A treasure in clay vessels

Join me in prayer, my brothers. Lord, we declare as Jesus Nevitas just declared that you are three times Holy. It is a privilege to be in your courts, it is a privilege to hear your voice, it is a privilege to be where you can touch us, where your grace can reach our lives. Spirit of God, where you can identify our need and where your virtue can flow. It is a privilege to be in a place where we can receive and experience miracles, truly live a supernatural life. Master, that is my desire, that your spirit enliven this word and that you fill us this afternoon, and that all of us, Lord God, make here, experiencing, a life and a supernatural eternity. We ask this in the name of Jesus.

My brethren, I direct you to Second Corinthians, chapter 4, beginning with verse 5. Brethren, how many were here for the twelve o'clock service last week? Amen. The twelve o'clock service. If you were at the twelve o'clock service last week, do you remember that it was the privilege of receiving the word and the ministry of the prophet, and there are very few brothers, sisters, who really, I would say, have an office like that , who can be called full-time Prophets of the Lord. But this is the ministry of the brother, the prophet, Pastor Emile Samule, who we had with us last week.

And if you remember, and if you were here, we saw what may seem like a contradiction, at the same time we see a man – like any other – a man used, I would say, incontrovertibly as a channel of the Spirit of God. We who came to hear the word through him and stayed to see a part of the ministry were able to see, that Glory to God, the office of the prophet is in clairvoyance and that we got to see it. I was delighted to see that this brother who does not know these people, does not know this congregation, calling people to – from behind, near the windows, in the most extreme parts of the Sanctuary, calling them, indicating them individually. People, frankly, that practically, not even we Pastors know them very well. That we overlook them, but God doesn't overlook them.

Amen.

And God sees their lives and the Lord gave a word to this foreign man, it is not that this man is not in this church, he is not from this country or this culture and that he shares a word with him. I saw evidence even in the brothers that I do have the privilege of knowing. That usually, the Lord spoke to them, and He spoke to them with amazing clarity.

Well, we saw this – this demonstration of the glory of God and at the same time we got to see the scene of a man, already reaching old age, afflicted with diabetes and other ailments, so in pain that it was difficult for him to even walk. Fearing that due to his diabetes condition, he would take some bra in the middle of his ministry. His coffee and his little food, so that he can finish his ministry time

I would say, what contradiction not? The power of God flowing so clearly – so undeniably through this life, and yet a man full of infirmities. And I would say the Lord has a good sense of humor. A week ago the Lord put this word in my heart, and here I am speaking a little like Hermit the Frog, one of his children's heroes and having a little tea to also be able to spend the day this afternoon. And yet I am willing to declare, as I declared just now. Jesus is a healing God.

Amen.

Jesus is a God who delivers and I mean it with all sincerity and I mean it with all my heart. Jesus is a healer. He is my healer. What a contradiction, right? What's more, my brothers, it is not. Quite the opposite. Rather than being inconsistent, this is precisely the way supernatural life operates. Sepal.

Brothers, supernatural life does not mean that, at least here on Earth, we stop being human. Supernatural life does not mean that we stop being fragile, mortal and open to making mistakes. Quite the opposite. Supernatural life means that a mighty God is glorified through us, despite our frailty and our humanity. An extraordinary God, working miracles through ordinary people. That is the essence of supernatural life.

Or as this word that we are going to share today declares. It is the glory of God – it is the glory of Jehovah in earthen vessels. It is this church. What's more, this is the church of Jesus Christ, what's more, this is the church of Jesus Christ from the day of Pentecost. The essence of supernatural life is the glory of Jehovah dwelling and transmitted through clay vessels that declares the word of the Lord.

Second Corinthians, chapter 4, verse 3. “For we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. who commanded light to shine out of darkness, is the one who shone in our hearts, to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the excellence of power is from God, and not from us."

The glory of God in clay vessels. What does this mean?

First of all my brothers, what does this mean because I have already said it and I repeat it. My brothers, for me exploring the supernatural life, is an essential truth. Perhaps the essential truth. What is supernatural life? It is a manifestation from Genesis to the day the Saints are gathered in the Apocalypse – a manifestation of Jehovah's glory in earthen vessels.

I would say, my brothers, that this is the theme that sustains the whole symphony of the life of God. This is the balance, the poem of our lives, the contrast, the inconsistency and even the root of the power and the result of the glory of the Lord. And it is that, without exception, we are clay vessels used as vessels for the glory of Jehovah.

Now what does that mean? It simply means this. As it declares – indeed, verse 6, makes this statement: “For God –,” and I would add fearfully, but I believe for certain, this is what the apostle means. Because the same God, you could say, the same God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness – the same God who divided the light from the darkness, the same Holy Spirit who walked on the water.

God himself – the word is very clear here, that we are not talking about a substitute for God, we are not talking about a shadow of God, we are not talking about a secondary manifestation of God. See, First Corinthians, chapter 12 – we are talking about the one and the same Spirit of God. Romans, chapter 8, "If the same spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is in you." We are talking about God.

Of that Spirit of God, infallible, eternal, incomparably beautiful, almighty, supremely kind, kind and fearsome. That God – we are talking about the voice of many waters, we are talking about the roses, we are talking about the lily of the valley, we are talking about the hand that put the stars in their place. That God we inhabit – inhabiting us.

The apostle Paul writes in this same letter, in chapter 6, "that you are the temple of the living God." Imagine, that God indwelling us, living inside our mortal bodies, along with our weaknesses. That's right – that doesn't change. Along with our foibles, our vulnerability, our mortality and I would say, even more important, sharing our connection to the human race. Because we are social beings.

Brothers, your life is attached to another life and God knows that. What's more, the Lord sent you, he put you – he declared to Paul in Acts, chapter 17, the Lord declared the times and the hour for his existence. And like a light bulb in a dark corridor, the Lord put you in a precise and strategic place, connected to a family network and a social network, and the Lord knows what that implies. Our messes, the sins of that network – its complexities, its hang-ups, its breakdowns. The Lord knows that we are connected to other lives, and you know what? That is the point.

This is the divine plan, it is this way, my brothers. It is precisely through this, that the glory of God spreads to conquer humanity through one clay vessel to another. From one life to another. And, my brothers, we have the first fruits of this great adventure. We have it in none other than Jesus Christ.

The Lord declares – the word declares, that Jesus is the first fruits for those who believe. Jesus Christ in his incarnation represents the same thing, one hundred percent man, one hundred percent God. Subject, declares the word, to the same temptations, to the same limitations to which we are subject, but without sinning. And filled with the Spirit of God. And the Lord insisted to his disciples – do not dare, start your ministries. Do not dare take a step without first filling yourselves as clay vessels with the Holy Spirit.

And on that day, in the upper room – in the 2nd chapter of Acts – it wasn't the start of a religion, it was the start of a whole other kind of human race. All other species of humanity. Jesus, taking the first step and we following like him – following this beautiful pattern of humans, one hundred percent human, filled with something that is one hundred percent divine, one hundred percent powerful, one hundred percent God.

That word, that word, Christian, is so much more – it stands for so much more than merely the expression of your religion. It does much more than distinguish that you are a Christian because you are not a Buddhist or a Muslim. When that name, Christian, was applied to the church, by people who watched us.

The Greeks called the first disciples – the first followers of Christ – Christians, indicating that these people were little Christs for them. Little Christ – you, Christian, that is what you are. You, Christian, that is what you represent. You are a reflection, a reflection – you are part of this divine race that the Lord is creating, called Christians. Little Christ.

That now, too, like Him we have the privilege of yes, to live in this room but to serve as the habitation for a living God through the Holy Spirit. Now what does that imply? First, the glory of God in clay vessels, what does it imply? It implies first of all that our statement should be this, my brothers. "I am clay, Lord, but you are God."

Brothers, if you want to grow – the powerful thing about knowing these truths is that we can use them, use them, to advance the growth of God's power in our lives. If we know how to handle the truths of the Lord, and the first thing that the Lord requires of us is a level of humility, and that is not difficult my brothers. Brothers, it is important that we know the little leg on which we limp, excuse me. It's important and we all have it – we all have it.

And I did something, right? A Pentecostal model – okay, sorry. A gesture – is it working, are you hearing me? Good. Amen.

Brethren, we must – know this, my brothers, without the work of the Holy Spirit within us, we are incapable, we are incompetent to accomplish the divine work that the Lord has delegated to us. And to each one of us the Lord has delegated part of the divine work. But in order to accomplish the work that the Lord has in you, we need the power of God's spirit.

You know, the pastor shared last week that the Lord has made him sing at midnight. Imagine our pastor at two, three in the morning. Offering the Lord this song. And you know what? It sticks. Because I too have been dwelling on that song. I want to decrease, I want to decrease so that you can grow.

My brothers, that is not merely a nice gesture. Our pastor is longing to be used more by the power of God and there is a route to that. There is a condition – a pre-condition for that, there is a step, a requirement for that in order for us to increase in the Lord, it is necessary that we decrease. We need to decrease.

Brothers, over and over again. Thirteen times – in the book of Acts this phrase appears, filled with the spirit. And where he first appears is in the upper room. In chapter two. That they were unanimous, praying, asking that this promise of the Holy Spirit reach them and at the moment, the word says, it says that they were "filled with the spirit", over and over again, this phrase appears.

The apostle Peter stands up and the word declares, that he spoke with authority, filled with the spirit. It states that the deacons that were chosen in Acts, the 7th chapter, that the--that those seven men, they were all filled with the spirit. It also states that Stephen, when he stood before him, had the face of an angel, and that this man was at that moment, filled with the spirit. It declares in Acts, chapter 10, when Peter goes and is sharing with Elio, that this man, a Gentile, a Roman, a centurion, began to believe in Jesus Christ and suddenly the baptism of the Holy Spirit was poured out in that home and that with Elio and his entire household were filled with the Spirit.

What will you mean? That phrase implies two things. For something to be spirit-filled, or filled with anything, implies a container, doesn't it? Something – the spirit has to fill something, it can't fill a void, right? Something has to contain it – that's logical. This is mere physics. And here the container that the Lord chooses to fill with the spirit, are these clay vessels. These mortal bodies, but more than that, your life, your experiences, your weaknesses, your background, where you come from, where you are going – that is what the Lord intends to make filled with the Spirit.

It also implies this. Firstly, the filling of the spirit implies a container. In this case it is the clay vessels that the Lord fills with his glory. Do we understand? Second, that phrase implies, full – fill, implies in itself, levels of fullness, right? Because if something is spirit-filled, it implies, in contrast, that something else may be less full. It may be that something contains, that it has evidence of the spirit, that the spirit dwells in a container. But that that container is not filled with the spirit, do you also understand?

Fullness, implies levels of fullness. How is it graduated, how is it measured? What is the key that opens for us to be filled with the spirit? First we have to empty those glasses, empty those vessels to make room, so that we can contain more of the spirit. In other words, empty ourselves more. Decrease so that you may grow. It involves levels.

And as much as we grow in the Lord – the most mature Christians I know are the Christians who are most aware of their weaknesses, and the area into which the Lord throws them. And that, ironically, gives room for more glory, and for more anointing. And that brings us to the second implication, and it is this, my brothers, we are only surrounded, at best – at best – we are only surrounded by clay pots.

We are only surrounded by clay vessels. I'm looking at the faces of a congregation, many of us – some of us here maybe have known each other for more than ten years, some of us have known each other for more than twenty years. There are others who have just arrived. We have different backgrounds, we have lived – we have experienced different adventures. We have arrived from different places and at the same time they are on their way to other places, on their way to an adventure, on their way to a place that the Lord has for them, but always, at least on this earth, all we are are clay vessels. – that and nothing else.

We are clay vessels. And what does that imply, my brothers? Let's not judge by appearances. Amen.

I believe that one of the sub-themes that is being heard here – that has been preached in different ways is that the Lord hearing our prayers, and bringing revival, will bring all kinds of people here. All kinds of clay, but we are all vessels that the Lord has molded by his hand and on which he has breathed. Some studied and others not, some with money and a house and a mortgage and a car – and others without a chele. Some that smell good and some that don't smell so good. All kinds of glass.

And the Lord continues to tell us as He told Samuel, they almost missed David – they almost missed him, David. And the Lord tells him, boy look at it again, I don't judge by appearances, I look at the heart. Amen.

And you know what? Maybe the person sitting down – you have no idea! Brothers, you have no idea of the treasure that is locked up within you or within the brother who is sitting next to you. You have no clue. You have no idea what God sees there.

Where does this phrase come from, clay glasses? In the ancient world, the most precious treasures – in the first century Jewish world, they were literally kept in containers – in vessels made of clay, tall – many times taller than this pulpit. And they didn't look like much but they hid treasures there.

In the year 1942, archaeologists investigating some caves in Qumran, near – in Israel, found hundreds of Biblical scrolls that no eye had seen for almost two thousand years, the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Daniel – almost the entire Old Testament. and other scriptures. Locked there for almost two thousand years. Why had no one discovered it before? Because nobody – nobody had thought to investigate in a cave. And maybe if you looked in that cave, you saw a wall of clay vessels - what are they for?

Until someone looked into those vessels and saw the treasure that was – that was locked in there, the revelation that was locked in there. Brothers, this is how God sees us, there are treasures in this congregation. Many of you have to ask the Lord, maybe you think "I'm worthless, I don't have a gift, I can't imagine what I can add to the kingdom of God." Brother, I guarantee you, the Lord has locked up a treasure within you.

The moment the Holy Spirit reaches you, dwells in you, invades you, there is already eternal purpose there. Let us not underestimate and neither, my brothers, let us underestimate the process by which these clay vessels are maturing so that the Lord can use them and the word that must operate in this community of clay vessels, this small city, beginning with the shepherds. , because we are clay vessels – Thank God. Each life here, brothers – the word that must operate is this: Grace. Grace. Grace.

Now, grace does not mean that we overlook sin, for that would be to underestimate the very treasure of God that is in us. That is not what grace means. Grace does not mean that sinful habits, a sinful life should not be identified and disowned and rejected for the very fact that it diminishes who you are, the treasure that you are. But at the same time, the Lord asks that we have grace for one another, because you do not see what God sees.

You have no idea what God sees. You don't see the value that God sees. You don't know. No eye has seen, no ear has heard – neither eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor heart has begun to feel what God has prepared for those who love him. You don't know. And it also implies this, have a little grace with yourself, you hear?

Know that you are a clay vessel, know that God – that you are at school. We are being trained, every one of us. Each one of us is being molded, we are being prepared for a beautiful and eternal purpose. The apostle Paul, also in this letter, in chapter 12, on a very famous point – a crisis in his ministry, he admits. He tells him, Lord, take this thing away from me, three times I have prayed to the Lord to take it away from me, and he told me, "my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." It is perfected in weakness. Therefore, writes Paul, I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Another way of saying I want to decrease so that you can grow, but it brings us to the third implication: weaknesses. My brothers, the third implication of the fact that we are clay vessels is that we are not exempt from brokenness or struggles in this world. We are not exempt. What's more, it's part of the drama. What's more, let's get used to it because this is precisely the supernatural life.

There he describes in verse 7 of chapter 4, "but we have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the excellence of power may be from God and not from us, who are troubled in everything, but not distressed." The fact, brothers, that you are a clay vessel, allows you to be troubled – moments of trouble will come, news will come that will shock you, challenges will come in your lives. But not anguished, anguish is a condition of mind and heart. It is a condition – it is a reaction to being troubled.

We can say, we choose to react to tribulation with anguish. Anguish, that is to say, this thing is going to kill me and we feel self-pity, self-pity. And embracing depression as a lifestyle, embracing mortality as a lifestyle, that is not what God wants for a child of God, as clay vessels we will be exposed to tribulations, but as vessels of the glory of God, we will not be distressed.

He also declares, “desperate but not desperate.” Welcome apostle to where you can't drink the water today. I saw the brothers from the Federal District, "Ah, it's good that it happened to you." Montezuma's revenge comes here to Boston. Good for us. How many of you were in the Stop-and-Shop yesterday buying two or three gallons of water? That's good, they found me too – we were in trouble, we had to find fresh water. Marina told me, it's as if we were in the Dominican Republic. Welcome home – buying water.

That's fine, brethren, it was stewardship, but despair is something else. And I commented this to Marina, you didn't see, perhaps, someone filling but the car with as much water as there was, with your eyes – the full moon, and that was it, forget it. This was the apocalypse that was coming. We're going to get poisoned, run to the mountains, now! Will Smith. And that panic – the word is panic.

The Lord – look, we as clay vessels will be exposed to hardship, but as vessels of God's glory we should never experience despair or panic. Brothers, continue: "persecuted, but not forsaken." And yes, that includes the United States. The brothers who listen to me in countries where they have to hide their Bibles, or where it is a crime to call oneself Christian, know well what it is to be persecuted.

But I can guarantee you this, if you take that name seriously, if you take that name seriously, Christian, in Boston in the year 2010, if you take that name seriously, sooner or later in your walk, college student, in a class where Jesus is a metaphor and Christianity is a superstition. Man at his job, where he is surrounded by men who persecute you because you think it is an honor for a man to be faithful to his wife and it is an honor for a man not to take more than what his employer pays him. Or the brother who is surrounded by family, and you have been the only one in your entire family who represents what it is to be a Christian.

Brothers, sooner or later we will be persecuted for that name but never, never, never abandoned. How is he going to forsake you? He lives within you, He dwells within you. He is not going to forsake you. "Knocked down, but not destroyed."

The time will come, says the book of Proverbs, that the just will fall seven times. Every time he gets up. "Knocked down, but not destroyed." Here I am, here I am again. Brothers, it is precisely through the supernatural life, it is living like a clay vessel that the Lord will demonstrate his glory through you. This is the lining that allows the Spirit of God to flow through you.

That is precisely the opportunity that God has, not only to show you that his word is true. Brothers, do not leave – Glory to God, a phrase that Dr. Elden Villafania said that stuck with me once. It is one thing to study the Bible, another thing is for the Bible to study you.

And it is in these moments of anguish, it is in these moments of trouble – it is in these moments of persecution, they are in these moments like clay vessels, that the Lord studies us. And that we have the opportunity to grow in the Lord, and not only that, his glory and his face and his power flows through the rules around us and we are witnesses of the glory of God.

It is precisely through our afflictions and challenges that the supernatural glory of God is manifested. And this brings us to the last implication, clay pot, know this, we are being transformed. We are being transformed day by day. In a way that you may not even be aware of, but the Lord has an agenda with you. He has an agenda with you.

The word declares in verse 18, of this chapter, "we do not look at things that are seen but at things that are not seen." Brothers, it is very easy to look at what is seen, it is very easy to look at these bodies that wear out. It is very easy to look at the bank account, than the savings account that are subject to the economy. It is very easy to look at the circumstances and not see the eternal purpose and what God is doing within you through these circumstances because, fellow Christian who hears me, your goal must be much more than just getting through life. Your goal should be much more than living day by day.

The Lord has made you for something greater than this. God's purpose with you is greater than that. You have a goal. Your goal must be an eternal goal, you know? It's not merely, I get up on this day, let's see how I'm doing at work, let's see how I'm doing in this experience… That's not enough. I ask that the Lord awaken in you an eternal revelation and know what the Lord is doing through you. Only then does his life and his experience as a clay vessel make sense. Only in this way are we protected from suffering for the sake of suffering. No Christian lives like this, God has something.

Brothers, there will come a day when all this and what is not seen now, will be seen and the result of God's work in you, when these containers wear out – when we throw them aside. When we put away the clay vessels and before the throne of God the treasure that he gives is poured out, on that day, brother, you will know in an instant that it was all worth it and what it was for. On that day you will realize that everything was orchestrated in a poetic and perfect and divine and deliberate way – intentional, by an eternal God dwelling within you, fulfilling an eternal purpose through you. It will all make sense on that day, in the name of Jesus! It will all make sense.

Declare the word in verse 16, “Therefore we faint not; Before, even though this outer man of ours wears out, the interior nevertheless is renewed from day to day. Because this light tribulation,” and compared to the glory that awaits us, all tribulations are light. "This slight momentary tribulation produces in us an ever more excellent and eternal weight of glory."

Brothers, even in the law of physics, anything that fills a glass has its weight. And no matter how much you have, let this thing be whatever it is, inside a container. No matter how much you add to this glass, of such a substance, the more that glass weighs. And the Lord is telling you that with each experience, that you have as a clay vessel, with each battle won, with each decision to believe the Lord, and obey Him – with each tribulation endured, with each praise raised in the midst of your anguish, the Lord adds weight of glory to his vessel.

With each circumstance that you survive and you in the natural perhaps do not see the weight of glory, but there is evidence, it does manifest because you do not treat this tribulation as the last. Now you are trained, now your prayers are more direct, they are more effective. Now his anointing is deeper – I've seen this before. The God who rescued me from the last has also rescued me from another. The God who healed me of this will also heal me of that.

The God who listened to me last time will also listen to me now. And that does much more than merely help you bear this burden. That adds weight to your crock pot. Weight of glory We are not looking at things that are seen, but at things that are not seen. For the things that are seen are temporary. But those that are not seen are eternal.

Let's stand up, my brothers. Brethren, there will be a day when we will stand before the throne of God. There will be such an assembly, but exaggeratedly larger. On that day we will keep the clay glasses. The word says that we will know him as he knew us. We will also know each other as He knew us. We are going to meet even with these containers because the Lord said, that they will know that they are my disciples because they love each other.

This love that unites us. That is what will make me meet you. I will meet you in the assembly, before the throne of God. But no longer with these glasses, I will have the privilege of seeing what the Lord saw, we will have the privilege of this beautiful transformation that God is doing. This metamorphosis that is taking place on this side of eternity. We will see the result of God's work in our lives.

Perhaps the most fragile brother or sister who is next to you, you will see him or her, surrounded by an incomparable glory, indistinguishable from the angels, indistinguishable – it says that we are one less – a little less than the angels. A glory.

And every day, my brothers, the Lord is adding, through his love for you, weight to that glory. The Lord is adding weight to God's work in you. That is what you are. That's what you are, it's an honor to be called a clay pot. Knowing that through our weaknesses we are containers for the glory of the Lord.

It is an honor, an honor to know what God has in mind. Where, how is this going to end? How is this going to end? Knows how? The glory of Jehovah in all his reign and we before his throne created in his image, created in his image, molded by his hand and brothers, I don't know what you are going through, what persecution, what mortality, but I beg you, have an eternal sight because it is worth it. It's worth it.

Glory to God. Glory to God. It is worth it! It is worth it! That day will be worth it, in His presence. That moment before him will be worth it, it will all be worth it as we are transforming.

My brother, we are going to sing this chorus, this chorus that the pastor has been singing and for the same reason, we want to be filled. Fill us, Master. And, brothers, if that means coping with an experience that is diminishing you, amen. If that means living with a weakness that forces you to shrink, amen.

If that means a reality that dwarfs and diminishes you before Him. Amen. I want to decrease so that you may grow, Lord. Glory to God.

Lord, Spirit of the Lord Jesus, here are vessels, fragile, mortal, created in your likeness. Lord, none of them, Lord, none of them despised by you, precious in your sight. Now I ask Lord, that often your people declare your name and often that your people open up to you, and often, Lord, that we cry out to your name, Spirit of God, fill us, fill us, fill us, fill us, fill us, fill us Spirit of Jehovah. Fill us with your glory.

Fill us, Master, fill us. Father, there is room for more, Lord, there is room for more. Our glasses have room for more. Lord, there is room for more in our lives. Lord, there is room for more. Jesus, there is room for more. We want more of you, Lord Jesus, what we have isn't enough, Master. What we have isn't enough, God.

Pour out more power, pour out more of your grace. Pour out more of your anointing, Lord, pour out more. spill more.