Last week as we turned our attention to these words, I drew attention to verse 7 especially and the reference to earthen, or I call clay vessels, it really means that, clay vessels, earthen vessels. If you can think back to last week, and I'm not going to ask you to recite every point and every detail, but I hope maybe this one thought stayed with you, that I made the point that the reference to clay vessels was primarily a reference to the external afflictions and the suffering that came the way of Paul and others in his day because of the Christian ministry. In other words, this was persecution for the sake of Jesus Christ. Now when I say that, that's not to say that other areas of suffering in the Christian life cannot be alleviated or addressed from the words that we read here in verses 8 to 12. But I believe it's very important that we understand that everything Paul is writing in this chapter, he's writing because he's dealing with his ministry as a Gospel preacher. And he is dealing with those that had come to him and said, well Paul, if you're a minister, and if this is the Gospel, and if this is God's message, well why do you suffer? And why Christian persecution? And why reproach? And why any of these things? If we have that in our mind, it will help you a great deal in understanding what verses 8 to 12 is all about. Paul is making it very clear that God chooses to use people. I think that's one of the great themes of all of Scripture. He uses us, beloved, if we're saved. And not only that, there'll be occasions when we will be rejected and hated by this world. It is not something you have to look for. It's something you need to run after. Why would you want to do such a thing as that? In fact, we're told to live as much as it lies with us, peaceably with all men. We're not going to look to be antagonistic for the sake of it, but simply bearing the name of Christian. And of professing the Lord Jesus Christ, it carries with it a territory, we might say. That when we are seeking to witness and share the Gospel, there is a natural hostility towards these things. There is a difference, therefore, between what we call general suffering and affliction. that calms the way of every person for one reason or another, and that which is associated with the Gospel. It's important to remember it's the latter that we're dealing with specifically throughout these verses in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. And so what we can say as a result is this, that it is at the same time a precious thought and one that is filled with much encouragement for any Christian worker, for any believer, that even if even if, and even though we do experience such things, you can then read what Paul says here and you take this into your heart and realise this is not the end, that God is doing something quite wonderful in the midst of all of this. As I said at the beginning of this chapter study, I gave it a theme. You might still be wondering why the best is yet to be because we're not seeing much of this best in the chapter so far. Well I'm going to say to you now, now the door is beginning to open and now there is really a new section or chapter which unfolds within this portion of Holy Scripture and I trust it will become more and more clearer because what Paul is doing here And you'll see it in these verses and you'll see it towards the end. He's saying to them, listen, you're going to bear the marks. You're going to resemble and reflect even the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and the sufferings that he endured. You're going to bear the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ in your bodies and we'll explore what that means in a short while. But there is also the manifestation of life. And what you will do by your Christian testimony and witness is demonstrate that there is something which is far greater. And in the words of the final verse, we are not people which are taken up with things which are seen, but things which are unseen. Because the things which are seen are temporal and quickly passing by, but the unseen endures forever. They are the eternal things. And as Paul does so often in his writings, he is always starting with one degree and ending with another, beginning at one place, ending with another. And so he does start with what is the present affliction and hostility and difficulty and the hardships and the needs of this moment and this present hour. But he says, you know what? What is that? What are these things compared to eternal glory, which shall be? Now he's making his way to the final part of this chapter. And so what we're going to see in these next few verses closely relates to this great theme of hope. The best is yet to be. And as a result, child of God, we've got reasons to endure in this Christian life. And I leave these reasons with you as we look at verses 8 to 12. We have reasons to endure in our Christian lives and in the gospel. Why? Because of our preservation in Christ. That's the first thing I want you to take hold of with the Lord's help, because of our preservation in the Lord Jesus Christ. When you look at verse 8 and 9, to me anyway, and I trust to you, you'll see it as well, there is almost a poetic overview of all that he and others have suffered for the cause of the gospel. And when you read verse 8 and 9 you'll see exactly what I mean. We're troubled in every side, yet not distressed, we're perplexed but not in despair, we're persecuted but not forsaken, cast out but we're not destroyed. There are some, I believe it's Charles Hodge in his commentary on this, he makes the point that there is actually a very close relationship to the phrase, but we have. And then these vessels. And the idea, as Hodge, I believe, makes in his commentary, is that we have this treasure in these vessels, which are troubled on every side. These vessels, which are perplexed. These vessels, which are persecuted. And these, these vessels, which are cast down. He's identifying the troubles and the very clear afflictions that come our way. But there is always this great but. But it's not the end, as we're going to see in the course of these verses. All of us will know, again I don't know your Christian life and the ins and outs of it and what you've been through as a professing believer, but I'm sure I can say that to some extent that in some measure, in some way, as Christians we've all met with a degree of hardship because of our faith. Now that might be very mild compared to Paul and others but it's still been there. You may be in a workplace and someone really has persecuted you or not liked you simply because you're a Christian. Maybe in school, maybe just in your neighbourhood, maybe you've said something in relation to the gospel and you've had resistance. Now I understand these are small things compared to what Paul and many of the early saints endured, and many Christians even in the world around us. But I'm just trying to remind you that it's always a present reality. It really is. we don't have to go again that far, we can do our evangelism, we can witness it, it will come our way. We see it in the way in which there is a world mindset that is against the gospel and we're finding it incredibly hard. It's pressing in upon us. The things that we love and we hold dear to, the laws of God, the truth of God is being mutilated, it's being corrupted, it's being compromised, it's being abused. And there is a pressure and a force which is being slowly, gradually pushed upon the church to be something. That's a form of oppression. That's something to remember, to keep in mind. However, even though that's the case, very few of us, if not any of us, I should say, have ever faced the intensity and the constant threat that Paul met with. Read Paul's life and you'll see it. We've been reading in Acts in our family devotions, we read this recently so it's fresh in my mind, when Paul was first converted and just before he met with Ananias, Ananias was understandably worried, he was petrified. He wanted to meet with this man, this soul of Tarsus. That's the one who's on the way to Damascus and he's got these letters to bind people and to persecute them to Christians. Well, what does the Lord tell Ananias? It fits in with our text here. He says he's a chosen vessel. It fits in with Paul's words, doesn't it? In verse seven, earth and vessels. And the Lord said to Ananias, who was also a believer, he's a chosen vessel. Oh wow, so great things were going to be ahead for Paul. Well, the Lord said to this man in verse 16 of Acts 9, I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. That wasn't said vindictively. That wasn't said in some nasty, aggressive manner, as if to say, you know what? I'm going to show Paul what he has to suffer. You know, we're not thinking that. The Lord is speaking here in wisdom, but he's saying, Ananias, Ananias, this man who has done these terrible things, he's my vessel. I've chosen him, I've saved him, I'm going to use him, but in using him he's going to suffer. The persecution that he will experience will in many respects be like no one else has ever known. You follow Paul's life and that's what you see. You see how this man suffered. and it was the way of the Master after all. And so Paul in verse 8 and verse 9, he speaks in this plural sense of we because he refers to other ministers of the gospel and apostles, but he primarily has his own life in view. We are troubled, perplexed, persecuted, cast down. And in these words, There is also a reference, indirectly, that even though all these things will come upon me, Paul says, how do I endure? Because I am preserved in Christ. That's the heart of these words that I want to demonstrate to you. Before we go any further with that, let's think about how he describes his affliction and his oppression. It's quite graphic. He says, troubled on every side. And that actually was the fact, that's what he meant. Every side, there was a pressing in upon him. The idea is this, that every turn, every stage, Paul says, it seems like from every quarter and every angle, there's trouble. That's how Paul experienced his early days and really his duration of his ministry as an apostle. Well, this led on to other areas of hardship. Perplexed, he says. It's important that you remember that when Paul speaks about being perplexed, it doesn't mean that he doubted God. It doesn't mean that he's filled with these thoughts where he just thought, you know, what am I doing anymore? The idea of perplexed is rather unsure of what was going to be next. What would be the next avenue of my affliction? Well, you know, having to get up from being nearly within an inch of his death and his life and stoned to that place and then getting up, what's next? Unsure. Paul says, that's what my ministry was. And then he goes on, doesn't he, in his other works, he speaks a bit of persecution, which speaks for itself. I don't need much explaining there. And then being cast down, which is, in many respects, what would be an outcome of all of this? Discouragement. Cast down. We look at Paul and we wonder, would it ever be possible for such a man of God? Paul, were you cast down? Paul, were you discouraged? And he says, I was. Many times. Each of the terms referenced here speak of combat. That's the general consensus here. Combat. There's a warfare. He's a Christian soldier. He's engaged in this battle. He's engaged in it. And we say, Paul, how do you endure? How? Well, the answer is there is preservation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember Paul's point here is not so much to highlight the trouble, but rather the preservation. Because he says in the midst of verse eight and nine, yes, I'm troubled, but I'm not distressed. That's the real key thing here. You could be troubled on every side. You don't need to be distressed, believer. And he goes on and he speaks in the same tone of voice. He says, we're perplexed. And again, it's a very important relationship there between the words. It's one thing to say, well, what's next? It's something else to be in despair. We're not in despair because we trust the hand of God at every stage. That's what he did. He goes on into verse nine, persecuted. I'm not forsaken. That's a lovely statement in its own right. Because on one hand, when he speaks of persecution, what is he talking about here? You know, people coming against him, people forsaking him, oppression because he's a Christian, people rejecting him. And when he felt alone, and he felt as if he had no one, he says, I'm not forsaken. I might not have any human hands. Thank God he did have colleagues and people he could count as faithful brethren. But sometimes he was on his own. And sometimes we might feel like that. And sometimes, or even testimony, as a Christian, where you are, might feel just like that. But you're not forsaken. That's why you endure. And then, lastly, in verse 9, cast down. Not destroyed, not finished. There are many a saint of God who have known what it is to be cast down. Many giants of God have battled with their minds over the years. You've got to remember that. Battled with their discouragements, but they understand at the same time that doesn't equate with destruction and eventual loss. The idea here then is not self-preservation. It's not Paul's strengthening himself or others. It's the keeping hand of God because Paul knows that more than just the Lord preserving, there is a whole system of truth behind this glorious covenants why we can endure. because he understands his life, as we shall see, is in and through Jesus Christ. He doesn't despair and he isn't destroyed because his labour is for the gospel. That's the key here as we deal with particularly Christian affliction because of testimony's sake. You can endure when it does come your way, if it does, because it's for the sake of Christ. Now we're going to expand the reasons a bit more here. Notice, secondly, because of our identity with Christ. Because of our identity with Christ. And now we come into the heart of this portion of Scripture, verse 10. Always. So notice how it's a continuation because you've got a semicolon at the end of destroyed. And this is now the reason why. So he says, okay, this is my life, and these are the areas of persecution which I know, but I'm not going to stop here. Why am I not destroyed? And why am I not in despair? And why am I not distressed? And what am I doing as a result? And what is the end of all this? That's why you read on, beloved. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. So I say that if we are Christians, there is reasons to endure, secondly for this reason, because of your identity with Jesus Christ. Here we have another reason why the Saint of God is enabled to endure through the Christian life. We call it union with Christ. You may have heard of that phrase in theology. It's a blessed one, it really is. Our union with Jesus Christ. Or we might even refer to it as our identity in the Savior. Remember that when I mention those sort of phrases, I'm not making something up here. These are doctrines throughout the Word of God. New Testament especially, the theme is developed in great detail. And I suggest to you that you do well to meditate upon it time and time again. Maybe you have done, but do it again. Just do one thing, it's a very simple thing. Go through your Bible, go through your New Testament and see that many times that you have just simple phrases such as this in me. in Christ, in Him. And just think of how they are multiplied time and time again. And when you do that, then do something else. Ask yourself the question, what does that mean? What does it mean to be chosen in Him? I mean, the moment you think on that, you start thinking to yourself, we're dealing with a realm that's not seen by my eyes. In other words, we call it a vital or an invisible and indissoluble union. That's what it's referring to and I'm going to explain it as I reference some verses. Our Lord Jesus mentioned it many times, especially in John's Gospel, it's recorded. What does Jesus say in John 15? He plainly said, listen beloved, he said, abide in me. Now already you can do something, and I don't want to sound too simplistic or patronising here, I'm just trying to help everyone and even my own thoughts and even my own younger ones who are here, that the moment you've got a sentence like that, abide in me, you can do something straight away, you can immediately remove some sort of physical thing, because we can't sort of physically go into Christ, we know it's dealing with the realms of faith, the realms of the invisible. That's the first place to start. And what the Lord Jesus is saying is this. Christianity, being a Christian, is this. That when that glorious work of conversion takes place and you're born of the Spirit of God, there is a union in Christ. You are engrafted into Him. And that is confirmed by the fact that we are then indwelt by the Spirit of God and we are sealed. What does that do? It creates a vital life-giving union. So the Lord says in John 15, He says, just like there's a vine and you've got the branches. And the branches need the vine. There's going to be no fruit in the branches unless it's in the vine. And then there's other illustrations. You've got the head and the body, which is the church. Christ is our head. We need the head, but we're the body. His life is in us. That's what we're dealing with in our union to our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a vital union. Let me say it, it's like this. It's forged unseen to our eye, but it's forever seen in the eyes of God. In our conversion, we do not feel it as such, but the Holy Spirit indwells it and the Word of God confirms it as a truth. Part of this means that we draw from Jesus Christ our life, our constant life, our spiritual life, our walk with God. What does he say in verse 5 of John 15? I am the vine, Jesus says, ye are the branches. He says, he that abideth in me. And that's a continual abiding. And I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. That's how important it is. If you're not in him, you are nothing. You have no fruit. You're fruitless. I mention all this because it really is developed into our text of Scripture in verse 10, especially in verse 11, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. And so what we do now is we take that groundwork of union with Christ, and now we say there's a broader application of it all. And I refer to it in this way, that the Christian identifies with Christ in all respects. Now it's our identification with the Saviour. The Bible speaks of a total nature of our experiences in Him. That one of the best places to begin with is Romans 6. You might not think it is, but it is. Not an easy chapter by any means. Chapters 6 and 7. But when you read Romans 6, remember what Paul is dealing with here is this. He's already made the point that we are under the grace of God. And at the outset of Romans 6, you can turn to it if you want to, just to keep track of what I'm saying here this afternoon. At the outset of Romans 6, he's dealing with an argument which is being raised, or a hypothetical argument. You know, do we continue in sin that grace abounds, and so on. He says, of course not. How ludicrous. That's nonsense. Just because I've said in one breath that where sin abounds, the grace of God abounds, don't start thinking to yourself, well it's continuing sin that grace can abound, because that doesn't match up with the gospel. That doesn't relate to Christianity. And in one of the most powerful passages that we read in Romans, he provides an analysis of our identity in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, do you know why you don't continue to abound in your sin with this sort of bizarre notion that the grace of God is going to abound even more so? It's because when you became a Christian, you died to sin. It's as if the whole world stops. And everyone goes, what? I died to sin? How does it even happen? What does it even mean? And he says, well, listen, this is our identity with Jesus Christ. And he goes on in Romans 6, and he speaks of the believer being dead to sin. And to affirm this, he reminds believers that in the death of Jesus Christ, we died. We died. Again, it's not a physical thing. We're dealing with that realm of our union. He goes on to say, we are buried with him. We rise with him. We reign with him. In other words, we can never be viewed apart from Jesus Christ. Everything that is, in a sense, true of Him and of Him is of us. With, of course, reason and exceptions in terms of His person and so on. We're buried with Him. We rise with Him. We reign with Him. We live with Him. We're His and He is ours. What does Paul say in Galatians 2.20? I am crucified with Christ. Paul never, at this stage, no physical crucifixion, did he? So again, he's saying, when Jesus died, I died in him. Not so much with him, I died in him. And yet he says in Galatians 2.20, I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Paul, you're mad, people would say to him. No. Because I belong to Him, the Lord viewed me in Him, I died to sin in Him. And then when He rose again, I rose with Him. My life is in Him. Everything's in Him. All that I am is in Him. All that I will be is in Him. That's what He's saying. and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. There are other texts, 2 Corinthians 1, 5 really bring us to our own text here. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. Putting all this together, we now can understand what verse 10 means. What is it when we say we are always bearing in the body the dying or the death of our Lord Jesus. But what does it not mean? It doesn't mean that Paul is saying that Jesus Christ is dying over and over again. He died once to sin forever. It doesn't mean that Paul or any believer suffers in a way in which we contribute to our redemption. That's an erroneous strand of teaching that sometimes is deduced from this sort of language. Oh, we suffer as a way of contributing towards redemption. No, we don't. No, we don't. Christ suffered and died in a redeeming, vicarious manner in order to redeem us, in order to make us his own children. But neither is there a disassociation. Far from it. There is always something there to be viewed and understood. Galatians 6.17 helps us. From henceforth let no man trouble me, Paul says, for I bear in me the body, the marks of the Lord Jesus. It means this very simply. In the life of every believer, the sufferings of the Lord, His death and His humiliation, and all the Lord endures, these things are, in a sense, replayed or echoed in our life. We walk the way of the Master. We bear His cross. Paul says, I bear the marks in my body. It was Charles Hodge who said this, and I think I'll quote him word for word at this stage. The death or sufferings of Christ were constantly reproduced in the experience of the apostle. The scars, Paul says, which I bear in my body mark me as a soldier of Jesus Christ, as belonging to him, as suffering in his cause. Note the importance of regarding this as suffering for the sake of the gospel. And Paul is saying this. When I suffer for the sake of the gospel, it's not because it's me. It's because I bear the marks of being a soldier of Christ, a child of God. And the reason why that's so important is it gives you reasons to endure. Should we not follow that way? Should we not go his way? Are we not glad that these are the ways of Christ? What a privilege to bear the marks. That's why the apostles in the early days, when they did suffer, they counted it an honour and a joy to be worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus Christ. It's not because they were lapping up the pain and the affliction, but because they said, this is part of our identity. We're bearing the marks. We're following his way. It's not a popular message. It's not what people want to hear. That's what he's saying here because of our identity. Lastly, because of our life through Christ. Verse 10 to 12 reads like this, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body for we which live Knowing to see verse 11 is really a way of reiterating verse 10. There isn't much difference between verse 11 and verse 10 apart from the last reference to in our mortal flesh as opposed to in our body. It's the same truth. And just to make it as straightforward as I can as I close, Paul is saying this. He says, as an apostle, I'm always bearing the marks of the Lord Jesus, the death of Christ, and many godly men and women have done since, and will do to this present day. And we have to be thankful that so many of our hardships that we suffer are not direct results of being Christian. We're not like this so often. But we remind ourselves that if it does come, this is his way. But there is more than just simply saying, I'm bearing the marks of death of Christ. There is a natural conclusion to this and an application. It's a logical sequence of thought. He says in verse 10 and 11, he says, if I bear the dying of the Lord Jesus, I also bear the life of Christ in me as well. That's the reference to his resurrection. His death and His resurrection. And this is why there can be patient endurance. It reminds the world and our hearts another mark exists. It's the mark of the empty tomb. It's the mark of the risen Christ. It is the resurrection of our blessed Saviour. We have life in Jesus Christ now. We are raised in Him now, just as we bear the death of Jesus Christ in our life now. When there is suffering, when there is affliction, when there is persecution, that's bearing the marks of Christ in our life. But we also bear the evidence and the signs that He lives. And we live in Him. And all of that, Paul is saying, is pointing me to glory. He lived, he died, he rose again, and he ascended into glories, and he reigns. And that's going to be my way. That's going to be my pathway. What does he say in Romans 8, 17? And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, join heirs with Christ our beloved. Paul says, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. It all links together, just neatly, tightly, watertight connections. No breaking of the chain, no severing of the links. And what does this do? Well, this is what it does, Christian. It becomes a witness to this world. because he says in verse 11, may be manifest in our body. Verse 10, manifest in our body. Verse 11, manifest in our mortal flesh. And what is something that's manifest? It's seen. It's witnessed and it's known. And surely the point is this, the child of God who endures suffering for Christ, that is bearing the cross. And when affliction comes for the gospel, you patiently endure it. When you endure such, you show to a world, an accusing world, a hard world, that there's something vastly different between you and them. That you have a risen Christ as your Lord and Savior. And you bear the marks of one who has hope, as opposed to those who have no hope. Who has life, as opposed to those who are still under condemnation. Or else, how can you explain endurance for the Gospel? How can you explain perseverance and going on with God? They're signs, fruits, evidences that the risen Christ lives in you. We wouldn't do it otherwise. We would be mad to do it. But we do it because He lives in us. So gripped Paul was by this, and so serious a truth was this, He says something quite curious at the end of it all in verse 12, so then death worketh in us, but life in you. I have to admit that there's a bit of discussion as to what that means. I think the general consensus is really along these lines. that when Paul viewed his own immediate life, he understood that even his suffering, even his affliction, even the things that he endured, he understood, he understood that it had a way of furthering the gospel for them. Paul was ready to accept that. He says, I'm willing, I'm ready. I know that my ministry may involve all these things, but I don't mind. I don't mind if it means the furtherance of the gospel and life in you. Paul, where do you get that mindset from? Well, it's the mind of Christ, isn't it? Because there was death that was worked in our Savior, that life could be worked in us. And that was the mark of this man of God. And I pray that whether it's my own ministry or the ministry that is to come in this church, that it will be marked and set aside by a mind of Christ, even if it means death in me, even if it means to be the last of the least, if it means life for you. If it means that, so be it. Because that's what my Lord did. He gave everything he had. He gave everything he is. that we might have everything in Him. May God bless His word to our hearts. Let's close in prayer.