Be Molded into God’s Vessel

JEREMIAH 18:1-17 THE LESSON OF THE POTTER’S HOUSE
VERSES 1-4 JEREMIAH VISITS THE POTTER’S HOUSE
THE WORD WHICH CAME TO JEREMIAH FROM THE LORD, SAYING: ARISE AND GO DOWN TO THE POTTERS HOUSE, AND THERE I WILL CAUSE YOU TO HEAR MY WORDS. THEN I WENT DOWN TO THE POTTERS HOUSE, AND THERE HE WAS, MAKING SOMETHING AT THE WHEEL. AND THE VESSEL THAT HE MADE OF CLAY WAS MARRED IN THE HAND OF THE POTTER; SO HE MADE IT AGAIN INTO ANOTHER VESSEL, AS IT SEEMED GOOD TO THE POTTER TO MAKE.
potters-hand
SOMETIMES GOD INSTRUCTED HIS PROPHETS, THROUGH A LIVING LESSON, SOMETHING FROM DAILY LIFE. THE VESSEL THAT HE MADE OF CLAY WAS MARRED IN THE HAND OF THE POTTER, SO HE MADE IT AGAIN INTO ANOTHER VESSEL: WATCHING THE POTTER AT WORK, JEREMIAH NOTICED A LUMP OF CLAY THAT SEEMED UNCOOPERATIVE. THE POTTER DECIDED TO START AGAIN, MAKING SOMETHING THAT SEEMED GOOD TO THE POTTER TO MAKE. POWER WAS MANIFESTED IN HIS MANIPULATION OF THE CLAY, THE CLAY WAS MARRED, TWISTED; IT FAILED TO EXPRESS THE POTTER’S THOUGHT, BUT THE POTTER DID NOT ABANDON IT.  IS THIS NOT WHAT GOD DOES, CONCERNING HIS PEOPLE?  HE WILL MOLD US AND IF NEED BE REMOLD US INTO USEFUL INSTRUMENTS FOR HIS PURPOSE AND GLORY.
potter-bowlWE MUST REMEMBER WE ARE BUT DUST.
A MAN NAMED GEORGE GILL ONCE SAID: “GOD REMEMBERS THAT WE ARE DUST, BUT MAN SOMETIMES FORGETS IT.  AND HE GETS STUCK ON  HIMSELF.  AND WHEN DUST GETS STUCK ON ITSELF, IT’S MUD.”
WE MUST REMEMBER GOD IS SOVEREIGN, WHILE WE ARE CLAY. MOST PEOPLE LIVE A LIFE WITH NO REAL PURPOSE OR MEANING.  THINK OF THE POTTER WHO HAS FORMED NUMEROUS VESSELS FROM CLAY.  THE CLAY IS JUST A HEAP OF SHAPLESS MUD.  NO FORM, SEEMINGLY OF NO USE.
clayBUT WHEN IN THE POTTERS HAND, IT CAN BECOME AN INSTRUMENT OF USE OR BEAUTY.  SO ARE WE, A HEAP OF SHAPLESS MUD, TILL WE ALLOW OUR POTTER, OUR MASTER, TO MOLD US INTO  INSTRUMENTS OF USE AND BEAUTY THAT HE DESIRES.
clay-pot
VERSES 5-10
GOD’S RIGHT TO DEAL WITH HIS PEOPLE AS HE PLEASES
THEN THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME, SAYING: O HOUSE OF ISRAEL, CAN I NOT DO WITH YOU AS THIS POTTER? SAYS THE LORD. LOOK, AS THE CLAY IS IN THE POTTERS HAND, SO ARE YOU IN MY HAND, O HOUSE OF ISRAEL! THE INSTANT I SPEAK CONCERNING A NATION AND CONCERNING A KINGDOM, TO PLUCK UP, TO PULL DOWN, AND TO DESTROY IT,IF THAT NATION AGAINST WHOM I HAVE SPOKEN TURNS FROM ITS EVIL, I WILL RELENT OF THE DISASTER THAT I THOUGHT TO BRING UPON IT. AND THE INSTANT I SPEAK CONCERNING A NATION AND CONCERNING A KINGDOM, TO BUILD AND TO PLANT IT, IF IT DOES EVIL IN MY SIGHT SO THAT IT DOES NOT OBEY MY VOICE, THEN I WILL RELENT CONCERNING THE GOOD WITH WHICH I SAID I WOULD BENEFIT IT.
THROUGH THE VISIT TO THE POTTER’S HOUSE GOD SPOKE TO JEREMIAH AND TO ALL OF ISRAEL, REMINDING THEM OF HIS SOVEREIGN RIGHT TO DO WHAT HE PLEASED WITH A MARRED OR SEEMINGLY UNCOOPERATIVE VESSEL.
AT THIS TIME ISRAEL WAS DIVIDED INTO TWO SEPARATE COUNTRIES. GOD CALLED THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, THE NOTHERN KINGDOM WAS CALLED JUDAH.
map-of-israel
IN THIS ILLUSTRATION THE CLAY HAD NO MORAL CHOICE OR DIMENSION, WHEREAS ISRAEL’S DISOBEDIENCE WAS CHOSEN AGAIN AND AGAIN. THE VESSEL AT THE POTTER’S HOUSE WAS MARRED. ISRAEL MARRED THEMSELVES MORALLY AND SPIRITUALLY BEFORE GOD.
THE ILLUSTRATION AT THE POTTER’S DID NOT ONLY DEMONSTRATE GOD’S RIGHT TO DISPLAY JUDGMENT, BUT ALSO HIS RIGHT TO DISPLAY MERCY. HE WAS FREE TO WORK WITH A PREVIOUSLY MARRED VESSEL IF HE CHOSE TO DO SO. YET HE WAS ALSO FREE TO TAKE BACK GOOD HE HAD DONE TO A NATION IF THEY DID EVIL IN HIS SIGHT.
mercy-judgment
THE MAIN LESSON IS THAT GOD IS FREE TO RESPOND TO HIS PEOPLE ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN MORAL CONDUCT AND CHOICES.  PREVIOUS PROMISES DO NOT RESTRICT THE EXERCISE OF HIS CORRECTION OR JUSTICE. PEOPLE ARE NEVER AT THE MERCY OF AN UNFEELING DEITY; IT IS IN OUR POWER TO REPENT AND ALIGN OURSELVES WITH GOD’S PURPOSES. GOD DOES NOT CAST US AWAY, BUT PUTS US BACK ON THE WHEEL, AND MAKES US AGAIN.
WE SHOULD ALWAYS YIELD OURSELVES TO GOD‘S WILL. WE ALL MAR HIS WORK. WE ARE OBLIGATED TO HUMBLY ASK THAT HE SHOULD MAKE US, AND KEEP MAKING US, TILL WE ARE MADE MORE IN HIS IMAGE.
word-of-god
THE POTTER DOES NOT WANT ROCK OR STEEL, BUT CLAY.  SOMETHING HE CAN MOLD, SOMETHING HE CAN MAKE INTO THE VESSELS OF HIS DESIRE.  SO IT IS WITH US.  OUR POTTER, THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, WANTS US TO YIELD OURSELVES TO HIM, AS OUR POTTER, LETTING HIM MOLD US INTO THE VESSELS THAT PLEASE HIM.
WE SHOULD REMEMBER THOUGH, WE DO HAVE FREE WILL.  UNLIKE CLAY, WE HAVE A SAY IN OUR BEING ALLOWED TO BE MOLDED.  ARE YOU WILLING TO ALLOW THE LORD TO MOLD YOU INTO THE VESSEL HE DESIRES?
take-and-mold-me
WE OFTEN ASK, WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE IN LIFE.  THAT SHOULD NOT BE OUR QUESTION, BUT OUR QUESTION SHOULD BE, WHAT IS GOD’S PURPOSE FOR OUR LIFE.  OUR PURPOSE MUST BE FOUND IN HIS PURPOSE FOR US.  IF OUR PURPOSE IN LIFE IS FOUND IN OUR OWN SELF, THEN WE HAVE A VERY LIMITED PURPOSE, ONE THAT IS LIMITED BY THE AMOUNT OF TIME WE HAVE ON EARTH.
WHEN WE ALLOW OUR PURPOSE TO BE YIELDED TO GOD’S PURPOSE, THE PURPOSE OF OUR LIFE BECOMES AN ETERNAL PURPOSE.  WE SHOULD NOT ASK, WHAT IS THE REASON I EXIST TODAY, BUT WHAT IS GOD’S REASON THAT I EXIST TODAY.
IF WE WERE TO WATCH A POTTER AS HE MOLDS HIS LUMP OF CLAY, WE MAY NOT KNOW WHAT HE IS MAKING, TILL IT TAKES SHAPE, BUT THE POTTER DOES.  WE MAY NOT KNOW WHY WE GO THROUGH THE THINGS OF LIFE EACH DAY, BUT THE LORLD DOES.  HE KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS IN HIS END PRODUCT.
1 JOHN 3:1-6 SAYS: BEHOLD, WHAT MANNER OF LOVE THE FATHER HATH BESTOWED UPON US, THAT WE SHOULD BE CALLED THE SONS OF GOD: THEREFORE THE WORLD KNOWETH US NOT, BECAUSE IT KNEW HIM NOT. 2 BELOVED, NOW ARE WE THE SONS OF GOD, AND IT DOTH NOT YET APPEAR WHAT WE SHALL BE: BUT WE KNOW THAT, WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM; FOR WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS. 3 AND EVERY MAN THAT HATH THIS HOPE IN HIM PURIFIETH HIMSELF, EVEN AS HE IS PURE. 4 WHOSOEVER COMMITTETH SIN TRANSGRESSETH ALSO THE LAW: FOR SIN IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW. 5 AND YE KNOW THAT HE WAS MANIFESTED TO TAKE AWAY OUR SINS; AND IN HIM IS NO SIN. 6 WHOSOEVER ABIDETH IN HIM SINNETH NOT: WHOSOEVER SINNETH HATH NOT SEEN HIM, NEITHER KNOWN HIM.
WE ALL SIN, BUT JOHN IS REFERRING TO A LIFESTYLE OF SIN.
OUR HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES US.  HE ALLOWS US TO BE CALLED HIS CHILDREN, AND WE REALLY ARE!  THE PEOPLE WHO BELONG TO THIS WORLD DO NOT KNOW GOD,  THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE HIS CHILDREN. WE ARE ALREADY GOD’S CHILDREN, AND WE CAN NOT IMAGINE WHAT WE WILL BE LIKE WHEN CHRIST RETURNS. BUT WE DO KNOW THAT WHEN HE COMES WE WILL BE LIKE HIM, FOR WE WILL SEE HIM AS HE REALLY IS.  ALL WHO BELIEVE THIS WILL KEEP THEMSELVES PURE, JUST AS CHRIST IS PURE.
child-of-god
THOSE WHO SIN ARE OPPOSED TO THE LAW OF GOD, FOR ALL SIN OPPOSES THE LAW OF GOD. AND YOU KNOW THAT JESUS CAME TO TAKE AWAY OUR SINS, FOR THERE IS NO SIN IN HIM.
PSALM 17:15 SAYS: As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.  But because I have done what is right, I will see you. When I awake, I will be fully satisfied, for I will see you face to face.    
VERSE 11 THE LORD DEVISES A PLAN OF JUDGMENT
NOW THEREFORE, SPEAK TO THE MEN OF JUDAH AND TO THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM, SAYING, THUS SAYS THE LORD: BEHOLD, I AM FASHIONING A DISASTER AND DEVISING A PLAN AGAINST YOU. RETURN NOW EVERY ONE FROM HIS EVIL WAY, AND MAKE YOUR WAYS AND YOUR DOINGS GOOD.
THE LESSON OF THE POTTER’S HOUSE WAS MEANT TO REBUKE THE FALSE CONFIDENCE OF THE MEN OF JUDAH AND JERUSALEM. THEY BELIEVED THAT SINCE THEY WERE GOD’S COVENANT PEOPLE THAT NO HARM COULD COME TO THEM. IT MADE IT EASY FOR THEM TO BELIEVE THE POSITIVE WORDS OF THE FALSE PROPHETS.
AMERICA IS GOING DOWN THE SAME ROAD THAT ISRAEL DID AT THE TIME OF THIS WRITING.  AS A NATION WE ARE TURNING OUR BACKS ON GOD.  WE ARE, AS A NATION, NO LONGER ALLOWING THE POTTER TO MOLD US.  WE NOT ONLY RESIST, BUT COMPLETELY IGNORE HIS DESIRES FOR US AS A NATION.
THIS BEING TRUE, KEEP IN MIND, EACH OF US ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR OWN LIVES.  THOUGH THE NATION MAY BEHAVE AS STONE, LET THE CHRISTIAN BEHAVE AS CLAY, WILLING FOR THE MASTER POTTER TO MOLD US INTO HIS IMAGE.
BEHOLD, I AM FASHIONING A DISASTER AND DEVISING A PLAN AGAINST YOU: GOD WANTED THE POTTER’S HOUSE LESSON TO AWAKEN THEM TO THE DANGER OF IMPENDING JUDGMENT. JUST AS A POTTER FASHIONS THE CLAY, GOD FASHIONED DISASTER AGAINST HIS UNREPENTANT PEOPLE.  DO NOT BE DECEIVED, WHAT THE LORD DID IN THE DAYS OF JEREMIAH, HE WILL DO TODAY.  IN THE CASE OF ISRAEL, SHE WOULD GO INTO EXILE.
choose-to-sin
WE MAY NOT KNOW WHAT GOD PLANS FOR THIS NATION, BUT IF WE KEEP GOING DOWN OUR PRESENT PATH, YOU CAN BE ASSURED JUDGMENT WILL COME UPON US.
THEN THE LORD SAYS: RETURN NOW EVERY ONE FROM HIS WAY, AND MAKE YOUR WAYS AND YOUR DOINGS GOOD: THE LESSON OF THE POTTER’S HOUSE COULD ALSO BE TAKEN AS AN ENCOURAGEMENT, REMINDING THEM THAT REPENTANCE AND SURRENDER TO GOD WAS NOT MEANINGLESS. GOD WAS FREE TO RELENT FROM JUDGMENT IF THEY DID IN FACT REPENT IN A MEANINGFUL WAY.
THIS TRUTH ALSO APPLIES TO OUR NATION, AND TO EACH INDIVIDUAL WHO LIVES A LIFE OF SIN.  THERE IS URGENCY IN THESE WORDS: RETURN NOW EVERY ONE FROM HIS WAY.
pray-for-america2
CHARLES SPURGEON WROTE: “MEN ARE QUITE WILLING TO PROMISE TO RETURN WHEN THEY HAVE GONE A LITTLE FURTHER; WHEN, PERHAPS, THEY WILL HAVE GONE PAST ALL POSSIBILITY OF RETURNING; BUT ‘NOW,’ IS ALWAYS AN UGLY WORD TO THEM. ‘TO-MORROW,’ THEY LIKE MUCH BETTER. ‘NOW,’ IS A MONOSYLLABLE,  ( MONOSYLLABLE: THAT IS A WORD CONSISTING OF ONE SYLLABLE),  WHICH SEEMS TO BURN INTO THEIR BOSOM LIKE A HOT COAL, AND THEREFORE THEY PLUCK IT OUT, AND THROW IT FROM THEM.”
VERSES 12-17: THE PEOPLE”S RESPONSE , AND GOD’S ANSWER.
AND THEY SAID, THAT IS HOPELESS! SO WE WILL WALK ACCORDING TO OUR OWN PLANS, AND WE WILL EVERY ONE OBEY THE DICTATES OF HIS EVIL HEART. THEREFORE THUS SAYS THE LORD: ASK NOW AMONG THE GENTILES, WHO HAS HEARD SUCH THINGS? THE VIRGIN OF ISRAEL HAS DONE A VERY HORRIBLE THING. WILL A MAN LEAVE THE SNOW WATER OF LEBANON, WHICH COMES FROM THE ROCK OF THE FIELD? WILL THE COLD FLOWING WATERS BE FORSAKEN FOR STRANGE WATERS? BECAUSE MY PEOPLE HAVE FORGOTTEN ME, THEY HAVE BURNED INCENSE TO WORTHLESS IDOLS. AND THEY HAVE CAUSED THEMSELVES TO STUMBLE IN THEIR WAYS, FROM THE ANCIENT PATHS, TO WALK IN PATHWAYS AND NOT ON A HIGHWAY, TO MAKE THEIR LAND DESOLATE AND A PERPETUAL HISSING; EVERYONE WHO PASSES BY IT WILL BE ASTONISHED AND SHAKE HIS HEAD. I WILL SCATTER THEM AS WITH AN EAST WIND BEFORE THE ENEMY; I WILL SHOW THEM THE BACK AND NOT THE FACE IN THE DAY OF THEIR CALAMITY. THEY REPLIED, “DO NOT WASTE YOUR BREATH. THEY SAID THEY WOULD CONTINUE TO LIVE AS THEY WANT TO, FOLLOWING THEIR OWN EVIL DESIRES. THEN THE LORD SAID, “HAS ANYONE EVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING, EVEN AMONG THE PAGAN NATIONS? MY VIRGIN ISRAEL HAS DONE SOMETHING TOO TERRIBLE TO UNDERSTAND! DOES THE SNOW EVER MELT HIGH UP IN THE MOUNTAINS OF LEBANON? DO THE COLD, FLOWING STREAMS FROM MOUNT HERMON EVER RUN DRY? THESE CAN BE COUNTED ON, BUT NOT MY PEOPLE! FOR THEY HAVE DESERTED ME AND TURNED TO WORTHLESS IDOLS. THEY HAVE STUMBLED OFF THE ANCIENT HIGHWAYS OF GOOD, AND THEY WALK THE MUDDY PATHS OF SIN. THEIR LAND WILL BECOME DESOLATE, A MONUMENT TO THEIR STUPIDITY. ALL WHO PASS BY WILL BE ASTONISHED AND SHAKE THEIR HEADS IN AMAZEMENT AT ITS UTTER DESOLATION. I WILL SCATTER MY PEOPLE BEFORE THEIR ENEMIES AS THE EAST WIND SCATTERS DUST. IN ALL THEIR TROUBLE I WILL TURN MY BACK ON THEM AND REFUSE TO NOTICE THEIR DISTRESS.” JUDAH WAS IN THE TRAGIC PLACE OF FEELING IT WAS HOPELESS TO REPENT. IT  SEEMED HOPELESS BECAUSE THEY SIMPLY DID NOT FEEL IT WAS  WORTH IT TO CHANGE THE DICTATES OF THEIR EVIL HEART SIMPLY BECAUSE ONE PROPHET TOLD THEM TO.
GOD RESPONDED TO THEIR ANSWER WITH ASTONISHMENT. NOT EVEN AMONG THE GENTILES WAS THERE SUCH FOOLISHNESS AND HARDNESS OF HEART. IT WAS LIKE LEAVING PURE WATERS (SNOW WATER OF LEBANON) FOR STRANGE WATERS, A MUDDY POOL OF FILTH. IT WAS LIKE LEAVING A SAFE AND PAVED HIGHWAY FOR UNSAFE PATHWAYS WHERE MEN TRIP AND FALL. MEN WILL SHAKE THEIR HEADS AT THE NATION’S UNCOMMON STUPIDITY.
GOD COMMANDED THE PRIESTS OF ISRAEL TO BLESS GOD’S PEOPLE, AND PART OF THAT BLESSING WAS THAT THE LORD WOULD MAKE HIS FACE SHINE UPON THEM.  IN NUMBER 6:24-26 WE READ:  23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, 24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: 25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. 27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.
SHOULD WE NOT, AS CHRISTIANS, SEEK GOD’S BLESSING UPON US, ASKING THAT HE BLESS AND PROTECT US?  SHOULD WE NOT ASK THAT GOD SMILE UPON US, AND BE GRACIOUS TO US, AND SHOW US HIS FAVOR AND HIS PEACE? OF COURSE WE SHOULD, EVEN THOUGH MANY AROUND US WILL NEVER RECEIVE THESE BLESSING, WE AS CHRISTIANS, HAVE THE RIGHT TO ASK THESE THINGS FROM OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST.    ONLY LET HIM MOLD US INTO HIS IMAGE, AS IT PLEASES HIM