Ver. 7.-11 Earthen 1/Ullels." I. GoD HAS CHOSEN AS MINlBTERS OF ws GOSPKL 11 EARTHEN VESSELS." 1. Not angels or other celestial beings. Not henveuly vessels, but earthly. 2. Men. (1) Frail; (2) imperfect; (3) lowly; (4) wcnk; (5) unimposing. II. 'l'BESE EARTHEN VESSELS ARE HELD m THE DIVINE HAND. 1. T11ey arB thus prlllleTVed. "He hnd in his right hand seven stnrs" (Rev. i. 16). Often they seem iu peril. "PrcSS(.-<l on every side . , . perplexed . . . pursued . . . smitten clown" (vers. 8, 9); but tho vessel is not allowt-d to be broken until it he.s dono its work. 2. They are thus useful. (1) '!'hoy nre in the Divine hand to be filled. (2) '!'hey IU'O in tho Divine hnnd to be poured forth from. (3) They are in the Divino hnnd somotimos to be abaken, and tho shaking or the vessel often mnkes the contents more efficucious. III. A GREAT TREASURE IS COMMl'l'TED TO THE EARTHEN VESSELS. 'fhe trensnre is the tmth as it is in Jesus-the great gospel message. Christ's ministers are vessels to bold this trensure and to dispense it to those to whom they miuister. 1. Ministers have not to originate what they convey. It is given to them by their Master. Tho vessol i11 filled by a Divine hand from a Divine source. 2. Ministers lmve not to convey themselves to their people. The people do not wnnt the vessol, but its contents. "We preach not ourselves" (ver. 5). An earthen vessel is poor food for folks to livo upon, and poor medicine for a sin-sick soul to be cured with. The "vessel" must bo "the servant" (ver. 5). Even an alabaster box may well be broken thnt the precious ointment may be poured forth. 3. The contents aro apt to taste of the vessel. '!'his must be avoided e.s much as possible. 'l'he lcBS of ourselves and the moro of Christ that we ccnvey to men the ootter. 'l'he contents must chnnge the vessel, not tho vessel the contents. The preacher must bo Christ's as well as his message. "We also believe, and therefore speak" (ver. 13). !V. THE CONTRAST BETWEEN TBE EA.BTIIEN VEBSELS AND THEIR C0:s''l'ENTS. A treasure; n.nd what a treasure I For it how long the world has been waiting I Whnt marvels it has to work I What wonders it has wrought I And committed to " earthen vessels"! N) royal vessds for this royal gift. What honour to the ve~sels chosen I A minister of Jesus Christ!-how poor all other titles nre compnrcd with this! 106 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORIN'l'HIANS. [oH. Iv. 1-18.
V. THE OBJE<n' OF THE DIVTh'E CHOICE. 1. The ttninf.errupted woricing of the Divine power, An "earthen vessel" can do nothing but receive and pour forth, What egregious folly for a minister of Christ to seek to enter into partnership with his Lord for the production of a theology! 'l'he earthen vessel cannot do anything, and should not attempt to, 2. The glory of the Divine Being, No glory can attach to the mere earthen vessel. God is "all in all," Tbis should be the desire of every servant of God. Many, it is to be feared, are robbers of God in this matter. They snatch at the glory to which they have not the smallest claim. VI. 'l'HE FUTURE OF THE EARTHEN VESSELS. They will be raised up (ver. 14). 1. Made glorious. "'.l'his mortal must put on immortality." "As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (1 Cor. xv. 49). The "vile body" will be exchanged for a •• glorious body." We shall be made like Christ. The earthen vessels will be transformed into the likeness of him who :filled them. The change is taking place whilst the earthen vessels are in the earthly service. "Though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day" (ver. 16). But when we see him as he is we shall be like him. 2. Fitted for higher service. Heavenly activities. We know not how closely associated the earthly service is with the heavenly, how much the one may depend upon the other, how much the one will influence and shape the other. Let us make the earthly service as true and perfect as we may.-H. Vers. 16-18.-Heavy a.fftiction made light. Paul's troubles were exceedin"lY heavy. So the troubles of many believers have been and are. The sufferings of sai~ts often seem severer than those of sinners. For them the furnace is made seven times hotter. But Paul with his heavy sorrows speaks of them as light, and speaks of them as they really seemed to him to be under the conditions to which he refers. No affliction could well be heavier than his, and yet it was light. So is the believer's- I. WHEN HE CONSIDERS DURING HOW SMALL A PORTION OF HIS LlFE IT HAB TO BE noR1''E. It is but "for a moment." Not so long as a second contrasted with a thousand years. Eternity makes time short. Our troubles are like Pharaoh's horsemen-they cannot pass the Red Sea of death. In this flash of our existence we may weep, but iu the ever-continuing life of heaven we shall rejoice. "There shall I bathe my weary soul In sens of heavenly rest, And not a wave of trouble roll Across my peaceful breast." Our cross is borne but for a moment, our crown for over. 11. \VHEN HE CONTRASTS THE PRESENT BRIEF Tll0UDLE WITH THE ETEllNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY. True thoughts of heaven prevent exaggerated views of earthly sorrows. When the future is shut out we can easily sit down and lament, but when faith sees the "inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away" (1 P~t. i. 4), o~r present griefs dwindle into insi"nificance. 0 "For I reckon that. the suffonngs of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed" (Rom. viii. 18). Why should we be disquieted so much by these things when those are so near? Shadows hang heavily over us until the sunshine of the coming glory breaks through the clouds, and then the shadows flee away. Wby should we concen- trate thought upon the short present when the long future is so fair'l If wo think much or the home, the journey homewards will seem short, and the troubles of the way ?f little accotlllt. Every hour of sorrow brings us an hour nearer the land that 18 11orrowless. And what shall we possess thero? 'l'he apostle strives in vain to find lan"'llll."'e tiufficienily strong to describe even what he on earth could perceive of heaven _,;'m~re and moro exceedingly an eternal weight of glory" (vcr. 17). Ill. \'vllEN THE MEANING OF PRESENT Tll0UIILE IS !mALIZED, 'ro the true child of God : l. It may mean the destruction of the outward man, but it assuredly means the renewal and development of the inward. It is not even present injury-it is present good. It is medicine, not poison. 2. It prepa~cs us for the comi~g glor_y. '!'he fire consumes the dross, the knife cuts away the diseased pa1t, the _chisel strikes off that which would impair the beauty of the statue. '!'he apprenticeship of sorrow fits us for ea. 1v. 1-18.] '£HE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 107