30 3 3Through the Bible with Les Feldick, What Happens When We Die: 2 Corinthians 4:1 - 5:9

II Corinthians 4:7 "But we have this treasure (the light of God) in earthen vessels, (Now Paul wasn't talking about a clay pot, but rather this body of flesh.) that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." Man can never take the credit for anything. It all has to be of God or it will fall flat on it's face. Let's turn back to I Corinthians for a moment and look at verse 27, 28, and 29. I have to remind myself of these verses constantly because I'm the first one to say, "Who in the world am I. Why did God see fit to even use me what little ways He does?" Well, it's not because I'm somebody, but rather because I'm a nobody. And according to Scripture that's the way it has to be. I Corinthians 1:27,28 "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought (nothing) things that are;" In other words what's all this saying? God uses that which mankind would never dream of using. And He uses it for His honor and glory. Now what's the purpose in verse 29? And it's the same concept of II Corinthians 4:7. All of this is for the one purpose. I Corinthians 1:29 "That no flesh should glory in his presence." No one! Not a Dwight L. Moody, or Charles Wesley, because no one can ever glory that they accomplished something. It is all of God or is none of God. Now back to II Corinthians Chapter 4, and here I think you can get the mindset of the apostle as he is now writing. He had just gotten up from the sick bed in Philippi. He was actually thinking that his ministry had come to an end. He thought God for some reason was taken off the scene. But we know God wasn't. Paul goes on now and look what he writes. II Corinthians 4:8 "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair," Why was Paul perplexed? My he had been doing so much. He had been set apart way back there in Damascus to go to the Gentiles. Paul knew that he hadn't finished the work, he knew that Christianity was still in it's infancy. He knew it was being attacked from every direction imaginable. So Paul was perplexed, and I think it's the same thing that we are today. Sometimes we're prone to ask, "Well God, why?" Why? But remember God has His own purposes. Even though Paul was perplexed he never gave up. He didn't say, "I'm throwing in the towel because it's not worth it."