Treasure In Earthen Vessels

Treasure In Earthen Vessels TREASURES IN EARTHEN VESSELS
TRUMAN H. ETHERIDGE The subject of Treasures is of universal interest, and the interest in the Christian's treasure should be coexten­sive with Christianity. Especially so since our Savior said, "Lay up treasures in heaven where moth and rust doth not consume, and where thieves do not break through and steal", and the Apostle to the Gentiles said, "We have this treasure in Earthen Vessels"—(2 Corinthians 4:7).

Now the first thing for us to settle in this discussion is, "What is this treasure"? We usually think of "jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and precious stones" "as treasures," but anything that is esteemed beyond its ordin­ary value is a treasure to the one so appreciating it. A small kodak likeness of a dead child might mean nothing to us, but to its mother it represents more than this big world with all its power, pomp, and influence. Just so, what is (his that is so esteemed by really true Christians as a "treasure"? That I be not tedious, let me suggest that it is the gospel of Christ. Well might it be, for the gospel is declared to be "the power of God unto salvation, to everyone that believeth. to the Jew first, and also to the Greek".— (Romans 1:16). Suppose we take an illustration: A few years ago, M. and Mme. Curie, after painstaking effort, found a new element in the Earth, which they called Radium, on account of its great radiant powers. There are but a few ounces of it in the world. These represent mil­lions of dollars. Now Radium is supposed to cure cancer, and should someone be afflicted with that dreadful malady, and another come to him, offering Radium, which had cost him a fortune, surely the sick man would think that he had a treasure in his possession! Well, the case of the gospel is even stronger. When sin, the moral gangrene of the soul, had fastened its clutches upon men's hearts, as an octopus fastens its tentacles upon the person of its victim, God retired to the Laboratory of Wisdom and sought out a specific—for transgression. He found it. It was the only way to cure the sin-stricken soul. It cost Him, however, more than a fortune, for it cost the life of His only begotten Son! The only specific for sin that God, even, could find was the blood of the Son of God. I speak reverently, but it is the only cure. Now through the gospel of Christ are the benefits of Christ's death given us. Should not the gospel, then, be considered by Christ­ians, a treasure? And do you not remember that the Apostle in this very connection speaks of it as a "ministry", a "manifesta­tion of truth", a "preaching of Jesus Christ as Lord", and even as "Our gospel", and then declares, "We have this treasure in Earthen Vessels"? Indeed, the gospel of Christ is this very thing. The next question to decide is: What are these "Ves­sels?" or rather, Who are these "Vessels"? Paul was one. Of the penitent, praying Saul of Tarsus, Jesus said to Ana­nias, "Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles, and Kings, and Chil­dren of Israel".— (Acts 9:15). Any Christian may be such a vessel—"If a man purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the Mas­ter's use".—(2 Timothy 2:21)

Now doubtless the term "Earthen Vessels" is used in contradistinction with heavenly vessels. If so, God does not tell men directly what to do to be saved. There was a time, perhaps, when He did, but Moses was the last one "with whom He talked face to face", and even "in times past" God spoke to the fathers by th: prophets, and " in these last days He has spoken to us by his Son". Why? Because, "We have this treasure in Earthen Vessels."

Then Christ, since he went back to heaven, does not tell us what to do directly. True he once talked with man as friend with friend, hut since the Ascension, not so. Surely he would have told Saul of Tarsus, if he would have told anyone, as he had died to save Saul, and then paid him a personal visit. Besides Saul cried out, "Lord what wilt thou have me to do"? If he could afford to tell anyone, surely this is that one,—an honest persecutor, soon to be the boldest defender, of the faith, and destined to stamp his individuality and philosophy of life more in­delibly upon the hearts of men than any other man, save Jesus only. But will Christ tell him? Hear the answer. "Go into the city in the street called Straight and there it shall be told thee what thou must do". Why not tell him, yourself, Jesus? Let Paul, in after life, tell us, "We have ibis treasure in Earthen Vessels". Nor will the Holy Spirit tell directly what a sinner must do to be saved. Do you not remember that the Angel of the Lord directed Philip to leave Samaria and go south to the Jerusalem-Gaza road, and he went? Then you remember the Eunuch who was reading Isaiah's pro­phecy, as he rode along in his chariot, don't you? (It is in the eighth chapter of Acts). And the Spirit said to Philip, (the preacher) "Go join yourself to the chariot". Philip did so, then explained the prophecy, then preached Christ to him, then baptized the Eunuch, and "Then the Spirit caught away Philip that the Eunuch saw him no more, but be went on his way rejoicing". Now why did not the Spirit tell the man about Christ and salvation Himself? Was He not on the grounds during all the preaching? Then why send for Philip to make that bard, hazardous trip of about fifty miles, since the Spirit will be there anyhow? The answer is, "We have this treasure in Earthen Vessels".

Finally Angels will not bring the message of life and salvation. If so, why did the Angel of the Lord appear to Philip, while he was preaching in Samaria and send him down south to intercept that Eunuch? Then remember the first Gentile convert, Cornelius. The Angel of the Lord appeared to him—The very man to be converted—and told him to send to Joppa for Simon Peter, who should tell him "words" whereby he and his house might be saved—(Acts 11:13-14). Why does the Angel not tell him his duty? Well, in the economy of God, "We have this treasure in Earthen Vessels". But suppose an angel should come, and then would tell us what to do to be saved, or how to live the Christian life, what message could he bring other than has been brought by the Apostles and Evangelists of our Lord? Let an Apostle answer. "Though we, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you, other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema"'! Indeed "We have this treasure in Earthen Vessels"!

Right here an objection is interposed: This doctrine in­volves human instrumentality in salvation? What if it does? If the Father of our Spirits deigns to use the being "created in His image", and who wears the stamp of divinity on his brow, in the salvation of others, who are we that we should complain? Rather should we not be greatly complimented? Besides one should weigh well the consequences of an objection before he makes it. Should I object to human instrumentality in salvation, I should never pray again in Jesus' blessed name, nor trust in his atoning blood! Could he have been our Savior, and the "propitiation for our sins", if he had not come into the world? And when God brought him into the world he brought him by a woman, a human instrument!

Then, too, this is the way of the faith in Apostolic times. Paul said, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, but how shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher"?—(Romans 10:13-14). Did you ever hear of a conversion in the Apostolic age when a preacher was not present? Of course you never, for Jesus said, "No man can come to me except the Father who sent me draw him", and then told us how the Father draws. "Even as it is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore who hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me".

Now instead of complaining of God's way, we should rejoice that He has conferred such a great honor upon us, that we should labor with Him in the work of the gospel— that is labor with Him in the Kingdom of Christ. Should President Harding call one of us to assist him in the affairs of state, we, and the whole church, would be hon­ored, but we forget that God has called us to labor with Him in the greatest government of the Earth—that we are "laborers together with God"—Paul. If it is an honor to be a "servant of the people"' how much greater to be a servant of the living God! But we have not only the honor to be His Servants but we are more than servants. We are "friends"!—(Jno. 15:15). Yes, we are more than friends, for we are called the "children of God". "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God"! Here I am reminded of a story of a good man who ran an orphanage, lie had several children in his home, and among them was a little "waif"—worse than an orphan. She had never had a home, nor a name—never had known a parental home and the pure, untarnished love of parents. In addi­tion, she was slightly deformed, and was badly scarred from burns received about her neck and face. She was horribly ugly. None of the children wanted to look at her, and they would not play with her! She didn't dare go about the good man who had given her a home, and he noticed that when he went away and returned that all the children would hug his neck and kiss him a happy greeting, but this little nameless, deformed waif would only stand a short distance away and cry! One day, when they were alone, he asked her, "Why do you never kiss me and hug my neck as all the others do"? Her heart was broken and she sobbed, "Oh, Doctor, I'm too ugly"! What did this good man do? He took her, and adopted her for his daughter! The others might be his wards but she should be his child! Now God saw us, marred and scarred by sin, "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenant of promise, without God, and without hope in the world", and we were "no people", but God said, "Though your sins be as scarlet", though you be "nobodies", though you be deformed and marred and ugly, yet you shall be My Children! "Behold what manner of love"! This entails the weightiest responsibilities. Honors and responsibilities are always proportionate. When we elected Mr. Harding to be chief magistrate of the nation we conferred the highest honor in our gift, but we also hold him responsible in the highest degree. Just so, when God enlisted us in the greatest, grandest work, he makes us accountable in the highest degree for the work to be done. Is this not reasonable? Does not the child owe filial obedience to his father? The friend respect and grati­tude to his friend? And the servant everything to his mas­ter? Then dare we go to the judgment, neglecting this "Treasure in Earthen Vessels"? The next question to consider is: What use shall we make of this Treasure? We have heard this age con­demned as a vicious expression of cold, calculating com­mercialism. Perhaps it is, but for a generation common morality has been asking wealth the question, "How did you get your wealth?" and for a number of years, philan- trophy has gone morality one better, by asking, not only "How did you get it?" but also, "What are you doing with it"? If men of the world recognize the principle of moral responsibility for wealth amassed, largely through men's own efforts, what a dreadful responsibility rests upon the Christian to whom God has given this super wealth— "This Treasure we have in Earthen Vessels"! Moreover it has been shown by all history, sacred and profane, that life—real living—is made up—not of shunted duties—but of met and mastered responsibilities. Standing in the blaz­ing light of the twentieth century we cannot cry with the murderer of Cain: "I am not my brother's keeper"! That we may get the force of this, let us remember that the gospel is.
The Bread of Life.
The Light of the World.
The Solemn Warning to the denizens of Earth.

If a common beggar should be in danger or starving, none of you would withhold your substance from him. I know you would not, for I speak to men,—not stones! Should you refuse him bread, and he should turn away from your door, and die, you could not sleep that night, but when literally millions are perishing for the "bread that satisfies", we turn a deaf ear to their cries! And when they die, "having no hope and without God in the World'", ye feel no compunction of conscience! This, too, when death means eternal destruction!!! Again above all the needs of this big world, the world needs light, most. God has given us the true light. The Philippians were seen as "lights in the world holding forth the Word of life". Christians are commanded, "Let your light so shine that others seeing your works may glorify your Father in heaven". What are we going to do about it? P. P. Bliss had the exact vision when he wrote that great old song, "Let the lower lights be burning". The picture is this: Along the coasts, the government has built light houses. Men are employed to keep them forever burning and when fogs and darkness settle down upon the coast every lamp must be trimmed and burning, lest a ship coming in, go aground, or destroy itself on the rocks, and the cargo, including human freight, be lost. Should some life be lost the government would hold the "light keeper" guilty of criminal negligence and the judge would sentence him to prison for involuntary manslaughter. When we appear before the courts of Jehovah, not having shined our light, we might be judged guilty of involuntary soul slaughter.

Now let us look at the gospel as a warning. Ezekiel had a wonderful vision. He was declared to be a watch­man for the city. (Ezekiel 2, 3 Chaps.) It was his duty to warn the city of the approaching enemy. Should he warn the city, the citizens might rally to the walls and protect the city. In that event he would save the city. Or should he warn the city, and it should refuse to hear him, the city would perish, but the watchman's skirts would be clear. But should the watchman not arouse the city, it would perish, and the blood of the people would be required at the watchman's hands! Now Christians are watchmen on the walls of Zion. Their cry must be, "For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God: And if it begin with us, what shall be the end of them who obey not the gospel of God"! (1 Peter 4:17). Dare we go to the Judgment, with the loss of souls on us?

Now let us consider our wonderful possibilities through these treasures.
First. We can clear ourselves from the guilt of souls. The watchman who warned the city, even though the city did not awake to its danger, and was lost, saved his own soul. As an excuse for the great dearth of mis­sionary activity among us, some say, "Well people won't hear us, anyway". How do you know, Brother? Have you tried to get them to hear? But suppose some won't hear; others will. But to be generous, let me suppose that no one will hear; then preach anyhow. They will be lost, but you will be saved, since you have warned them. Remember God commanded us to preach the gospel to everybody. He does not require us to convert all people. Do your duty and God will take care of the rest.

Second. We can be heroes of God. The world appre­ciates the man who takes his life in his hands, and does something really worth while for his fellows. A monu­ment is built to his memory. The Carnegie Foundation awards a medal, and a competence to many such persons. I am not here to criticise that. I'm glad that it is done. We have too little appreciation of true worth at most. But there is another hero in the world. He it is who lays his all upon the altar and serves Jehovah. I have refer­ence—not to preachers specially, though this describes most of our men, who are in the field—but to their wives, as well and to that great company of Christian men and women who make possible our schools, and meeting houses, and eleemosynary institutions, whose names are legion. Some cannot go, but "send a hand". Verily they shall not lose their reward. "As his part is that goeth down into battle, so also, shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff". All such are heroes indeed. A boy is drowning. A man pulls off his coat and rushes out there. The boy has gone down twice! ft is a race between succor, and death! Look! he reaches him. The issue is uncertain. Now the rescuer is drawn under the water. The drowning boy fights his rescuer in his frenzy. The rescuer is above water again See he holds his head up! He pulls toward the shore. Now he touches. bottom. Help here somebody. We take the drowning boy from him. Now he is resus­citated. ' A life is saved! We now turn to the hero. What has he done? He has saved a life from physical death, for a few weeks, or months, or perhaps for a few years, after which that life must be ended! But when men are rescued in soul it is not for days, nor weeks, nor months, nor years, but for eternity! I have no desire to minimize the work of the medical profession. Theirs is a noble work, and I doubt if we shall ever live long enough to return the kindness that our physicians have shown us,— but their work, important as it is, pales in comparison with the work of Christianity. Happy must the man be, who is engaged, as so many of our Christian doctors are, in both professions!

Third.' Through a correct attitude toward the gospel, we have the opportunity to show our loyalty to God. Once upon a ship crossing the Atlantic, was a man and his invalid wife. She was utterly helpless from rheumatism. Her husband was a big, fine looking man, slightly grey, and slightly past middle age. He would have to take his wife in his arms as if she were a baby, and take her to the salon for her meals and, then to their stateroom again. This attracted the passengers, and one day when he had passed carrying his precious burden, a thoughtless girl remarked, "It is a great shame for a great, big fine looking man like that to be tied to an invalid wife". His sensitive ear caught the speech, and when he had placed his wife in her chair, and had propped her head with pillows, he sought the company of which the young lady was a member. He spoke kindly but firmly: "Pardon me, but I heard the remark made a moment ago and I wanted to tell you how it is. I was once a bankrupt, and when I would have taken my own life, my wife, who was young end beautiful, saved me. Afterward when traveling in company with those I considered my friends, I contracted yellow fever. Everyone forsook me, but that little woman. We were alone—strangers in a strange land—but she never faltered. For days I lingered between life and death, a raving maniac. She nursed me and prayed. Well, you see I got well, but her health was permanently broken. You doubtless think her a great care. She is, but the most sacred care ever given to any mortal, and I only pray God that I may live so long as she does that not one thing that she may need be denied her. Yes, I'm tied to her, but the cords that bind me are cords of love, which shall never be broken"! That is loyalty. Do we love God? Do we appreciate what he has done for us? Then what is our attitude toward "this treasure in Earthen Vessels"? I cannot speak for others, but I can pledge you my un­swerving fidelity to the great cause of world evangelization that the time may soon come when from Orient to Occi­dent, from pole to pole, from mountain to shore, and from shore to the farthest island of the sounding sea shall usher the glad acclaim of an educated, an enlightened, and a redeemed people—redeemed to our God and His Christ.