We Have this Treasure
  
Pastor Laurie DeWitt

	Children's story.  Story of Moses receiving 10 commandments
from the Lord.  

	-------------------

	Exo 34:30  "So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw
Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid
to come near him."

	Have you ever seen the Glory of God on anyone's face?  Have you
seen a face that was alight with joy and goodness.  I have.  

	That is a very special time.  And today I want to help you to
know how to have that in your life.

	Our scripture today begins at 2 Cor 3:13  "And not as Moses,
which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel
could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is
abolished:"

	We just listened to the story for  the children about Moses
receiving the 10 commandments from God on Mt. Sinai.  You will
recall that while he was on the mountain the first time to
receive the first tables of stone, that when he had returned the
people were worshipping a false god in direct disobedience to
the instructions of Jehovah.  

	You will recall how Moses threw the tables of stone on the
ground to illustrate how Israel had broken God's commandment.

	When God called Moses back up into the mountain to receive a
new table of stone Moses made a startling request.  Exocus 33:18
 And he said, "Please, show me Your glory."

	19  Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you,
and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be
gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion."

	20  But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see
Me, and live."

	21  And the LORD said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall
stand on the rock.

	22  "So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put
you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand
while I pass by.

	23  "Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back;
but My face shall not be seen."

	Now our text in Exo 34:30  "So when Aaron and all the children
of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and
they were afraid to come near him

	The glory was more than the people could take.  Because they
were nowhere near God spiritually, they had difficulty in the
presence of one who was.

	Paul uses this story to lead us to an understanding of God's
purpose for mankind.  As he works with this story, he uses it to
lead us into a discussion of God's ultimate will for our lives. 
Now Paul tells us in 2 Cor 3:14 speaking of the Jews,  "But
their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same
veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which
veil is done away in Christ."

	2 Cor 3:15  "But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the
veil is upon their heart."

	2 Cor 3:16  "Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the
veil shall be taken away."

	2 Cor 3:17  "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty."

	Now here Paul gives us some words that some of us might not be
comfortable with.  But if truth sometimes doesn't make us
uncomfortable, we probably aren't searching for it.

	Note the comparison that is made.  It seems quite clear here
that Paul equates the reading of Moses with a veil on the heart.
 Paul was speaking of a people who, while jealously guarding the
Sabbath, tithe, offerings, and festivals, were robbing widows,
and killed the Savior and His followers.  And Paul is quite
clear that only when they turned to the Lord would that veil
drop from their eyes.

	Now what you may not like to hear, Paul is again reiterating
his never-ending theme.  Paul is contrasting a legalistic
following of all the laws Moses recorded in his books with an
acceptance of Jesus Christ.  I don't think that we can even get
around the fact that the 10 commandment law is included, for the
glory on Moses' face is definitely connected with the receiving
of the commandments.

	In contrast to those who do not know Christ, the ones who know
Him, that is the ones who are filled with the spirit, have the
veil lifted from their eyes and they understand Moses. Not only
that, Paul goes on to tell us:

	2 Cor 3:18  "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a
mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the
same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the
Lord."

	There are any numbers of stories about mirrors.  Mirror, mirror
on the wall... and so forth. Here Paul paints the picture of the
Christian looking into a mirror, and seeing the reflection of
the glory of Jesus Christ.  As the Christian continues to look
at that picture of Jesus Christ, he begins to look in reality
like the reflection that he sees in the mirror.  The glory of
God through the Spirit actually begins to transform that
Christian into the image of God.  Does that scare you? 

	We can read in Gal 5:22  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness," 
23  "gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."  

	Have you begun to see Christ reflected in your  mirror?  I
believe that you can actually see the changes there.

	Going on, Paul gives us one of his famous "therefore."   2 Cor
4:1  "Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have
received mercy, we do not lose heart."

	Had you ever had the thought that the letting of the glory of
God transform your life is a ministry?  I know of many people
who are eager to rush out and attempt to perform the work of the
Jew, that is, the giving of rules and regulations.  But that is
not ministry, brothers and sisters.  

	I can remember when we were at PUC I ran into a couple of
people who felt that they had a ministry.  One knocked on our
door one Sabbath afternoon and informed us that Tide soap had
lard in it.  Then she turned on her heels and walked away.  I
wasn't as quickwitted as our neighbor, who when he was
approached with this revelation solemnly promised not to eat
any! 

	The other was a man who felt that he had been given the good
news to preach that any man who did not have a beard was a
homosexual.  He supposedly supported this from the writings of
Ellen White.  He would stand on the sidewalk where people walked
from the College to the market and follow you accross the street
telling you of this great truth.  That's not true ministry.

	Ministry is a gift that is given us to change our lives that
the glory of God might shine out from us.  And what a ministry
that is.  The ministry of letting God's spirit do wonderful and
glorious things in and through you.

	Now Paul continues on give us a contrast between those in the
Spirit and those who were veiled in using the law to earn
salvation.

	2 Cor 4:2  "But we have renounced the hidden things of shame,
not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God
deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending
ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God."   In
TEV we read:  We do not try to trick people into believing--we
are not interested in fooling anyone. We never try to get anyone
to believe that the Bible teaches what it doesn't. All such
shameful methods we forego. We stand in the presence of God as
we speak and so we tell the truth, as all who know us will agree.

	In this we find a call for the Christian to be transparent.  I
don't believe that the Christian who is being led by the Spirit
is going to be involved in the gossip chain.  I don't believe
that the Christian is going to be involved in back rooms,
political takeovers, secret meetings, and power plays.  God
calls His own to spiritual transparency.  We are not to be seen
but Christ.

	2 Cor 4:3  "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to
those who are perishing,"

	2 Cor 4:4  "whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do
not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them."

	We know that there are some who choose to be veiled.  It is
very comfortable to feel that all you have to do is follow a set
number of rules and you will find salvation.  If that is your
attitude, your eyes are veiled.  I don't care how much of a
Christian you appear on the outside, how many good and noble
things that you do, how many sins you overcome, if you are
depending on those things for your salvation instead of Jesus
Christ, your eyes are veiled. Note what is written next.

	2 Cor 4:5  "For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus
the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake."

	Notice another step that Paul takes the Christian on.  Here we
find something that is hard to do.  Most of us are interested in
ourselves and what we think.  We become enamored with ideas,
thoughts, and interpretations.  As a matter of fact sometimes we
are more interested in what we think than we are in what is
right.  

	By the way, have you seen any advertising lately that
advertised the packaging more than the product.  From time to
time we will see that happen.  One of the maxims from Madison
Avenue is "Sell the sizzle, not the steak."

	2 Cor 4:6  "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out
of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

	Notice that we are now referred back to the fact of creation
for a parallel between God speaking physical light into
existence and God bringing glory into our lives through the
beholding of the face of Jesus Christ.

	Now we come to my favorite verse in this passage.

	2 Cor 4:7  "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that
the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us."

 	We have this treasure in earthen vessels.  Ostricon.  Clay
pots.  Very common in Israel even to this day.  Piles and piles
of broken pottery around.  As matter of fact there is so much
pottery that it is used to determine the date of different digs.

	Clay pots were so cheap back then that when one cracked, even
in the poor families, it was tossed out in the dump.  

	Sometimes pieces of this pottery would be taken and would be
used to scratch messages.  Known in the world of archeology as
an ostrecon.  These are the ones that the archeologists are most
interested in. 

	We have a hard time realizing just how worthless clay pots are.
 Maybe they could best compared to the foam cups and plates that
the fast food industry uses.  I have yet to see anyone go into
McDonalds and buy french fries and a shake, and pour the food
out and keep the packging!

	Yet these clay pots have a useful purpose.  They hold olive
oil, grape juice, barley and wheat, silver coins, water, flour,
and books.   Virtually worthless lumps of mud, kneaded, turned,
shaped, and baked to make a vessel that would often hold
something many times its worth.  

	And that is what we are called.  Pots.  Clay pots.  Little
pots.  Big pots. Plain pots.  Painted pots.  Maybe even some
cracked pots. I don't know if you have ever thought of yourself
in quite that way.  But the absolutely amazing thing is that God
looks down from His throne, and tells His Holy Spirit to go down
to the earth and fill up those clay pots with the glory of God. 
"Fill them up," He says, "until they shine like me."

	What do you say to that?	

	Here's what Moses wrote:  Deu 14:2  ""For you are a holy people
to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people
for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on
the face of the earth."

	When Gods spirit fills these paper sacks, Styrofoam cups,
aluminum cans, trash bags, and paper plates that make up this
human race, they become a special treasure, not because of what
they are, but because of what they have in them.

	That leaves us with one conclusion.  When we preach are we
going to point to the clay pots, or to the glory that is filling
them.

	Brother and sister, does that excite you?  Does that make you
want to shine?  Does it make you want to be filled? 

	2 Cor 5 says  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think
of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from
God,

	6  who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new
covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter
kills, but the Spirit gives life.

	Clay pots.  Clay pots called to minister.  Clay pots filled
with treasure.  

	Isa 33:6  "Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your
times, And the strength of salvation; The fear of the LORD is
His treasure."

	Brothers and sisters, what is the clay pot?

	What is the treasure?

	God has made us.  He knows us.  He made us what we are and let
us have limitations in our ministry so that we would have to
know where the power comes from.  And it doesn't come from the
clay pots.  

	Perhaps Paul himself was an example of this.  Someone wrote
about Paul: 

	"It would appear that, while Paul was intellectually
impressing, physically he was not prepossessing.  His enemies
said of him, 'his body presence is weak (he isn't handsome), and
his speech is contemptible (can you imagine Paul with a squeaky,
high pitched voice?).  Tradition describes him as being short,
stooped, and bowlegged.  He seems to have suffered from come
chronic affliction, and possibly spent his life seeking for a
cure."

	Can you imagine what a church would say if Paul were to apply
to be pastor here.  The resume might say, "Aging traveling
evangelist seeks congregation to pastor.  Has traveled
extensively.  Started several churches.  Has caused riots in
several cities.  Wrote harsh letters to at least two churches. 
Fights with the General Conference officials from time to time. 
Preached against keeping the law.  Has weak voice and eyes. 
Might smell a little bit like goat hair from making tents."

	But this writer assures us that it is through these clay pots
that God chooses to demonstrate himself in this world.  And by
the way, if God can call the stones to proclaim salvation, why
can't he use clay pots?

	If he could use Paul, Moses, a stone, a woman at a well, a
little girl in a captains court, a timid general named Gideon, a
little boy with a little basket of food, a disciple that
couldn't keep his foot our of his mouth, a hungry whale, or an
adulterous king to further His cause, then brother and sister, I
believe that he can use you.  What do you say?  	

	Then he goes on:

	2 Cor 4:8  "We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed;
we are perplexed, but not in despair;"

	2 Cor 4:9  "persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not
destroyed;"

	2 Cor 4:10  "always carrying about in the body the dying of the
Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our
body."

	2 Cor 4:17  "For our light affliction, which is but for a
moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory,"

	2 Cor 4:18  "while we do not look at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are
seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are
eternal."

	Friends, the clay pots that we are down here are not going to
go through to the kingdom.  This mortal will put on immortality.
 But what will go to heaven is the Glory of God that we have
become, which has assumed the shape of those pots, by filling
every corner.  That glory that has filled those pots with the
glowing radiance of the Spirit

	Christ in you, the hope of glory, From glory to glory. What a
joy!  What a challenge!

	My prayer today is that God allow this clay pot to shine forth
for Jesus Christ throughout eternity.  If it is your desire to
have that same filling of the Spirit in your life, please stand
with me in dedicaiton as we pray......... 



Pastor Laurie DeWitt