Jeremiah 18:1-6 (KJV)
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
Very briefly I want to reason with you on the thought
(Thank God I’m still in his Hands)
In the text before us
The spirit of the Lord drives Jeremiah down to the potter's house.
To see a parable in action.
A parable in deeds and not in words.
Because when you examine the text,
You will Discover that no words are ever spoken.
Between the prophet and the potter.
Notice ---Notice -- Notice
Because Jeremiah stood, he watched, and then he went away.
And God gives him a word.
Not from a sanctuary, but from a shop.
Not from the holy book, but human. Hands,
Not From a commentary, but from a lump of clay.
In other words
He stands outside of the potter's house.
And if you would allow me to use my sanctified imagination
Perhap he`s peeping through the window.
And as he watches the potter takes this shapeless lump of clay,
Places it on the wheel and begins working with it.
And as Vessel begins to emerge and perhaps almost finish.
The trained eye of the potter sees or with his hands, feels and detects some flaw in the vessel.
Jeremiah perhaps thought he would just take It and fling it aside and reach Into his bucket and pull out another lump of clay.
But instead the potter breaks it.
Smashes it,
And places it on the wheel and begins to wrought another work.
And he works with the lump of clay until the vessel is pleasing and acceptable to the potter
Because in the fabric of the text
There's a word here about the purpose in the mind of the potter.
Because The potter has a picture of the Finished product in his mind before he ever began.
You see
The clay was just a handful of Ugliness when he laid it on the wheel.
But it reminds us that there resided In the clay the possibility of becoming.
It was just a piece of ugliness when he started,
But there was purpose in the mind of the potter, so that the clay had the possibility of becoming.
And God's word for us this morning/evening is that God sees in you the potential to becoming a vessel of honor.
And I don't know where you think you are this morning/evening .
But the truth is we're all in the process of becoming.
Because there are times when we concentrate so much on overcoming that we lose sight on who we are becoming
The clay was just a piece of ugliness.
But in it resides the possibility of Becoming
Which suggest to us that we all in the potter's hand.
And have you ever thought about what if your situation was in somebody else`s hands
They would have thrown us away along time ago
Even though some tried but they couldn’t
Because we`re still in the potters hands
And God is not through with us yet
And I don`t know who I’m talking to
Or what`s going on in your life
I don`t know what your family and friends have told you
OR what your Doctor is saying
But you ought to wave your hands in the air and shake it like you just don`t care
And look toward Heaven and say –Thank God I’m still in your hands
(2nd point)
Well not only does the potter has a purpose in mind
But the text also reveals the purpose and the pressure of the potter`s hands
Because it is the purpose and pressure of the potters hands that mold our lives as well shapes our lives
Because God wants to work through us
And before God can work through us
He first has to work on us and in us
And God knows what he`s doing
And God is not intimidated by the clay, no matter where he finds it or how flawed it is when he find it
Because there are times when God has to mold us with His mighty hands
You see
It was in the darkness of the night that God molded Jacob as he wrestles with and angel at Jabbok
God molded Moses standing before burning bush with only a stutter and a stick
God molded Joseph by allowing him to go from the pit to Potiphar's house to the prison in order to get to the palace.
In other words
Sometimes God has to use a strong and mighty hand.
But then there are other times when he molds us with a tender hand, that is full of love and compassion.
(3rd point)
Well not only does the text reveals
The potter has a purpose on his mind
And the purpose and pressure of the potter`s hand
But the text is also tailored to teach us about the patience in the potter hands
Because in the very hands of the potter the vessel was marred
Which raises a question how could the vessel be marred in his hands
Well I’m glad you ask
Because im inching to tell you
You see the problem is not with potter
But the problem is with the clay
Notice -notice –notice
The potter doesn’t throw the clay away and get another one
But he broke it
He smashed it,
Placed it on the wheel
And he worked with it until a vessel came pleasing to his sight
All I'm trying to tell you is
That he who forms can also reform.
And the old preachers call it -- the God of another chance.
Somebody here ought to shout hallelujah and thank God
That you serve a God of another chance.
You see It was because the God of another chance
Jacob got his name changed to Israel.
It kept Peter from sinking that night on the sea of galilee
It kept David on the throne when he fell short of Gods glory
It tranformed Saul into Paul the apostle.
And I might as well tell you
If you messed up,(and we all have)
if you missed a mark,(we all did)
if you taken a wrong turn, (and we all shall
Grace is able to fix it for you.
You see
Our ruin was complete,
But thank God our redemption was more complete.
Because out on Calvary he died.
Didn't he die?
Anybody here know? -----He died?
He died till the sun refused to shine.
He died till the whole world began to reel and rock like a drunk man .
He died till centurion cried out, surely, surely this was the son of God.
But I'm so glad bright early Sunday morning he got up.
Didn’t he get up?
With all power in his hand.
And if you believe he got up will you help me encourage somebody?
Turn and tell your neighbor,
It really doesn't matter
if you're being lifted from the mud,
if you're still on the wheel,
if you're in the process of being broken,
and the reason why it dose`nt matter because you're still in his hands
And want he take care of you?
Want He hold your hands
Want he guide your feets
Ain't he all right? I say ain`t He's all right.
And if you know he`s alright
You ought to tell your neighbor
I ---- know he`s ---alright
