# The Potter’s House

Key Passage: Jeremiah 18:1-6
Date: June 7, 2024

Look over in the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter number 18 in God’s word this morning, if you would, Jeremiah chapter number 18.

If you’re familiar with the Bible, many of you probably already have in your mind the Potter’s House. This passage is about that. I want to show you some pictures just so you can get a little bit of a visual before we get going this morning of the Potter’s House. Brother Martin, if you’ve got that handy, we’ll just go ahead and start with that one. I don’t think it has a number on it, the first one.

But I want you to see somewhat what a potter’s house, a potter’s wheel, would look like. Before we even get going here, we’re going to show that. And Brother Patrick, we’re learning you have to hold your tongue just right while you’re pushing the button. And then you have to dangle the arm just right while you’re—he hadn’t got it yet. And he’s going to get it, though. We’re going to get it.

But I want you just see a little bit of the wheel. So when we read it in the Bible, you’ll have a little bit of a visual: the Potter’s House and the potter’s wheels. Use your imagination real good right now where you’re looking at it, okay? You’ll notice he’ll use the term “wheels” in the plural.

Often a potter’s wheel, not always—we don’t know exactly what it was like—but often there’ll be a wheel up top that the pottery goes on. I’ve got some. I made this yesterday myself? No, I did not. I’m in church. Ruth’s about to cave in. Actually, I stole it from my wife yesterday and this morning, you know.

And let’s see if this one here, I’m not sure this is going to be in one piece when we’re all done today. We’re going to try. Just not good. I think we should leave it there or not. I think you’ll watch and listen better if I leave it there, you know. At least the front row. She says, no.

All right, all right. How about that? How about that? Pick it up every once in a while there, you know. But often you’ll see, and if we get the picture working, there’ll be a top wheel that the piece of pottery goes on. And then at the bottom there’s a larger wheel, but often the potter would turn with his foot and get that thing spinning. But you’ll notice it’ll say wheels in the plural, all right?

And probably has a little bit to do with that. And we’re working on it. We’re working on it. If anybody is about 12 feet tall, they can just reach up and touch that button right there, that would be good. But anybody got real good [jumping ability]? They’re former NBA players in here, anybody? Brother Frank, there’s Bonnick knees you got? Come on.

There you go. We won’t worry about them. We’ll use your imagination. And we got this. We’re going to get the lights back on. Three people are already sleeping anyway, so we’ve got to turn the lights back on. The Potter’s House. I want you just kind of get a little visual about that before we get going. So in your mind, imagine that. Imagine that.

Just a—we were last night, last afternoon, my daughter and I were coming up to 31 from Shelbyville or Shovel or however you say it—Sheavavaville. Yeah, yeah. Miss Angela’s shaking her head that I got every one of them right on the way to say it. Anyway, if you come from Shellbeville, if you do it like you’ve got marbles in your mouth, that’s how you’re supposed to say it properly. All right now, you know.

But anyway, if you’re coming up from Chalbeville and coming into Murfreesboro, and there’s that Hardy’s on the right-hand side, and beside that, there’s a place that’s got all kind of pottery. And so imagine a place like that, but back a couple thousand years ago, okay? The potter’s house where they would hand-make pottery, okay? So I want you to kind of get a little feel for what’s going on here in Jeremiah chapter number 18.

We’re going to start in verse number one of Jeremiah 18, and we’ll read the first six verses. If you’re able to, would you please stand to show the word of God respect here in Jeremiah 18? In verse number one, Jeremiah 18:1. By the way, I’m so thankful we have God’s word. Man changes by what’s around him—circumstances and influence—but God doesn’t change, and His word doesn’t change. I’m thankful we can hear from God in His word this morning. I’m thankful for that.

Look at verse number one right there. Jeremiah 18:1: “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise and go down to the potter’s house. And there I will cause thee to hear my words.”

Just time out for a second there. Congratulations. You are where God has told you to be on a Sunday morning. You’re in His house. He’s told us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves; we’re supposed to assemble together, God’s people. He tells us that in Hebrews 10:25, and you obeyed. You’re in the best place on a Sunday morning to hear from the word of the Lord. So congratulations. I would compare you to Jeremiah when he went down to the Potter’s house. He was going to hear something from the Lord. You’re right where God has told you to be. I understand some cannot come due to sickness and all the help work and all; we understand them. But you’re where God wants you to be. So congratulations. You’re in the best place you can be on a Sunday morning to hear the word of the Lord. Good job.

Verse number three: “Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 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.”

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “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.”

Now directly here He is speaking to Israel. And by the way, Israel is marred in the hand of the Lord. They disobeyed in the Old Testament. They said, “God said, ‘Let me give you a law, this law, we’ll do everything you said.’” They did not. And then Jesus, He came; He came to the house of Israel first, and they rejected Jesus as a whole. They were part—as you and I, because of our sins—are part of Jesus being crucified. But it was the large amount of the crowd there that was saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” They rejected Him as a whole from being their Messiah. And they’re marred. About 2,000 years they’ve been under persecution—Hitler’s and the Mussolini’s and so on—and scattered across the world. That’s not an incident. The Bible told us these things would happen. They’re marred in the hand of God.

Now, God is regathering that clay even as we speak. And He’s going to make it another vessel. He’s forming it a little bit right now. You see it happening if you read the papers. During the tribulation period, if you’re saying, once you’re raptured out of here, and that’s seven years, God will use the children of Israel as His vessel in a mighty way. He’ll use those 144,000 Jewish evangelists to spread the gospel around the world. And there’ll be a great revival amongst the Jewish people, the second half of the tribulation—just an amazing revival. And that is God remaking, reforming that vessel, that marred vessel of Israel.

Now that is a direct interpretation of what we just read. We’re going to apply it, though, to your life and to my life this morning. I do not think we do scripture injustice, and I want to clarify that before we pray and get going here. Let me read one verse for you so you know I’m not kind of twisting the word of God. Isaiah 64:8: “But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, thou art the potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”

Every single person here, saved or lost, the hand of God formed you. I don’t think we’re doing scripture an injustice to take this scripture and apply it to your life. I want you to understand that because that’s the angle we go at today, though directly it is about Israel. I want you to understand that. We’re going to apply it to my life and your life this morning.

So would you pray for the next just bit of time we have left that God would speak to your heart, my heart this morning through this Potter’s House today? Would you pray that as I pray the same?

Father, thank you, Lord. You’ve already kind of just got my heart focused and in tune on the Potter’s House. Thank you, Lord, for all—there’s so many truths here, Lord. If we don’t have time to cover them all, guide me what you want me to cover. Lord, let it not just be an information time. Lord, let it be transformation. Father, you speak not just to the head, Father, but to their heart. We need you, Lord. Father, we don’t want to keep living without you working in our hearts. Lord, that’s why other people are gathered today, so please speak to their hearts and our hearts this morning. The young people, Lord, speak to them. Father, help me, give me their attention, if you would, and use me to turn their attention to you and to your word. And, Lord, we thank you for what you do. Father, we ask for this in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.

Jeremiah is sitting in his house. And as he’s there, I don’t know—the Bible doesn’t tell us if it was audible or just in his heart. In our day and time, it’s not audible; it’s in our heart for sure. But there was a direct leadership of God Almighty that spoke to Jeremiah. He’s sitting in the house, and this voice comes: “Jeremiah? I want you to go down to the edge of town there, and I want you to go down there and go to where all the pottery is, down there where that man makes things out of clay. I want you to go down there.”

Jeremiah is an obedient man. He doesn’t understand it all. But Jeremiah gets up. He leaves his house. He walks down that sandy road. It’s a little trip. Sun’s coming up. Jeremiah gets out there, and he’s walking up to the little shop there. And as he gets closer, he sees him: it’s the potter. He’s got his wheels, and he’s got that pottery on the top part, and he’s using his foot, and he’s got it spinning. He looks at him. He’s a gray-headed old man. He’s got a lot of experience.

He looks around the shop there, and there are literally thousands of vessels—some medium size, some small size, some bigger than the rest. He looks; there are some of them just beautiful, some are kind of, maybe not pleasant to the eyes, but they’re very useful. They’ll contain or hold water or juice or whatnot. And he looks, and he sees all those thousands, literally just thousands, I’d say, of pottery all over the place. And he realizes that man there, he’s formed them with his hands.

He looks at his hands, and his hands, you can tell they’re used to dealing with clay, and they’ve got a lot of dirt and they’re calloused, but you can tell they’re experienced hands. They’re not jittery, like some of us when we have too much coffee. Anybody want to say amen in there? They’re steady hands and they’re skilled hands. They’re hands that you can tell over the years have made thousands of pottery. He looks at that and he watches that man, that potter, and he…

He’s going to make a new vessel. He thought, “Well, this is good. I came just in time. He’s about to make a brand new one.” And he reaches over, and he’s got just some old clods of dirt—I mean, just some old clay pieces of dirt. And he watches as he grabs just a piece of clay, and he got a little jug of water. He puts a little water on it, and it begins just really—he just flattens it out, and he just starts smoothing that clay out and pushing down on it. And boy, he just—even in his pushing, and he’s very skilled in that—it just keeps pounding. It’s what they call kneading, and he takes that clay and he just keeps pushing down as he does that, and he flattens it out. Some rocks come very obvious that’s in there, and it begins to pull the rocks out of there.

And there are some hard spots in there. As he pushes, there are parts of it that just won’t comply to his hands. By the way, he had ten fingers on his hands, amen. I would have some odd-looking pottery, wouldn’t I, you know?

And those hardened lumps at this kind of revealed as he pushes down and he stretches it out. It’s very revealed, and he begins to pull those lumps out, toss them aside. As he just keeps just kind of kneading that, pushing it and flattening it, and sometimes he’ll take it, he’ll put it all in a ball again, then he’ll flatten it back out again, and he pushes it. And as it does that, he sees some impurities, maybe some grass. Sometimes he’ll say, “Hey, it needs a little—some sand in there,” and he has a little bucket over here of sand, and he’ll add some sand to that. And as he flattens and pushes it and molds it just—he’s not even making it, molding it into a form right now. He’s just kneading it, keeps pounding it, and rolls it up again, and then he’ll pound it and flatten it again. And sometimes he’ll say, “Well, it’s not moldable, and it’s too stiff,” so I’ll add a little water. Sometimes he said, “Well, it’s just not thick enough,” and he’ll add a little more clay to it. But his hands are experienced hands, and he knows just the right mixture it needs. He’s very firm and he’s pushing down, but he’s also—you’ve got to—he’s not overdoing it. His hands are very experienced. He’s had years and years of molding.

And that’s God. He’s making you into moldable clay. He’s making you into a pottery clay that He can form something out of your life.

We want to try to just pull a couple truths out of this thing. Would you look back at verse number four? We’ll be there in Jeremiah 18 most of the day. We’ll be done by 3 o’clock, I promise you. So we’ll pull a truth out, so keep your fingers there. And look in verse number four. I want you to notice something here. We’re just going to try to glean some truths from the potter’s house this morning. Verse number four, he says, “And the vessel that he made of…” What’s the next word?

Can I remind you? Can I remind Paul Chisgar? Can I remind the professors? Can I remind the politicians? Can I remind the educated? Can I remind the billionaires? Can I remind those that have, you know, so many friends and their influencers on the internet and on air—not air table, YouTube, I’m trying to get that word—air table is the database we use. They got it all confused in my head. But can I remind every human being in the world, the presidents and the leaders of the countries of the world? Can I remind every person here that you are just a piece of dirt? The preacher—that doesn’t make me feel good. I understand. It doesn’t make me feel good, but that’s a dead honest truth. Without the breath of God, he was just a lump of clay, and God Almighty breathed into him the breath of life.

Friend, it doesn’t matter how much money we got, how many degrees we got, how many titles we got, how much experience we’ve got, what age we are—all that doesn’t matter. You and I, without God’s breath, are just a piece of clay. That’s all we are.

I never understand it. Somebody that has been belittled and hurt and put down all their life and they’re very just—just hurt—and God will bless them and raise them up a little bit. And I’m always shocked, they’ll turn around and they’ll start belittling other people and hurting other people. And I’m like, “Wow, don’t you remember what you’ve been through?” And I’m amazed how much a little bit of a blessing it takes for us to get proud. Shock sometimes at others and at myself.

Friend, can I just be honest with you? We’re just clay. Without the breath of God and the Spirit of God, we’re just a piece of dirt. Then I’m always amazed how dirt tries to impress other dirt. We just claim. We have such a humanistic society in our day and time. Friend, can I be honest with you here? Sometimes I’ll look on the commercials and whatnot, and boy, we’re curing cancer. And I say, “Really? Really?” I’m just saying how we can get so big-headed. Can I just put it this way? God never blesses a peacock.

I just—just realize, I’m a piece of clay. Jesus said this several times, but Luke 14:11, when we read: “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

You give me someone that is focused on exalting Jesus and loving others—even when God blesses them, whether it be financial or health or not uses them in the spiritual or how—but you give me somebody that keeps after exalting Jesus and loving others, and I’ll show you somebody God can use. What a shame when God does bless us in some form or fashion, and we get about ourselves and exhorting ourselves and what all we are and what all we’ve done. Friends, just keep exalting Jesus and loving people. That’s the people God uses. Just a couple things. First of all, just a piece of clay.

I’m amazed as to see Jesus. I mean, He is God in flesh. That’s God walking in skin. That’s the Creator of the universe. Colossians tells us, John tells us, He made everything that was made. That’s the God of the universe, Jesus. And yet, they’re all arguing about who’s the best and the greatest and the wisest and the most experienced. Oh, who’s going to rise to the leadership? And yet I see God in flesh getting on His knees. Said, “Hey, Peter, let me have your feet. Give me your feet. Thomas, let me wash your feet. Hey, over there, James, hey, give me that man, that lady just keeps humbling themselves.” And I’ll show you, man, God exalts. We’re just clay for Him.

Let’s look at something else. All right, let’s keep going. You said, “Good, I’m glad you get off that thing. You know, making me feel good this boy, you know.”

Look at the next little thing here, He says. Look at verse number three. Let’s go back up to verse number three. We’re in chapter number 18. Look at verse number three right there. He says, “Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.” That little phrase is just kind of a little bit nominated in my mind and my heart. Some people say it, “The story, everybody’s got a story.” I don’t know everyone’s story here, but I know a whole heap of them, if you will. All the scars and burdens and problems where people—God knows every one of them. Can I say this: God is doing a work through the wheels of your life.

I’m in those wheels that are turning God Almighty with these master pottery hands, and all that’s going on in your life, all the events, all the good, all the bad. I look out across, it just keeps saying people, and I know what they’re going to do to work in your life. The wheels of life are just turning as eternal God Almighty—He is amazing how He can just form something out of your life. He’s a master at it. He’s got thousands of years of experience. Every person’s been made in anything good and beautiful, it’s been God’s hands that’s done it.

If you’re not a born-again Christian before you were saved, this is the main thing He was after: He was trying to get you saved. He was keeping you alive long enough. He was trying to direct your steps over to a soul winner somewhere where you can hear the gospel preacher, a radio station, somewhere where you can hear a clear presentation of the gospel. And He was working a work on those wheels of your life. He was trying to soften your heart. Just maybe when you were flattening, you were tender, and God could really work. That’s the time He’s trying to get you to read that gospel track and listen to what your grandma used to say. He’s trying to remind you, and God was working a work in your life on the wheel, trying to get you to be a born-again Christian. Friend, because He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. His desire is not for one person to go to hell. If anybody goes to hell, they’ll go over the blood of Jesus Christ to go to hell, because He shed His blood and has given you the opportunity for you to be saved.

But He never forces it on you. The choice is yours. Even after you’re saved, He’s working a work in your life. He’s trying to make something out of you. He’s got His hands—by the way, it’s interesting, we always see what’s on the outside of pottery, but you know the inside’s important too. If it’s too coarse on the inside, they can’t really hold liquids; it’ll leak through. And often people don’t know what God’s doing on the inside of you. Nobody ever knows about it, but something’s going on inside of you. And it’s the fingers and hands of God trying to make something out of you for you. He’s wanting to make you more usable. He doesn’t make a vessel that can carry some liquid and maybe some vegetables for someone, and He’s trying to make something out of you. But nobody else knows what God’s doing in your heart, but He’s got His hands on the inside. He’s making something out of you. He’s molding.

By the way, God, He’s not trying to make you something just for temporal things. Friend, it’s so much more than just, you know, what you do down here—make a little money, spend a little money, laugh a little bit—and that’s all that. Oh, friend, that’s temporal. Hey, there’s so much more to life than that. This is just the preparation time. This is just a getting-ready place. This is just a drop in the bucket of eternity’s coming from. God’s trying to make you into something that He can use to make an eternal difference. He’s working the wheels of your life.

Can I say this? I’m not saying that every single thing happens in your life God maybe wanted. I don’t believe God wanted the wicked man to do that to that girl, but God does allow it. Someone was joking a little bit, and he said, “I’m going to ask the Lord when I get there, ‘Why did He give us free choice?’” I could give some standard answers to that. Let me just say God does give you a choice.

But here’s the amazing thing about God: when He allows mankind to make decisions and do things by the free will, God allows sometimes sinful people to do, say, sinful, hurtful things. God is amazing how He, even in the midst of that hurt, can bring good out of it. Would you look over in Romans chapter number eight? You’ll know the verse; many of you do. It’s a wonderful verse. Romans chapter number eight. If you ever try to just comprehend how God does this, if you try real hard, try to comprehend it, pretty soon I’ll see smoke coming out of your ears because it’s beyond us. He is God. He is amazing at this, though. Romans 8, would you look at Romans 8? Look at verse number 28. Romans 8 and verse number 28. Notice what He says right there, and He says, “And we know…”

If you’re a born-again Christian, in the scripture and the Holy Ghost is leading you, you know you have a confidence. “And we know that all things”—even the bad things that others might do to you. God didn’t—I’m not saying He wanted that and led them to do that, but God has allowed it. “And we know that all things”—everything, even your childhood, even the burdens that nobody knows about, even the former spouse that hurt you like nobody ever had—“all things work together for good.” And what is God saying? That He’s saying, “I can bring good out of that. I can bring good out of that tragedy. I can make something special out of that vase. They’ve got a spot where it’s just been hurt, and I can paint around that, decorate it up where it just looks like it was almost like God tended it like that, and His foreknowledge He did allow it.” It’s amazing that He brings good out of it. “And we know that all things work together for good.” It’s a conditional promise. Who is it for? Not for everybody. Oh, no, no.

“To them that love God.” Here’s the sad thing: when hurtful things come in my life and I get just knocked off my feet and I get trampled upon, if you’re not careful, you’ll get bitter. “God, why?” And I don’t think necessarily it’s wrong to ask God why in the proper spirit, proper attitude. Jesus said, “My God, my God, why?” I don’t think it’s wrong if you go to God in the right way, the right attitude, and say, “God, why is this happening? I want to learn, want to grow from it.” But when you get bitter and angry at God—“I can’t believe it. It’s not fair, God. You’re not allowed that to happen in my life”—and you just get bitter and angry at God, here’s the sad thing: you lose that promise. Because He said, “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” And you went through such tragedy, and God can bring good out of it, and God wants to bring good out of it. But if I’m not loving God, if I get bitter and mad and angry at God, then I lose that wonderful promise in Scripture. And God can’t bring good out of it like you’d like to. So sad. A conditional promise. Number one, you love God. Number two, what does He say right there? The bottom part of that verse: “To them who are the called according to His purpose.” Can I just put that in everyday language? Someone that’s living for God. They’re fulfilling God’s purpose in their life. They’re trying to be what God [wants them to be]. They’re not perfect; nobody’s perfect. They’re trying to live for the Lord. They’re trying to go to their job and shine for Jesus. They’re in their neighborhood; they’re trying to be a good, godly testimony. They’re maybe trying to tell others about Jesus Christ. You’re trying to stand for good and right in school. They’re trying to live for the Lord. And God says, “I’ll give you a promise. You love Me and you’re trying to live for Me, everything that comes in your life—all of it—I can bring good out of it.” God’s a master at it. Sometimes it’s just, “How can that happen?” But God’s God. And even out of tragedy…

How many know Dr. Lee Robertson? He’s in heaven now. Dr. Lee Robertson, Highland Park Baptist Church, Temple University. Dr. Robertson, just a good man of God, God used him a great way. This part of the story, if I remember right—I’m not dead set sure about this part, but I believe if I remember right—he was out preaching when it happened. But his nine-week-old daughter named Joy, nine weeks old, she died.

Can you imagine the heartbreak? Just nine weeks old. You’ve had this precious little girl to hold for nine weeks, and boy, your heart has already attached—nine months caring for a mom, and then nine weeks holding, and the mom and dad been preparing and thinking and praying and praying, and their minds and their hearts went that way. And nine weeks old, they’re holding that little girl. Little girl they named her Joy. Yes, she died.

I can imagine the temptation of the devil to come along and say, “What a joke! You named her Joy. There’s no joy now; she’s dead.” Maybe the devil trying to stop that preacher and his wife from loving the Lord. Maybe the devil came along. He’s accused her. Or maybe he said, “Hey, you’ve been living for God all these years, giving your life to serve God as a pastor, and just give it all up for God and see what you get for that.” It’s exactly what the devil does for it, tempting him to not fulfill the purpose of God for his life so he’d lose that promise of Romans 8:28.

But praise the Lord, Dr. Robertson held on. He said, “No, I’m not going to get bitter. I’m going to keep loving God. I’m going to keep living for God.” And God said, “Hey, I want to bring some good out of that. This is a sin-cursed, sin-messed-up world, and you’ll probably understand all the reasons that happened or were allowed to happen when you get to heaven, but I’m going to bring some good out of that.” And God began to speak to his heart about boys and girls. It’s a loan store. It’s been an encouragement to me in the last couple years. It bought our property, but just out of faith, really. He went to an auction, and he didn’t really have the money at the time at all, but everybody was shocked. He won the bid on 66 acres a little outside Chattanooga, Tennessee.

And he took those 66 acres by the grace of God, the help of God, the church family, and they started a camp for junior-age boys and girls. I’ve been there many times as a junior-age boy. And that camp outside Chattanooga, Tennessee, they used to say where boys and girls began to live. I remember sitting in that chapel when they would sing, “Into my heart, into my heart, let Jesus come in your heart.” And just—it seemed like we sang that song 100,000 times in one service because boys and girls kept coming before and getting saved, one after another. And counselors would go talk to another, just boys who were just getting saved left and right. God used that tragedy in their life to start Camp Joy for years and years and years. I imagine—I don’t think I’ve exaggerated at all—thousands, literally thousands of boys and girls have been saved and are not going to hell anymore, going to heaven by the blood of Jesus Christ, and God used that camp. And often they were promoted, underprivileged children; you could go for free to the camp. God used it greatly. God’s a master. And tragedy comes, He puts His hands on that wheel, and He says, “I know that hurt, but I’m doing a work in your life.”

Let’s get a couple other truths here found in this passage, if you would, please. Look at verse number four. Verse number four, would you please? Jeremiah 18, verse number four. By the way, anybody miss that hour of sleep you just lost last night? Wait till after church to get it back, all right now. In between church time, get that hour back. Not now, not now.

Look at verse number four, verse number four. “And the vessel that he made of clay was…” What’s the next word? “…marred in the hand of the potter.”

Can I be honest with you here? All of us in some aspect are marred. Not a person here that’s not marred, friend. Every single one of us—no reason to look down our nose at somebody else—every single one of us marred in some ways. The Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We’ve all gone astray. All of us are marred vessels.

But I love this. Did you notice what He said? That phrase we just read. Look there again, would you please? Look back at that thing. He says, in verse number four, “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred…” Help me out. What did He say? “…in the hand of the what?” Did you get that? It was marred, but He didn’t throw it away. He didn’t say, “Get ready; I don’t like you anymore.” It was marred, but it was still in the hands of the Maker.

Friend, when you marred your life and I marred my life, He didn’t throw you away. He didn’t get frustrated with you, say, “I’m done with you.” You’re still in the hands of God Almighty. As long as you’re breathing, God’s trying to do something in your life. You say, “Somebody in a nursing home?” Oh yes. It might be their prayers that God answers that someone gets their heart and life changed in this hour because they’re praying over there in the nursing home. As long as you’re breathing, God’s got His hand on you, and He’s trying to do a work in and through you for it.

And by the way, it’s a wonderful opportunity to point out: once you’re a born-again Christian, once you’re saved, you don’t lose your salvation. My Savior is a mightier Savior than that, friend. He doesn’t just kind of do something halfway and see if you do your part. As far as salvation, He did all of it. It is finished on the cross. He’s a wonderful Savior. He says, “Hey, He preserves you for life by the power and might of God Almighty. He said, ‘You’re His son. You’re His daughter.’” He doesn’t disown you.

I was interesting—I heard a little bit about this, and I thought about it. So many different ways you can point it out in Scripture, but I thought about it: how many times—I counted this morning—20 times that the Bible calls God a refuge? If God, when I sin and I just made me willfully sinned and I sinned so much and God said, “I don’t want you anymore”—well, what kind of refuge is that? When I’m at my lowest point and I’m down, I’m not where I ought to be, if that’s going to be my refuge, it seems like there ought to be some security there. If God just gets mad and says, “I’m through with you, I’m done with you,” that’s not a refuge, my friend. Twenty times Scripture says God is my refuge. Friend, when you’re low, when you’re down, when you’re not what you ought to be, you better stay in there with Jesus. He’ll never cast you out. He said in John 6, He’s the best friend you got, even when you backslide, not what you ought to be. Praise the Lord, He is what He ought to be. I didn’t believe in myself to save me; I believed in Jesus to save. But that’s why I’m always saved, even when I’m not what I ought to be. Same yesterday, today, and forever. That’s why I’m always saved because I was believing in Jesus to save, not in Paul to save. It was marred, still in the hands of God.

How many ever read or heard of the “Footprints in the Sand of Time”? How many of you have one of those on your walls somewhere in your house? Good. I used to have one in my office. I change it out every once in a while. I don’t think it’s up there now. But it’s basically a poem about a beach scene, and you see these footprints, and you see two sets of footprints walking along. Occasionally you see one set of footprints. The two footprints stand for you and Jesus Christ if you’re saved. And the person goes to Jesus and says, “Hey, Jesus, why is it—I’m watching, I’m looking at these footprints in the sand—why is it that the toughest, the worst time, why is it I only see one set of footprints? Did you leave me, Jesus? What’s going on, Jesus? Why wasn’t I—I only see one set of footprints?” And Jesus gently says, “Because it was during those times I carried you.”

You’ve lived for the Lord Jesus Christ very long; you know that’s the absolute truth. We won’t get to heaven and look as how great I am. We’ll get to heaven and take our crowns and say, “Jesus, they belong at Your feet, Jesus.” Because the worst times He carries us. When I’m marred, I’m still in the hands of the potter, amen.

We got to hurry along, man. That clock just keeps going. Goodness gracious. Whoever changed that, you should have left it an hour. You know, we’d have had an hour more. I’m disappointed, man. Somebody—maybe that clock—we’re going to hit that clock with a hammer, amen, you know.

Look at this thing. Let me read for you a verse. We’ll move on. I’ll just read it for you. Isaiah 45:9: “Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, ‘What makest thou?’ or ‘Thy work, he hath no hands?’” He’s saying, you might be able to argue with these guys here, but don’t argue with God. He’s the master potter, and let His hand stay on you. Even when you’re marred, let Him keep working in your life.

A couple of thoughts. We’re going to be done real quickly here. Verse number four. One more time, verse number four. Y’all still with me out there? Verse number four. “And he said, the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter, so he made it again another vessel.” Notice this: “as seemed good to the potter to make it.” He didn’t say as good to the clay, as good to the potter. He’ll remake you.

Can I put it this way? God’s not a throwaway God. You know, in our society, we don’t repair things much. I mean, you know, if you order that part for that vacuum cleaner, you’re probably going to cost more than a vacuum cleaner cost at Walmart, so just throw it away, get another one. Is that the way it is or not? Yeah. I mean, they made that mixture; you’d have to take a sledgehammer to get inside of that mixer, so just go ahead and hit it up with a sledgehammer, go buy another one. It’s cheaper that way nowadays. That’s our society nowadays.

How many men say, “I used to work on a vehicle, but now you’ve got to have 10,000 computers to work on a vehicle”? Anybody like that? You know, just a society where a little bit of a throwaway society. Anybody know someone that lived through or grew up during the Depression time, something you might be? Anybody know? They don’t throw away anything. Tenfold, don’t you throw that away? Fold it up. We’ll use it later on. We won’t mention that here. They don’t throw anything away. It’s a different day and time. We’re a little bit of a throwaway society. But God’s not a throwaway God.

We’re all more—we’re all vessels that have messed up somewhere along the line, bigger or small, doesn’t matter. God doesn’t throw us away. God’s not going to get mad at you. “I’m so sick of you. I don’t want to hear. I’m going to talk to you again. I’m going to take my hands off of you.” You’re still in the hands of the potter, and He wants to make you another vessel as pleased—as seemed good unto the potter. Let Him work. Don’t fight against Him. God’s not giving up on you. Don’t give up on yourself. Don’t say, “My life’s so messed up, God can’t make anything out of it.” You let God be the judge of that for it. Don’t you say, “I’m just tired of trying.” God’s not tired of trying on you. Jesus didn’t give up when He was carrying that cross up to Calvary. He kept going, and He’ll keep going in your life, keep you alive and letting His hands mold and make you into another vessel that seemed good to Him.

I’m amazed sometimes; sometimes the pottery that didn’t look the best carried the most important thing of life-giving water. It might not look all good and have a lot of fancy trimming on the outside, but that piece of pottery could hold liquid for days and weeks. It was just made a certain way. It didn’t look like it was all fancy, but it could carry the life-giving water. And friends, sometimes a Christian might not look like all that on the inside, but they’ve got a heart for the Lord, and they’ve got a mind to love and help and care for other people. God says, “I can use them in a great way.” This ain’t like an acoustical boost, do you notice that? I might just carry this around when I preach every way, you know. That sounds better, man. That’s all right right there.

One last thing. We’ll be done. Look in verse number six, would you please? Verse number six. Verse number six, we’re done. He said, “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.”

Just the fact that God Almighty would ask—now, yes, He had His will and His way no matter what with the children of Israel, but He’s asking. Just the humility of God. The gentleness of God. David said, “His gentleness, that made me great.” Just the gentleness of God. Can I do this with you, Israel?

And God comes to you this morning in His love and His mercy and His gentleness, and He says, “Can I mold you into something? Can I make you into something?” I’m amazed that God Almighty would ask little peons like us—mere clay, just pieces of clay—breathing us life. And He comes to you and I and says, “Cannot I work in your life?” Seem right, He’s our Creator; He can just make us into whatever He wants us to be, but He says, “Hey, I will let you have some choice,” and He asks. He comes. If you’re not saved this morning, He says, “Can I save you? Can I redeem you back from the devil? Can I wash away your sins? Cannot I do that in your life?” If you’re not a born-again Christian, cannot I save you and deliver you from the flames and the fire of hell and take you to heaven forever? He never forces His will on anybody. He’ll never—He’s not a bully, God, if you will—He asks.

Maybe you’re more. You say, “I’m saved; I’m a born-again Christian,” and God comes to you, and He says, “Oh, I’d like to remake you. I have another vessel in mind. I have a different shape in mind. I’ve got a different, just a little bit of interesting, little fashion when I add to your life.” And God says, “Can I use you in this way?” Every single person, He comes to you today. “Cannot I make you into the vessel as seems good to the potter?”

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Heads bowed, eyes closed. Maybe you hear this morning, you say, “Preacher, you know, I would like to be a vessel of honor to the Lord. I’d like to be a vessel that God’s pleased with. I’d like to be a vessel that He looks down and He says, ‘That’s beautiful to me.’” You say, “Preacher, my heart is I want God. Would you make me a vessel of honor for you?” That’s what seems good to you. That’s my heart, Lord. I’m raising my hand, saying, “I want you to make me a vessel of honor for you.” If that’s you this morning, slip your hand to a preacher. That’s me. I’m telling the Lord, “Lord, would you make me a vessel of honor to you?” God bless you. Oh, He can; He will. He’s a master potter. He’s never messed up one time. He’s got all the experience for all eternity past. Wonderful, thank you.

Maybe you hear this morning, you say, “Preacher, I’ve never been saved. I’ve never allowed Jesus Christ to wash away my sin. I’ve never been born again. I feel the tug of God, and I know He’s not going to force Himself on me, but I want to receive Jesus as my Savior. I want to get saved. I’m not going to push Him away. I’m going to accept Him as my personal Savior. God spoke to my heart.” That’s you this morning. “Preacher, I want to accept Jesus as my Savior.” That’s you this morning. Just lift your hand up. Anybody? He loves you. He’d like to give you heaven. He’s paid for it. He shed blood. He’ll never force it on you; the choice is yours.

If you’re not saved, in just a moment we’ll stand and have a word of prayer, we’ll have an invitation. There’ll be a man standing down front; there’ll be a man in the back. You go shake their hand. They’ll take the Bible and show you from the Bible how you can know for sure heaven—you’re home. You can truly accept the hand of God working in your life at salvation.

Maybe you hear this morning, said, “Preacher, I’ve been kind of just away from God, kind of just doing my own things, and I want to submit to the hand of God.” Maybe you call it backsliding—all of us do from time to time, whatever you may call it—but I’m not allowing the hand of God to mold me as I think I should here lately, and I want to yield again. I want to say, “All right, Lord, that hurts when you flatten me, but I’m going to let you flatten me, get that lump out. I’m re-surrendering my life to you, and I want to be very sensitive and obedient to the touch of the Master’s hand.” God spoke to my heart about that. I’m going to kind of re-accept that, if you will. God spoke to my heart about that. If that’s you, would you slip your hand to the preacher? That’s me. That’s me. Yes, God bless you. God bless you. Everybody else, I want to re-surrender, if you will. I want to yield to the hand of the potter. Good, good, good, good. Another hand. I need to kind of just re-enlist, if you will. Good, good, good. God bless you. God bless you.

I feel like I’ve been resisting in a certain area, maybe a sin in my life, maybe a bitterness in my life, and I just want to give in. I want Him to have full reign in my life, and I want to re-surrender to Him, to God. Anybody else, preacher, that’s me. I want to surrender again this morning to the hand of God in my life. Anybody else? Anybody else, just real quick, slip it up. Anybody else? God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Anybody else? I want to… All right, Lord, you’re the potter. I’m going to surrender to your hand, give up my bitterness, my anger, whatever may be, and I re-surrender everything, every area of my life, music, yeah, whatever—it’s all yours. Anybody else? Maybe one last hand. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you.

Would you please stand? All of us, would you please stand? We’d have a word of prayer. God’s tugging at your heartstrings. Would you come just spend some time? Be obedient to Him as He guides you. Would you do that?

Father, thank you for Your word. Thank you, Lord, that You’re the Master Potter. We realize we’re just a piece of clay. Thank you, You’ve made us special by Your Spirit. Lord, would You mold us and make us into the vessels that seem good to You? We surrender to Your will today. Even the lumps, we surrender to You removing those. Make us clean for You. Father, the inside work—be thorough with us. Father Lord, if there’s one not saved, let them know we love them and You love them. Let them get saved before the end of the day. We thank You for Jesus. Then we pray. Amen.

If God’s tugging, you’ll be obedient. As the Lord leads you, you come, you’ll be obedient to the Lord. You do that as your instruments play. Have Your own way, Lord. Have Your own way. Let Him know that it hurts when He flattens us and kneads us, but it’s necessary to make His moldable, clean. Maybe more lumps, more pieces of rock and grass have gotten out of people’s lives at an old-fashioned altar than any other time. You can do it any time. There’s a special time. Just, “All right, Lord, I give that to you.” Would you just take a few minutes, Lord, have Your will in Your way of my life? As she sings one more verse, would you do that?

Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - Potters House - Sunday AM 03102024