Tribulation and Triumph Series (2 of 3): The Vessel (2 Cor. 4:7)

Written by Roger D. Wilmore

“. . . in earthen vessels.”

Charles Hodge writes, “By earthen vessels is not meant frail bodies, but weak, suffering, perishing men, because it is not on account of frailty of the body merely that ministers are so incompetent to produce the effects which flow from their [labors]. The apostle means to present the utter disproportion between the visible means and the effects produced, as proof that the real efficiency is not in man, but in God.”[1]

Paul understood that God chose to use simple, common things and people to bring glory to Himself:

For you see your calling brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.—1 Corinthians 1:26-29

God honors our faithful, obedient availability more than He does any of our abilities. Our natural abilities, however, can thwart the purpose of God. Paul Barnett observes:

Paul contrasts a priceless jewel with its receptacle, an everyday earthen jar. The jewel, or treasure, is “the knowledge . . . of God in the face of Christ” which God has made . . . “shine in our hearts.” . . . The earthen jar in which this treasure is contained, the human body, is subject to decay and vulnerable to disease and injury. It is, in ultimate terms, powerless.

This is not accidental, but deliberate, to show that this all-surpassing power is from God. . . . The power to lift man out of his powerlessness in the face of suffering, decay and death does not come from within himself; it comes only from God. Man is like a jar of clay, in order that the all-surpassing power might be from God and not from ourselves.[2]

The Nature of the Vessel

Paul intends that we understand our nature as mere vessels. A clay vessel is easily broken; people likewise are frail, weak, and fragile. Paul knew that the nature of an earthen vessel is a picture of human nature, but he also understood that his weakness was his strength. Remember the words of the Jesus: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). Paul responded to the Lord’s words with, “Therefore I will take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).

The Expositor’s Bible contains a clear definition of earthen vessels:

The earthen vessel which holds the priceless treasure of the knowledge of God . . . is human nature as it is; man’s body in its weakness and liability to death; his mind with its limitations and confusions; his mortal nature with its distortions and misconceptions, and its insight not yet half restored. . . . Paul felt the disparity between himself and his calling to preach the Gospel of the glory of Christ; it was in his whole being. But instead of finding in this disparity reason to doubt his vocation, he saw in it an illustration of a great law of God. It served to protect the truth that salvation is of the Lord. No one who saw the exceeding greatness of the power which the Gospel exercised . . . could dream that the explanation lay in [Paul].[3]

Robertson reminds us that all people have in common the nature of the earthen vessel. He says, “The use of the earthen vessel as a figure of man’s littleness as compared with God’s greatness is frequent. He is like the potter’s clay. There are, to be sure, differences in men. They do not all have precisely the same frailties and limitations, but they all have them . . . If God could not use poor instruments and feeble voices to make music; He would make no music.”[4]

In this same description Robertson names several Bible personalities who were used by God in spite of personal weaknesses. Robertson does not point out the defects in order to negate the usefulness of a person’s life. Rather, he reminds us that God has chosen to use earthen vessels to do His work and preach His word: Abraham was guilty of duplicity. Moses stuttered and had a quick temper. David committed both adultery and murder. Elijah ran from Jezebel. Isaiah fully recognized that he was a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips. Peter denied his Lord with curses.[5]

Each of these men battled his own weakness, but each was used in a great way for the glory of God in spite of weakness.

The Function of the Vessel

What does God want to do through the lives of those who belong to Him? How does He want to use our weaknesses to show His strength? Alan Redpath addresses these questions in this way:

Is Christ by His life being made manifest through you? Is there any communication of His character through you today? This is why we have had this revelation, and this is why God has shined into our hearts in the light of His knowledge in the glory in the face of Christ. Are you communicating? Whom are we preaching? “We preach not ourselves,” says Paul, “but Christ Jesus our Lord.” This life is manifest in our mortal flesh so that every child of God, wherever he goes, is a living replica, in some measure at least, of the life of Jesus. This is the greatest means of communication for which the church exists, and for which you and I are to live day by day.[6]

So it is that the function of the vessel is to contain and communicate the life of Christ. This thought brings to mind Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Back to the Series Introduction

Roger D. Willmore is Senior Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Boaz, Alabama. A Southern Baptist pastor for more than 30 years, Roger also serves as Minister at Large for Olford Ministries International in Memphis Tenn. Dr. Willmore has written numerous articles for Growing Churches, Proclaim! and Church Administration magazines.

[1] Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1950), 92.

[2] Paul Barnett, The Message of Second Corinthians: Power in Weakness (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1988), 87.

[3] The Expositor’s Bible, ed. W. Robertson Nicoll, (New York: A.C. Armstrong and Son, 1903), 159.

[4] A. T. Robertson, The Glory of Ministry: Paul’s Exultation in Preaching (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1911), 146–47.

[5] Robertson, 147.

[6] Alan Redpath, Blessing Out of Buffeting: Studies in Second Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 1993), 57.