As long as we remember that we're merely earthen vessels, and even cracked vessels, God's power in us remains tremendous. And by "earthen vessels" Apostle Paul did not mean being weak or faltering due to sin, as many suppose, but our being empty, nada, nothing, zero, pfft! so God can fill us with himself and be manifested---we being God's flesh on earth.
"God's
flesh" was what Paul had in mind when he talked about treasure
in earthen vessels. We're earthen vessels that need to crack or break to reveal the Treasure within. This is why the earthen jar is subjected to many pressures, bumps, falls and weathering---to crack and let light in, and later break to reveal the light within. Jesus put it this way:
Unless the seed falls to the ground and dies...
John 12.24
"Earthen
vessels"---it's that mindset of being lowly, quiet, meek, plus a thorough disregard for self (or zero ego). It's what keeps everything excellent and purely the work of
God (2 Cor.4). It's a life of denying self and picking up the Jesus
cross which is about inner emptying equals tremendous power, more powerful than a
hundred nuclear warheads!
If GOD's promises in the bible don't seem to work, you may be missing
something vital in the operational systems of GOD's Kingdom.
Being earthen vessels does NOT mean we're
"only humans and will naturally sin, and that God understands
this---he still considers us his children worthy of heaven by grace through faith even if we deliberately live in sin." This is the modern faith creed many
"believers" today profess as a license to sin and make sinning a convenient idiosyncrasy.
Pride Coats Pots with an Anti-Crack Layer
Pride prevents earthen wares from cracking. The more we boast of self, possessions and achievements, the more the earthen pot hardens, preventing light from going through. If it's bereft of light, it cannot reveal any treasure when broken. This was why Jesus stressed the importance of receiving the kingdom as a little child. The pure heart of a child is humble and teachable.
Matthew 18.3: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
Many today
take pride in their denominational churches. This is NOT the cracked earthen vessel that is filled with heaven's Treasure. It's the giant statue of Nebuchadnezzar which the Rock demolished---the Rock not made by human hands. Denominational pride is nothing but boasting of self efforts
and accomplishments, which are all achievements of the flesh. No matter if they think many souls are being "saved" through their ministries. Whatever the Father has not planted will be pulled out by the roots.
Being earthen vessels
means we take boastful pride in nothing but Jesus---his
Word, his power, his ministry and accomplishments ALONE. Then his supernatural power resides in us, because it's no longer us who live but him. If we take pride even a small bit in our own ministry efforts, it's not GOD's ministry we're doing but the devil's, because only the Holy Spirit can do and accomplish what Jesus started. No human effort can do it.
"Earthen
vessels," according to Paul's letter, show our susceptibility to
persecution and hardships for the Gospel, and yet we conquer them all through
God's power and grace alone. No human effort or strategy or
achievement involved. Hence, "We are in terrible hardship every
which way yet not crushed; we are stunned by the difficulties but never in
despair; persecuted but never abandoned, struck down, but not demolished" [2 Corinthians 4.10]. The pot must crack and break. God's supernatural power and grace alone can work this result.
The Treasure Inside
Being "earthen
vessels" means "always carrying in our bodies Jesus' death so that
the true Jesus LIFE is gloriously manifested in the same." It's purely God's flesh on earth. And this is how real power is made perfect.
We should be pouring time and seriousness into this, not our nice church programs or other things we call "church ministry." We should be
masters, even with "doctorate degrees," in being cracked and discarded earthen vessels
where the glorious Jesus LIFE manifests daily, each moment, in ever-increasing
glory.
True
eternal life is being a crashed earthen pot manifesting the
Treasure from heaven. "For we who have the LIFE are always given over to
death for Jesus' sake,
that the Jesus LIFE may also be revealed in our mortal flesh (God's
flesh)."
God's flesh
is perfect because 100 percent of the Jesus LIFE is in it. A hundred percent of
the Holy Spirit is in it! That's our goal---one already fitted in
our lives through Jesus in us and designed to up-size daily in ever-increasing
dimensions. Make sure
you're indeed an earthen vessel filled with God's Treasure.
UNSEEN GOSPEL:
And even if our gospel is unseen, it is unseen to those who are perishing. [2 Corinthians 4.3]
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