God’s Treasure in my Clay Jar – Part 2

This weekend I listened to a two part sermon series by John MacArthur entitled “Certainties that Drive Enduring Ministry” given at the Desiring God National Conference in 2007. (If you’re interested, you can find the links to these two sermons here.) MacArthur shared from his own personal experience as he preached from 2 Corinthians 4. This message was definitely an encouragement for me as I considered the nine elements that are necessary to embrace in order to have a lasting ministry.

1. Embrace the superiority of the New Covenant (v. 1)

• This ministry is presented in 2Cor 3. This is the message the world must hear, that it’s all about the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ and not about what we do to please God. It’s a ministry of life (v.6) and righteousness (v. 7-9), it is permanent (v. 10-11), it brings hope (v. 12), it is clear (v. 13), it is Christ-centered (v. 14), it’s about people turning to Christ (v. 15-16), it is empowered by the Spirit (v. 17), it is transforming (v.18).

2. Embrace the privilege of ministry as mercy from God (v. 1)

• Paul didn’t earn it by his strength and therefore couldn’t forfeit it because of his own weakness (apart from disqualifying sin).
• His ministry actually became more powerful through his weakness

3. Embrace the necessity of a pure heart (v. 2)

• Renounce the things hidden because of shame – have no double life
• Even the fact that we can serve with a clear conscience is the mercy of God (2Tim 1:3) and a goal of the ministry (1 Tim 1:5).

4. Embrace the duty of accurately handling the Word of God (v. 2)

• Not being unscrupulous with God’s Word for our own gain
• Accurately handling God’s Word to be approved before Him (2 Tim 2:15)

5. Embrace the reality that the results do not depend on me (v. 3-6)

• I am not in control of what happens. It’s not about my technique of sowing, but about the soil – how God prepares it and how it responds to the seed.
• We’re not advertising, trying to overcome “consumer resistance” to the gospel. The problem is too large for me to overcome because the “consumer” is dead and blind (like what God said to Isaiah 6:9-13) and our message is unbelievable – that Christ is Lord and we are His slaves (v. 5). And God doesn’t even choose the people that we think he should choose with this message. It’s by God’s doing that anyone is in Christ (1Cor 1:26-31).
• A slave was bought and exclusively owned by one master, was totally available and obedient to a will other than his own, he was utterly dependent for all his provisions and his protection, and his master determined the final disposition of his life as to punishment or reward. The only dignity that a slave got was from the dignity of his master.

6. Embrace the reality of my own insignificance (v. 7)

• Like the clay pots we put flowers in – they’re cheap, common, breakable, replaceable, valueless, and ugly. They were used in that day as trash cans, and toilets. That is what we are in comparison with the message that we carry.
• But the insignificance of the vessel does not prove fatal to the work of God. In fact, it enhances the glory of God and the gospel.

7. Embrace the benefits of suffering (v. 8-12)

• The way to power is through weakness and suffering, not wealth and prosperity.
• Paul saw sacrificial suffering as the way to spiritual weakness, spiritual weakness as the way to spiritual power, spiritual power as the way to demonstrate the glory of the transforming power of Christ that was in him and that had an impact on people and built the church. The impact of Paul’s life was not because of Paul but because of the power of God working through his suffering.
• We need things in our lives that break us

8. Embrace the need for bold conviction (v. 13-15)

• Enduring ministry doesn’t belong to those who change easily with the trends – methodology, style, gimmicks, numbers, crowds, etc. To have an enduring ministry there’s got to be more going on than just a following of the latest fads.
• We’re not changing our message, but faithfully maintaining what we believe and speaking it with boldness, even when it would be more comfortable or easy or safe to remain silent. No matter what it means to me personally, even at the cost of my life, I continue to faithfully minister the truth of the gospel.

9. Embrace eternity as the priority (v. 16-18)

• My concern isn’t about my comfort, popularity, or success, but about the gospel of grace spreading to more and more people who will give thanks that abounds to the glory of God.
• Paul preferred the spiritual over the physical (v. 16), the future over the present (v. 17), and the invisible over the visible (v.18).