Second Corinthians also gives us another extraordinary verse. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7). There is not such a verse in any other book. Paul tells us that we are the vessels, and the Lord Jesus within us is the treasure. But the key to this verse is the verse preceding it: “to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). In Greek, the word for “face” is the same word used for “person” in 2 Corinthians 2:10, which means the index around the eyes. This means that if we don’t have the index of Jesus’ face, He can never be a treasure to us. We will never sense that we have a treasure within until we see the face of Jesus. When we are enjoying His presence, we sense that He is such a precious treasure within us.
This can never be just a kind of saying. We all can say that we are the earthen vessel, and Jesus is the treasure within. But we can say this without any sense of the reality within us. It is only when we are living in His presence, looking at the index of His being, that we will sense that He is such a treasure to us. In the whole universe, there is nothing so precious as to behold the face of Jesus. This is something of personal experience and enjoyment. The more we live in His presence, the more sense we will have of the preciousness of Jesus. This is just the enjoyment of His indwelling. This very Jesus indwells us. This is a living reality, not merely a saying.
If we would all learn to forsake our old person, taking Him as our person by looking at the index of His face while enjoying His presence, we would have a sweet sense of the preciousness of the indwelling Jesus. This would make us so shining, a shining which is the reflecting of His glory. I can assure you that if you ever have this kind of experience, others will see how shining you are. It is not that you are merely happy, but you are shining. Something from within shines out, and that is the reflection of Jesus. This was Paul’s experience of the indwelling Christ.
Paul also tells us that we are the defeated captives of Jesus. “Now thanks be unto God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life” (2 Cor. 2:14-16). God today leads us in triumph in Christ. This phrase is difficult to translate. It pictures a general who fought the battle and gained the victory, capturing many captives. Then he returns triumphantly to celebrate his victory, with a parade of all the captives behind him. Today, Christ has gained the victory, and He has captured so many captives, including you and me. The procession is still going on in the universe. Hallelujah! We all have been put into this procession. God will lead us in the triumph of Christ.
However, to be captured means that we must be defeated, conquered and subdued by Jesus. It is so good to be defeated by Jesus. Undoubtedly, in the eyes of our unbelieving relatives and friends, we are just a captive to Jesus. To their sense, we have just been captured. Praise the Lord, we have been captured! Jesus defeated us, conquered us, subdued us, and captured us. So now we are so dependent upon Him. We take Him as everything to us. This is the procession of His triumph. We have nothing to say and nothing to do. We are fully captured by Him.
In the ancient times, while such a procession and celebration were going on, certain ones would scatter incense before the procession. This is what Paul means when he says that we are a sweet savor of Christ. We are defeated, conquered, subdued, and captured and now we bear the incense. The real gospel preaching is the scattering of the incense. And the sweet savor of this incense is life to some and death to others. Praise the Lord that we are in such a procession to celebrate the triumph of Christ.
By looking into all of these points, we can see what we should be. We should be the ones attached to the Triune God, within whom Jesus is working all the time, transforming us into His image. And we should be the earthen vessels to contain Him with His living face as the treasure. Then we will be the captives in His triumphant procession, celebrating His victory in the whole universe.
We can see that all these items are completely different from the teachings and doctrines which we received in a traditional way. This is because these are items of Jesus’ indwelling. The indwelling Christ will do all these things, making these items so real, so living, and so practical in our daily life. The Lord’s recovery today is not just to recover the oneness and the church’s testimony, but to recover the real content of the church life. The content of the church life is just all these items of the indwelling Christ.
This is why the church life is altogether different from what we saw and experienced in Christianity. It is in another category completely. And this is why the church life is so sweet to us. The indwelling Christ is working within all the brothers and sisters within the church. If we did not have the indwelling Christ, we would all go our own way. We love all the brothers and sisters because Jesus is living and working within them. In the church life every member is so precious, and we do love one another. It is not that we are so lovable; it is because of the treasure indwelling us. Of course, we are human, and some times we do have problems with one another. But how good it is when we turn back to the indwelling Jesus. Then we say, “Brother, forgive me, I was wrong. Let’s turn to the Lord together.” And when we touch the Lord together, everyone becomes so lovable. It is not what we are; it is the sweet Jesus that indwells us.
Religion can confine us, but it can never give us a sweet savor. Religion simply does not smell sweet. But Jesus is the very incense scattered among His captives. It is hard to explain the difference in the church. Others sing hymns, they have the Bible, they have one another, and they have their speaker. What is the difference? It is just the sweet Jesus. This is why we have had the burden to share these messages on the indwelling Christ. It is to strengthen, enrich, and uplift the church life. The more we practice the indwelling Christ, the more Christ becomes so precious to us.
If we do not learn to enjoy the indwelling Christ, there is no incense in the church life. He is not sweet if we study Him in an objective way. We cannot smell Him, and we cannot sense Him. But He is so sweet subjectively. When we learn to enjoy Him from within, we scatter the sweet savor to others. This sweet smell is just something of the sweet nature and essence of Jesus Himself.
There is no other book like 2 Corinthians. Paul covers all of these precious items in his autobiography because merely in teaching no one can utter such things. This is simply his experience, and he testifies to that effect. Finally he says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:14). This is the church life by the indwelling Christ.