Please take your Bibles and open them to 2 Corinthians chapter 4 as we continue our study of Paul's epistle. We pick up at verse 7. We'll study to verse 12. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 7 to 12. Listen now to God's holy, inerrant, and life-giving word. Paul continues, but we have this treasure in jars of clay. to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not driven to despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed. Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. May God be praised through the reading and hearing of his holy word. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your goodness in revealing your ways to us. And yet, Lord, they are so different from our ways. You call us to follow your son who bore the cross for us, that we also would bear the cross, that through that death which is offered in Christ, you might bring life, his life, into the world. We pray for your grace as we study, as we do. In Jesus' name, amen. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6 concluded Paul's defense about his open and candid ministry of the word, a ministry founded on integrity and faithfulness. He concluded that by giving one of the great high points, I think, of all those epistles. And he speaks of the light of the knowledge of the glory of God that is conveyed by God's word in the face of Jesus Christ. Immediately, however, he reminds his readers that this vast spiritual treasure should not be taken to suggest that Christians are designed to have a triumphal earthly experience. No, instead he insists, verse 7, we have this treasure in jars of clay. And he's referring to the lowly appearance that Christ's people offer to the world. In fact, exactly contrary to the claims of prosperity gospel teachers today who, you know, insist that what God wills for his faithful servants is health, wealth, strength, all the worldly things you can offer. Instead, Paul insists that the exact opposite is the case, that the servants of Christ are called to suffering for the sake of the gospel. David Garland notes that Paul's jars of clay depiction is not an exception to the spirit filled life. No, he says it is part of God's design to spread the gospel. In Paul's terms, it's a design that shows that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. Verse seven. Now, when I was a younger, aspiring preacher in seminary years ago, I'm very grateful that 2 Corinthians 4, 1 to 6 was very strongly impressed upon me. I began my ministry very much focused on this idea of the ministry. I was not to pursue shortcut. ways of success, I was to proclaim God's word faithfully, relying on the supernatural power of God's Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 4, 1 to 6 would have been my ministry philosophy. Haven't abandoned that, but my years of experience in the church have expanded it to the rest of 2 Corinthians chapter 4. For as important as it is for a preacher to commit to a faithful ministry of the word, he must also embrace a suffering ministry of the word. One in which Paul says death is at work in us so that life works out into God's people, verse 12. And yet the suffering servant of Christ is not abandoned. And Paul is continuing to give his confidence in the gospel preaching amidst all kinds of suffering. And he highlights in our passage God's power in weakness, God's help in hardship, and God's life that is spread through dying. This is the way of the gospel ministry, Paul says. God's power in weakness, God's help in hardship, God's life spread through dying servants. Let's look at the first of these, God's power in weakness. The but that begins verse seven indicates a contrast or at least a qualification to what Paul had written about the believers blessing through the gospel. He knows here the conditions in which we bear the knowledge of God's glory. Verse seven, but we have this treasure in jars of clay. The treasure is the gospel message of Jesus as Savior, along with the promise of the Holy Spirit who will transform us, along with our enlightenment into the glories of God's grace. What a treasure a Christian receives. And God has given this precious gift of eternal life through faith in his Son, but We experience this treasure amid both the frailties of our human experience and in affliction as the followers of Christ. Now clay jars were as ubiquitous in Paul's time as our plastic bottles in our day. They weren't as durable. But they were as omnipresent as clear plastic bottles are today. Whenever archaeologists go to some site, some ancient site, and they begin digging, there's always clay shards in great abundance. George Guthrie refers to clay jars as unexceptionable, affordable, disposable, and put to a wide variety of uses in the ancient world. Now apparently one of these uses was the tendency of wealthy people to safeguard valuable objects by hiding them in clay parts. There was no bank. There was no safety deposit box. You didn't want to have some ostentatious container. So the thief knew exactly where to go. You put it in an ordinary play clay pot. In that way, you did not direct attention to them. Well, Paul writes that Paul that God has followed this procedure. He has placed the treasure of eternal life in the clay jars of fragile, ordinary people. Now, two features then of the Christian servant are highlighted by Paul's allusion to a clay pot. First, just as clay pots were extremely ordinary, so also are Christian witnesses, ordinarily indistinguishable people, just like other people, run-of-the-mill people in a worldly way. Contrary to the prevailing view among the false teachers of Corinth, their view was that an effective gospel minister had to be very impressive outwardly. He had to have great oratorical gifts, and he had to be dynamic, and he needed a PR firm, and they were going to put billboards up. That's what they would do today. It's what they are doing today. I've often pointed out that we are in the midst, 2 Corinthians shows us, you and I are in the midst of a deeply Corinthian evangelical ministry. And the logic of the critics of Paul is very common in the church today, particularly this idea that if you're going to be a servant of Christ, you need to be an exalted person, or we at least will make you seem that way. Paul counters that God has willed instead that His gospel will be held and spread by ordinary people. with all the limitations of human nature. And in this way, he stresses the gospel does not rely on extraordinary oratorical gifts or impressive appearances. Instead, Tim Savage notes, the glorious gospel is borne about by those who are comparatively inferior, the powerful gospel by those who are weak. And so this ordinariness is part of the clay jar analogy. Now, secondly, and maybe primarily, just as clay pots were fragile and they were subject to cracking, So God has committed his gospel to human servants who are prone to grief and sorrow, sickness and suffering, discouragement and frustration. Trent Castro talks about when he bought his first iPhone. There's a big event in the life of a person today. The day I got my first iPhone, it's so precious and so expensive. What's the first thing you do? First thing he did was he went and bought a very expensive case. So if he dropped it, it wouldn't break. Most of us have done the same thing, but God has done the exact opposite. He has put the treasure of the gospel in people who are exceedingly breakable and fragile. Now, the reason God has done this, he has put this treasure in jars of clay. Verse seven is to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. It is God's wisdom to entrust the immeasurable treasure of the gospel to weak and ordinary servants in order to make clear what is the source of the saving power that gives us life. It's not the servant. It's the Savior. It's God who is the source. It's His immeasurable power. Now Paul stressed this in 1 Corinthians 1, 26 and 27. He said, not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. And not only does God ordinarily or usually work through outwardly unimpressive people in order to humble the proud, but also so that the contrast between their weakness and the gospel's power will direct those who hear to God. Again, not the human servant, but to God and his grace. Now, this is a very important statement. I want to draw some implications from it before I move on. And the first is this. If God puts his treasure in jars of clay, then any Christian may serve him. It may be used to spread the gospel. If God has given you gifts, well, of course, use the gifts to serve him. That's what you were given the gifts for. But so many people say, you know, I don't really have gifts. I don't have great gifts. So somebody else will serve God. Somebody else must spread the gospel. I don't really have a place. Well, one thing, you usually don't learn where your gifts are until you start serving him. You discover your spiritual gifts, not with a questionnaire. But by serving in the church and you see how God has equipped you in special ways. But maybe maybe you don't have great gifts. Maybe you're not impressive. Well, Paul would say, but see, this is God's particular design. Ordinary people, fragile people would bear testimony to the gospel. My friends, the gospel is spread by earnest Christians. who live in faith and take a loving interest in other people. This is what we need. That's what Christianity is always need. People who reach out to others and they do. What a radical thing it is to do when you say, would you like to come to church with me this Sunday? Inviting people to church, how powerful it is because people are lonely. Because they like meaning. Have you not noticed what the world is like, the darkness of it? And so these are Christians who befriend somebody and say, would you have a come into church with me? And maybe they ask them three times. Maybe they pray for them. Maybe as God gives them an opportunity, they themselves bear testimony to the forgiveness of sins in Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit as Christ lives within us. My friend, if you will just trust in Christ, and you will sincerely seek to follow Jesus, you may be greatly used, and you will be used in a way that highlights the extraordinary grace of God through an ordinary person like you or me. That's maybe the first implication. Secondly, surely what Paul says here has great bearing on the ministry approach, the ministry methods of the church. It is widely assumed today that churches must present an appearance of success. They must make themselves appealing on the world's terms. And yet Paul envisions Christ's servants as a common, unimpressive clay jar in which a great treasure is found. And so our focus should not be on trendy methods of ministry. I get these catalogs sent to me and I usually put them in one of the other people's office, but sometimes I look at them. It was a whole catalog of microphones and lighting equipment for the stage set of your worship service. And it was amazing how much effort was going into this and how much money was being set and all the details of having just the right mic to give you this tone. and these colored lights for all the things going on. And Paul says, look, just open the jar. Show them the gospel. We don't have to follow the trendy things. We just preach Christ. This is what we do. That was Paul's own method, 2 Corinthians 4, 2. By the open statement of the truth, he says, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. Open the Bible and teach it. That's what he says he does. Now, today we call this an ordinary means of grace ministry. the ordinary preaching of God's Word, people praying together as a church, the administration of the sacraments in a biblical way. David Garland writes, many a minister suffers burnout from trying to run a sparkling program, keeping up attendance while keeping down conflict, and preaching catchy sermons instead of preaching Christ. We don't despise them. We know people are trying to do good. They're trying in these ways to reach people for Jesus. But Paul says, look, we have this treasure in jars of clay. And he relied on God to show his surpassing power through the simple expedient of the preaching of God's word, the exposition of scripture with a highlighting of Jesus Christ. Well, thirdly, Paul's metaphor suggests that brokenness, cracks in the clay, actually do not inhibit the spreading of the gospel, but they allow the light of the gospel to shine out from the clay jar. You may, for instance, I say this because you may be saying, well, I can't serve the Lord until I'm no longer struggling with sin. Well, if that's your view, you are never going to serve the Lord because until the day you die, you're going to be struggling with sin. The problem is not Christians who struggle with sin. The problem is Christians who are not struggling with sin. And you see, when we say, when we are honest and say, look, I am a center who's been forgiven by the Lord and the grace of the Lord is working powerfully in my life, but I am struggling and I have difficulties. This does not inhibit, but rather enables an authentic witness of the gospel for the salvation of centers. If we were preaching ourselves well, then in that case, we need an impressive veneer of religiosity that I admit. But if we are preaching Jesus Christ as a savior of sinners, well, then the power he gives to struggle with sin and the forgiveness that gives us joy in the midst of the struggle, it all puts a spotlight on God's grace. It puts a spotlight on the cross of Jesus Christ. I think in this respect it may be, maybe it's likely that Paul at least has on the back of his mind the Old Testament story of Gideon, Judges 6 and Judges 7. Remember how a vast host from Midian came upon Israel and God sent out Gideon with a pitifully small force of soldiers. And the Lord told him in a dream what his battle plan was. It was this. I want all 300 men to have a torch and then get a clay jar and put the torch in the clay jar. Then you will go out at night against the host of Midian. And when the trumpet blows, you're going to smash the clay jar and then the light will be shining. And by faith, they obeyed the word of God. They took this rather unorthodox military tactic, but it was God's will. And when the trumpet blew, the jars were smashed, the lights shone, and God caused the Midianites to be destroyed, Judges 7, 15 to 22. God had Gideon go forth in a way that was militarily absurd. And we likewise use the broken clay of our lives to reveal the light of Christ so that with God's blessing, many are saved. I have to say to you that, in my opinion, the word brokenness is greatly overused and misused in our time. Jan Wolken called it celebratory failureism. Isn't it great that we fail? Isn't it great that we're slothful? Isn't it great that we put forth no effort in our struggle against sin? No, it's not great. And nor do we have to do it that way. The truth is we are broken. We are broken. We don't need to celebrate or justify a lack of spiritual progress. Rather, as we are exercising our faith, as we are seeking earnestly to grow spiritually, then it is often the brokenness of our lives that displays our surpassing power and shows that it belongs to God and not to us. And so when we are broken by sorrow, when we're afflicted by doubt, when we're weary of the struggle, we have no reason to hide our frailty. Philip Hughes writes, it is precisely the Christian's utter frailty which lays him open to the experience of the all-sufficiency of God's grace so that we rejoice in him and we bear testimony to his power in our weakness. God has put his treasure in jars of clay, and yes, they are easily broken, and that brokenness, biblically understood, will cause the light of grace to shine. Well, fourthly, Paul's main concern with the man-centered attitude of the Corinthians is that they wanted to exalt Christ's servants. When a true witness to the gospel will always direct people's attention to God and to his grace, this is what we must always do. He shows us the surpassing power is not me. It's not that I'm special. It's not that I've done something better. I'm a weak, broken center with a mighty savior who died for my sins, who rose from the grave and who sends his Holy spirit into my life. That is the Christian witness we want. Our constant aim is to point others to Jesus Christ. And in leading others to Jesus, we do not need to exert ourselves, concocting false pretenses. Paul says in Ephesians 4, 15, that speaking the truth in love, we simply shine the light that God has given us. And he magnifies the gospel in the brokenness of our lives. In our weakness, God gives power, and this shows that he is the source of the life in which we rejoice. God's power in weakness. Now, the critics of Corinth saw the Apostle Paul as the prime example, prime exhibit of the foolishness of this approach to gospel ministry. And he says, well, you're trying to spread the gospel when you yourself, frankly, you are contemptible. And I love how Paul does not deny the charges. He says, no, you're actually right. Except this, if this is God's method, he gives power and weakness. And then secondly, he provides help in the midst of hardship. That's where he goes. He gives power to the weak. He provides help to his servants in hardship. Now this is the first of several times in this letter he's going to highlight some of the sufferings he's experienced in serving Christ. This one is a very general description in verses 8 and 9. He says, we are afflicted in every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed. Now, it's important to realize that in each of these, Paul uses present active participles, their present actions. It's not something that happened. I'm glad that's over with. But it's my it's my regular experience. He says these are the struggles that characterize his service to Christ. And four types of hardship are cited. They show that while the clay pot of his life suffered cracks, God helped him. God held all together so that he continued preaching Christ. Well, first, in verse eight, he notes, we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Now, the word for afflicted ordinarily means to be under great pressure. He's pressed upon strongly. And this was Paul's description generally for the burden of his ministry. And it's no surprise that he felt this way, that he speaks this way. We know what's been going on in his life the last few years had put Paul under immense anxiety. He was opposed by this rival faction in Corinth. Then he goes over to Ephesus and he's physically threatened there. And he bears the inward burden that's expressed in the back and forth correspondence of the two Corinthian letters. He's trying to secure their allegiance for the gospel. And yet for all this pressure, he insists that by God's help, he is not crushed. He is afflicted but not crushed. There's no signs of backing off or giving in. His focus has not turned inward into self-pity. But he has remained fixed on the gospel work to which Jesus appointed him. I like how Merrill Tenney summarizes this. Paul says, we were squeezed but not squashed. That's not a terrible translation. Because the Lord upheld him in faith. Now, secondly, Paul was perplexed, but not driven to despair. Also, verse eight, isn't encouraging that the great apostle Paul, he says here, you know, there were times I had not the slightest idea what to do. I didn't understand my circumstances. I didn't know what was happening. I didn't have a plan. I frankly was perplexed. I think you see this in Acts 17 when he shows up in chapter 18 in Corinth. And Paul had been up in Macedonia for Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea. He loved those people. Things went generally well, though he was kicked out. by the people persecuting him. And he goes down to Achaia, to Greece proper. And he's so concerned for the Macedonian churches, he sends his two associates, Timothy and Silas. Paul himself was barred from going back. You guys go back and tell me how they're doing. Meanwhile, he ends up in Athens. And he's literally, Acts 17.6 shows him wandering alone the streets of that historic city. But it doesn't take long before he starts noticing all the idols. that just literally filled the city of Athens and that focused him again. Luke says he had a paroxysm when he saw the idols and he goes through the marketplace denouncing them and talking to people about them. He ends up, he's taken to the Areopagus and he gets to present the gospel before the assembled philosophers of Athens. A month earlier, something similar had happened. And this is Paul's second missionary journey. It starts off, he retraces his steps through south-central Turkey, and he says, hey, let's keep going west. We haven't gotten to the province of Asia yet. That's a good plan. Just keep going with the gospel. But we're told, we're not told what it means, but he's hindered by the Holy Spirit. That'd be a bit of a bummer. And Paul's perplexed by that. I have plans. The Holy Spirit rejects my plans. Maybe you've had that experience. But he gets a vision at night. A dream comes to him. The man of Macedonia who says, come over and help. He goes, OK, let's do that. And he goes up into Philippi. This is his experience. And how many pastors likewise feel confused about what they're supposed to do with the unbelief and the conflict and the lethargy of their churches. They don't really know how to handle it. Or parents, how many Christian parents, they don't know exactly what tactic to take with a troubled child. Well, Paul shows us that when perplexed, he was not driven to despair. And we know that's because of the promises the Lord has given and his confidence. He was confident that God would providentially lead him. He writes in chapter five, we walk by faith, not by sight. And that's our answer to perplexity. We trust God in his word and we prayerfully carry on in obedience through faith. That's what Paul did. Now third, in verse 9, he turns from inward struggles to outward troubles. He says he was persecuted but not forsaken. Now the term persecuted literally means pursued, and Paul certainly was pursued. We read in Acts 14, 9, Acts 17, 13, that he'd go from one city and he'd go to another, and usually the Jewish community that was so hostile to him, often that ran him out of the previous city, they'd follow him to the next city. And so he'd be there preaching, they'd have a fresh start, and here they come, they show up. Before long, he's being assaulted and even stoned. This happens to him. He was pursued and persecuted in the city of Lydia. He was stoned and dragged into the city as dead. It seems likely he was stoned to death. And that may be the episode, likely is, that he's going to talk about in chapter 12, where he actually went to heaven. And it seems they stone Paul. He was dead. And then they turn around and he gets up and he keeps going. He's persecuted, but he's not forsaken. Or I think one of my favorite episodes is in Act 16 when Paul and Silas are in Philippi. There's a kind of a typical rebel, you know, Satan's against them and he stirs up trouble. They get arrested. They get beaten with rods. That's bad news. They're shackled and thrown into prison. This is a very desperate situation. So they spent the night praying and singing hymns to God. It's really a great picture of what a triumphant faith looks like. And what happens when they're in this deplorable, persecuted situation? An earthquake strikes the prison, opens the bars, and you know the Philippian jailer. He asks the question, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And Paul gives the answer. Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. They were not forsaken. That's why they were singing. That's why they had joy, because they knew that God had not left them. They were persecuted, but not forsaken. Now you say, yeah, but he was executed before too long, another 10 years or so later, but maybe a little more than that. He's in Rome then and the emperor puts him to death. That's true. But Paul knew that until the Lord had appointed him that was finished, that he was immortal. Until that work was accomplished that was committed to him, he was kept safe by God's power. Though persecuted, he was not forsaken. And did you know that God gives you the same promise? You say, wouldn't it be great if I had the same promise? You do. Hebrews 13, 5 to 6, he says, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we can say with confidence, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what can man do to me. God promises you, believer, that you also will not be forsaken. Hebrews 13, 5 to 6. Well, Jesus foretold there would be persecution and affliction to everyone who follows him. John 15, 20, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. But then he said later, take heart, for I have overcome the world, John 16, 33, and countless Christians have brave persecution while preaching the gospel or witnessing the gospel or supporting as a church, the gospel, because they knew it was true. They knew that Christ was with them. Think of William Tyndale, that great man who was hunted throughout Europe while he was translating the Bible into the native language of English. And he evaded arrest until his work was done. Then they captured him, then they put him to death, but not until he changed the world with that translation of the Bible into his native tongue. He persecuted but not forsaken. Well, fourthly, Paul says, he was struck down but not destroyed. Here's the idea of a soldier who's wounded but gets back into the fight. And when the blows struck the clay jar of Paul's life, the earthen vessel held, although the cracks would allow the gospel light to come out. I think in pugilistic terms, he would say, I've been knocked down many times, but I have never yet been knocked out. That's what he's saying here. And his astonishing career shows the resilience that we need, that Christians need, both in the work of the church and in our witness to family and to friends. Now, as we consider this testimony to God's help in the midst of hardship, we may wonder, why did God invest so much? Why did God give this man, Paul, so much divine protection? Well, the answer is found when we realized how these same descriptions could be said of Jesus Christ, and yet he was not helped. And he was not helped because he and the Father had a plan whereby his suffering death would bring salvation to his elect people. But as these words are spoken, we cannot help but think of the very different experience that Jesus had from Paul. Isaiah, speaking of Jesus' atoning death, said, He was crushed for our iniquities. Isaiah 53, 5. In fulfillment of Psalm 22, 1, Jesus cried from the cross, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He was forsaken, Matthew 27, 46. We think of Jesus when he goes to the garden of Gethsemane and he is brought to despair. And then when his enemies had succeeded in their goal of destroying the promised Messiah, they could say that they had in fact destroyed him. It was because therefore Jesus was crushed. Jesus was brought to despair. Jesus was forsaken because Jesus was destroyed for those reasons Paul was not. And then when Jesus rose from the grave because he was the Son of God, his conquest supplied the power by which we receive God's deliverance. I've always loved the contemporary tune or the lyrics of Billy James Foote. It puts it well. I'm forgiven because you were forsaken. I'm accepted. You were condemned. I'm alive and well. Your spirit is within me because you died and rose again." Well, Christians must pay attention to the biblical assurance that we're going to have earthly troubles. We will experience persecution for the sake of the gospel. But we also must never forget the divine help on which we can rely. David Garland writes that Paul wants those who see him only as crushed, despairing, forsaken, and destroyed. He wants them to take a closer look. In fact, the suffering has not destroyed him, not because he's made himself somehow invulnerable or immune, but because he rests secure in the hands of God. And so do we. Well, Paul is speaking of God's power revealed through weakness and God's help received in hardship. He concludes what really is a vital passage here by highlighting thirdly how God's life is spread by the dying. Verse 10, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. God's life is manifested by the dying. Now in verses one to six, Paul called for a faithful ministry of God's word. And we've seen in verses seven to 10, he emphasizes a suffering ministry of the gospel. Well, he concludes here by asserting that the shape of an authentic gospel ministry is cruciform. The shape of an authentic gospel ministry is cruciform. To serve Christ in the gospel is to embrace death so that others might experience life. Now the voluntary nature of Christian sacrifice is shown in verse 11, where Paul says, for we who live, those who embrace a sacrificial life for the gospel, they've experienced the life of Christ. They've experienced the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. He says, we're the ones who've actually come alive. But living by the grace of Christ, they therefore accept dying as the mode by which they serve him. In verse 10, when Paul writes that he was always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, We can't help but be reminded of Jesus' summons, his command, if anyone would follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and come after me, Luke 9, 23. And that command is given to all Christians, but its prime examples are offered by those who preach the gospel. Well, Paul's image of carrying in the body the death of Jesus, it notes the burden of self-sacrifice that is willingly borne by Christians to spread the gospel of salvation. It's important that the word he uses here is not thanatos, which means death, having died. It's rather the word necrosis, which means in the process of dying. And so maybe a better translation is carrying in the body the dying of Jesus. It's a lifestyle of self-denial and suffering, which the servants of Christ willingly embrace so that others may have eternal life. And this theme comes up frequently in Paul's letter. I think most eloquently Galatians 2 verse 20. I've always taken Galatians 2 20 as clearly a personal motto of Paul's. For I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, he says, but Christ who lives in me. And that statement catches the idea of dying to self in order that the crucified and resurrected Jesus may live through us. Well, here, then, is a key to a Christian's usefulness to the Lord. And I dare say it is seldom taught, but it is always experienced. Paul does not view self-crucifixion as a once-in-a-lifetime sacrifice that you do it once and you get it over. No, look, he says we who live are always being given over. to death for Jesus' sake, verse 11. This is something that's always happening. Now, we think of many dramatic examples of cruciform dying with Christ in church history. I think of John Chrysostom, that great preacher of the fifth century who so boldly proclaimed the word of God and set forth Christ at the very imperial court in the corrupt city of Constantinople until finally it's bound to happen. It did happen. He's driven into exile. He's hunted like a beast. And on September 14, 407, he succumbs to death. in miserable circumstances in the wilderness, one of the greatest men the church ever produced, and he dies. But in so many more cases, service to Jesus is a very real but less impressive outwardly death. It's the dying to personal ambitions. It's the dying to comforts you might easily have had. It's dying to the proximity of family and friends, which you could enjoy, but you were called to spread the gospel. It's the bearing of many ongoing burdens so as to preach the gospel of saving life to those who otherwise would languish in the death of sin. George Mueller, that remarkable English pastor who housed and evangelized so many thousands of orphans in 19th century London, once he was asked, what is the secret of your achievement? And he lowered his head and he quickly, quietly spoke. He said this, many years ago, there came a day in my life when George Mueller died. As a young man, I had many great ambitions, but there came a day when I died to all these things. And I said, henceforth, Lord Jesus, not my will, but thy will be done. And he says, from that day, God began to work in and through me. And so Paul cites the price tag of gospel ministry as carrying in the body the dying of Jesus. With the result, verse 10, that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. Simon Kistemacher writes, imminent death was Paul's constant companion, but so also was the life of Jesus that God revealed in and through the apostle. In Paul's missionary labors, we read it in the book of Acts, he took the gospel to men and women who did not exactly want to be told they were sinners who were about to go to hell. You may discover this for yourself. It's not the most popular topic. You show up and you say, I'd like to talk to you about the fact that there's obviously a true God. It's equally obvious that you have sinned against him and broken his law. And therefore, it's evident from God's word that you are imparable mortal judgment. When you bring that message, don't expect to be Mr. or Miss Popular. And Paul wasn't. They hated him when he went and preached the blood of Jesus and the need to confess your sins, believe and repent. But they were the very people who could only be saved if Paul or someone like him took that message to them. It was by dying that he enabled them to live, to hear, and by God's grace, to believe and to be saved. And Paul was first, as it were, in a long line that continues today, bearing the dying of Jesus, trusting and serving the Lord who gives grace to save and to enliven many through their sacrifice. Christ's servants embrace this dying lifestyle. You say, why would you do this? Because Christ calls them to do it, but also because they have a burning desire that God gave them for him to be glorified in the salvation of many sinners. And with the cross, the bearers of the gospel, they experience the resurrection power of Christ. They discover newness of life and the very gospel they proclaim. Now, so important is this principle that in verse 11, Paul virtually repeats the point. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. Now, there is a difference. He talked about carrying the gospel in verses 9 and 10. It's the willing embrace of sacrifice. for the sake of the gospel. Now it's being given over. Of course, you think of Jesus being delivered into the hands of wicked men, Jesus being given over to the cross. And this now points to the betrayals and abuse experienced by those who are given over to death with Christ. And just as Jesus rose from the grave, those whose lives involved always being given over to death, they have the life of Jesus manifested in their earthly experience. Now, often such people are embarrassments to their worldly families, and it's no piece of cake to have your family become embarrassed about you, particularly when you previously been admired, but that's the kind of thing that happens. Often they expose themselves to official harassment, even persecution. Sometimes they're treated as mere hirelings, even in the church. But the servants of the gospel embrace this cruciform lifestyle so that God will be exalted by his word and God's grace will shine from the broken cracks of their clay pot lives. Verse 12 sums up Paul's principle and rule. Embraced by those who persist in gospel ministry without giving up, he says, for death is at work in us, but life in you. Oh, how many ministry couples broken and wearied, lonely and frustrated beyond the point of endurance. They've held, they've clutched themselves with tears in their eyes and they pointed to this verse. Christ called us to this. We knew it when we entered the call. It's the reality. He will sustain us. Death is at work in us so that life is at work in them. And of course, that's the principle that Jesus taught and exhibited. Before the crown is worn, the cross must be born. So it is for every one of us, first the cross and then the crown. Jesus said, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12, 24. And so those like Paul who take up the cross for the preaching of Christ and his gospel, they not only are being inwardly renewed, he says this in verse 16, we're being renewed inwardly day by day. Not only do they know that they're bearing much fruit as they contribute to the harvest of the ages, but Jesus points out that they also will gain the crown. John 12, 25 to 26, the next verses. Whoever loves his life loses it. Whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Well, let me conclude by asking this question, it's this, what would it look like for you to put your name where George Mueller put his? What would it mean to say there was a day when I and there put your name? I died and Jesus began living through me. Well, if you are a Christian, that event has already taken place. That's actually a past tense. It began, it continues now. To embrace Jesus as Savior always means surrendering to Jesus as Lord. And yet how many Christians do not realize this truth? They do not carry the cross of self-sacrifice for the sake of the gospel. They have, oh, how common this is in our Corinthian church. Christianity is a compartment of their lives, their otherwise worldly lives, however sanctified it may be. They do not say with Paul, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Now, supposing that such a person is a sincere Christian who has confessed his or her sins, has believed on the cross, here's the question. What is that life that shies away from the weight of bearing the cross? Well, I'm sure it's a comfortable life, which allows others to bear the burden of sacrificially serving Jesus and his gospel. And yet even by Paul's terms in this passage, it must be an impoverished life. Knowing little of Paul's claim that by means of dying, the life of Jesus is manifested in our mortal flesh. In 1934, the beloved missionaries, John and Betty Stamm, were captured by the communist soldiers in China, and they were marched to their death. God miraculously preserved their three-month-old baby, Helen. All they could do was hide her under a blanket. While they were carried off, she lay under that blanket for five days, three-month-old baby, until she was found and she miraculously lived. Her parents were killed. And they had a friend, they had a supporter back in the United States. His name was Frank Houghton. He heard the news and he wrote a hymn. A hymn thanking Jesus for the sacrifice he made for us. He wrote, thou who was rich beyond all splendor, all for love's sake became as poor. And his final stanza asked our gracious Lord to enable us to follow the sacrificial example of those who serve the gospel before us. People like Paul and like John and Betty Stamm. He wrote, Thou who art love beyond all telling, Savior and King, we worship Thee. Immanuel within us dwelling, make us what Thou would have us be. Thou who art love beyond all telling, Savior and King, we worship Thee. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. And here again, we see that as far as the heavens are above the earth, so are your ways above ours and your thoughts above our thoughts, because we would not design a crucified life, a cruciform lifestyle for ourselves. And yet we see Jesus, we see the Son of God who died for our sins and who calls us. He calls us to the cross that we would lose the world. Not only that we would save our lives, but so that by our dying, our dying mode of witnessing the gospel, all Christians, each according to our calling, one cross. that by our dying you would be glorified in the life that you manifest to many. Oh, Lord, give us grace to answer this call. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.