Welcome to the Rest Podcast. The Rest Conference is designed to refresh, encourage, strengthen, and train the Lord's servants. The messages and lessons you will hear have been taken from the past Rest Conferences. It is our prayer that God will use this episode to encourage you in His work. 2 Corinthians chapter number 4, we begin reading in verse number 7, 2 Corinthians chapter four, we'll read verse seven through 18. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake. that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. We, having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed and therefore have I spoken, we also believe and therefore we speak, knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For the which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment working for us a far more exceeding, and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. I want you to look, if you would please, in verse 15, in this statement that Paul opens the 15th verse with, for all things are for your sakes. I wanna speak to you on that subject. All things are for your sakes. Paul said the things that I enjoy and the things that I endure, the purpose that God has in me and through me, the labor that I offer, the sacrifice that I make, the ministry that I carry out, it's all for your sakes. And if it is for our sake, well then we know it's for the Lord's sake. He said, for all things are for your sakes that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many as that grace flows through Paul to us and to the members of the Corinthian church, as that grace is manifest in our hearts and our lives, as that treasure shines through that clay pot, it results in the glory of God through the thanksgiving of God's people. Last night, we heard a powerful message. And Brother Pope, with who is obviously a very well-read man. And a very gifted speaker. We did not leave last night reflecting on the clay pot. We left last night reflecting on the treasure. The treasure of Jesus. the agony that he suffered, the victory that he won, the glory of the Lord Jesus shine forth in our hearts. So when all things are for your sakes, all things are for his sake. Look up, if you would, please, in verse five, chapter four. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord, and ourselves, your servants, for Jesus' sake. The labor that we bestow on behalf of our people is ultimately bestowed upon our Lord. the labor, the investment that you make in God's church, all that you give, all the time, all the attention, all the counsel, all the prayers, all the efforts that you make in the context of your local New Testament church ministry, that's all for the glory of God. It's all for Jesus. And it's all for us. And that's important for us to remember, because if we lose sight of that, we'll grow discontented. Discontented with our church, discontented with our position, discontented with our ability, discontented with our lives, and ultimately discontented with the Lord. So we need to remember why we do this. We do this for him and we do this for them. I have learned a few things, not a lot. I've learned enough to know I don't know much. But I have watched people that I have invested in more than anybody else in this church, walk away and leave. And you've had this conversation with yourself, right? You mean after all I've done for them? After the countless hours and all the phone calls that interrupted my family night, and all the appointments I had to set, and all the times I had to rearrange my schedule, and all the counseling that I've done, and I'm not good at it, and most of us don't feel like we're very good at it, right? And all the things that we've done to help and encourage these people, and they just walk away? Well, if you think like that very long, You're gonna faint. And you have to recognize you're not simply doing it for them, although you are doing it for them, you're ultimately doing it for Him. I found out something when I had children. I found out that I had a special love for the people who loved my kids. I remember when we would, my wife especially remembers this, but when we would pick up our children from the nursery, there was a particular couple that would work in that nursery and they would always greet my wife at the door with a scowl to tell her all the things that our child did. I don't know that they're on our Christmas card list. But the people who love your kids, you love them. Now Jesus loves His church. Those people that are unlovely, He loves them. By the way, there's a lot of people who think we're unlovely too, right? And so when you love, His children. When you serve His children, well, that brings Him joy. So ultimately, we're doing this for Him. All things are for your sakes. What things? Well, let's look at them. First of all, I wanna say this, the treasure was for their sakes. The treasure, verse seven, but we have this treasure, but notice where it is, it's in earthen vessels. That the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. You see, the treasure has been deposited into common, ordinary, earthly vessels. And we need to remember this, the value is in the contents, not in the container. We're just the container. That's all that we are. Now, I've noticed just walking through the stores that the marketers are pretty clever. They're designing containers that really are attractive. And have you ever seen something in the store and thought, man, I really like that, that must be really good. and they have all these new fancy kind of beverages, you know, and there's all these health drinks and energy drinks and all this stuff, you know, and this sugar-free stuff, and you try it and it looks, I mean, the contents look really good. I mean, the container looks really good, excuse me, but then you open it up, you drink it, and it's not really that good, right? You've paid for the can and not for the drink. Well, with us, the can does not look too appealing, does it? But the contents are amazing. we have this treasure in earthen vessels. And Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter one in verse 27, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and the beast things of the world, and the things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and the things which are not to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. Nobody looks at us and says, man, that's a good looking can. I think I'll try that. No, what we are is we're weak, we're base, and we're despised. Paul said, I am the least of the apostles. I'm the least of the clay pots. Verse 10, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. It's the grace of God that brought us out of the mire, right? It's the grace of God that formed us. It's the grace of God that uses us. And so the lesser the clay pot, the greater the grace of God is manifest. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11 and verse six, but though I be rude in speech, remember they criticized him because of his oratorical skill or his lack thereof. He said, but though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge, Paul's saying, wait, the style isn't that great. but the substance is. We live in a generation that values style over substance. And I want you to know that if you have substance and you don't have style, that's okay. You don't need style. You need substance. What happens to us is we get a little enamored by style. Paul said, in 2 Corinthians 10, 12, for we dare not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves, but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. When we start looking around at each other and comparing ourselves with one another, that's not a good comparison. Because who are we? We're just clay pots. We're dirt mixed with water and baked. That's what we are. We're vessels. Some to honor, some to dishonor. I mean, clay pots were used for a number of household reasons and causes. And the greatest thing was, for the clay pot, is that the treasure would be kept inside. Well, God has chosen us to place his treasure. And the treasure was for their sakes. The treasure was for their sakes. But also, secondly, the trouble was for their sakes. The trouble. We like the treasure, right? But it's something amazing about the treasure, the pot has to undergo some trouble for the treasure to shine through. Verse eight, we're troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We're perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed. We're troubled on every side. The word trouble means under pressure. Paul was constantly under pressure, wasn't he? Paul said this, he says in 2 Corinthians chapter one in verse eight, for we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure. That's what that word trouble means. We're under pressure. We're pressed out of measure. You've been there, haven't you? Pastor, what are we gonna do? Pastor, we need a decision. The demands of ministry, and they all seemingly sometimes can come at one time, we get pressed out of measure. above strength, he said, insomuch, I don't know that any of us have been there, or perhaps some of us have, that we despaired even of life, but we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead. You see, that sentence of death had to come to teach us what? Not to trust in ourselves. Because we do more of that than we think we do. And God, allows that pressure and that sentence of death to come so that we will look beyond ourselves and look to him. And Paul said all of this was for their consolation in verse number six. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And then he said, and whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. The pressure that comes to us is for their sakes. He said, we're troubled on every side, yet not distressed. That means confined to a narrow place. We're under pressure, but we're not pressured into the point where we cannot find relief. Notice the pressure he was under. He says in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 22, and labor's more abundant in stripes That's what Brother Pope described for us last night. In stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. of the Jews, five times received I 40 stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods. Once was I stoned. Thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I have been in the deep, in journeyings often, in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness. and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Have you ever gotten together with some pastors and had one of those hee-haw sessions? Gloom, despair, and agony on me, Deep, dark depression, excessive misery. And we can't wait for our friend to quit talking so we can tell him how bad we have it. Yeah. Oh, you think that's something. We can't touch this one, can we? We haven't experienced that. But the Lord chose Paul, how great things he will suffer for my sake and for our sake. Because we can read that and we can recognize that Paul was a clay pot and we are too. But it wasn't the strength of the clay pot that that allowed him to hold up under pressure. It was strength of the treasure inside of him. We're troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We're perplexed, we're at a loss sometimes. If you've been at a loss, I don't know what I'm gonna do. But we're not at a total loss, we're not in despair. We're persecuted, that means to literally be pursued or hunted. Paul had these Judaizers and false teachers following him everywhere. Their whole purpose in life, was the same as that lady on Facebook. Or that man on Facebook, who doesn't have the guts to portray himself for who he is, right? It seemed to be their whole purpose in life, just to agitate, just to stir it up. He was persecuted, but he was not forsaken. Paul said, at my first answer, no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me. He's the one who will never leave you nor forsake you. You say, well, I thought they were with me, but they're not. But he is. And you know what? He might let them leave you, in order for you to recognize that he didn't. Because sometimes we value their presence over his. He said we're cast down, but we're not destroyed. We've been knocked down, but not out for the count. Always, verse 10, bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh, so then death worketh in us, but life in you. Paul said, I wanna know the Lord and the power of his resurrection. But in order for me to know him in the power of his resurrection, I have to know him in the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. And you see, the Lord allows us to go through that process so that he can live in us and through us, and so that life can be ministered to God's people. Peter wrote, if ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. Well, who embodies that like Stephen, right? Stephen preached a powerful message and they didn't like it. And they brought him into the council right before he preached it, because they didn't like what he was doing. And the Bible said, when they looked on his face, they saw as it had been the face of an angel. And then after his sermon, they threw those stones at him. And as those stones were striking him and breaking the skin and the blood was flowing down and he was staggering from the blows, one stone after another, he said, behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. And then he said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. You'd think they'd heard that before. Yeah, they had. The life of Jesus manifest in the death of Stephen. So the trouble was for their sakes. Number three, the truth was for their sakes. Verse 13, we having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed and therefore have I spoken, we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you. Paul's quoting Psalm 116 in verse 10, I believed, therefore have I spoken, I was greatly afflicted. You know what affliction does? You know what trouble does? It points us to the truth. It deepens our convictions. You see, trouble also prunes the church. It has a way of removing those who are not committed. You and I probably believe that we need more pastors and preachers. I'm sure we believe that, right? but we also know that there are probably some who don't need to be. And there are times when we wonder about ourselves because we are clay pots, right? And God does a work of grace and he uses trouble and he uses affliction in our lives to deepen our convictions in his word. And so Paul said, I just want you to know that I believe what I'm preaching. I believe it. I have the same spirit of faith as the psalmist who said, I believed, therefore have I spoken. What did Peter say after the lame man was healed? He said, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. There's nothing else for us to do. We have to declare what we believe, and we believe this book is the word of God. And we believe that Jesus is the treasure. We believe that he's altogether lovely. We believe in his sufficiency and therefore we preach it. He believed it. He proclaimed it. And then he said his hope in it. Look at verse 14. Knowing. He said we believe, we speak, and we know. that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you. He set his hope in the Lord. It was for their sake. The treasure was for their sake. The trouble was for their sake. The truth was for their sake. And then lastly, the triumph was for their sake. There's triumph here, there's victory in the midst of these difficulties. Notice it, if you would, in verse 15. For all things are for your sakes that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. I want you to know, first of all, there is triumphant grace. God gives grace. and his grace is abundant. 2 Corinthians 12 and verse 7, and lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. Some believe this messenger of Satan, this thorn in the flesh, was perhaps a physical malady or perhaps a deformity of his eyes. but there are also those who believe he's referencing the ringleader of the Judaizing cult that was trying to overthrow the church and its doctrine, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, a thorn in my flesh. We've all experienced thorns in our flesh, haven't we? So he prays and he asks God to remove it and the Lord gives the answer. Verse nine, my grace is sufficient for thee. I want you to know that his grace is sufficient for you. And that trouble is giving you an opportunity to experience that and make that grace a reality in your life. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches, in necessities and persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. There is triumphant grace. And then there is triumphant glory. He says in verse 15, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause, for the glory of God, for which cause we, would you say the next two words with me? Faint not. We faint not because he's worthy of the glory, isn't he? While the clay pot is cracking and wearing thin, the glory is emanating. The glory is being revealed. But though our outward man perish, Yet the inward man is renewed day by day. Proverbs 4.18, the path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more under the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness. They know not at what they stumble. These bodies are breaking down, the minds are breaking down, and they're gonna continue to. But the inward man is renewed day by day. There's victory there, isn't there? So if we look at the clay pot, it may look good now, but in 10 years it won't look as good. It may seem strong now, but in 10 years it won't be as strong. But the treasure in it will grow in value more and more every day. There's triumphant grace, there's triumphant glory, and there's a triumphant gaze. Look at verse 17. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment. Now wait a minute, did Paul say light affliction? Well, we read 2 Corinthians 11, did that sound like to you? I mean, if we're around Paul and we're singing, you know, gloom, despair, and agony on me, and then he strikes in, guess what we're gonna do? We're gonna hush. We're gonna say, man, I thought I had it bad with that guy, right? And then Paul says, it's a light affliction. It's the same word that's translated easy. My yoke is easy. Doesn't seem very easy, does it? I think the only thing harder than being a pastor is being a parent. It's tough. It's difficult. Our light affliction, which is but for a what? worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Well, how do you get that perspective? How do you get that perspective? I mean, I'm under pressure, I'm distressed, I'm knocked down, I'm just, I'm in real trouble here. How do I all of a sudden get this perspective that is easy and light and just momentary? Here's how we get the perspective. Verse 18, while we, what's the next word, church? Look. My perspective depends on where I'm looking. Not at the things which are seen. Have you ever said this? I just don't see anything happening. I mean, I'm laboring and I'm laboring and I just don't see anything happening. And I believe God wants us to do this, but I just don't see how it's gonna happen. Well, we're looking at the wrong things, aren't we? While we look not at the things which are seen, not at the problems, Not at the limitations, not at the clay pots, but at the things which are not seen. Moses, what are you gonna do? I'm going to be a Hebrew slave. Have you lost your ever-loving mind? You're gonna leave behind your position? Yes. You know you're part of the royal family. You're gonna leave that position? I'm leaving it. Moses, are you going to leave behind your possessions? Yep. Yeah, I'm leaving them. Moses, are you going to leave behind all this power? Oh, yeah. Have you lost your mind? No, I finally found it. I'm leaving my position and I'm exchanging it for a greater position. I'm leaving these possessions of Egypt and I'm exchanging them for eternal possessions, greater possessions. I'm leaving behind the power that I could enjoy in Egypt because I'm going to experience a greater power in the Lord. How'd he do that? By faith. looking beyond the temporal to the eternal. Abraham looked for a city which had foundations, whose builder and maker was God. There is a triumphant gaze. May we keep our eyes on Jesus, looking unto Jesus. Oh, we got a wonderful glimpse of him last night, did we not? Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. For the things which are seen are temporal labor, not for the meat that perishes, but the things which are not seen are eternal. So let's fix our gaze. Let's enjoy his glory and his grace. It's all for their sakes. Now Gideon, Gideon was just a common, everyday guy. Nothing special about his tribe. Nothing special about his family. And the Lord said to Gideon, thou mighty man of valor. You know, he's plowing at night and reaping at night because he's afraid of the Midianites. Thou mighty man of valor. Get in, I'm gonna use you, we're gonna get an army together and you're gonna overthrow the Midianites. Oh mercy, not me. I can't do that. Oh yes you can. Because you're not gonna do it, I'm gonna do it through you. Well, okay, Lord, I'm gonna lay this fleece out. And if all the ground's dry and there's dew on this fleece, I'm gonna know it's you. But he'd already met with the Lord, by the way, and the Lord proved himself mighty, and Gideon said, okay, okay, okay, okay, let's try it one more time, because I want to make sure, right? Let's let the fleece be dry and all the ground be wet. I may have the order reversed, if I do, forgive me. But he did both, right? And God answered, and God showed him. So Gideon said, okay, I gotta get an army together, 32,000. And here comes the Midianites down in the valley, and they're innumerable. They have so many camels, the number of the camels is as the sand of the seashore. I mean, they got weapons of mass destruction down there. They got a multitude of men. And Gideon's got 32,000. And they're sitting around the generals, and they're saying, Gideon, how are we gonna go after them with 32,000? And they're developing their plan, and Gideon, here's his name called, and he steps out of the tent, and it's the Lord, and he says, you got too many. Tell everybody who's afraid to go home. And Gideon's talking to his generals, and says, okay, tell them to go home, and then he's waiting to get the report back, and they said, well, Gideon, we finally got the number. We got 10,000. And he said, you mean 10,000 left us? No, no, we got 10,000 left. 22,000 walked away. And then the Lord calls him again and says, get in, you got too many. Go get a drink of water. And the guys go get a drink of water. And there's 300 of them that lap a different way than the rest of the 9,700. And the Lord said, that's the 300 I want. Now, we often try to find the valor and think that was the special military unit. Those 300 brave men who drank the water the right way, right? And we'll build a whole message around that. But the Bible says in 1 Corinthians, not many mighty, not many noble are called, right? I don't know that that was the bravest 300. It could have been the weakest 300. Okay, we got 300, we're going against this multitude. Yeah, we're going against this multitude. Well, what's the plan? Get a clay pot. Okay. Get a trumpet. Okay. Get a torch. Okay. What's gonna happen? We're gonna surround them. We're gonna put the torch in the clay pot. We're gonna blow the trumpet. We're gonna shout the sword of the Lord and of Gideon, and we're gonna break the clay pot, and the candle inside, the torch inside's gonna shine. Okay. When's the army coming? That is the army. What? That's it. Okay. I mean, I've stuck in this thing this long, I'm one of the 300, I might as well go forward, right? I got my clay pot. I got my trumpet, I got my candle inside. I got a little hammer, maybe, I don't know. However, I'm gonna break this clay pot. Probably not too hard, I may be able to crush it. In fact, maybe that's probably exactly what happened. So we've surrounded the Midianites and we take our trumpet and we blow it. That's the truth that we declare. And we shout the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And we break our clay pot. And all of a sudden, the Midianites, what do they see? The treasure, the light, the glory. And what do they do? They run for their lives. Pretty amazing, isn't it? We're just clay pots. And when we're broken, the light shines, and the victory is won. It's a wonderful thing to serve Jesus, isn't it? We have this treasure in earthen vessels. We're troubled. We have the truth. We're triumphant. And it's all for your sakes. Let's pray. Thank you for listening. The Rest Conference takes place around Labor Day each year on the campus of the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Hickory, North Carolina. To access more resources, visit our website, therestconference.com, or follow us on social media.