The Most Precious Treasure

I wonder where you keep your most prized possessions.

I'm certain that wherever you put it, you try to make it a safe place,

the safest possible place that you can find or buy.

My country, Albania, placed its most prized possessions,

which is the national treasure, in a forbidden mountain,

in a tunnel, impregnable, with guards.

Nobody knew where it was.

It was a state secret.

And no one could get near to it without being shot.

24 years ago, however, we had the so-called troubles,

just like in Ireland, where the state ceased to exist.

And at that moment, you know exactly what happened.

24 years ago, within the space of two days,

the Albanian national treasure, a whole nation's wealth, was stolen,

broken into, taken away.

The tunnel left an empty shell.

What we are going to see today is that God does something counterintuitive.

He stores his most valuable treasure in the unlikeliest of places,

in plain sight,

and in the most insignificant vessels.

And yet, no one can steal it.

No one can destroy it.

Because of God's power.

We are going to focus today in the letter that Apostle Paul sent to the Corinthians.

He had sent perhaps a series of letters,

the first of which we know as 1 Corinthians.

This is the 2 Corinthians.

Perhaps the 2nd or the 3rd, and some say the 4th letter that is sent to them.

These were people that he had evangelized,

he had brought to Christ himself a while ago.

And we are going to focus in a different passage today.

I apologize for the miscommunication with Pastor Graham,

but we are going to focus on verses 7 to 12.

And we are going to see three things that Paul actually tells us about this treasure and its vessels.

And the first thing is simply this.

What are we who believe in him?

We are insignificant vessels of invaluable value.

Insignificant vessels of inestimable value.

And secondly, we are going to see proof for it.

Paul gives us proof, and the proof is this.

Against all odds, you will resist.

And thirdly, and finally, we are going to see the purpose of it all.

You will win, and others will gain.

Let's go to verse 7.

But we have this treasure.

Now, Paul says this treasure, so he must know what it is.

He must have said what it is, and it does.

Just a bit earlier, I will explain briefly.

Just a few sentences earlier, he explains what the treasure is.

He explains it from the history of Moses.

Moses, as you might know from the Old Testament, would go into this particular tent, sometimes daily,

and he would speak with the Lord.

And that was a very personal encounter.

And because of that personal encounter with the Lord, which the Old Testament calls it face-to-face communication,

after Moses would go out of the tent, his face would shine because of that glory that was the Lord's presence.

However, that glory would soon fade away from his face, so that the people would not be distracted, therefore, from his message.

After he left the meeting, Moses would put a veil on his face until the glory disappeared.

And Paul says, look, there is a parable in this true story.

And that is that the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, was only a foretaste of something much better, much bigger to come, of a lasting glory.

And that is, he said, Jesus Christ.

However, when Jesus Christ came, many Jews still did not believe.

The veil, he says, still remained on their eyes.

They are like blind people.

And not only them, but even those who are not Jews and have heard the gospel and do not believe.

A veil still remains on their faces, and he calls them, they are blind.

Because there is a force in this planet, some people call it impersonal, and Christians call it personal, and that's called the devil.

And he is the God of those who do not believe in the true God.

And he says, the only way that the blind can see the light is when they see the face of Christ.

And he says, the face of Christ is actually the light that we have been waiting for to see.

The light of the knowledge of God's glory.

And he says, that's the treasure.

Now, it's a treasure that we carry to give to the world.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay.

We are insignificant vessels.

We are jars of clay.

Now, Paul is playing a pun of words here because we people are made of earth, of earthen elements.

Now, in the period that Paul was living, as you may have seen, there were the so-called amphoras,

the huge jars or the small jars in Corinth.

And some of them were intricately decorated.

They were beautiful sometimes.

However, if they were made of clay, they were not made to last for long.

That's why you had jars or vessels of silver or of other kinds of metal, bronze or even gold.

And the jars of clay were not the most important ones.

They were not the ones where you would actually put all of your treasures in because they were easily broken.

They wouldn't last and the treasure would spill or they would be easily taken away.

Now, we are jars of clay, Paul says.

And that's where God has put his treasure.

And the treasure, as I said, is a message about a person who represents God himself, and that's Christ.

And it's that person himself that we carry within us.

And that will not be stolen away.

And that is a message that, by the way, is against the culture of this world.

Because, just like back then and now, we are bombarded with different messages from the culture.

Sometimes two disparate kind of messages.

And one of them is this.

It's all about you.

It's all about your well-being.

It's all about you.

You are the most priceless treasure.

And you should take care of yourself.

And that was the message, in a sense, that was, whether intentionally or not, in Paul's day, portrayed by the so-called sophists.

But not only them.

It was a culture where the spectacular was celebrated.

And you can see that in the first letter of Corinthians as well.

The Corinthians, even after coming to Christ, they were still very much part of their culture,

in which they enjoyed listening to beautiful words.

People who actually had the best rhetoric in the land, they would also be the most rewarded.

With success, with honor from all people.

They were like the Hollywood actors of today.

And they were also rich because of the patronage they received.

Because, like crowdfunding today, if you have a convincing message, you get the most of money.

And, of course, that was what a good leader should be like.

Charismatic, nice-looking, rich, of good honor, of a good upbringing, good family.

And that's what they were seeking.

This kind of glory, this kind of shine.

And the other message was, again, disparate.

And, again, we'll see that Paul actually speaks about it.

And that's stoicism, which has made quite a comeback today.

And it's the opposite of the message of the culture that says, it's all about you.

The Stoics realized that life is tough.

That life is chaos.

And you have to somehow face it.

And you can only do so bravely.

Because if you do it bravely, you give a good message not only to yourself, but also to those around you.

And, after all, if this life is what all there is, even if there are gods, or perhaps even if there aren't gods, this life is all it is.

So, you know what?

Let's face the chaos of this life with the bravest way we can.

That's the message of stoicism.

And Paul sees that both of these are flawed.

And so, today, he starts by saying, we are insignificant vessels.

You are not the treasure.

You are the pot.

If you're a Christian, you're a vessel.

You're not the priceless treasure.

You're an insignificant vessel.

However, because of the treasure, we have this treasure.

We have been given it.

We are also of inestimable value.

Now, he says, we have all of this to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Now, we can see why God is doing what he's doing.

We can see why he's choosing the weakest of vessels.

Because he's trying to make a point to the world.

Whatever this gospel is, whatever this good news is, it only has power not because of me, the speaker, or you, the Christian.

It's because of God himself.

So, the more insignificant and weak the vessel, the more everyone will know that this power is not from us.

It's from God.

And he calls it an all-surpassing power, which in Greek is like hyperbole.

Hyperbole, which actually would mean an incomparable power.

A power that cannot be defeated.

And he gives proof for it.

Brother and sister, you're not the most prized possession in the world.

Yet, you become one because of what you carry within you, this wonderful treasure.

But you're not meant to carry this weight for yourself.

And Paul gives a list of four theses and antitheses here.

Four examples.

Four pieces of proof.

That we are weak, but we are invincible because of God's power.

We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed.

Verse 8.

You can feel like, do you remember those movies?

I mean, movies are always based on the worst nightmares of human experience.

Because they actually happen in your life.

And in one of those movies, you see like the walls of a person who is seeking for a treasure.

He gets into a pyramid or whatever.

And suddenly, he makes a mistake.

And the walls are closing in.

And there is no way to escape.

And the adrenaline goes off the roof.

And yet, he doesn't know what to do.

We're like that.

We're hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed.

The first part is, we are insignificant vessels.

We are weak.

We are frail.

We're human beings.

Paul is not denying that.

And by the way, Paul is talking about himself.

And he says, however, we are not crushed.

Somehow, the strangest thing happens in Paul's life as he was speaking the word, as he was being persecuted, as he was being hated.

Somehow, he was not crushed.

He was kept by the Lord.

We're perplexed, but not in despair.

In Greek, these two words are very similar.

And the idea is this, that we're perplexed.

We're confounded.

Somehow, we're not confounded.

We're perplexed.

And yet, we're not in total despair.

We are at a loss, but not at a total loss.

I am at a loss, but I'm not a loser somehow.

Now, this speaks to the sincerity of Paul about what he's going through.

He's not lying about who he is.

And the message of the Stoics was, we should find a way to kind of get an inner peace.

They call it ataraxia, which is like an indifference in the face of everything that comes your way.

But Paul is saying, look, I'm perplexed.

I do not deny this.

As a Christian, don't you wonder about life often?

Especially because you're a Christian.

Because we know that there is suffering, and yet there is a good God.

And when you do the right thing, and somehow you still suffer, and you see the evil prosper,

you still ask yourself the question, Lord, until when?

Or when you're faced with a difficult situation in your life,

whether it is in your career, in your school, in your life, in your marriage,

you at some point become perplexed.

What is going on here?

Especially if I'm doing your work, O Lord.

And yet, we're not lost.

Somehow, we're not in total despair.

But that's not because of Paul again.

It is because of the all-surpassing power of God.

Somehow, especially in your weakness, you see his strength.

And thirdly, persecuted, but not abandoned.

A hunted animal.

You can actually see it in your mind.

A hunted animal, or a prey, or even a hunted human being who is fleeing from his executors.

Like the mob is trying to chase them, and that's what happened with the early Christians.

They were trying to find Paul, get him, and get him killed.

That is the picture that he was going through.

Thankfully, we're not going through that.

However, as you, all of you here know, we're still persecuted to this day

because of the treasure that is in us.

And somehow, I'm not abandoned, he says.

And it's not a feeling.

The first part is what you feel when you're persecuted.

The second part is what God does.

It's not because of Paul's courage.

God does not abandon us.

Struck down, but not destroyed.

And you can easily see what Paul is talking about here.

Perhaps a wrestler who was thrown down on the floor.

And when that normally happened, that was the end of the match.

Or worse yet, it was the gladiators.

Suddenly, you were struck down by your opponent.

You find yourself on the ground.

And a few seconds later, as you hear the cheers from the crowd,

as you see the thumb of the main person,

it could have been the governor or the emperor, going like this,

that was the end of you.

And that's exactly what we often feel in life, Paul says.

We see the sword on our throat.

But we are not destroyed.

Every single day, in our worst issues, problems, and difficulties, and suffering,

somehow, we marvel at the fact that we're still here.

We're still resisting against all odds.

And it's not because of me.

It's not because of you.

It's because of the treasure we carry.

And because of the power of God that keeps us,

that cannot be destroyed

by anyone or anything in the world.

So, can I tell you something, brothers and sisters?

Do not fear if you feel insecure.

If you feel that you don't have all the gifts

to give to the world the best possible explanation of the gospel.

If you don't feel that your mind is strong enough

to stand against a very smart opponent

who is an atheist, for example, at your workplace.

Or if you just feel that you're too much of a sinner.

Lord, I cannot do this.

You say to yourself, Lord, I cannot do this.

I feel myself as an imposter in your family.

I don't know why I'm standing.

How can I speak to others?

How can I live for you?

Now, that's exactly what Paul is countering here.

He is no Stoic philosopher.

And that's exactly what he's saying.

The Stoics would have said this.

We are hard-pressed on every side,

but invincible.

We are perplexed, but somehow courageous.

We are persecuted, but unflinching.

Struck down, but defiant.

That's not what Paul is saying.

The first part is what we feel,

what we live as human beings.

The second part is what God does.

So don't feel afraid of who you are,

of the flaws you have,

of the time in your life where you are right now

and you feel that you're not doing what you can in your Christian life.

God chose you as a vessel to serve Him,

to carry His treasure.

And He chose you as an earthen vessel

so that we can rely on Him,

not on our power.

There is nothing to boast about us,

nothing to boast about me,

but there is everything to hope because of Him,

because of His power,

because in your worst weakness,

He will show His strongest power

and everyone will see it.

I remember somebody saying once

about a young man's sermon,

that young man wasn't me,

but it could have been me.

He said,

His heart is not yet broken,

something is missing.

After he has suffered a while,

he will have a message worth listening to.

So don't worry if you're suffering.

Don't hide it.

Don't be a stiff upper lip person.

Don't pull yourself up from your bootstraps.

That's not the Christian message.

In fact,

show who you are.

Show your weaknesses and say,

it's not me, it's Him.

He has kept me

and He will keep you.

And thirdly,

you will win.

That's the purpose.

And others will gain.

We saw the proof

that we are insignificant vessels

and yet of inestimable value.

That's why we are kept

by God's power.

And now we'll see the purpose.

You will win

in verses 10 to 12

and others will gain.

There is a purpose in the pain

and in suffering gain.

We always carry around in our body

the death of Jesus

so that the life of Jesus

may also be revered in our body.

For we who are alive

are always being given over to death

for Jesus' sake.

And again,

he repeats

almost the same sentence

with one exception.

So that His life

may also be revealed

in our mortal body,

in our mortal flesh.

The purpose of it all

is not that you may feel

miserable,

that you may self-flagellate

and show the world

that you will suffer for Him

and yet you will stand.

No, that's not the idea.

Paul does not deny

the reality of suffering in life,

the chaos that your life is

at different moments

and sometimes constantly.

But it tells us

that God keeps us

for a purpose

that we will win.

But before He does that,

He shows us again

the dark side of life

by taking the example of Jesus.

He smartly uses some words

that remind us

of the story of Jesus.

We always carry around

in our body

the death of Jesus.

It's actually the word

dying here.

The word death

is used just a verse later.

The idea is that

what He's trying to say

is that daily

we who are Christian

carry within us

the dying moments of Christ

which is the final week,

the week of passion,

the week of His

strongest trials.

When He was

handed over,

being given over to death,

the word used is

we're handed over to death

just like He was.

In that final week,

Jesus was betrayed

and handed over

to death.

And secondly,

He speaks not only

about His passion

but He speaks to

Jesus' crucifixion.

We always carry around

in our body

the death of Christ.

That's what the

pallbearers do

to a dead person.

We Christians

carry around

the putrefying smell

of a dead man.

We carry Him

from the cross

to the grave.

And thirdly,

however,

there is a purpose

so that we

may win.

We do this

so that His life

may also be revealed

in our body.

And that's His

resurrection life.

Jesus Christ

had to suffer

and be betrayed,

had to die

and be crucified.

But then He rose again.

Brothers and sisters,

we who believe here

carry within us

not just a message

but a person

and a story,

a living one.

We actually

enact

every single day,

even in the midst

of your weaknesses,

you still enact

to those around you

the sufferings,

the death,

and the victory

of Jesus Christ.

And they're not

for the future.

They're present realities.

That's what He's saying here.

Even though He does not deny

that because they are

present realities,

they become

future

certainties.

Suffering is not a sign

of God's disappointment,

brother and sister.

It is perhaps

a divine appointment.

And I don't just say this

to say it.

I don't like suffering either,

but none of us

denies that we're

going through

certain kinds of suffering,

even as we speak.

But we know

that we will win

because Christ won.

And we know

that there is no

easy fix.

We have to go through

the difficulties of life,

but we also know

we shall be undefeated

because of the

treasure we carry

and the power

God gives us.

We will win

and others will gain.

And we see that

in verse 12.

So then death

is at work in us,

but life is at work

in you.

Now,

just to give

the context again

of what Paul is saying.

Paul loved

the Corinthian Christians.

They were like

his sons and daughters

because he had

brought them

forth

by the power

of the gospel

some years earlier.

However,

they did not like him

because they still saw

the epitome

of great leadership

with the eyes

of their culture.

And that was,

like I said,

you have to have

a good appearance.

You have to know

how to speak well.

And Paul,

they accused him

in the same letter

and Paul mentions it.

They said,

his appearance

is nothing

and his speech

is of no account.

How can we believe

his word?

He's nothing.

He's not even rich

and he does not even

seek money from others

and from us

because he's nothing.

Had he been somebody,

he would have had

a lot of patrons

and a lot of money.

And Paul says,

no.

We go through

whatever we go through

not only so that

we can win

but that you can gain.

and all my sufferings

are like those

of a parent.

Now,

throughout this letter,

if you go through it,

you'll see that Paul

calls himself

a parent for them.

In fact,

even a parent

who is going to

discipline them

if they keep on doing

what they're doing

because he loves them

to death.

He has sacrificed

himself for them.

You know what

we parents do.

Even if you're not

a parent,

you're somebody's child.

You know that

as a parent,

you sacrifice

everything

for your children

and you die

daily for them.

You die in small ways

and in big ways.

You die to your hobbies.

Sometimes,

had you had not a child,

you'd have done

something else

as a hobby

that weekend

but yet,

you have to take them

to a football match.

Or,

you die to your

rest.

If you want to sleep

for an hour,

well,

you can't catch enough.

And if you want

to sleep through

the night

because it's so important

that you go to work

the next day

to support

that very child,

you have to stay

up all night.

And you suffer

in small ways.

You die to yourself

every single day.

And you die to your career

because you want

to give them

a better future

than yours.

You die to your dreams

often

because theirs

are more important

than yours.

And then,

as we well know,

you're ready to die

actually

for them.

You don't even

think about it

if it's a difficult

situation,

even if you've

never thrown a punch

in your life.

You turn into

a mama bear

or a papa bear

when your child's

life is

in peril.

You don't think

twice about

dying for them.

And you don't do it

because you're a hero.

You do it

because you're

a parent.

Like,

that's Paul.

And that's us

as Christians.

He's willing

to give it all,

to sacrifice it all,

to see that

others,

he's willing

to see others

see him down,

struck down,

pushed in a corner,

openly perplexed,

wondering what

is going on.

because he knows

that all of his

troubles will

actually bring

forward

the most

absolute joy

in his children,

in his spiritual

children.

And in the same

way we,

who suffer,

when others

see that we

suffer and yet

we stand,

yet we resist

against all odds,

that's a way

for them to

actually think,

wow,

I want to do

the same.

I want to do

the same.

I want to have

the same as

they're having.

I remember,

I will not tell

the name here,

but there is a

wonderful Christian

in Edinburgh

and I heard

this story.

Recently his

father died

of a,

of cancer,

I think.

And at the

funeral,

he said,

throughout his

life my father

showed me how

to live

and recently

he showed me

how to die.

That's the

Christian life

because it

starts with

Christ.

He was

betrayed,

handed over.

He was

willing to die.

He was

willing to

sacrifice himself

for us.

He is the

face of God.

and he

died for me

and you.

He showed

us how to

live.

He showed

us how to

die.

And three

days later,

he was

back alive,

never to

die anymore.

That is a

promise that

if I showed

you how to

live and

I showed

you how to

die,

you know

that now

I can show

you how to

live again

and never

die again.

that's why

we are

willing to

bear the

burden of

being

misinterpreted,

of being

hated,

and sometimes

of even

losing the

bid to the

highest office

in the land

because we

believe that

there is

something more

important than

an office.

There is

something more

important than

our dreams.

There is

something more

important than

our jobs.

There is

someone more

important than

ourselves.

And when we

grasp that

person,

Jesus Christ,

we know that

we are safe.

We actually

haven't lost

anything.

You cannot

keep

something that

is not yours,

but others

cannot take

away from us

what God

has given

us,

eternal life.

And because

we live and

every single

day we die

to ourselves,

we know

that one

day we are

going to win

the final

battle.

Do you

feel any

joy today,

brother and

sister?

Do you

feel any

love?

Do you

feel any

relief in

your troubles?

That's all

from God,

but you

know what?

It's only

a foretaste,

a preparation

of what is

to come.

It is like

a rehearsal,

a small

rehearsal of

what we'll

see one

day when

Christ returns.

until then

we have to

hold on,

not to

ourselves,

but to

Him,

because we

are indeed

insignificant

vessels,

and yet

because of

the treasure

we are

of inestimable

value.

And there

is proof

for that

every single

day you

suffer in

many different

ways,

and God

still keeps

you.

Against all

odds you

stand and

resist.

And the

purpose is

that we

will win.

That's why

we're willing

to sacrifice

everything.

And even

if we're

not willing

to sacrifice

anything,

it will

happen,

and yet

we shall

not lose.

The Lord

is going

to pick

us up

again,

and we

shall win,

and others

will gain.

Because we

know that

the one who

raised the

Lord Jesus

from the

dead will

also raise

us with

Jesus and

present us

with you

to himself.

Therefore,

we do not

lose heart.

Though

outwardly we

are wasting

away,

yet inwardly

we are being

renewed,

day by

day.

For our

light and

momentary

troubles are

achieving for

us an

eternal glory

that far

outweighs

them all.

So we

fix our

eyes not

on what

is seen,

but on

what is

unseen.

Because what

is seen is

temporary,

but what

is unseen

is eternal.

Oh,

Lord,

we are

weak.

We cannot

enact in

our own

lives the

life

sufferings

death of

Jesus

Christ.

But we

know that

we are

strong in

you because

of the

treasure we

carry.

Lord,

make the

people see

what is

in us and

may they

come to

you.

Even those

of us this

morning here

who do not

believe,

open their

eyes,

Lord,

that they

may see

Christ

himself and

may believe.

Life will

not get

easier for

them.

It will

get even

worse sometimes

because they're

Christian and

they will

represent Christ

in the world,

but however,

they're winners

because of

him and

one day we

shall all be

resurrected with

when Jesus

returns,

never to die

again.

In Jesus'

name,

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.