planted within our hearts, sealed by the Holy Spirit, bought with the blood of God’s Own Son, Jesus Christ.
c. Useful Clay Pots are Sacrificial.
1. “always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you.” (10-12)
2. Paul knew a lot about sacrifice. Suffering was a way of life for Paul. He says in Romans 8:36 that “I die daily.”
3. In the Corinthian Church there was a faction of false apostles who said that Paul was suffering because God was punishing him for a secret life of sin. But really Paul suffered because he identified himself with Christ. Throughout the ages, faithful believers have suffered and sacrificed in order to bear the name of Christ. The name Christian literally means “Christ bearer” we are called to bear the name of Christ. We are called to walk as He walked, so talk as He talked, to love as He loved, to live as He lived and to suffer from time to time. Jesus himself said that He sends us out as “sheep among wolves.” That’s what Paul did daily and he suffered for it.
4. But even though Paul suffered, even facing down death, he manifested the dying Jesus, so that the life of Jesus would also be manifested in his body.”
5. Paul was going to manifest Jesus no matter what the sacrifice. Our job is literally to make the name of Christ famous throughout the World. Sometimes, all of the time, that requires sacrifice.
6. To be saved cost you nothing, to be a disciple costs you everything. It may cost you a job, friends, family, money, possessions, hardship or any number of other things, but to take up your cross and follow Christ will unleash the power of God in your life like nothing else can.
d. Useful Clay Pots are Faithful
1. “But having the same Spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed, therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak.” (13)
2. Paul refused to compromise the Gospel message. In our time we see a steady erosion of the Gospel in order to win the approval of men. We have Church leaders who say that miracles never happened, that Jesus was not born of a Virgin, that He didn’t actually rise from the dead.
3. We have people all around us who simply refuse to believe the truth about the Gospel. They say that we are all headed to the same place, that it doesn’t matter how we get there. Well, Mt Sylvan Baptist Church will never go down that road. As our youth and adults go out into the World may we stand for the uncompromising truth of the Gospel.
4. It is not your job or mine to apologize for Scripture. It is our job to proclaim the truth and let God handle the rest.
5. Paul understood this. The phrase “the same Spirit of Faith” means that he believed the same thing as “what is written.” You see Faith is believing that God is going to do what He says He is going to do. Where does He tell you what He is going to do? In His Word. Faith and the Word of God are inseparable. His Word is True and Faithful in all things.
e. Clay Pots are Hopeful.
1. “knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.” (14)
2. This treasure within clay pots is the hope for all mankind. It is not “a” hope, it is “the one and only” hope. Paul understood that the hope for eternal life rested in the Gospel alone.
3. This hope provided Paul with the strength to overcome any number of obstacles in his life. It even provided him the strength to overcome the fear of death. As believers we must not cower down in the face of opposition, through the Holy Spirit God has given us all that we need to face down challenges, weather the storms of life and have the hope that we are victorious. We will all lay our bodies down, there is no avoiding that. But as believers, we shall not lose the battle with death, it has already been won.
4. How should we respond to all of this, to the God of the Universe using clay pots like you and me to carry His Treasure. Paul says in vs 15 “For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.”
5. How do we respond? By giving Him all of the Glory.
