This morning there is a pressing that many feel in life, a pressure that cannot be explained, maybe an un-comfortability that can sometimes feel unbearable, yet something in us is stirred allowing us to continue to move forward. In life we must come to the conclusion that pressure is inevitable and that sometimes it is good, sometimes trouble on every side brings out of us a side we did not know we had. See beloved there is truth that in these earthen vessels lies a treasure, a hidden treasure that needs to be on display for all to see, but sometimes it takes pressure, it takes trials, it might even take a tragedy for the best of you to be manifested for everyone to see. As difficult as it may seem this is a truth that we all wrestle with.
The portion of scripture that we are about to read will give us a glimpse of the totality of Paul’s problems which were many, yet this wonderful word of God tells us that Paul was pressed to continue on for the glory of the Most High.
“A bird does not give up flying today because it couldn't find any worms yesterday.”
You should quickly understand that your purpose in Christ doesn’t end because of trouble, God brings out the best in us when faced with trouble.
2 Corinthians 4:7-9
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—
Diamonds are made by high pressure; A Diamond is the hardest rock known to man. Its name means unbreakable or invincible.
As God is building His people, listen to me strong rooted God-fearing people are produced by pressure, they are built under pressure. You and I will never be able to understand the miracles of God without the troubles of life. The enemy of our souls would love to have us throw in the towel when things get tough. Keep up the good fight solider.
1st Point “Treasure in Earthen Vessels”
When we think of treasure we think of pirates looking for hidden treasures and our minds begin to think of the adventures that lie wait in this journey and the work it takes to get to the destination of this unfound treasure, but there really is an unfound treasure in everyone of us this morning. A treasure that has not been tapped into, a treasure that has yet to be unseen, beloved listen to me, this treasure is produced by circumstances and situations. In our scripture Paul says that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Beloved on this earth we are vessels and vessels hold things, some vessels hold water, others hold food, vessels are used to hold and store things that are of value and use, yet some things we hold as earthen vessels can be dangerous for us, can hurt us and really destroy us. Pride, arrogance, un-forgiveness, sin can destroy the individual.
James 1:15
Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.
Beloved life was designed to keep a man from pride. No matter how great your Christian walk may seem you are still a mortal man; still the victim of circumstances; still subject to the chances and the changes of human life; still a mortal body with all that body's weakness and pain. You are an individual with a precious treasure contained in an earthen vessel, which itself is weak and worthless. And yet God still chooses weak things like you and I to hold His treasures.
Treasures that can bless someone else, jewels of wisdom and experience, treasures that bring hope and life, treasures that cannot be bought, too expensive to purchase yet so basic it baffles the simplest person. But let’s look at this for a moment and see what God is trying to convey to us this morning concerning vessels, vessels carry things they hold things but they also pass things through, a ship is considered a vessel, a container is considered a vessel and so is an artery, that is considered a vessel, that allows blood to flow properly to the heart. It is funny that the bible tells us that where your treasure is your heart will be also. What is more important than carrying the word of God? Holding it dear to you? Allowing it to properly flow through you? The bible tells us that this treasure is going to be displayed in Earthen vessels beloved that’s you and me, so the question is how do we obtain this treasure?
2nd Point “Through Pressure”
8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—
Life has surrounded us with infirmity, although Christ has surrounded us with glory, so that we may remember that the infirmity is ours and the glory is God's, and recognize our own utter dependence on him.
Paul goes on to describe this Christian life, in which our infirmity is intermingled with God's glory, in a series of paradoxes. We are sore pressed at every point but not hemmed in. There are all kinds of pressure on us, but we are never in so tight a corner that there is no way out. It is characteristic of the Christian that, even if his body be confined in some difficult environment or some narrow circumstance, there is always an escape route for his spirit to the spaciousness of God. See beloved pressure will make you cry out to God. Pressure will allow the cry to be forced out.
There are tons of scripture that show us this example of how pressure will cause us to cry out.
Exodus 2:23
Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
2 Samuel 22:7
In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God;
Luke 18:7
And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him,
You ever squeezed a bottle that had liquid in it so hard that it just exploded, that’s us beloved when we had enough. See beloved this is the wonderful plan of God, when you have had enough of having enough, we cry out to the God of heaven that listens to us.
Psalm 66:19
“But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.”
1 John 5:14
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
There are moments that we are at our wit's end but never at our hope's end. There are times when the Christian does not know what is to be done, but even then, he never doubts that something can be done. There are times when he cannot well see where life is going, but he never doubts that it is going somewhere. If he must "stoop into a dark, tremendous sea of cloud", he still knows that he will emerge. There are times when a Christian has to learn the hardest lesson of all, the very lesson which Jesus himself had to learn in Gethsemane--how to accept what he cannot understand and still to say, "God, You are love; I build my faith on that."
See church pressure can be your best friend or your worst enemy it depends on you, pressure can bring the best out of you but it can also destroy you, that all depends on who you listen to when you are going through the pressure. Jesus Christ or Satan.
Beloved diamonds are created through pressure, lots of pressure, invincible and unbreakable when finished. Beloved I wonder, are you a diamond in the rough? The treasure that is in you can only be created through pressure.
3rd Point “Repentance from a broken vessel”
John 9:31
“We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.”
A man may be at his wit's end, but he can never be at his hope's end while he has the presence of Christ.
We are knocked down but not knocked out. The supreme characteristic of the Christian is not that he does not fall, but that every time he falls, he rises again. It is not that he is never beaten, but he is never ultimately defeated. He may lose a battle, but he knows that in the end he can never lose the war.
The ultimate glory of God is when you find yourself hearing a word that’ll work a supernatural stirring in your soul deep within your heart and you’ll find it in yourself to admit that you are a sinner before God and now want to make things right. God begins the work of bringing out all the beauty of that hidden treasure that lies deep within you. God begins to work you through your issues and helps you through your storms and others begin to see the miracles, changes are evident and people are awe struck of what they are seeing right before their eyes it is something surreal it is supernatural, it is God.
Beloved when we first moved to Bridgeport we move into our home that had a 2 car garage which is very rare for a New Yorker, so we turned our garage into a café for the community, now this garage had some imperfections in it, some holes and cracks but instead of fixing these imperfections we decided to fill those holes and cracks with gold spray paint and call the café, “The hidden treasure café”, the reason we did that was because the reality is people come in broken with imperfections, but when they meet with God, He begins to show them that somewhere within those cracks and holes, somewhere in that brokenness there are hidden treasures. When Jesus gets involved miracles happen. Diamonds are created. Allow Jesus to display those hidden treasures but you will first have to ask Him in.
Truett always had a soft spot for God. The Bible moved him. His heart was warm to the things of his King. He was by no means a cookie cutter Christian but give me a believer who fights to keep believing. Give me a broken man who recognizes his need for a Savior every time. That's who Truett was and how he should be remembered.
"My wife and I would want the world to know this... We don't follow God because we have some sort of under the table deal with Him, like we'll follow you if you bless us," TobyMac concluded his statement. "We follow God because we love Him. It's our honor. He is the God of the hills and the valleys. And He is beautiful above all things."
This statement came out of a relationship with God throughout the years of both good and bad and knowing who God is in his life, this was a statement by a man who has been through some things with God by His side and is still trusting Him through this tragic moment. Beloved would you consider where you are at this morning with God and accept Jesus Christ.
