Toure Roberts - Loose the Treasure (01/15/2026)
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Paul reminds us from 2 Corinthians 4 that we carry a priceless treasure—the life and power of Jesus—in fragile earthen vessels, so that God’s glory shines through our weaknesses. He explains how pressures, perplexities, and persecutions are part of God’s process to break the vessel and release the treasure within. The key takeaway is that by dying to self and living from the treasure, we manifest Christ’s life, become unstoppable, and bless others even through our trials.
Welcome and Opening Scripture
Welcome to Activate LA! Hallelujah, yeah, yeah, you’re in the right place at the right time. Second Corinthians Chapter 4, you need this message, you need this word. Just turn to your neighbor and say, «I need this, I need this, I need this, I need this, I need this.» It says, «But we have this treasure in earthen vessels.»
We have a treasure, but the treasure has an issue; it’s wrapped in an earthen vessel. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed. We are perplexed—anybody ever been perplexed before? We’re perplexed but not in despair, persecuted, yep, but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed. Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be made manifest in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake that the life of Jesus may be manifest in our mortal flesh. So then, death is working in us, but life in you.
Opening Prayer
Father, I thank You so much for Your word; it’s a lamp unto our feet, it’s a light unto our path. And God, I thank You that there are sons and daughters in this house right now, sons and daughters watching via livestream, sons and daughters who will watch later, sons and daughters who are listening by podcast, and You have sent this message to activate something in them, to put to bed once and for all arguments about whether or not You’re with them, arguments about whether or not You will bring the vision to pass, arguments about whether or not they will make it. You will put to death tonight, once and for all, the double-mindedness, the to-and-fro, the back and forth, the trying to figure it out, the up and down, the high and the low, and You will ground them in this divine truth that will cause them to bear fruit consistently, perpetually, all the days of their lives until You return. Release that type of word in this house tonight, in Jesus' name. Amen.
If you receive it already, put your hands together, high-five somebody, celebrate Jesus as you take your seat. God bless you.
The Vision of Activate LA
Let’s get into this. Let me begin by really speaking to the vision that God has given us about Activate LA. We didn’t choose those terms loosely or randomly. We thought «activate» was a cool term or what have you, but we really have come to a place of understanding where we know that there’s something in you.
Oh, hallelujah! We recognize that there is something in you—there’s something in the believer; yet that thing that’s in you must be activated. I’m reminded of what Paul told Timothy: Paul said, «You got to stir up the gift of God that’s on the inside of you.» Paul was affirming Timothy in the fact that there was something in there. And so what we want to do is we want to stir up and manifest and bring to the forefront that which is in you. Would anybody believe that there’s something in you right now? I’m not just talking to be talking; there’s something in you, or you wouldn’t be here. The very thing that is in you is the thing that drew you here. Something that is bigger than your thoughts, bigger than your mind, bigger than your consciousness brought you here because it wants to be activated. There is a hunger and a thirst on the inside of you that is dying to be fed. Are you tracking with me? And I’m speaking to that hunger; I’m speaking to that greatness because it’s down in there.
So Activate LA—the whole purpose of activating LA is to activate that thing that is in you. Because just because it is in you does not mean it will come forth easily. There’s something in you; just tell somebody, «There is something in you.» There’s something in you. It has to be activated, and sometimes it even has to be reactivated. Are you tracking with me? It has to be activated and reactivated.
Context of the Corinthian Church
And so there’s a peculiar—this is a peculiar passage of Scripture. Let me give you some of the backdrop. First of all, Paul is talking to the church at Corinth, and one of the things that we know about the Church of Corinth is that they were very, very gifted; they were very, very talented, but they were also shallow spiritually.
Now, it’s important we gotta understand who he is talking to; he’s talking to a body of believers that were excited, they were talented, they operated and flowed in the gifts of the Spirit. They were speaking in tongues, but they weren’t speaking in tongues because they were really trying to edify people; they were speaking in tongues to show off how anointed they were. So it was a church that was not necessarily about the kingdom; it was a church that was more so about them. They had come from a Greek background; the Greek background oftentimes had to do with, «Let me show you how knowledgeable I am. Come and look at me! Look at me!» And that mentality had even seeped its way into their spirituality. And so Paul had to tell them in one of the first epistles: «I recognize that there is gifting and talent; you’ve got a lot of potential, but you’re very fleshy still. You’re still carnal; your spirituality is more about me, me, me than it is, ‘God, what can You do through me? ’»
Are you tracking with me? And so Paul is getting ready to shift gears on them. Paul is getting ready to take them to another level; he’s getting ready to help them to understand what this thing is all about. How many of us know that this whole walk with God is not about «God, You bless me, » but how many of us know that it’s actually about, «God, will You please use me to be a blessing?» I want to make a difference in this earth; I want to make a difference in this life. And I recognize that if I will commit to being a blessing, I will never fall short or run short of having a blessing. Are you tracking with me?
Do I have some non-carnal people in God’s house right now? And your whole pursuit of God is not, «God, give me the husband, » not, «God, give me the money, » not, «God, give me the match, » but, «God, give me the purpose, give me the calling, give me the anointing.» I want to be something in this earth. When I leave this earth, I want it to be different because I was here. Are you tracking with me? And if that’s not you, you’re going to be greatly disappointed because I’m telling you right now, God is handing out mantles. He is handing out anointings; He is handing out favor; He’s handing out promotions; He’s handing out grace, but He’s not giving it to selfish people. He’s giving it to people who will say, «Here am I, use me for Your glory—not mine.» Are you tracking with me?
I feel the Holy Spirit. It’s nothing for God to make you a billionaire, but will you lay it all down at His feet and say, «Jesus, here I am. Use every bit of me for Your glory.» See, see, see, it’s moments like this in the spirit and it’s moments like this in the kingdom that separate the men from the boys; it separates the girls from the women. This is a divine moment, and I didn’t come here to tickle your fancy; I didn’t come here for your itch of ears. I came to set a fire on the inside of you that will never die in any season. Are you hearing what I’m saying?
I’m telling you how this thing works. Jesus is not playing in this season; He didn’t come here to play. He’s looking for some real people who will lay it all down for His objective and His agenda. So you see Paul in his second epistle; you see him taking things up a notch. «I called you for a season, but now I’ve got to invite you into the reality of what it means to be My child. I’ve got to bring you in a little closer because you think it’s about you, but it’s not about you; it’s about Me. And the more you make it about Me, the more I will bless you.» That’s the way this thing works.
The Purpose: Manifesting Jesus
In the chapter before this, Paul is talking about how we don’t preach ourselves; we preach Christ Jesus. He’s talking about transformation and then he begins to let us in on something in this text and he’s talking about how the whole purpose of his ministry is to ultimately manifest Jesus. Oh, hallelujah! The whole purpose—if you would just streamline and just get it down to what it’s really about—the whole purpose of our walk with God is to manifest Jesus. Oh, I feel the Holy Spirit! To manifest Jesus through your life! Watch this: it’s not even to manifest you; it’s deeper than that. It’s to manifest Jesus through you. Jesus says, «I am seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession, but I’m still moving in the earth and I’m still showing Myself in the earth, and I’m going to show Myself in the earth through you.»
It’s interesting: the Apostles, if you study the Book of Acts, it’s a wonderful book that I think is relative, relevant, and timely. But if you study the Book of Acts, here’s what it says about the disciples: it says that it was obvious that they had been with Jesus. So when people saw the Apostles, they saw Jesus. Oh, hallelujah! They were like, «Hey, you look like Him; you talk like Him; you flow like Him. I recognize that anointing; I recognize the scent, the savor of your essence and your presence. You have the scent of that God named Jesus!»
And so they weren’t attributing things to them; they were saying, «Oh my God, your life is evidence that there is a Jesus. You look like Him!» And so then Paul starts helping us to understand some things, and he says in verse 7, «But we have this treasure.» You have a treasure—something inside of us, and it’s in an earthen vessel or a clay vessel. It’s almost like really a clay jar. So we have a treasure, something of incomparable value or worth in us, but the only thing is, it’s wrapped up in something that is not as valuable. Oh, Holy Spirit! My worth is not in what I drive! Oh, hallelujah! The car doesn’t make me; I make the car! The house doesn’t make me; I make the house! The clothes do not make me; I make the clothes!
But because you take me and you put me in something raggedy, I’m still valuable! And if you just give me a second, I will open my mouth, and you will recognize that I am NOT the vessel; I’m the treasure! Just high-five somebody and say, «I’m the treasure, I’m the treasure!» You’re looking at the treasure; you’re looking at the treasure!
Treasure vs. Vessel
And so what Paul is doing is helping us now to begin to understand where our true worth lies and what must take place in order for that worth to be manifest. Oh, here we go! Our true worth is not in the vessel; it’s in the treasure, and here is the reality: oftentimes we put too much emphasis on the vessel. Then we detach—the most spiritual of us put more emphasis on the vessel than we do on the treasure. And that’s why we don’t work on our insides; we work on our outsides. I wrote a book about that. That is evident, that is evident. Now, I’m preaching to the choir because you all came out on a Thursday night because you’re looking to work on your insides. So God bless you. I’m just talking about the other 19 million, nine hundred thousand people in this city.
So Paul is saying, «I want to get into this.» So Paul is saying, «We have a treasure in this earthen vessel that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.» So we see the distinction there between the treasure and the vessel. I’ll get into that more and then the power of God and ourselves. And then he goes on and then he starts talking crazy! It’s not stop crazy, because as we move forward in this passage, he begins to detail some of the processes that both activate and manifest that treasure within. Here’s why this is important: this is important because some of what some of you are going through is actually designed to loose the treasure.
Oh, I feel the Holy Spirit! Because the only problem with the treasure is the vessel. We have this treasure; we have this valuable thing! And it’s crazy because who doesn’t know but God would do something like that? Who puts something valuable in something that is invaluable? Who puts something eternal into something that is perishing? But God! Can I take my time and teach the text today? Some of you right now, I swear this is true, you are frustrated, even to the point of giving up because you don’t recognize the processes of God. The processes of God is, first of all, God knows where the real value is; we don’t. That’s why we put value in this and we put value in that; we’ve got to have this and we’ve got to have that, and I have to look this way. That is indicative of the fact that we place value not on the treasure but on the vessel.
And so what God has to do is—to be honest with you—God doesn’t really give that much of a care. Hello, somebody! He doesn’t have too many cares to give about the vessel because God is a God who sees the end in the beginning. Are you tracking with me? He knows that your greatest worth is not in your vessel; the greatest worth is in your treasure. And if God has to squeeze your vessel to get the treasure out, He will do it! Oh, I cannot wait to get into this text because He wants the excellency to be of God and not of you because you and I like to live in the vessel; we like to live in the earthen vessel and not in the treasure.
And so, because we won’t shift to the treasure, naturally God has to begin to put pressure on what we have the tendency to rely upon and invest in, because He doesn’t want us to be unwise investors. He wants us to invest in the area that truly has value. And here is the thing: the treasure is God’s investment in you. So God is looking at the treasure; you’re looking at the vessel; He’s looking at the treasure. He will tear the vessel down to get to the treasure. Are you hearing what I’m saying today? Get out of the vessel! Don’t worry about the vessel; the vessel is temporary. Although the outer man perishes, the inner man is being renewed day by day.
Some of you think that you’re going down, but I hear God saying, «Nope, you’re coming up! I’m tearing down everything that you have relied upon that was not valuable; I’m making you valuable in this season!» Are you hearing what I’m saying? I’m making you valuable; I’m making you valuable! But I’ve gotta get to that vessel because you’re relying on that vessel! You’re hanging out in that vessel too much; you’re trusting in that vessel. I gotta tear that vessel down!
So what do I do? I allow you to be hard-pressed on every side! The potter’s wheel, the potter’s wheel, the potter’s wheel—it’s not as sexy as you think! The potter’s wheel—being in the Potter’s hand—it’s not all gentle like you think! He’s applying pressure to every side of you until you become valuable! And you’re saying, «God, if this happens, I will be valuable!» God is saying, «No, if this happens, you will be valuable!» Are you tracking with me? You just gotta trust Me!
Breaking Down the Paradoxes
And then I started studying some of these scenarios. It is a strange stuff here—very peculiar phrases. It says stuff like, «We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed.» And here’s what’s crazy, here’s what’s crazy. What’s crazy is as I looked up those phrases in the Greek, they are very similar phrases—almost identical! Watch this: almost identical. That word that was translated «hard pressed on every side”—if you break that word down in the Greek, it has the idea to afflict in a way that is making things very narrow or to throng, right? Or to crowd, right? And so it says, „I’m hard pressed on every side.“ It literally means to afflict, to narrow, to throng, to crowd, right?
Then it says, „Yet not crushed.“ And the word that was translated „crushed“ almost means the exact same thing. It means to hem in closely and to cramp! Because basically, you’re saying that I am crushed but not crushed. I am being suppressed, I’m being squeezed, I’m being put in a narrow place, yet I’m not being squeezed, I’m not being cramped. I’m like, „God, this is tricky!“ This is the trickery of the text! And that wasn’t the only place too! And then later on he says, „You know, he says that I’m perplexed, “ in that same verse, verse 8. Later he says, „We are perplexed, but not in despair.“
So I want to look up those words, like, „What does this mean, perplexed and not in despair?“ That word „perplex“ is a Greek word, and it literally means to have no way out or to be at a loss mentally—to have no way out! „Perplex“ means, in that context, to have no way out. Anybody ever been there before? You’ve got no way out! Always crazy! Like, „How do I—whip!“ I’m stuck! He says, „You have no way out, perplexed.“ But then he says, „But not in despair.“ And I looked up that word that was translated „despair, “ and that word, watch this, means at a loss utterly.
So he’s saying, „I am at a loss, yet not at a loss.“ Okay, got you. You’re freaking me out here because you’re telling me I am and I’m not. You’re trying to encourage me, and now I’m actually more confused than I was when I was under the pressure! And he starts—and I’m like, „God, I don’t know. God, You gotta explain that to me because You’re saying I am, but I’m not.“ Like, is that metaphoric?
And then I thought about it, I thought about it, and I figured it out! I figured out all this is being suggested in the context of you having a treasure and the vessel, which means that, watch this: Your vessel can be perplexed! Oh, somebody better catch what I’m trying to tell you! Your flesh and your carnality—that’s why you can’t live in your flesh! Because your flesh and your carnality and your vessel is subject to being at a loss mentally. It is subject to being crushed! But the Spirit of God on the inside of you, the treasure that is on the inside of you cannot be crushed, cannot be shaken, cannot be destroyed! You gotta learn how to live in your treasure and not in your vessel! If you get what I’m saying, take about ten seconds and give God praise in here!
The reason why you feel the pressure is because you’re living in your vessel and not living in your treasure. And you’ve got to get to a place when you are willing to allow your vessel to die, to go through whatever it needs to go through so that the evidence of God, which is the treasure on the inside of you, which cannot be shaken, can be the realm in which you live! Oh, I’m gonna take my time; you’re gonna get this thing! You know why it hurts so bad? Because it’s in your flesh! You know why it hurts so bad? Because it is in the temporary realm called the vessel! And He’s saying here, listen, do not invest in that because it ain’t going nowhere! You gotta lean in!
I feel the Holy Spirit! You gotta lean into the treasure! Some of you are flying; you’re operating and living in an altitude that is in the realm of the dimension of your earthen vessel, and that’s the issue! That’s why it hurts so bad! It hurts so bad not because it is in your spirit, because your spirit is not subject to the things that your flesh and your carnality are subject to! You’re living in the earthen vessel, and that’s why you feel everything that hits your vessel! Oh, Holy Spirit! That’s why he can say on the one hand, „I am at a loss, “ but on the other hand, „yet not at a loss.“
Because there’s a part of me that is confused; there’s another part of me that is assured! Oh, I feel the Holy Spirit! There’s a part of me that is weeping; there’s another part of me that has joy! Because one part recognizes what this thing is about. One part recognizes the eternal value of the treasure! One thing recognizes that if God is for me, who can be against me? And the other part of me is wondering if I’m going to make it! And I cannot live in that other part of me! I will die if I live in my earthen vessel!
But if I learn how to tap into the treasure and live from that place, I’m gonna make it! Are you tracking with me? I’m gonna make it! I gotta learn how to live in my treasure! That’s the problem—I’m living in my vessel! I can’t live in my vessel! I can’t trust my vessel! My vessel has deceived me! I gotta learn how to live in my treasure! Paul is trying to get this young, immature, carnal, self-focused church to recognize how to win!
Just look at the text! Almost done! He says, „I’m at a loss, but not at a loss.“ There are two things operating! I’m going somewhere; I’m after something! And Paul is saying, „Now that I got you in, now that you’re a part of the faith for real, let me bring you in deeper and show you how I do it!“ You ever wonder how Paul and some of those other guys, man, they just did things for God? Man, we’re still marveling at it!
And it’s because they learned how to live in the treasure! They learned how to loose the treasure! They understood that the treasure was the most valuable thing that they had, and therefore they made no provision for the flesh—they didn’t trust the vessel, they only trusted the treasure! We gotta go somewhere, we gotta go somewhere.
The treasure that the vessel is just a carrier! I don’t have much time! When I’m with my wife, right, when we’re on our way somewhere, the vehicle is not where the value is! Hello, somebody! It doesn’t matter if we go in a Hyundai or a Hummer! If we go in a Beetle or Bentley, that really doesn’t matter! Oh, I wish somebody would catch it! It really doesn’t matter!
I could go in a Giovanni—it really doesn’t matter! Because what’s important is—the vessel is the treasure! I’m the treasure! You have to understand, and some of you get delivered from over-shopping! Two of you! I’m placing my value in the stuff when I should be placing my value in the treasure, because the treasure is where it’s at!
Persecuted but Not Forsaken
Let’s keep reading, just a little bit. It says, „Hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed. We were perplexed but not in despair.“ I love this! „Persecuted, but not forsaken.“ That was an interesting dichotomy! They’re persecuted but not forsaken! That word „persecuted“ there has the idea of being ultimately pushed away into something else. So you have to flee; there’s language in there that speaks to fleeing because you were forced to flee.
So it says, „Persecuted, so I’m forced to reposition myself, but not forsaken, ” or „not abandoned, ” which means that the repositioning wasn’t even the enemy; the repositioning was ordained by God because God never abandoned me in the repositioning! That means that the persecution was for the purpose of repositioning me so that I can be what God needs me to be! Are you tracking with me? Even the devil is God’s devil! Are you hearing what I’m saying? Even the devil is God’s devil!
You know what I mean by that? Because we know that persecution is allowed by God, but it’s only allowed by God if it will profit and benefit you! Isn’t that something? So what I am lamenting—that which is moving me from where I want to be, what’s oftentimes moving me from my comfort—is actually positioning me for my purpose! You track it with me?
I think my wife said something similar recently, and so it says „persecuted, but not forsaken.“ So I’m going through this something you need to hear! This is not so theological—be here it is—but some of you are going through things, and it is pushing you out of your familiar surroundings! But it’s only doing that because God is trying to get you somewhere else! He says, „Persecuted, but not forsaken!“ I am with you!
I will never leave you nor forsake you! And watch this: If I haven’t abandoned you in the persecution, that means that I’m ordering your steps in the midst of it! Are you tracking with me? The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord! God is ordering your steps! I know it’s hard, because in that process, guess what’s happening? He’s dealing with that vessel! He’s dealing with the earthen vessel! Because you can’t shine the glory! The glory can’t hit you in the spot of your comfort! The glory can only show up in the place where God directs you—even if He has to use persecution to get you there!
Persecuted? Yes! But not forsaken! I’ll admit that it’s uncomfortable, I’ll admit that it doesn’t feel good! I’ll admit that I don’t like it; I admit that it’s awkward! I will admit that I do not like my current coordinates! I will admit that I do not like the geography of this part of my journey! I will admit it, but I will also admit that I’m not forsaken! I will also admit that I’m not abandoned! I will also admit that God is ordering my steps!
This is what you have to get to! You have to be able to say, „Persecuted but not forsaken!“ I feel that for some of you! Some of you need to speak back to your situation! Your situation has been lying! Your situation is saying because you’re experiencing persecution, God has forgotten about you; God is not with you; the blessing is still not on. And you’ve got to get to a place where you start talking back!
Yeah, persecuted, but not forsaken! I’m cast down, yes! I’m not in my highest moment, yes! But I’m not destroyed, which means that I’m going to get back up! If I can get in a ditch, I can get out of a ditch in Jesus’ name! Are you hearing me? You gotta speak to your situation! Uh-huh! If God got me in it, I’ll get myself out of it! He’s gonna get me out!
And even if I get myself in it, because my steps are ordered, He will get me out of it! You gotta speak to your situation! I hear the Lord saying this is not unto death! This is not unto your destruction! It is not unto you being destroyed; you are getting ready to rise up! I hear God say that a righteous man falls seven times yet rises up again! I hear God saying rise up in this house, rise up seven times, seven times, and still rises again!
I’m trying to activate something; I’m trying to loose something; I’m trying to get to the treasure! I see God digging into your life right now! It doesn’t feel good; He’s got His paws in you; He’s got His hands in you. The Potter is shaping you, and their hearts; He’s digging into you, ‘cause He’s squeezing the treasure out! He wants you to live in the treasure! He wants you to not rely on the vessel! Because it’s not about you; that the excellency might be of God and not of you!
Do you want you or God? Do you want your power or God’s power? Do you want your plan or God’s plan? And sometimes God’s gotta put His hands on you! It gets better; it gets better! Persecuted, but not forsaken! Whoa! David said it was good that I had been afflicted! Some of you, God wants to get you to a place where you say, „I don’t like it, but I know it’s good for me!“
I don’t like it, but I’m praying like I’ve never prayed before! I don’t like it, but I’m worshiping like I’ve never worshipped before! I don’t like it, but I feel closer to God than I’ve ever been! I don’t like it, but I’m not doing what I used to do! I don’t like it, but I’m desperate! And I like that; I like that! The best version of me is the desperate version of me! I’m not my best when I’m prospering! I’m not my best when I’m comfortable! I’m not my best when everything is working out the way it should!
I am my best when I’m troubled on every side! Aren’t we? You start calling on Jesus! I’m available to God! Are you tracking with me in God’s house today? I’m my best when I’m troubled on every side! Yet not crushed! Oh, come on somebody, if you know that’s true, you know you’re at your best! You’re not at your best when the money is flowing! You’re not at your best when your heart is full! You are at your best when God has got you wrapped up in some stuff that requires Him.
Come on, let’s tell the truth in God’s house in here right now! That’s your best when you’re balling out of control! You’re at your best when you have nothing to pray about. That’s not when you’re at your best! When you’re extra worse, is when you’re at your best! Because the treasure is in an earthen vessel, and it’s gotta be loosed! And the only way that it can be loosed is if the earthen vessel is troubled on every side! It’s hard pressed on every side! Uh-huh!
Carrying the Dying of Jesus
I’m gonna keep reading! Keep reading! Persecuted, but not forsaken! Struck down, but not destroyed, always carrying about—watch this—in the body, always carrying about! Oh, you didn’t see this, family! You want this—this is the true Gospel right here! It’s not a cute little—it’s the truth! And even people that preach the cute understand this! Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus!
Why? That the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body! I cannot manifest Jesus’s life without first experiencing His death! I want resurrection power, but the only thing that makes resurrection power resurrection power is the death! We get excited about that same power that raised Jesus from the dead! It’s like the same power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in me! And we claim that and we pull that down! But did you just hear what he said? The same power that raised Jesus from the dead!
So I’m living, I’m living because I’m dying! The only way for me to live is to die! Always, always carrying about in the body the death of the Lord Jesus so that in order to have the life of Jesus made manifest in my body! Wait, there’s more! It says, „For we who live are always delivered to death—always!“
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but God delivers us out of them all! So my life is a series of deaths and resurrections that take me higher and higher from level to level, to glory! That’s my life! I am not shocked when I am squeezed! I am not shocked when I am perplexed! When I am at a loss mentally, you are supposed to be there from time to time! To get you out of your head and into your treasure!
God will allow depression to come that will disable your cognitive ability that your smarty-pants have! The tendency to rely upon your brilliant self! You’re supposed to be! You were created in His image. The only trouble is, sometimes our brilliance gets us in trouble. Because even our brilliance, oftentimes, is a part of the earthen vessel! When I rely on—thank God I’m smart! I thank God! But sometimes my smarts are a great obstacle to my destiny, how I see it!
Because my smarts have limitations! Are you tracking with me? And so God sometimes will allow situations that disable, that disengage your cerebral capacity and bring you to a place where you say, „I am at a loss!“ Because let’s be honest, if you’re a brilliant person, you are hardly at a loss! And what it does is it exposes your weakness to help you! Because when God exposes your weakness, it allows you to admit your weakness, and His strength is made perfect in the admission of our weakness! Are you tracking with me?
There’s more! „For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, the life of Jesus also may be manifest in our mortal.“ So then death is working in us, and I might suggest is working for us! But watch this—death is working in us! Paul is talking to the Church of Corinth, those that he’s called to touch, said, „This death is working in us, but life in you!“ That’s powerful! That’s powerful!
What he’s saying is that this dying and this crushing that I’m experiencing is painful to me, but it’s a blessing for others! You’re not ready for that! I realized that that what I go through as a man of God who understands this principle—what I go through, it is not even really for me! Because my treasure is really not for me! The squeezing of my treasure, the loosening of my treasure is not for me; it’s for you! Which means that if I live for me, I’ll die! If I live for others, I’ll live!
Are you tracking with me? As long as this thing, family, is about you, you’re trapped in your earthen vessel! But when you make it about the kingdom—when you make it about those that you can set free—you become unstoppable because you have partnered with the understanding that in order for my treasure which is anointed to save others to loose from me, I myself am crushed! Hence, Jesus!
And so if I want to be selfish, I’m in trouble! Because I’m going to live in the earthen vessel that is constantly and consistently being crushed, even by nature itself! But if I say, „Nah, I’m not invested in my vessel; I’m invested in my treasure, “ then you can say, „Bring it on, devil, baby! Because even if you cast me down, I cannot be destroyed! I’m gonna get back up again!“
Closing Invitation and Prayer
I want to pray for some people! Honey, come join me on stage! I want to pray for some people tonight because I want you to understand this! I really felt like there’s an invitation to maturity. Son/daughter, I’m telling you it’s not designed to destroy you! Let me tell you something: I’ve been through seasons in my life; I’ve been through seasons! Thank you! I’ve been through seasons where the pressure—oh God—was so tight as a man of God!
I was being squeezed, Leland, so tight that I could—there was a part of me that wanted to just scrape! Like, if I could, like, go somewhere and not be recognized or hurt, and just, you know, just lose it. Anybody ever been there before? Just like, „Whoa!“ You just—you big screen—you just want to lose it! But then there’s another part of me that says you ain’t losing it! And what I realize is those are the two realities!
The earthen vessel—the one that’s unreliable is ready to quit! But then in that moment, that spirit is confronted by another spirit, that power is overshadowed by another power that says, „You got this!“ Are you tracking with me? It’s the treasure speaking to the vessel! And you come out of that season stronger; with the strength you didn’t even know you had!
Because as your vessel got squeezed, your treasure stood up! Are you tracking with me? You’re only attracted to this church! In fact, I might add, you’re not even attracted to this church; your treasure is! Your treasure is in here! Not the earthen vessel!
So I want to pray for you! My prayer and my hope is that you realize that some things are normal! And I want you to get to a place where you are in pursuit of your treasure more than anything else! How do you make the switch? I said something earlier: the reason why it hurts so bad is because there’s too much of you invested in the vessel and not the treasure!
And I suggested that you make a switch! And stop living in your vessel; you start living in your treasure. That sounds all great, but how do you do it? One way: worship! When you understand what worship truly is! Paul said this! Paul said, „I beseech you by the mercies of God!“ You got Romans! „I beseech you by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice!“
There we go! Present your bodies! What is that? That’s your earthen vessel! Worship in its purest form is you taking your earthen vessel, presenting your body a living sacrifice! You taking your earthen vessel and laying it down at the feet of the Lord! In the atmosphere of God! And you’re taking everything that you are, and you’re surrendering everything that you—that’s real worship!
Worship is not singing a song; it’s not even lifting your hands! Real worship is taking everything that you are, everything that you adore, everything that you care about, everything that is of significance, worth, and value to you and laying it down at God’s feet and saying to God, „There is nothing more important to me in life than You!“
Oh, I feel like I’m leaning into something! See, the reason why it hurts is because you love your vessel too much! And I’m only half-worshiping because I won’t drag my best to lay my vessel down! There! I want to hold on to my vessel because I found so much of my image and my identity in my vessel! And I place confidence in my vessel! So when I’m worshiping, I’m only half-worshiping!
But it’s when you take your vessel, you take your stuff, you take it all! I don’t care what it is! You can’t worship God as something else at the same time! Everything is Yours! Mine, my life is Yours! My career is Yours! My calling is Yours! My relationship is Yours! Everything is Yours! Take it, Lord!
Because as long as you wear your vessel, you will live in your vessel! And you take it, and you lay it down, presenting your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto the Lord, which is my reasonable service! And it talks about when you do that, you’re going to be transformed by the renewing of your mind! You’re gonna be transformed! A transformation is going to take place!
And you’re gonna be filled with the inspiration and the power of the treasure! Where you were once limited by the confines of the vessel, you gotta learn how to switch! If your flesh is hurting, walk in the Spirit! Walk in that place that cannot be pressed! Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there’s Liberty! I feel God! Someone, you can’t even think clearly right now because you’re in your vessel!
I’m thinking about the woman who had the alabaster box full of oil and the Bible says she broke that thing and poured the oil on Jesus’s feet! That’s what I’m talking about! It wasn’t about the jar; it was about the oil! It was about the treasure! Look out over the jars! Shut up! What’s in the jar is more important than the jar! But we’re trusting in the jar! Forget the jar!
I’ll break the jar! Whatever needs to happen to the jar, let it happen to the jar! So I can get the most precious part of me out! That’s what God is doing! If you’re going through something, by the Spirit of God I believe that’s what God is doing! And as long as you hold on to the vessel, you will never get to the treasure!