HOW TO KEEP FROM QUITTING (Part 2)

On Monday we began uncovering the secrets of longevity in Paul’s ministry. Part 1 centered on the truth that we have a life-changing ministry (2 Cor. 3:18; 4:1). Today we continue with a second reason to keep from quitting: We guard a valuable treasure (2 Cor. 4:7).

Paul instructed Timothy to “guard the good deposit” (2 Timothy 1:14 niv). We guard a treasure—the gospel. Paul felt so strongly about the gospel message that he wrote: “Even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8). We are to guard the purity of the gospel of grace, but we are also to invest this valuable treasure. The parable of the pounds in Luke 19 is all about investing the gospel in people’s lives. The Master does not want us to bury His treasure.

Paul referred to our bodies as earthen vessels, or clay pots, because the glory goes to the treasure—God’s gospel. God uses earthen vessels to proclaim His gospel. We are encouraged when we remember it’s not how great the speaker but how powerful the gospel. Think of some of the “earthen vessels” God has used:

• D. L. Moody was a shoe salesman in Chicago when his Sunday school teacher led him to Christ. Though he struggled with his English grammar, God called him to preach and used him in a mighty way. The multifaceted ministry of the Moody Bible Institute is an evidence of what God can do with an available earthen vessel.
• Dr. Harry Ironside was a self-taught student of the Bible and was visually impaired. And yet the Moody church had its greatest days with Ironside in the pulpit. Sunday after Sunday the church’s 4,000 seats were filled with people eager to hear one of God’s earthen vessels teach the Bible.
• Billy Graham was a farm boy from North Carolina who struggled academically in Bible school. Beginning in Los Angeles, God led Billy and his team in evangelistic ministry around the world. Now, at age 90, he looks back on 7 decades of ministry.

How strong was Paul’s commitment to carry on his mission to share the treasure? The Phillips paraphrase of 2 Corinthians 4:7-13 reads:

“This priceless treasure we hold, so to speak, in a common earthenware jar—to show that the splendid power of it belongs to God and not to us. We are handicapped on all sides, but we are never frustrated; we are puzzled but never in despair. We are persecuted, but we never have to stand it alone: we may be knocked down but we are never knocked out! Every day we experience something of the death of Jesus, so that we may also know the power of the life of Jesus in these bodies of ours. Yes, we who are living are always being exposed to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be plainly seen in our mortal lives. We are always facing death, but this means that you know more and more of life. Our faith is like that mentioned in the scripture: I believed and therefore I spoke.”

May God help us to remember those words when we want to quit. On Friday, we will close our week with a third reason to stay on the firing line.