Earthen Vessels Need the Spirit

And there is evening service tonight, so we're turning there at 6.30. I'll just invite everybody out to that. We're having gospel meetings on the 22nd of this month. My brother Ross from Prince Edward Island is coming over from Wednesday to Sunday.

He'll be here, so gospel meetings Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday night at 7. And then Saturday morning, men, we're having a men's breakfast. Someone offered to do it, so I said, sure, why not? We haven't really done it before as far as for meetings. We don't usually do it, so that'll be at 8.30 in the morning.

We'll have a breakfast, and then Ross will share the messages to the men. And then there'll be no meeting Saturday night, but both services on Sunday. So we have some flyers out from the entryway.

If you want to invite somebody, take a couple. If you have someone in mind, be praying that God will bring people out to those meetings and that we'll see salvation. And we'll have testimonies, probably some special music, and it'll just be a great time together and some tea and coffee afterwards.

And let's keep that in mind and in our prayers. And also the Ladies Bible Study, which is on Tuesday nights, finished a terrific study they did on prayer. And they're starting a new study on 2 Corinthians this Tuesday.

So we'll just invite all the ladies into that. That's at our place at 6.30 during Cool Kids time. And we're praying for that, that God will richly bless them through that.

So I want to share from 2 Corinthians 4, and I want to share about leadership because we've been thinking about that with elders and deacons, and with Josh and Ethan coming into those roles. Sometimes it's good to think about leadership. We're in a crisis of leadership in North America, all across our land, and it's just a crisis.

Leadership is no longer what it used to be. The character of leadership has greatly fallen. And it's not respected anymore, leadership.

You can't take a leader at their word. Lots of things can come out of their mouth, but it doesn't seem to matter. And sometimes the character behind the scenes is so hypocritical.

It's just put a blanket across leadership, and not only in politics, but in the church. And we need God to raise up godly leaders. And I want to talk about that this morning.

I guess the right view of leadership and the right posture of, you know, how are we to be as leaders and, you know, as a church to be praying for leaders. And so in 2 Corinthians 4, Paul is going to talk about his ministry of the apostles. In 4 of 1, it says, Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we receive mercy, we do not lose heart.

So, I mean, none of our ministries are prepped from just the mercy and grace of God upon our lives. But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. So, you know, as we enter ministry, as Ethan and Josh do, as the elders and deacons, and, you know, some of you are involved in leadership as well in other capacities, you know, we don't want to do it in, you know, a kind of a crafty way or trying to manipulate things.

No, we just want to be straightforward about what the truth is and what the word of God says and be about that. And to renounce anything, you know, ways that are underhanded or, you know, not truthful, not right. In verse 3, And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the God of this world is blinded at the minds of the unbelieving, so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

And so, you know, in the ministry, there's an enemy, the God of this world, Satan, and he is actively opposing all that God is up to. So there's an enemy, and he seeks to take, especially, I believe, I think Luke prayed, you know, leaders have a target on their back. If he can take out a leader, if he can make a David fall into adultery, King David, he does great damage to the whole kingdom.

And if he can cause a leader, an elder, or a deacon to fall into sin, you know, he does a great thing. And here, if he can hinder people from hearing the truth of the gospel and seeing the beauty of Christ and blinding their minds to that, snatching away the seed, then he does a damaging thing for that soul. But then in verse 5, The ministry is all about one person, and it's about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ as Lord. Not, you know, just Savior, but Savior and Lord. He is the Lord.

He is the master of everything. And it's all about Him. And ministry is to be all about Him.

It's not about us or any person. It's about the Lord Jesus Christ. For God who said, Always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you. But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believe, therefore I spoke, we also believe, therefore we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will present us with you.

For all things are for your sake, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. Therefore, we do not lose heart. For though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. 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.

Amen. And so I want to focus on verse 7, this simple little verse. You know, who were the apostles, and who is Christ really? To have a right view of ourselves and a right view of Christ is everything.

It really is. And not only in leadership, but in life. You know, how do we view ourselves? It's very important.

And in this verse we have two, you know, we have this treasure in earthen vessels, or in clay pots, or clay jars. You know, who do we see ourselves? Are we the treasure? Or are we the clay pot? You know, how do you view yourself? And how is a leader to view themselves? You know, who does God use? Who does God raise up? And sometimes we can have an image in our mind, especially in, you know, the society we grew up in. You know, those who are, you know, put before us, who look nice, or this or that.

But who is it that God raises up to be leaders in his church? And what ought to be the way they think in their posture, their view of themselves, and their view of the Lord Jesus Christ? And I want to say, you know, in this little verse, you know, who are we? We are clay jars, clay pots. We're earthen vessels. That's what we are.

And that is, in a sense, every single one of us. But especially, you know, for leaders to know, you know, what am I? Am I, you know, I'm kind of special. I'm a leader.

I'm something. No. No, we're just clay pots.

And what is it about clay pots? Well, clay pots, one, they're not the treasure. They're not the treasure. The clay pot is not what makes the pot valuable.

It's actually what's inside the pot. And I meant to bring this one. I forgot it on the way over.

I was going to bring a jar of maple syrup that I, you know, just made last night. And if I were to hold that jar of maple syrup up to you, I mean, it's golden. It's golden maple syrup.

Some of the best, even maybe a little better than Elmer's, actually. You know, a little thicker, not quite so runny. I cook it a little longer, and it pours on almost like corn syrup, but not quite.

Just the right texture. But if I were to hold that up to you this morning, you would look at it and gaze at it, and you know, ooh, ah, you know. But it wouldn't be about the jar.

You'd be looking at the treasure inside that jar. You'd see right past the jar, and no one would probably even notice the jar. You'd just be focused on the treasure inside.

Because that jar, that's just a mason jar. That's common. Who doesn't have a mason jar on their shelf or in their garage or basement or some drawer? They're common.

But the treasure inside is not as common. Some of you probably have Aunt Jemima, you poor sacks. Right? In your bridges.

It's like, that's gross. That's like glue you're putting on your pancakes. Who knows what's in it? Harmful.

You know, when Stan actually, you know, when they moved home, and I, Mom, I was like, maple syrup, so I'd take out my maple syrup to Mom, and Stan would go for the Aunt Jemima in the fridge. Oh, it was painful. It's like, Stan, how did you live this long? You know, Aunt Jemima's not that good.

But, so you can't, I can't use Aunt Jemima, the treasure within. No, maple syrup. It's the treasure within.

And you know that when we have a right view of ourselves, you know, that earthen vessel, why did they put that there? Why is the scripture in? Second Corinthians is a lot about leadership, and ministry, and a right view of ourselves. We're earthen vessels. We're just slave lines.

In that sense, we could say we're common. There's a lot of us, really, like, I'm no different. None of the elders are different, or none of the deacons.

We're just earthen vessels. Inside of us is a treasure, but we're not the treasure. Christ is the great treasure, but we're just earthen vessels.

God chooses earthen vessels for himself. And he raises up people for himself. And he calls people into leadership for himself.

But it's not the earthen vessel that's so important. It's the treasure within. And you know, we're common in this sense.

We have common, you know, weak bodies. Our health will fail. We will die.

We're in dying bodies. We're just like everybody. We have a fallen, sinful nature, just like everybody else.

We're beset with weaknesses. James 3 says we all stumble in many ways. This is all of us.

This is all the leaders that are in your midst, and elders and deacons. Who are they? They're just common, ordinary thoughts, just like you. And yet God has called them to fulfill a role of eldership or deacons in this church.

To be leaders. And yes, that is a respected role. But the vessel is earthen.

It's just a clay pot. It's not special in that sense. It's ordinary.

It's not unique. You can't say, well, that person, they're one in 10,000. No, there's only one person who's one in 10,000.

The lily of the valley, the bright and morning star. It's Jesus Christ. He's the one that's unique, who stands out, who is set apart.

But as far as, you know, just people, we're ordinary. We're common. And we need to know that.

And the church needs to know that. You know, in a sense, yes, we're to be an example and live godly lives. And yet we're still earthen.

And, you know, I think over the last number of years we've seen that. And leaders who have been raised up to a, you know, a high pinnacle. And you look at them, it's like, whoa, they have quite a ministry.

And they might talk a little bit too much about themselves. And then you find out they're fumbling. We need to be so careful to maintain a proper view of ourselves and a proper view of Christ.

That in that sense, I'm just an earthen vessel. The elders are, the deacons are. And yet God has placed us as leaders in this church.

And I want to, in a sense, show you that from Scripture. That this is actually who God calls into salvation and also into leadership. But go with me to 1 Corinthians.

And just to see the heart of God in this. But it's for a reason. There's a reason why we're an earthen vessel.

And that the treasure is Christ. Just like, you know, the maple syrup in the jar. There's a reason that the jar is nothing.

That it might be all about what's inside. And in 1 Corinthians 1. And so in regards to salvation. In verse 26.

He says to the Corinthian church. Consider your calling, brothers. That there were not many wise according to the flesh.

Not many mighty. Not many noble. But God has chosen.

Notice that. God has chosen. Not them.

God chooses. God has chosen the foolish things of the world. The foolish things.

Why did he do that? Oh, to shame the wise. It's not about them. Oh, where did you get your wisdom? Oh, Christ, the wisdom of God.

God has chosen the weak things of the world. To shame the things which are strong. Weak things.

Who would choose weak things? Oh, he has a purpose in it. To show his strength. Right? That his strength will be magnified.

Weak things. But look, they have such strength. Why does Samson have such strength? Oh, the spirit of God is upon him.

It's not about Samson. It's about the one upon Samson. The spirit of the living God.

And the base things of the world. And the despised God has chosen. Why? The things that are not or nothing.

So that he might nullify the things that are so that no man may boast before God. It's the right posture. Isn't it? No man may boast before God.

Do you see what you are? Do you see what I am, the elders, the deacons are? We're just earthen vessels. We're the base things. We're the weak things.

The foolish things. The things that are nothing. That's what we are.

That's who God chooses. That's what the Bible says. Consider your calling.

What were you? Oh, that weak person. I choose that one. Oh, that despised one.

Oh, that broken one. Oh. That's who he chose.

And he brings them to himself. What a glorious thing. To be weak.

That you might be cast upon his strength. To be foolish. That you might need his wisdom.

See, in everything it shows our neediness of God himself. Because the right view of ourselves leads to being cast upon God. But notice, I want to show you this in the Old Testament.

Go with me to Judges 6. I want you to see that not only is his own people, but in the leaders that he raises up amongst God's people, they are weak people. And this is what God always does. Judges 6, Gideon.

These are familiar stories. Judges 6 and verse 15. He comes to Gideon.

And, you know, the nation of Israel is under, you know, the power of the enemy. And, you know, they're coming in and bringing a lot of devastation. And God's going to raise up a leader.

But who is he? Who do you pick? Judges 6.15. Gideon said to him, Oh, Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh. And I'm the youngest in my father's house. Lord, what are you thinking here? Like, we're nothing, Lord.

We're the least. Our family is the least in Manasseh. And this whole time, oh, God, you don't know what family I'm part of.

We're part of the least. You're coming to the wrong part of Manasseh, Lord. There's other families that are better.

They're bigger. They're stronger. We're the least.

We're nothing. You've got the wrong person. And in the least one, I'm the youngest.

What are you thinking, God? And notice what he says. But the Lord said to him, Surely I will be with you. Oh, see, the treasure.

It's about God. You see, if Samson, if Gideon, if Jephthah, if they were in and of themselves people who could do it, author, judges, then they would do it. But in 1 Corinthians 1, so that no man may boast.

You see, he chooses the least. So who are the leaders that we've chosen the least? Josh and Ethan. You're welcome.

Right? The things that are nothing. But it's really true, isn't it? Because if we think we're something, that's when pride comes before destruction. Pride comes before a fall.

When we begin to elevate ourselves and think we're, oh, yeah, I might be an earthen vessel, but I'm not quite like other earthen vessels. And, you know, he shaped me just a little bit differently. And if you look, you know, there is something special about me.

That's when we're in dangerous territory. How do you view yourself? Who does God call? Go with me to David in 1 Samuel 16. This is a theme through the whole Bible.

As you read the Bible, do you put together themes? Do you see threads of who God is and of his ways and how he works? It's good to see that. This is all through scripture, what I'm sharing with you right now. David, in verse 4, 1 Samuel 16, verse 4. So Samuel's going to, he needs to anoint a new king.

So he goes to the home of Jesse. And in verse 4, Samuel did what the Lord said and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, do you come in peace? He said, in peace.

I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

So he's going to pick one of Jesse's sons. This is what God said. But God didn't tell him who.

When they entered, he looked at Elio and thought, surely the Lord's anointed is before him. Oh, the oldest, the strongest, the brightest. Here he is.

He's a warrior. He's the one. Thank you, Lord.

It wasn't him. It wasn't him. But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him.

It's quite something. Who man chooses might not be who God chooses. We might not choose who God chooses.

Because we look at things outwardly. We look at someone's strengths. And they do that in churches now.

You know, pastors and leaders. Oh, well, they're good at business. Or they're good at finances.

Or they're good at this. Really? Or is it those who walk with God? Is it about someone who's walking with God? Who's the hand of the Lord is upon them. And with that, with God, everything is there that's needed.

I mean, is that how we think? God's not choosing Elliot. Don't look at his outward appearance. How do we look? For God sees not as man sees.

For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. God looks at the heart. That's what God is looking at.

He is not looking at outward skills, talents, abilities, looks. You know, charismatic personality. That is not what God's looking for.

He is looking for the nothings, the nobodies, the earthen vessels in which he can glorify himself. The least. Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel.

And he said, the Lord has not chosen this one either. Next, Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, the Lord has not chosen this one either.

Then Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, the Lord has not chosen these. And Samuel said to Jesse, are these all the children? And he said, there remains yet the youngest.

The youngest. The least. And behold, he is tending the sheep.

He's sending sheep. Like, that's not the guy you want. Then Samuel said to Jesse, send and bring him.

We will not sit down until he comes here. So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance.

And the Lord said, arise, anoint him. For this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers.

Significant. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. The Spirit of God.

Again. What's Satan? He's the youngest. He's the least.

Anoint him. Anoint him. Why did he just send sheep, Lord? Like, he's not even a warrior.

How's he going to lead the army into battle? The Spirit of God is going to come upon him. It's going to be about God. It's not going to be about David.

You're looking to men. Look to God. And brothers and sisters, the leaders that we need are men in whom the Spirit of God dwells and fills them and is with them and upon them.

That's the kind of leadership that we need. Go with me to Amos. Amos.

So it's Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah. Join in like an ant. Hosea, Joel, Amos.

Amos chapter 7, 14 and 15. And it, um, Amaziah is coming against Amos. Amos is preaching.

They don't like his message. And in verse 12, Amos 7, 12, Amaziah said to Amos, Go, you seer, you prophet. Flee away to the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and there do your prophesying.

But no longer prophesy at Bethel, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence. So Amos is prophesying that, you know, God's judgment is coming. They don't want to hear it.

Um, and then verse 14, Amos replied to Amaziah, I'm not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet. For I'm a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs. But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, Go prophesy to my people Israel.

God just plucked him out of, you know, attending Amos. And so when he's being accused, he said, Listen, I didn't choose this myself. God chose me.

What was I? I wasn't a prophet. I didn't grow up in a family of prophets. I'm not the one that should be here, but somehow God chose me, and here I am, and I'm going to preach that message.

And the Spirit of God was with Amos. God was with him. And he spoke.

And he delivered God's message faithfully. And this is the posture we need. The Amoses, the Davids, the Gideons, the Moses, those who are nothing, earth and vessels, but filled with God.

And if you're going to pray for the leadership of this church, pray they'll be filled with God. Don't look to men. Look to God.

Cry out that the vessels will be full of treasure, the treasure of Christ and of his Spirit, and that God will be with them. And I know we can say that in words, but actually, truly, God is with us, that we will know it and walk in it and lead the church righteously, as God intends it to be. They're earth and vessels.

One more, Acts 4. In verse 13, come to the New Testament. Who does God pick? Who are the apostles, the 12 apostles? 12 weak men. That's all they were.

I mean, look at them. You ever wonder, Lord, what were you thinking? You could have picked some that were a little smarter or kind of catch on a little quicker, but they didn't seem to. Yet Jesus chose them.

After a night of fasting and praying, in Acts 4, in verse 13, they're arrested. God is working through Peter and John. And in verse 13, they observe the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men.

Another translation, an ordinary man. They were amazed. Like, Peter, John, we know what they are.

You know, they have been schooled in this and see how they speak and they're so bold and they have such confidence. How is this? They were amazed and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. Oh, it's Jesus.

He's with them by His Spirit. They've been with Jesus. He is with them.

This is significant. And this is the kind of leadership that God raised us up. You know, clay pots.

And that's what we need. And so do we have this, you know, right view of leadership, of ourselves? And I say this to Josh and to Ethan. You know, to have a proper godly view of yourself.

If we come back to 2 Corinthians 4, in verse 5, here's Paul's view of himself. And he says, ourselves, the latter part of the verse, ourselves as your bond servants, your slaves for Jesus' sake. Servants of God.

Slaves of God. What are we earthing? We're clay jars. The treasure is Christ.

It's all about Him. And when we begin to rise in our own estimation, that's when we go down. You know, a number of years ago, I watched a documentary on Mike Tyson and boxer.

It's thrilling to watch his boxing matches, actually. And I was always enthralled by them. And so somebody put out something, kind of the journey of his life.

It's quite a documentary. But in 1985, he started boxing. And from 1985 to 1990, he was 18 at the time.

The youngest heavyweight boxing champion ever. And he fought, you know, I don't know what it was, like 40-some matches from 1985 to 1990. And 44 knockouts.

No one could touch him. The first time he entered the ring against, you know, professionally, in two minutes, they were knocked out. And then he just went on in a stream of, you know, beating people.

And coming up to these matches, you would listen to the other guy, and they were like, yeah, he thinks he is boxed or whatever, and, you know, I'm going to show him. And they were just saying way too much. So they had a view of themselves up here.

And Mike Tyson, 5'10", at 13, he was 212 pounds at 13 years old. But when he actually entered the ring, he was only 185 pounds in 1985. But when he went in that ring, he showed them, he brought them down.

It didn't matter if they were 6'3", or whatever they were, he took care of it. And he did it quickly. Very few matches went the distance.

And as this began to happen, you know, those who thought they were there are going to be the ones to, and down they went. And Mike Tyson, he'd enter the ring, and they would stand face to face, and he would just stare at them. I mean, it was a menacing look.

It was just like, you're going down. But he didn't have to say it. He just looked at them.

And you could see at times, it's almost like a fear would come into the other box, or, you know, what's about to happen here. But as his career, so 1985, and as he approached 1990, and he became the heavyweight champion of the world, he began to rise in his own estimation, and think a fair bit of himself. And his talk betrayed that, but also his training betrayed that.

He began to not train so much. He began to party, and have all kinds of parties before matches. And so you're thinking, well, I don't even need to train.

Like, I can beat anybody. And he said that. There's no one in the world who can beat him.

And so by 1990, he's way up here. And Buster Douglas, and really you could almost say a no-name person. You've probably never heard of Buster Douglas apart from that he's the first person to ever beat Mike Tyson.

Who was he? He's nothing. He only held the title for eight months, and then the Evander Holyfield beat him. And now we don't really hear much about him again.

But who is Mike Tyson? He's way up here, but he's not training, confident in himself, and goes into the ring unprepared. And in the 10th round, it goes all the way pretty much, and Buster Douglas knocks him down. The odds in that match, if you had bet on that match, it was 42 to 1 for Tyson.

42 to 1. That would have been putting them on 100,000 bucks on that one. Right? The greatest upset in boxing history in 1990. And really, you could say he never truly was the same after that.

You went into prison. But it's always the same. And I want to caution leaders and myself, the elders and deacons, and you in how you view leadership, that we are just earthen clay pots, and we need to stay in our view that, you know, what are we? I'm the nothing that he chose, or the weak thing, or the despised thing.

And yet, Lord, you've raised me up. It's all of grace. And, Lord, it's about you.

And unless your spirit's with me, I can't minister. I can't preach. I can't serve.

I can't even wait on tables, Lord, or stand up. I need your spirit. Because if I start thinking high of myself, guess what happens? Independence from Christ.

I can do this. I can preach. I can put together a sermon.

I can Google or get on AI, write me a sermon about Easter and the crucifixion, and boom, there it is. It's good. It's better than mine.

AI can do it. AI doesn't need God. Right? Woe to the pastor who is getting up with an AI sermon and thinking he's doing something good, and that he hasn't been on his knees seeking the face of God, needy of God, and saying, God, after 25 years, I still can't put together a sermon.

I need you to do something. Give me something, Lord. It's about you.

If you don't show up, if you don't help me, it's not happening. That's what it's about. That's all of service to the Lord.

Clay pots, the treasures within, and it's all about him. And if his spirit and Christ doesn't rise up and help, it's over. There's no actual serving.

We're clay pots. But we have the treasure. We have the treasure.

And I want to say to Josh and Ethan, because you're born again, you have the treasure. Christ lives on the inside of you. And everything you need for serving the Lord as an elder and Ethan as a deacon is within Christ, the great treasure.

He is the wisdom of God, the power of God, and everything that we need for life and godliness. It's in Christ. It's never to yourself.

And so if we're just the earthen vessel, we don't need to think too much about ourselves. I mean, there's a great problem today, isn't there? People thinking so much about themselves, taking pictures of themselves again and again and again. Don't you get tired of taking pictures of yourself and sending them to your friends? How many pictures do they need of you? For 6,000 years, people haven't needed pictures of themselves.

All of a sudden, you need to send one every day. And now, whatever, you know, Snapchat, we have a thing going, and I send a picture of myself, you send one back. It's just insanity.

Like, I don't even get it. Like, you send me pictures of yourselves. It's an opportunity to think too much about yourself.

Forget about yourself. Don't post about yourself. Post about Christ.

Don't you have a treasure? And isn't he what this world needs to think about and see and stare at? If I am Christ, who should I think about? You know, the mason jar with the maple syrup, should I get caught up in the jar and forget about the maple syrup with it? It'll never happen. It'll never happen. It's a precious treasure.

So precious that when Mama sent me pancakes and Stan tends to not know the preciousness of the maple syrup, that I have to give him his own little jar so that he doesn't have to take the big jar and just go like this, and it's like a bowl of soup. Afterwards, like, dear God, you're testing me, Lord. So I give him his little, little jar.

He can only pour so much. Don't call me greedy. I'm not greedy.

I just know how precious the treasure is. That's what I know. He doesn't quite know that yet.

I'm about to switch him to Aunt Delilah. But you know, we have this treasure. It's all about the treasure.

So should I think much about the earthen vessel? No. Well, the Lord brings me up. He called me to be the pastor.

He called me to be an elder or a deacon. Oh, really? Who's with him? Who are you thinking about? Who are you talking about? It's about yourself. Who are you posting about? Who are you taking pictures of? Forget about yourself.

I need to forget about myself. Well, I'm this, I'm weak, I'm this, I'm that, I'm the other thing. It's all about, well, what about the treasure? To get caught up in the treasure, I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

There's someone within who is Christ, who is God, who is the fullness of God in bodily form, and he's come to live within his people. And the only hope you have and I have is Christ himself. The only hope I have to lead this church and the elders together is Christ.

If Christ doesn't show up, if the treasure doesn't rise up, if the spirit of God doesn't meet us here, brothers and sisters, we're done. I can't do anything for you. The only thing I can do is point you to the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is the great treasure, and it's him that can set you free.

It's him that can lift up your life. It's him that can lift you out of depression. It's him that can put your feet on the rock, set you free from that sin, give you the wisdom that you need, enable you to parent like you need to, to get you sleep at night, to rest your mind from anxiety, to lift those fears.

It's Christ himself. But if I'm thinking too much about myself, I'm talking about myself. Oh, if we ever need a day that we need to forget about ourselves, it's now.

Put away your phones. Put away your phones. Think about Christ just a little bit more.

And if you're thinking about him, stare long and hard at the treasure. Forget about the jar, and think about the Lord Jesus Christ. We have this treasure in earthen vessels, and here's the closing reason I give you.

What does it say? So that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. Those who know that they're just an earthen vessel, but they have the treasure, they're cast upon God. And people can say, yeah, I know I'm weak, and they can talk like that, but the evidence that you're cast upon God truly, that you know you're just an earthen vessel, and that you're weak, and that you're nothing, and that it's all about Christ, is that you're actually cast upon him.

That you need him. That you seek him. You see, if I'm needy, and Lord, it's not of me, I'm just a jar, a clay jar of God, it can't be me, it has to be this fountain of Christ coming out of me, then I will be cast upon the Lord, and I will seek his face.

Day by day. Woe to the leader, the pastor, who's ministering, gets up in the morning, doesn't need to seek the face of Christ, doesn't need to, well, because he has a doctorate in this, and he's an Alfred speaker, and oh, he has a nice personality, he can just visit, and he's self-sufficient. Woe to that pastor.

Woe to that elder. But the elder of God, the weak thing, the God that dare, and he puts the treasure within, and he wakes up and he feels the need of God, and he has to get up before others are up, and I have to open this book and find out all that Christ is, and stare at the treasure a bit, and think of the treasure a bit, and fill myself up with that treasure, and focus on him, and say, oh, God, I can't do this. But Lord, you can.

I have the treasure, it's here, he's here, and then I can go into the day with the treasure of Christ in my heart, and he's sufficient for it all. Wasn't this why the disciples, when Jesus told them I'm leaving, they were grieving, what are you talking about? Three years, the sufficiency of Christ was displayed, for any and every situation, and you're leaving? No. Mary wanted to cling to him, don't cling to me.

I'm still going to come, I'm going to send my Holy Spirit. And what would that be? It's like a personal Christ with everybody. The sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do we know it? Are we clinging to ours? And do we know the treasure that's within? And that because of that, that the surpassing power may be of God and not of ourselves, that we would be cast upon God, we would lean upon God, we would seek his face and say, oh, God, I'm needy. Isn't this the great secret of ministry? I'm needy of Christ, and I just have to come to him every day for whatever it is, for wisdom for that situation, or to get up and preach a sermon, or whatever God calls, and Josh, and Ethan, and the rest of us too, that we need the treasure within to rise up and fill what we're lacking, and we lack everywhere. This is the secret of ministry.

That the surpassing greatness may be of God and not of ourselves, that we would boast and glory in Jesus Christ. That I would die to myself daily, that the life of Jesus might be made manifest. That instead of, oh, yeah, I can do it, no, I'd die to myself.

I'm dead to myself. I can't do it, Lord. I wonder where any of us are here this morning.

Like, I mean, how do you view things? You think you got it? Listen, I'm telling you, you're weak. You're weak. Your body is fickle.

Your heart beats only by the grace of God. Our lives here are 70, 80 years at best, and then we'll stand before God. And you can't lengthen your life one day longer.

You can't make one hair black or white. You can't, apart from me, Jesus said, you can do nothing. And it really means nothing.

And so, you know, a church, to the elders and deacons, you have the treasure, and you need Christ. You're just an earthen jar. You cannot leave this church apart from the treasure of Christ.

But for all of us, I want to say to you this morning, how do you make it? How do you do it? How are you going to live your life? Do you see yourself? Do you know your own weaknesses? Do you see how sinful your nature is? Do you need a savior? Do you feel it this morning? There's one available. His name is Jesus Christ. He will forgive your sins.

You need the forgiveness of God. You need to be set free from sin's power. You need to be delivered from the dominion of darkness, out from Satan's clutches, onto the power of God.

You need Jesus Christ. How can you make it without him? You can't. You won't.

We're all that earthen vessel. And I pray that God would speak and minister through this. Let me close in prayer.

Lord, I pray that you just, you just keep us in the right spot. I pray that all of us here would just be in that right spot. A place of humility before you, where we know what we are, but we know what you are, and who you are.

Oh God, I pray that we would make much of you. I pray you'd be lifted up in this church. I pray the leaders would lead in the way that's pleasing to you.

That we'd be full of the treasure, and spill out into this empty world. God have mercy upon us. Keep raising up people.

Keep saving. Keep plucking people for yourself. And glorify your great name.

We love you, Lord. We praise you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.