2 Corinthians

[0:00] As the Lord shall be pleased to help me, I shall call your attention to a subject you will find in the second epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 4, and the seventh verse.

[0:26] But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.

[0:43] Chapter 4, second epistle to the Corinthians, and the seventh verse.

[0:56] It might be well to approach the subject by asking the question, Do you and I possess this treasure which the Apostle Paul is referring to?

[1:14] For this treasure is that which the Lord Jesus sets forth in that lovely Holy of Holies chapter in John's Gospel, chapter 17.

[1:35] This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

[1:47] In the immediate context, emphasizes it, For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ.

[2:10] Oh, dear friends, as you journey on through life, and time shortens with you, and eternity nears, You realize what the Selmist said, A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.

[2:35] And the chief thing that you and I should be living for, Is to have some sweet, blessed assurance that we have this treasure.

[2:50] And that the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, That we are the children of God.

[3:02] Assure my conscience of her part in the Redeemer's blood, And bear the witness with my heart, That I am born of God.

[3:16] And now, I want us, the Lord, to help me, To look at this subject from Three or four Viewpoints of it. I know that we are going down to the well, With a bucket which we have used before, But we do hope, as grace is given, We shall yet be favored to draw Water, Fresh water, And that with joy, From the wells of Salvation.

[3:48] The setting of the subject is very solemn. The Apostle Paul, The Apostle Paul, Was writing to the church at Corinth, And setting forth, What really, Is the, Work of the ministry.

[4:11] I will not take up time in going into details, For you are all aware of it, Or should be, As to the things that had happened in the church at Corinth, The church at Corinth, Was a unique church, And it was, A church that the Apostle Paul, By the grace of God, When he, Was found at Corinth, Had been, So favored, In his labors there, That the church was built up, Under his ministry, And founded, Too.

[4:45] You will remember, God said to him, When he was at Corinth, And he was pondering in his heart, What was the will of God, I have much people, In this city, And so the Apostle Paul, Realized, It was the will of God, He should preach the gospel there, And it might be well, To ponder this in your heart, Those people, Were not then called by grace, They were just living as worldlings do, And that could happen in any city, Beneath the sun, That God could say, To one of his servants, As he was found there, Are of much people, In this city, And yet they are not made manifest yet, As being, The people of God, But through the proclamation, Of the gospel, They will be,

[5:45] As God, Ordains his, Servants to labor, In word and doctrine, There, And, When the Apostle Paul, Left, Corinth, After he had labored there, With so much success, He went on his missionary journeys, Elsewhere, And then trouble rose, In the church at Corinth, Because, Corinth was like, Our, Oxford or Cambridge, And notable for the wisdom of, This world, And, The great majority of those, In the church at Corinth, Possessed much of the wisdom, Of this world, And were well educated, Intellectual, And so, The devil took advantage of it, And he gained an advantage too, So that a party spirit, Rose up, In the church at Corinth,

[6:47] Of all things inimical, To the prosperity, Of a church, Of course of truth, It is when a party spirit, Develops therein, The Lord grant it, May never develop, Under Union Chapel route, But it did at Corinth, And so, One said, I'm for Paul, He's the minister for me, I like him, I like his line of things, Another said, I'm for Apollos, You can imagine, Who they were, Apollos was eloquent, And mighty, In the scriptures, And that appealed, To those who were educated, And who liked, Things to be, Put forth, With good grammar, As well as the grace, Of God, Others there were, Who said, I am for Kephas,

[7:48] Which was, Peter, And now, This wrought mischief, And when the, Apostle Paul, Was made aware of it, God inspired him, To pen an epistle, And he brought the, People there, The members of the church, At Corinth, Down to bedrock, And he said, Who is Paul?

[8:12] Who is Apollos? Who is Peter? They are, Ministers of God, Of a truth, But what can, Can they do, Unless, God is with them, In what they do, Neither he that, Planteth, Neither he that, Watereth, Is anything, But it is God, Who gives the, Increase, And now that will, Link up, To the opening word, In our chapter here, Therefore, Seeing we have, This ministry, As we have received, Mercy, We faint, Not, But have renounced, The hidden things, Of dishonesty, Not walking, In craftiness, How solemn this is, Nor handling, The word of God, Deceitfully, But by manifestation,

[9:13] Of the truth, Commending ourselves, To every man's, Conscience, In the sight of God, And here is a word, Which to me, Has long been, And still is, A terrifying word, But, If our gospel, Be hid, Margin, Veiled, It is hid, To them, That are lost, Oh you little know, You cannot know, Unless you are in a pulpit, To preach, And you would know it, Deeper down, If you were a pastor, What a heart breaking business, It is, To feel that you might, Preach, You are in, You are out, Labour in word, And doctrine, With your heart, Warm, With loving desires, For the eternal welfare, Of all who listen, To the gospel, That you preach, And yet, To some,

[10:15] It will be hid, And it is said, Hid to them, That are lost, Oh it almost, Breaks your heart, To think of the possibility, Of it, And how does this come about, In whom the God, Little g God, Of this world, Hath blinded the minds, Of them which believe not, Lest the light, Of the glorious gospel, Of Christ, Who is the image of God, Should shine unto them, It is hid, Is it hidden to you, Dear friends, I hope to many of you, It has been revealed, Made manifest, And you were not strangers, To what the, Apostle Paul penned, To the church, At Thessalonica, Knowing brethren,

[11:16] Beloved, Your election of God, For our gospel, For our gospel, Came not unto you, In word only, But also in power, And this might help you, For I do want to help you, I shall not be here, Much longer to do it, But while I can be with you, I want as God shall help me, To help you, And now, Did you come up, This sabbath morn, To hear the gospel, For yourself, Let your conscience, Tell you, How you came, What you came for, And, I believe, With many of you, You had this feeling, I would hear, What God the Lord, Will speak, And you desired, Something like the hymn writer, Blessed spirit of Christ, Descend on us thus, Thy servant assist, Teach him to teach us,

[12:19] Aye, The Lord bless you, If you came like that, You are blessed indeed, Inasmuch as you came like that, And what did Jesus Christ say, Blessed are they which do, Hunger and thirst after righteousness, For they shall be filled, Blessed are your ears, For they hear, But oh, If the gospel is heard, Then it means, That those who listen to it, Have no concern whatever, To realize the blessing, That the gospel, Of the grace of God, Is made to sinners, Born again, They have no ear to, Hear it, The only word that, Suits them, Is the Amen, That concludes the sermon, Alas that it should be so, And now dear young friends, Remember,

[13:19] This is nothing to do with God, If you are in such a position, That you do not want, To hear the gospel, And get good for your souls, It is nothing whatever to do with God, With whom you have to do, It is the little g God, Of this world, That causes you to be as you are, And feel as you do, And it cannot be laid, At the door of God, For, In the gospel of his grace, How kind, How faithful, How tenderly, Does God, Speak in his gospel, And what does he say, And he will never unsay it, Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise, You know the meaning, I have told you many times, I will never, No, Never, No, Never cast out,

[14:22] That is how God, Is toward you, Whenever his gospel is preached, He that hath an ear, Let him hear, What the spirit said, Unto the churches, So that if the gospel, Should be hid, And you do not, Want it revealed, To your soul's, Eternal peace and profit, I repeat, You cannot, Lay it at, God's door, It is just how you, Wish things to be, Deep down in your heart, We will not, Have this man, To reign over us, And now let us start afresh, But, We have, This treasure, In earthen, Vessels, That the excellency, Of the power, May be of God, And not of us, There is one viewpoint,

[15:23] Of this subject, I would like to emphasize, Here I come to open it up, As my mind, Runs, I have just hinted, At the mischief, That arose in the church, At Corinth, Through one, Minister, Being set up, Against another, And a party spirit, Prevailing, And now the apostle Paul, Makes it plain, In this subject, That, If a man is ordained, Of God to preach, It must, Ever be, Remembered, That while, He is a minister, Of Jesus Christ, He is a man, Elias, Was a man, Of like passions, As, We are,

[16:24] And I want you, Dear young people, For it affects you, Nowadays, In our denominational life, And it may do, Much more, As time unfolds, I want you, To remember, That, If you should see, Anything, That is amiss, In a minister, Or hear of it, Or know something, Which seems to his detriment, That is to do, With him, As what he is, As an, Earthen vessel, And that he is, A man of like passions, And that he is, A sinner, And there is, What he is, By nature, Made manifest, Therein, It is nothing, Whatever, To do, With this, Treasure, Which is, Lodged in the, Earthen vessel, Remember that,

[17:27] It will help you, Sometimes, To make a right judgment, About matters, That may, Otherwise, Much perplex you, This treasure, Is the grace of God, But, We have this treasure, In earthen vessels, And now, The apostle Paul, Relates it, To, The ministry, But, It can be, Much enlarged, Which means, That whenever you see, Anything which you know, In your conscience, According to the word of God, Ought not to be, In anyone, Who makes a profession, Of the name of Jesus, It just manifests them, To be, Earthen, Vessels, It is not to do, With this treasure, Which enables, One to say at times, By the grace of God, I am, What, I am,

[18:28] You can search the scriptures, For illustrations, And you will find, That when, You read of the godly, There are things recorded, Of which, James the apostle, Would say, My brethren, These things, Ought not so to be, It is to do, With what they are, By nature, It is because, They are earthen vessels, It is because, They are poor sinners, When this treasure, Is in evidence, When it triumphs, As it inevitably, Will do, Then you will see, What they are, By the grace of God, And admire it, Like Barnabas, Who when he came to Antioch, And saw the grace of God, He was glad, And you can see, The grace of God, And I might just make,

[19:29] A further comment, It would be very helpful, I'm not fitting any caps on, I say, It would be very helpful, If our eyes, Were more often opened, To see the grace of God, In those amongst whom, We live and move, Than to be, Otherwise engaged, In discerning, How evident it is, Their earthen vessels, When there are things, Which we know, Are contrary, To what the word of God, Lays down as a pattern, For the life of, The righteous, Dear friends, Do suffer, This word, Of exhortation, But we have, This treasure, In earthen vessels, That the excellency, Of the power, May be of God, And not of us, If people,

[20:31] Get good for their souls, Through the preaching, Of the gospel, Everyone who is so favored, Must say, All the glory, All the glory, Lord, Is thine, For when all is said and done, Those of us, Who we hope, God has ordained to preach, Are likened, In the book of Zechariah, To pipes, Through which, The golden oil, Flows, Yes, Pipes, The oil, Is that which, A man cannot receive, Except it be given him, From heaven, Do remember that, And do remember this, Brethren, Pray for us, And the apostle Paul said, And for me, That utterance may be given unto me, That I may speak boldly,

[21:33] As I ought to speak, And now let us look at this treasure, And I will draw a contrast, As the Lord shall help me, I read to you, From Matthew's gospel, Lay not up for yourselves, Treasures upon earth, Where moth and rust doth corrupt, And where thieves break through, And steal, But lay up for yourselves, Treasures in heaven, Where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, And where thieves, Do not break through, Nor steal, For where your treasure is, There will your heart be also, You see, The majority of mankind, Work night and day almost,

[22:35] To heap up earthly treasure, And sometimes men accumulate, Great wealth, And then later on, You see, In the daily paper, That, They have gone the way of all the earth, And what their will is, And the late Mr. So and so, Left, So much, But he left it, We brought nothing into this world, And certain it is, We can carry nothing out, And here, The saviour, Uses, Illustrations, And he speaks about, The moth, And the rust, And thieves, And now all earthly treasure, Is affected like that, In a spiritual interpretation of it, The moth, Represents,

[23:36] Time, A moth, Works very quietly, The housewife, Goes to the cupboard, Where she has not been, It may be, For a while, Takes out a garment, And realises, The moth has been at work, There has been no noise, Made about it, No indication of it, But the garment is ruined, And now, However much you may be, Concerned about, Heaping up earthly treasure, The pendulum goes on, Swinging in the clock, Moments by moments, Become minutes, Minutes become hours, And hours become days, And so, It goes on, And you are hastening on, To when you will step out of time, Into, An eternal state, All earthly treasure, Is affected, By the moth, Do remember that,

[24:38] And it speaks about rust, And, You cannot have earthly treasure, Without you have, The rust, Attending it, And that is, Anxiety of mind concerning it, Especially anxiety, To make it more, Than you already possess, Then your thoughts, Run here and there, As to whether you will be able to, Keep this treasure, Or whether it will diminish, And you be brought, Low and come down, Into poverty, Veiled, Oh, There is much anxiety, In the minds of those, Who have much, Earthly treasure, Then there is the thief, Alas, The saviour said, Where thieves break through, And steal, And now, Here is the thief,

[25:40] And he spake a parable, Unto them, Saying, The ground of a certain rich man, Brought forth plentifully, And he thought within himself, Saying, What shall I do?

[25:58] Because I have no room, Where to bestow my fruits, And he said, This will I do, I will pull down my barns, And build greater, And there will I bestow, All my fruits, And my goods, And I will say to my soul, Soul, Thou hast much goods laid up, For many years, Take thine ease, Eat, Drink, And be merry, Here is the thief, Death, But God said unto him, Thou fool, This night thy soul Shall be required of thee, Then whose shall those things be Which thou hast provided?

[26:44] So is he that layeth up treasure For himself, And is not rich toward God. All earthly treasure Is affected by the danger Of the thief coming, And you know not When he will come, So that This treasure in our text Is that Which time Cannot Endanger For it is Enduring in its nature For time And eternity Too And it is valuable Beyond words to Describe As I have already quoted A little that a righteous man hath A little of this treasure Is better than the riches Of many

[27:46] Wicked And now the great thing is this The apostle Paul said it And out of the abundance of the heart The mouth was speaking But we Have this treasure Have you?

[28:08] Have I this treasure? Let your consciences Tell you the truth about it As they will do If they are in working order You may say I am afraid to say much about it I should like to possess this treasure God is my witness I have asked him If I might possess it Many many times But as yet I dare not say much As regards to the possession of it Eh, you have got that Ancient void Which this world Cannot fill You have got that Concern Which does not arise From what you are by nature That you may Possess this treasure And have some religion That God is the author of

[29:09] To live by And Die by And now the word of God says The dead know not anything It is the living Who will lay these things to heart And do you take courage Poor sinner That you come in the category Of the living Not the dead You are no longer As you were born Although you cannot say much You are born again To feel as you do Otherwise you could not feel it Because the starting point Is here A new heart Will I give you A new spirit Will I put within you I will take away The stony heart Out of your flesh I will give you A heart Of flesh And now the spirit of God Has done that for you So that you have got

[30:10] These longings And desires And concern Well enough In your heart Heavenward Godward The soul That with sincere desires Seeks after Jesus' love That soul The Holy Ghost Inspires With breathings From a ball But let us look At this treasure But we have This treasure In earthen Vessels When you ponder In your heart Did you ever do it I say When you ponder It in your heart What an amazing Thing it is That you see Poor sinners Men and women Youths and maids And it can be Children In early life's Mourning In whom this Treasure Has been lodged

[31:11] By the God Of all grace Poor sinners They are With never dying Souls And You and I Are living In the midst Of some Of these Poor sinners In the Possession Of this Treasure And there is One thing Whereby you may Know You possess This treasure You say I should like To know that Here it is It is grace Which makes Men feel Their need And cry To God For more However Much you Might possess Of this Treasure In your Souls Experience As you Came along This sabbath Mourning To worship God You were Asking him Still for More Lord I Want a Totem for Good I want

[32:13] Some Confirmation In my Souls Experience I belong To thee And thy People Lord I Want most Of all To see Jesus And see In him All my Salvation And all My Desire And that Is how This treasure Ever works In poor Sinners Who possess It You can Never be Content With that Which you Already Possess But you Want to Grow in Grace And in The knowledge Of our Lord And saviour Jesus Christ This Treasure How wonderful It is That poor Sinners Like you And I Should be Put in Possession Of it As we Humbly hope God has So favoured Us For long Long years Some of Us But we Have this Treasure In earthen

[33:13] Vessels And now You see As I Read to You The Immediate Context What is The beginning Of this Treasure For God Who commanded The light To shine Out of Darkness Hath Shined In our Hearts To give The light Of the Knowledge Of the Glory Of God In the Face Of Jesus Christ There the Apostle Paul Goes right Back To when In the Beginning God Created the Heavens And the Earth And what Did God Say Let there Be light And there Was Light And so This treasure Comes Into Poor Sinners Hearts The entrance Of thy Word Giveth Light And as I have Used the Illustration Many times Among you When that Happens Then that

[34:14] Sinner Is lighted Up inside And that Light Is from Heaven And it Makes Manifest To that Sinner How sad Our state By nature Is Which You know Every man The plague Of his Own heart Oh it Brings With it A solemn Awareness Of our Undone State In the Adam Fall Our Utter Helplessness In things Divine It brings A solemn Sense Of our Hell Deserving Yes And it Brings this Knowledge Also If thou Lord Shouldest Mark Iniquities O Lord Who Shall Stand If my Soul Is sent To hell Thy Righteous

[35:14] Law Approves It Well When he The spirit Of truth Is come He Shall Convince The world Of sin And here It is As it Comes into A sinner's Heart It is The light Of the Knowledge Of the Glory Of God All Have sinned And come Short Of the Glory of God And this Light Will show How sure You Have come And I Have come Regarding It This Treasure I can only Give you Hints Then Then This Treasure Will be That it Can be Said Of you Oh But can It be Said Behold He Prayeth Do you You may Not care To say Much About it And you

[36:14] May have Many Searchings Of heart But still You do Try To pray And I Must say This On God's Behalf Keep Trying To pray Pray if Thou Canst To Canst Not Speak But pray With faith On Jesus Name For there Is this Treasure I will Pour out Upon The House Of David And the Inhabitants Of Jerusalem The spirit Of grace And of Supplication I wonder If you Could Do listen I wonder If you Could Go back To where You first Tried to Pray You should Be able To do That I mean As regards This Treasure The word Of God Says Then Began Men To call On the Name Of the

[37:15] Lord When did You begin To do It Is it The truth You have Not yet Engaged In such A solemn Profitable God Honoring Business As trying To pray What All the Mercies You Possess Beyond What Tongue Can Tell And Mind Can See And That This Word Is true Concerning You In him We live And move And have Our Being And you Have never Said thank you To God To God To God To God And never Try To pray Alas If our Gospel Be hid It is Hid to Them That are Lost Oh That you Might be Found God But We Have This Treasure In Earth And Vessels And There Comes This Spirit Of Prayer And The Grace Of Supplication

[38:15] As I Said It Wells Up Within Not Always In Words Well Put Together You Might Be Sometimes Concerned Especially You Dear Men That Try To Pray In Public That You Cannot Put A Prayer Together In Words As You Would Like To What God Regards Is Not So Much The Words Well Put Together But This Is Essential Out Of The Abundance Of The Heart The Mouth Shall Speak Yes The Lord Requireth Truth In The Inward Parts And You Remember That Dear Woman In The Gospel Falling Down At Jesus Feet She Told Him All The Truth Go And Do Likewise And You Will Be Made Aware That

[39:15] You Have The Mercy To Possess This Treasure Although You Know How Very Much You Are Like An Earthen Vessel In The Possession Of It You Will Have This Feeling Within I Would Do Good But Evil Is Present With Me Then This Treasure Will Be Also Godly Fear How How Often That Comes Into Our Sermons And It Must Need Do An Unctuous Light To What Is Right A Bar To What Is Wrong A Principle Within You That Tells You How You Should Live And With That Principle A Concern That You Should Live Like It According To The Pattern Set For In The Word Of God I Like That Word In Ezekiel And It Says Let Them Measure

[40:16] The Pattern And You And I In All That We Are Journeying On Through Life In All That We Profess To Be We Should Measure The Pattern Of What We Ought To Be According To What We Profess To Be Godly Fear Will Help You It Will Enable You To Do That Which Is Right Before God With Whom You Have To Do Irrespective Of What Man May Think About It Man Will Be Able To Look On And See That You Have Been With Jesus But I Must Hasten On In This Treasure There Will Be Living Faith And Without Faith It Is Impossible To Please Him He That Cometh To God Must Believe That He Is Dost

[41:17] Thou Believe On The Son Of God When You Try To Pray As You Do Have You Not Deep Down In Your Heart A Solemn Awareness Of Him With Whom You Have To Do Have You Never Felt Like Abraham Behold I've Taken Upon Myself To Speak Unto The Lord Who Am But Dust And Ashes Yet This Privilege Is Granted You And You Have Living Faith In Exercising It We Believe And Are Sure Thou Art The Christ The Son Of The Living God Lord To Whom Can We Go Thou Hast The Words Of Eternal Life Yes And There Is The Treasure Of Hope Good Hope Through Grace What a Mercy It Is To Possess Such A Hope Not To Be Left To Be As Paul

[42:17] Said To The Godly Ephesians Without Without God And Without Hope What a Terrible State To Be In Without God And Without Hope Oh But These People I'm Telling You About To Possess This Treasure Though They Are Earthen Vessels Of A Truth They Are Not Hopeless And They Are Not Helpless Because They Have To Do With God Yes All Through The Children Nest Below Good Hope Expects More Good To Know And Thus Is Kept Alive The Soul What Shall We Say To About This Treasure Of Love It Would Be Good If You And I Could See More Evidence Of It In People With Names On Church

[43:18] Rolls And Others Who We Believe Are Following On To Know The Lord How Glad We Should Be To See Brotherly Love Continuing And Brethren Dwelling Together In Unity But If You And I Are Taught Of God We Shall Have This Treasure Of Love And I Do Like One Word In John's Epistle He That Loved Is Born Of God Which Is To Say He That Loves The Gospel That He Listens To He That Loves The House Of Prayer As He Goes Up With Willing Feet To Worship Therein He He He He He He He He He He Says With Them Numbered I Would Be Now And In Eternity We Know That We Have Passed From Death On To Life Because We Love The Brethren And

[44:19] He That Desires To Love God And Sometimes Says Very Sadly God Only Knows The Love Of God Oh That It Now Was Shed Abroad In My Poor Stony Part Oh This Treasure Of Love Oh That It Might Fill Our Earthen Vessels To Overflowing So That We Might Be Helped To Live In The Spirit Of The Gospel And I Thought Of These Words In Thinking About Coming Before You To Preach And How Much Grace One Needs To Be Able To Behave Like It Speaking The Truth In Love Yes Oh What A Mercy To Have This Treasure We Have This Treasure In Earthen Vessels Then

[45:19] There Is Another Viewpoint Of This Treasure And That Is To Have Sanctification You See If You Have This Treasure You Will Have To Go In The Way That God Has Ordained We Know That We Must Through Much Tribulation Enter Into The Kingdom Of God And Now When That Tribulation Comes It Will Be Well For You Not To Manifest Too Much And Not At All That You Are Indeed An Earthen Vessel And Resent The Dealings Of God And Kick Against The Pricks Of His Dealings And Say With Jacob Long Ago All These Things Are Against Me No No Let It Be Your Concern That This Treasure Shall Be Uppermost In Your Heart And In Your

[46:19] Behavior And That Whatever The Trouble Is That God Will Be In It And Overrule It As He Can Do For Your Souls Profit And Peace Yes I Like That Prayer Of David Let My Soul Live And It Shall Praise Thee And Let Thy Judgements Help Me Judgements There Means Chastening Lord This Trouble Has Come Into My Life I Never Dreamed It Would Ever Come Like It Has And The Nature Of It But Lord It Has Come Help Me To Say Thy Will Be Done Help Me To Feel It Is The Lord Let Him Do What Seemeth Him Good And Grant This Trouble May Be For My Souls Eternal Welfare And

[47:20] That I May Say It Is Good For Me That I Have Been Afflicted That I Might Learn Thy Statutes I Have Told You Sanctified Trouble Is One Of The Surest Evidences That You That You One Of That People Of whom Zacharias Says A People Made Ready For The Lord One Other Thought About This Treasure And That Is Gratitude All To Have A Thankful Heart A Broken Heart A Contrite Spirit To Be Able To Humble Yourself Before God And Say As The Psalmist Did What An Amazing Word It Is You Think About It Blessed Be God Who Daily Lordeth

[48:21] Us With Benefits Then You Should Be Concerned That This Treasure Should Be Manifest And You Should Say Thank You To God And Seek To Translate Thanksgiving Into Thanks Living But I Must Come To The Amen But We Have This Treasure In Earth Earthen Vessels Earthen Vessels You See It Is As Though The Spirit Of God I Say That With Great Reverence Would Remind Us Of Our Origin What Will Be Said Over You When All That Is Mortal Of You Is Laid In The Grave I Hope Well Laid Therein The Preacher Will Say Earth To Earth Ashes To Ashes Dust To Dust Earthen Vessels Yes It Is To Remind Us I Say Of Our Origin Dust Thou Art

[49:21] And Unto Dust Thou Shalt Return It Is To Also Teach Us And We Should Ever Be Mindful Of It How Frail We Are An Earthen Vessel Is Very Frail Only Needs A Slip You Have A Broken Limb Only Needs A Germ And You Are Death's Door Yes Frail So Easily Injured And The Earthen Vessel Is Marred There Is Another Thought Too When The Apostle Paul Inspired By God Uses This Illustration Earthen Vessels Do You Put Earthen Vessels On The Mantle Piece For Ornaments No No No You May Put Ornaments There But Not Earthen Vessels You See Earthen Vessels Are For Usefulness But This

[50:21] Is The Point Earthen Vessels Are Regarded As Mean Contempt And The Apostle Paul Uses An Amazing Illustration In One Epistle Where He Says And He Knew The Truth Of It We Are Treated As The Off Scouring Of The Earth Like The Soot On The House Wife's Cooking Vessel Yes Scum Oh You May Be About In The World That That Is What The World Thinks Of You Well If The World In Any Way Whatever Does Evidence That Is What It Does Think Of You Do You Say Thank You To God For It If On My Face

[51:21] For Thy Dear Name Shame And Reproaches Be All Hail Reproach And Welcome Shame If Thou Remember Me There Is Just This Thought As You Read In The Hebrews There I'm Pretty Sure All Of You Taught Of God Will Say I Come In There Therefore We Ought To Give The More Earnest Feed To The Things Which We Have Heard Lest At Any Time We Should Let Them Slip Margin Read In Run Out As Leaky Vessels Oh You Say That Is Just What I Am Oh The Lord Help You To Be Concerned About It And Remember The Fact That You Are A Leaky Earthen Vessel Is To Demonstrate That You Are Indeed An Earthen Vessel The Fact That You Lose The

[52:22] Comfort And Happiness And Peace Of Mind You May Have From Time To Time In The Possession Of This Treasure Is To Do With You Being An Earthen Vessel But We Have This Treasure In Earthen Vessels That The Excellency Of The Power May Be Of God You See This Treasure Every Bit Of It Every Grain Of Gold That It Is Is Of God It Is That Which A Man Cannot Receive Except It Be Given Him From Heaven It Is Just To Teach Us The Foundation Truth Of Our Most Holy Faith For By Grace Are You Say Through Faith That Not Of Yourselves It Is The Gift Of God Not Of Worse Lest Any Man Should Boast Amen You