Broken Vessels For Christ
By Harry A. Ironside
Always bearing about in the body the dying of
the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus
might be made manifest in our body. For we
which live are alway delivered unto death for
Jesus sake, that the life also of Jesus might
be made manifest in our mortal flesh. (2
Corinthians 4:10,11)
This fourth chapter of 2 Corinthians is the
apostle Pauls statement of power for ministry.
He shows us in these stirring verses that God
is not looking for brilliant men, is not
depending upon eloquent men, is not shut up to
the use of talented men in sending His Gospel
out in the world.
God is looking for broken men, for men who have
judged themselves in the light of the Cross of
Christ. When He wants anything done, He takes
up men who have come to an end of themselves,
and whose trust and confidence is not in
themselves but in God.
There were those who were calling in to
question the apostleship of Paul himself, for
he did not seem to them to be what an apostle,
according to their estimation of the office,
ought to be. There was not the pomp nor the
dignity they would expect; he did not come to
them with great swelling words, there was no
making anything of what he was after the flesh,
no drawing attention to his natural ability or
education; and in this the method of the
apostle Paul was in very vivid contrast to the
method pursued by many today who pose as
servants of our Lord Jesus Christ. This man
went through the world a broken man, a lowly
man, a man seeking only the glory of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the blessing of souls, a man
who might have occupied a very high place among
the great and distinguished of earth.
