2 Corinthians 4:4–12

The title given to Satan here is the boldest and fullest admission of his present power over man that the Scriptures contain. The Just One had called him the "prince of this world" (John 14:30)… By rejecting the Man approved of God, the world showed itself ready to receive His rival… For the one to whom men yield their wills has the right to be called their god.

Hilary … would not allow Satan to be called god of this age, in case it might count against the deity of Christ; nor would Chrysostom. They failed to see the difference between "God" used on its own, and "god" used with a limiting phrase attached.

Notice carefully that the word is not "world" but "age"… He does it by bringing in thoughts that oppose the truth of the gospel, either through this world's teachers or through their books. Take a popular book that claims to deal with spiritual things, yet ignores sin and so ignores the atonement. It would be one of his most successful tools for darkening minds…

It is Satan, the god of this world, who blinds them. He cannot do it, though, unless they are willing. He uses bait such as the attractions of this world, with its present gain and pleasure. The glitter of these passing vanities blinds men's minds to the infinitely greater gain and pleasure in Christ.

Satan, the god of this world, used the unbelief of man to blind their minds against the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ… As one has said, "It is not simply that Satan obscures it to them, but it is their own unbelief which brings them under the power of Satan."

"The glorious gospel," as in the King James Version, is not only inadequate, but incorrect. The glory is the glory of Christ exalted to God's right hand — not because of His person only, but because of redemption too — so that we who now believe might see Him there, and have our place in Him… The gospel, as Paul preached it, was not about His coming down and His life here only, nor about His death and resurrection, but about His glory in heaven as well.

The Gospel of God's grace tells of the divine resources to meet the need of the sinner, but the Gospel of the glory of Christ sets before us the last Adam, Who is the image of God. The first man was made in God's image to represent Him on earth; but Christ is the perfect representation of God in heavenly glory.

As the god of this world he has "blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ." But the apostle at once adds, "God… has shone in our hearts"… So the believer is no longer kept under the blinding influence of Satan. God has, in his case, broken through the devil's line of dark defence and let the light in.

Having shown how he preached, and what gospel he preached, the Apostle can truly say, "What we proclaim is not ourselves." When the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ shone into his heart, he learned that he was nothing. He found that, despite all the privileges he had boasted of under the law, he was lost. He found too that, despite all his hatred of Christ and of His people, grace had saved him. After that he could not speak of himself. He could speak only of Jesus Christ as Lord, with himself as the servant. The once proud Pharisee becomes, for Jesus' sake, the servant of the very people he had once persecuted.

But the One preached is "Jesus Christ as Lord." That is His official title in resurrection, and every knee must bow to Him. The apostles who did the preaching were only "your servants for Jesus' sake." The precious name Jesus, used on its own, reminds us of His lowly path of suffering on earth. In that character they are glad to be linked with Him in their willing service.

Others might preach themselves; the apostle preached Jesus Christ as Lord. He was content to be the servant of Christ, and for that very reason the servant of God's people, for the sake of Jesus. This alone is true service. Anything else is a trap, both for the one who serves and for those he serves. In that case both alike serve themselves, and so dishonour Him.

This service might well bring suffering of every kind. It could leave him misunderstood, and at times neglected or even opposed by God's own people. Yet for Jesus' sake he endured it all. Personal interest, gain in this life, self-exaltation and the applause of men are all forgotten in the joy of serving for Christ's sake.

All false ministry aims at tying souls to itself. So it lifts the minister up, shuts God out, and leaves the soul with no divine foundation to rest on. True ministry, as seen in Paul and Moses, has this blessed aim: to tie the soul to God. So the minister gets his true place as simply an instrument, God is exalted, and the soul rests on a sure foundation that nothing can move.

Standing in this blessed light and drinking it in, men whose whole character is to preach it could not possibly proclaim themselves. In the knowledge of the new man, "Christ is all, and in all." Christ is Lord, and the ministers of the gospel are only the servants of men for Jesus' sake. It is a glad and willing submission, in love, to the need that is everywhere.

Verse 6 is very striking. It refers first to God's act in creation, then to His act in Paul's own conversion, and last of all to the ministry God called him to. Long ago God said, "Let there be light," and light shone out of the darkness. That was in the material creation. But now a work of new creation is going on, and something similar happens. Divine light — the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus — shines into dark hearts. It shone into Paul's heart in an outstanding way on the road to Damascus, and the effects were wonderful.

Once these hearts were a moral chaos. Once they were dark and dead. No light and no love moved there. Hatred towards God walked through the darkness. Sin and evil passions — the activity of moral corruption — swarmed inside… But God shone in. God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. There was a new creation, and it was entirely of God. The Creator brought into these hearts, by His sovereign grace, what was not born there. By His own light He showed what sin was, what self was, and proved by His love the excellence of His light.

It was not a demand for man's duty. It was the communication of the knowledge of God's glory. That glory shone in Christ's face as the result of the infinite work of redemption. Through that work God could justify man in free grace instead of judging him for his sins… But that glory of God, so bound up with salvation, is seen not in the heavens, whatever they may declare, but in the face of Jesus Christ.

The place where I see the glory is not Moses' face. Moses said, "I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." God answered that every man must bear his own sin. "Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book." That is not the case now. The glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ — of One who does not say "perhaps," but who makes the atonement before He goes up. The glory seen in the face of Jesus Christ is proof that the atonement has been accepted. I am at home in the presence of the glory, happy there. What condemned me before is now peace. As I look at it, I am changed into the same image. Every ray of it is joy and peace to my soul, evidence that there is no question of sin now.

A man cannot stare calmly at the midday sun. Still less can he look at God in His essence and uncreated glory. Yet the believer today can take in all that God is as revealed in Jesus. Not one ray is missing. Yet they all shine with a softness of their own, which brings them within the reach of creatures like us. Redemption, of course, was necessary so that we might stand unashamed before such a revelation. But then, He who was the Revealer was also the Redeemer.

Now light has shone in "for the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." This was God's purpose in sending the light in. He meant it to shine out again. You see, many cannot preach. And this is not the preaching of the gospel. It is "the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." God has shone in, and He shines out. But He can only be known as revealed in Christ.

"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Then he says, "We have this treasure in earthen vessels." What treasure? Christ. Paul has seen the One who has put away his sin — who is his righteousness — who is in glory. He sees Him, and he says, That is what I want. In seeing Him I see One who has the power of life, who has passed through death, and overcome it. I have this One — Christ. He is the treasure. I have it in an earthen vessel; still I have it.

Angels are servants, but God passes them by. He has chosen for His service men with bodies open to suffering, decay, and death… Men often put their treasures into a very costly case, and at times the case outshines the jewel. God puts His treasure into a perishing, fragile vessel of clay… Suppose God had put this treasure into the glorious angels that excel in strength. Would not man have been caught by the glory of the vessel rather than the glory of the treasure? And what room would there have been to display the power of God in a spiritual being that excels in strength?

Here he lays down the general principle. "We have this treasure in jars of clay," and this "to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." The deposit was no less precious for being stored in the coarsest ware. The whole aim is to make it clear, by the contrast with man — weak, fragile and suffering — that the power is God's.

"We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not from us." This is forceful and striking. He does not allow that the power would be "from" God, as something separate from Him, handed over or given to us. No, it is divine, and yet inseparable from Him who works. It is "of God" — and yet not "of us."

They were then to break the pitcher and the light would shine out. Beloved, notice what was needed for the display of the excellency of the power. It was not a decorated pitcher, not a surrendered pitcher, not a discarded pitcher, but a broken pitcher. Let us see how Paul treated his earthen vessel. It was a fine one to look at — a beautiful Hebrew vase with delicate patterns on it. "If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more"… Surely, a fine and beautiful vessel to admire. What did Paul do with it? He broke it to pieces.

Everything God does with us, as far as the earthen vessel of the body is concerned, has one object. He wants the treasure He has placed within to shine out better and more fully.

"We are afflicted in every way" — that is the vessel. "But not crushed," because God was there. "Perplexed" — we see no way out. "But not driven to despair," for there was a way out after all, since God was there. "Persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed." The vessel is all broken and dealt with, but still God is there all the while.

The treasure is the light of the knowledge of the love of God, and it is in a clay vessel, so that the surpassing power may be God's and not ours... "We are afflicted in every way" — that is the vessel. "But not crushed," because God was there. "Perplexed," see no way out. "But not driven to despair," for there was a way out after all, since God was there. The vessel is completely broken and dealt with, but God is there the whole time.

The whole aim is to make it clear, by the contrast with man — weak and fragile and suffering — that the power is God's... The vessels of this delivering power were not exposed to an occasional attack by the enemy. God kept them going under constant pressure, severe trial and extreme weakness, and blessing still flowed out on every side: hard pressed, but not hemmed in; at a loss, but not completely so; pursued, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

When we see so much sorrow, and so many problems and trials, how do we react? Do we look for a "solution" in a worldly way? We won't find one. We may even make things worse. But perhaps, like the apostle Paul, we reach the point where we are perplexed — an older translation says we see no apparent way out. If we then have a truly broken and humble spirit before the Lord, He will save us and show us the way. Then we can add, like the apostle, "but our way not entirely shut up." This may not be the easy way — but we will be certain it is His way.

If God had sent an angel on this service, the angel could not have been troubled, or perplexed, or persecuted. He would have no body for circumstances to touch. A testimony given by an angel would be a testimony given by someone with irresistible power... A testimony given by a man with a frail body is a testimony given in weakness. Yet that very weakness only shows the surpassing greatness of the power of God.

Gideon blew his trumpet, and at the same moment he broke his own pitcher (Judges 7). Breaking the pitchers mattered as much as blowing the trumpet. The light inside stayed hidden until the pitchers broke; then it shone out. The Apostle Paul may be referring to this when he says, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us."

A close look at these verses shows that trouble reached him in three ways. First came hostile circumstances, in verses 8 and 9. Trouble, perplexity, persecution, being cast down — all these came upon him. He really was "a man," as he told the Jews (Acts 22:3), and so not beyond these things. He knew what it was to be perplexed and cast down like the rest of us.

He was not lifted up when things went well, and not depressed when they went badly. He lived in no ruts, and he did not depend on outward conditions. In fact, the harder the conditions, the brighter his light shone... And what lay behind this tireless energy, this more than human courage, this unconquerable enthusiasm and joy? He knew God, THE LIVING GOD, and he leaned upon the surpassing power of Christ.

So Paul was troubled on every side; this was the earthen vessel. Though troubled he was not distressed — this was the power of God. He was perplexed — the earthen vessel; but his way was not entirely shut up — the power of God. He was persecuted — the earthen vessel; but not forsaken — the power of God. He was cast down — the earthen vessel; but not destroyed — the power of God.

It was only to be expected that he would be "persecuted." His whole life and walk were Christ (John 15:20; 1 Corinthians 11:1). But if persecuted, he was not forsaken; the trials of the servant must fall short of those which came upon his Lord. All forsook the Saviour in the hour of His desolation, but Paul was never left completely alone. If he was cut off from human help or sympathy, the Lord stood by him, whether in his prison cell or before unjust judges. "Cast down," he had to be, in case he was tempted to think he could stand by his own power. "Destroyed," he could not be, for his soul was in the keeping of his Saviour. The enemy could not even kill his body until his course was finished and the work his Lord gave him was done. Left for dead by the haters of the truth, he was soon back among its friends as a living comforter (Acts 14:19-20).

Yet a long line of martyrs shows us this: as far as plain rescue from the hands of enemies goes, many have cried and were not delivered. Their sufferings only proved that they were not forsaken. A power held them up and strengthened them for whatever they went through, and that power showed itself all the more because of it. How many before and since have proved Paul's experience, "Persecuted, but not forsaken"! Their patience was precious and acceptable to God. Yet none of these patient sufferers touched even the edge of the darkness of the cross, when the cry of the holy One found no answer.

"Persecuted, but not abandoned." However great the persecution, to have God's presence in it more than makes up for it. "Cast down, but not destroyed." This was deep suffering to the flesh, but as Proverbs tells us, a righteous man may fall seven times, and rise up again (Proverbs 24:16).

Circumstances were always against him. Yet he was not distressed, not in despair, not forsaken, not destroyed. Clearly a sustaining power was working in him which counteracted all that was working against him. He was like one of those self-righting lifeboats. Stormy seas pound it and even turn it over, yet it comes up the right side up once the crashing waves have passed.

Empty pitchers represented what Gideon and his warriors were in themselves. Like Paul's earthen vessel, these empty pitchers were only fit to be broken. When God raises up a testimony, He glorifies Himself only in instruments which He has broken. He carried His gospel to the nations through a Saul whom He had first thrown down in the dust on the road to Damascus. He displayed the excellence of His power in a Paul whom He kept on disciplining to the end. Gideon's men blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers (Judges 7:19), and the light shone out all around them.

It is worth noticing that the Apostle does not say the death of Jesus. The death of Christ has indeed set the believer beyond the power of death and judgment. It puts him in an entirely new place before God in Christ. Here, however, the Apostle is not speaking of the death of Jesus as making atonement before God. He is speaking of the dying of Jesus as the holy Martyr suffering at the hands of men… We cannot share in the atoning sufferings of His death under the hand of God. But we can share, in our measure, in the martyr sufferings He bore when dying at the hands of men.

What is the dying of Jesus? Simply, it is the application of the truth of the cross to what I am. The apostle meant this: he carried the dying of Jesus in his body, so that nothing of Paul might come out — only Christ in all he said and did. Here is a simple example. Suppose I am a witty man, and we are having a conversation. If I am not held by the power of the Spirit of God, I might be tempted to display my wit. That would not be Christ, but self.

It is a moving expression, "the dying of Jesus." It involves His death indeed, but it is Gethsemane above all that it brings before us. It is the whole scene of His choosing to die rather than have a will of His own. He went down to meet the judgment of God on that will of ours, so that His will-less life may be reproduced in us… The will is self, while the affections rest on an object outside myself. So let the object be worthy and adequate — and who could say the dying of Jesus is not — and the will has no place.

If you applied the cross to every thought that arises in your heart, you would find how many thoughts the cross would crucify. The flesh would never put up a thought at all. What thought could a dead man put up?… To manifest Christ always, I hold the flesh dead. That is his part in faith. Then comes the second thing — God's part. "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." However faithful he was, God had to help him.

God has taken us up as earthen vessels, in which He can accomplish something for Himself. He takes up exactly the right material to be broken into pieces — poor, weak creatures who can stand nothing, we might say. Then, like Gideon's men, He hides His lamps inside and breaks the vessel to make the light shine out. Death may have power over Paul's body, but that very fact shows there was something in Paul over which it had no power. His true life is beyond death, untouched by it. The life of Jesus — the risen, heavenly life of Jesus — shines out in him.

The manifestation of the life of Jesus is not just service. It is character. In his unconverted days Saul of Tarsus manifested himself in his mortal flesh as a man of overbearing energy and self-will. Now all was changed. The dying of Jesus was so applied to him that the Saul character was truly stilled in death, and the life of Jesus manifested.

In bearing about in his body the dying of the Lord Jesus, Paul found death to self, and the result was life to the Corinthians. Paul held the power of Christ's death on the natural man, so that when he ministered among the Corinthians there was no Paul at all, but only Christ. It was life to them, because death was working in Paul.

What use were these empty pitchers? They held the lamps — the third and most important element in testimony for God. They carried this treasure inside them, the divine light... If, in testimony, the trumpets stand for the word of God and the pitchers for ourselves, what are the lamps but the life of Jesus, the light of Christ? The first two elements only serve to make the third visible in the surrounding darkness. Gideon's men blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, and the light shone out all around them. It is God Himself who takes care to break the vessels... It does not say the life of Christ, but the life of Jesus — the life of that Man whose path through this world was one of holiness. We are called to represent the Man Jesus down here, walking as He walked. That is what our testimony is.

God makes Paul realise these things by the very circumstances he has to pass through. The aim is that the life also of Jesus might be shown in his mortal body... The flesh must be kept down and not allowed to move or act. When someone is in earnest, the Lord passes him through circumstances that help him do this. Paul learns in an honourable way. The circumstances were trying, but they came upon him for Christ's sake. With us the Lord often has to send discipline, because we have been allowing the flesh.

Trial that never lets up is a far weightier testimony to God's power with His servant than enduring a martyr's death in some sudden outburst of the world's hatred. Such a death is blessed and honourable, without doubt.

The death of Christ has indeed set the believer beyond the power of death and judgment... Here, though, the Apostle is not speaking of the death of Jesus as making atonement before God. He speaks of the dying of Jesus as the holy Martyr suffering at the hands of men... We cannot share in the atoning sufferings of His death under the hand of God. But we can share, in our measure, in the martyr sufferings He bore when dying at the hands of men... When the Lord was dying, His martyr sufferings called out no murmur or complaint from His lips. Instead they drew out the infinite love of His heart and led Him to pray for His murderers.

It is described as an "earthen vessel" (2 Cor. 4:7); "our mortal flesh" (2 Cor. 4:11); and "our outward man" (2 Cor. 4:16). These three expressions describe the character of the body. The first emphasises that it is fragile. Some have paraphrased this as a "body of fragile clay." The second points to its being subject to death. The third shows a body under pressure from outside.

The whole chapter concerns the apostolic ministry. It shows the different experiences God brought His servants through, so that only Christ might flow out from them, in life and in service... This was death applied to all that Paul was, so that nothing of himself would show in his ministry.

No exhortation is ever given that has not found its living example in our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus has lived out in this world every thought of God about what His children should be. And the Holy Spirit, who lives within us, is so powerful that we may reproduce what has already been produced.

It is a complete misreading of the opening words to think that even the faintest stinging rebuke is hidden here... Calvin and others have thought so. But there is no real reason to doubt that the apostle is simply stating what serving Christ does to a man now, when His mind and grace rule in a world and a state like this. It is death to the man who shares the affections and thoughts of Christ in the work.

The words "So death is at work in us, but life in you" make the apostle's meaning very clear. He is speaking of what is death to a man simply as a man. That means everything that would lift him in other people's eyes: the authority that comes from a superior mind, the influence of family background, the advantages of a good education. Death was written on all of them. And the servant of the Lord had to face the deep trial of giving up all these advantages, so that life might work in others.

In practice he treated himself as a dead man... In his case, it was made good by the trials he went through, and with this aim: that nothing but the life of Christ could come out... Paul was so completely a dead man that nothing but the life of Christ worked in him towards the Corinthians. What a description! If the vessel thinks or acts, it is ruined. The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is there to come out. If the vessel is anything, it blocks that much of the light. But if the vessel is kept dead, only the life of Christ is there to come out... Death and life are both taken in a moral sense in this verse.

This death that was working in him was the power of his testimony to them. Death, so to speak, had a fair chance to show its power over him. All it showed was that it had none at all. The only thing it could do was make life shine out brighter.

True ministry, in self-denial and self-forgetfulness, works death to the servant. Paul's self-forgetting love kept bringing him hardship and suffering. He followed the Lord in all of it and knew what it means to share in His sufferings. But through that, the people of God were helped, comforted and blessed. In this sense life worked in them through the apostle's self-sacrifice.

There are two sure marks of the witness who has eaten the truth, digested it, and tasted its bitterness as it applies to himself. The first is humility. Death works in him, while life flows out to others through his testimony. Self is set aside in practice, held under the cross. Then "the life of Jesus" runs freely through the vessel, with nothing in the way. The second is love.

All his sufferings were for Jesus' sake, and for the good of God's people, so that life might work in them. How far short we fall in these things. Still, we can aim to follow in the same steps in our own day.