The Potter and the Clay

When we were children, we learned how to use clay and make things out of it. It was fun to play with clay because it could be shaped into anything that we wanted to shape it into. We could have fun playing with clay for hours. There are still people in the world who make things out of clay and are called potters. They use clay, water, their hands, and a wheel that turns to shape clay into beautiful pieces of works of art that can be used for many things.

It takes skill, patience, and time to do those sorts of things, but if it doesn't turn out the way the potter wants it to they can start all over again. Like us, we are clay in the Potter's hands. I am talking about Master Potter, the Creator of the universe and all life. I am talking about the One who spoke everything into being. I am talking about God.

The messages that are preached by Jeremiah are the words of the Lord. Jeremiah was called by God to preach these messages to the unfaithful people of God. Jeremiah's words are a wonderful revelation of the love of God for His unfaithful people. While setting forth the awful punishment which God would give to Israel because His people had broken His covenant, Jeremiah solemnlly declared that God would be faithful to His unfaithful people. A new covenant would replace the old covenant that Israel broke, and Christ, the Messiah, would yet reign as her King. The history of Jeremiah is a striking example of faithfulness to God on the part of the prophet. He wept as he declared the judgement of God upon His people, and earned the title of "the weeping prophet".

For almost fifty years, Jeremiah was the voice of God to Judah. The date of his ministry wa sfrom about 629 B.C. to about 580 B.C.

The book of Jeremiah was written by the prophet of that name. He lived in the Kingdom of Judah and was active from the reign of Josiah (2 Kings 22) until the captivity into Babylon (2 Kings 25). He was preaching in Jerusalem when that city was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, but he was not carried away into Babylon, being left in the land by the conquerors (Jeremiah 39:11-12). Against his own judgement was taken to Egypt by the remnant of the Jews in Palestine, and in Egypt he died.

This movie can be found on YouTube.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=FfdN4BsFhrY&si=1K4ERuRR4d6m7wkJ

To watch this movie, click on the link above.

I am going to start the message in Jeremiah 18. I will be revisiting the beginning of the book after this lesson has been completed. I want to talk about the Potter and the Clay because we need to know who the Potter is, and why He does what He does. We may not always understand why God does the things that He does, but it is for our own good, and it is because He loves us too much to leave us in the state we are in. God is loving, kind, and forgiving, but we cannot take God for granted no matter how good He is to us. We know that God is for us, so who can be against us, but there are those who are against the people of God. Still we have to love them as God has loved us as hard as it may be. God can and will shape us into the people He wants us to be so He can use us for His Kingdom. So, today, I want you to think about all of the things God has done in your life and thank HIM for those blessings. I want you to thank Him for allowing you to live and breathe the breath He gives every day. Ask God to shape you into the person He wants you to be to bring Him glory, honor, and praise.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for another day on this Earth to have our health and strength. Thank You for allowing us to be in our right mind. Thank You for giving us our eyes to see, and for all of our body parts to be working and full of strength. Thank You for being who You are. Thank You for sending Your Only Son into this world to die for our sins. If You had not sent Him, we would never have been reconciled back to You. Thank You for calling us Your children even when we fall. Thank You for always being there to pick us up when we fall. Thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to teach us Your ways, and to always be with us so we will not have to be here alone on this earth. Without You we can do nothing, but with You we can do all things. Thank You for not punishing us when we deserve it, but thank You for Your chastisement. Thank You for being the wonderful Father that You are. Thank You for every season we get to enjoy year after year. Thank You for always providing for us, and making a way where there seems to be no way. Thank You for always watching over us and keeping us out of harms way. Thank You for protecting us through the storms that come, and even the storms in our lives. Thank You that we do not have to go through those things alone. We give You all of the praise, glory, and honor due Your name, and it is in Jesus's name we pray Amen.

I hope you enjoy this movie. God bless you.

The Potter Object Lesson (4.)

We know that God spoke to Jeremiah and told him to arise and go down to the Potter's house, and there He would cause Jeremiah to hear His words. Jeremiah got up and went down to the Potter's house, and wroght a work on the wheels. 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. The Word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah again 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. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will *repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

When God gives us instructions to follow, we should follow them to the letter, but we think that God's ways are hard to follow. Following God's instructions are for our own good. God's ways are perfect. His words are life everlasting. When we do things on our own by our own devices we fall every time. We make a mess that we need God to get us out of. Like these people, they didn't want to do what the prophet Jeremiah was telling them that God said for them to do. They felt like it was no hope, but hope was there with them. When the eyes are blind of sight, you cannot see anything around you, or anyone, but having sight you can see what is around you, but being blind to understanding, wisdom, and knowledge when it is given to you through the Word of God, or when someone is giving you a message from God. Our ways are not like God's ways, and our thoughts are not like His thoughts, but when we listen to what God is telling us, everything will go as God wants it to go, but when we ignore God, we fall into things that are hard to get out of. God made it plain as to what was going to take place if they would turn from their evil ways and do good, but they did not listen to what the prophet was telling them.

VERSE 13-23:

Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. Will a man leave the snow of *Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; To make their land desolate, and a prepetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.

Virgin of Israel: The virgin of Israel has fallen: Amos saw Israel as a tragic young woman who was fallen and forsaken, with no one coming to her aid. In her rebellion against God, Israel was as helpless as a young woman among violent men. The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up (Amos 5:2).

I will *scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity. Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words. Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.

Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle. Let a cry be heard from their houses, shen thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet. Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me:: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

18:3 The Potter and the Clay: This is the fourth object lesson by which God spoke to Israel. It is a striking illustration of the power of God to mold, remake, and destroy. The vessel on the potter's wheel was marred, "so he made it again another vessel" (vs.4). God reminded Israel that they were as clay in His hands(vs.6). The vessel that He formed had been marred by sin, but God was able to remold that vessel. The people replied that it was useless (vs.12) and sought to kill Jeremiah. When the nation had rejected the message, God sent the prophet to break the potter's vessel in the valley of Hinnon and declare, "Even so will I break this people" (19:10).

BROKENNESS

In our lifetime we will experience brokeness. In that brokeness we become strong. We put ourselves back together with the help of God. In our times of brokenness, we learn to depend upon God for everything that we need and want. God will give us the wisdom we will need to do the things we want to do in our lifetime to be successful even in our brokeness. Like a potter's vessel, we can be remade again, we too can be remade again from the inside out. We are not perfect people. We make mistakes that we need God to help us fix. Wecan depend on God when we cannot depend on anyone else. We do not want to be like those who forgot God back then. We want to be those who remember God and all of the things He has done, doing, and will do when we put all of our trust, hope, and faith in Him. Brokenness happens when we are least expected, but when it happens, we know that it is because God is changing things about us to make us into the person, or people He wants us to be. God only wants what's best for us because He knows what is best for us. When brokenness happens, look at as God doing a new work in you to bless you how he wants to. We are not immune to brokenness, and we are not immune to change. It can be scary though, but it is a part of life.

I pray this message will make you think about the things God wants from us all. I pray it will make you look at God's Word in a new way and to pay attention to what He is telling us through the prophets who came before us. There's wisdom in God's Word. We can learn from the Saints ol old just as we learn from Jesus and His teachings. If you have nottalked to Jesus today, He is waiting to hear from you. It does not matter what you have done in your life, He is waiting for you to come to Him so He can give you a new life in Him. It will be the best decision you could ever make in your life for your eternal life. With that being said, thank you for joining me on this Sunday afternoon. Have a blessed week.

Enjoy the music!