Up in verse 2, the Lord sent
his prophet Jeremiah to pay a visit to the potter. He said, I want
you to go and watch and observe the potter at work and see what
he does. And I'm sure you'll understand
what you see. That's not what he says. Note the last half of verse two
carefully. The Lord does not say to Jeremiah, you'll figure
it out. He says, I will cause thee to
hear my words. And that's the only time anybody
ever really hears the Lord is when he causes us to hear. And it ought to be in every heart
of every one of us today to cry out and say, Lord, I'd like to
go down to the potter's house. Not literally, but in my heart. I'd like to go down to the potter's
house, not to tell the potter what all I know and show him what all I can do,
but Lord, I'd like to go to the potter's house today that you'd
cause me to hear your words and see that I'm as clay, helpless,
lifeless. I'm as clay in your hands. And
would you mold me and make me into the vessel of your choosing
for your glory. Now this was a familiar sight here in Jeremiah
18. A familiar sight in Old Testament
times. Every little village had at least
one pottery shop. There was the constant need for
pitchers and pots and bowls and cups. And while the well-to-do could
afford some silver and gold vessels, most people, common people, use
clay pottery for everything. And in this business of the potter's
work, there are three main things that stand out to me. in this
passage and in this subject of pottery. And these three things
are the wheel, the wheel upon which the potter works. And second,
the potter himself, the man, the potter. And then the third
thing, the clay, the wheel, the potter, the clay. And so I would
have us consider this subject this morning. with these three
things in this light. The wheel and God's providence. He controls the wheel. And then the potter and God's
purpose. He's not just working at random.
He's doing something. He has a purpose. And then the
clay and God's people. As we sang a moment ago, we're
just clay in the potter's hand. So let me begin with the first
of these, the wheel and God's providence. The wheel and God's
providence. The potter's wheel, at least
from a distance, looked like a stool with a little wheel on
top, flat, on which he laid the clay. And then a shaft, pedestal,
a shaft going down, and another wheel at the bottom, right at
the floor, which was all standing on an axis to turn, to where
the potter could kick that bottom wheel to turn the whole thing. Turn the shaft, turn the top
one, and turn the clay. That's how the wheel was. The clay was placed on top of
it, the wheel. The clay had no say in when the wheel
would turn, if the wheel would turn, how fast it would turn,
or how long it would turn. You have no say of God's providence
in this world. and in your life and in your
family and what happens and what don't happen. It's the wheel
of God's providence. All things working as he's designed. Now the clay was in that sense
moved by and controlled by the wheel. This wheel is so much
like the providence of God as the world turns, we could say.
the wheel of providence turns. We don't control it. We're left
with many questions concerning God's providence. Why do bad
things happen to good people? Why do good things happen to
bad people? Why are so many godly people
sick and so many ungodly people never sick? Why are so many godly people
poor and struggle financially all their days and the ungodly
seem to prosper all their lives? Well, wise King Solomon said
it like this. In the book of Ecclesiastes,
he said this, there is a vanity which is done upon the earth.
He called it vanity. There's no figuring it out. There's
no explanation for it. That there be just men unto whom
it happeneth according to the work of the wicked. Again, there
be wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the
righteous. It just don't make any sense.
Providence. Why? My answer would be this. There is no spiritual struggle
with a spiritual corpse. Dead is dead. No consciousness,
no desire for God, no movement toward God. There is no spiritual
struggle with a spiritual corpse. But with God's child, those of
us who have been quickened, made alive spiritually, there's all
kinds of struggle. Why? Because as believers, as
God's children, we are predestinated to be conformed to the image
of Christ. And yet struggling to survive
in a sinful world that crucified Christ. What of God's providence? I've
been asked many times by people sick or bereaved or brokenhearted. Why, why, why does God allow
this to happen or that to happen? Why me? Well, I want to read
to you from an old book. This was written 122 years ago,
1895, by a man named Ian McLaren, and
it's entitled The Potter's Wheel. And here's what he says. Some
power there must surely be which from age to age has been molding
the life of each individual. Unseen, mysterious, potent, against
which we dash ourselves in vain. Isn't that true? Against which
we dash ourselves in vain. To go against what God sends
is just like butting your head against a brick wall. You're
not, it's in vain. Unbelief. can only call it fate, a combination of social and physical
laws, which have no mind and no heart, which act blindly and
unconsciously. That's what unbelief says. But
faith calls it God, a living, active, personal being who forms
and fulfills his purposes. after the good pleasure of his
will. According to the strenuous and austere habit of Jewish thought,
whose first idea was the greatness of God, he is the potter and
we are the clay. And as for the innumerable and
inexplicable circumstances of life, they are simply the whirling
wheel on which the clay is changed and shaped till the potter's
design is finally accomplished. This is the Bible philosophy
of life. How true that is. Ecclesiastes
7, 13 says this, consider the work
of God for who can make that straight?
which he hath made crooked. Now, a lot of folks will tell
you that he don't make anything crooked. Everything crooked is
the devil's doing. No, no, no, no. Consider the
work of God. For who can make that straight? Which he hath made crooked. In
the day of prosperity, be joyful. But in the day of adversity,
consider God also had set the one over against the other, the
crooked and the straight, the prosperity and the adversity.
He's done this to the end that man should find nothing after
him. You're not going to figure God
out. So many people in our society today, so many godly people are
struggling and asking Why, why, why did it have to be my child
that got hooked on drugs? Why did it have to be my spouse
that ran off with another man or another woman? Why did it have to be my loved
one, my sister, my brother that's not content with being the gender
God created them? Why my marriage? Why my family? Why my health? Why my job? Why my children? Am I so much
a worse person than everybody else? I repeat, there is no spiritual
struggle with a spiritual corpse. John 15, 19, the Lord said, if
you were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you're not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world. Therefore the
world hated you. So the clay is on the wheel with
no control of the wheel. You and I are in this world in
which God's providence rules. Most everything is out of our
control, if we'd be honest. But absolutely nothing is out
of God's control. Nothing, nothing. John Flavel
in the 1700s wrote this. When we finally arrive in the
presence of our Redeemer, without any doubt, we shall be more beholden
to our discomforts rather than our comforts for having brought
us hither. That's so true. We all sometimes
say I could get along so much better if I didn't have so many
problems. Yeah, but you might be getting
along in the wrong direction. Which is better, not to need
God so much or to need him desperately? To need him desperately is better. The wealthiest people on earth are folks sitting in little congregations
like this who must trust God for every penny. That's the wealthiest
people on earth. The healthiest people on earth
are those who must plead with God for strength to go another
day. You see, the struggle of it all
is not the struggle of a corpse. A corpse has no struggle. It's
life. It's life. The wheel of God's
providence has profound effect on us all. What foolish men call
good luck and bad luck is not so, whether pleasant or unpleasant,
it's all the deliberate exercised authority, power, and wisdom
of a holy God in your life and mine. Oh, for the grace to say
concerning everything what Christ said, even so father, for so
it seemed good in thy sight. We spend a lot of time whining,
Lord, no, no, no, not this, not me, not now. But Christ said,
even so father, for, so it seemed good in thy sight. You see every
complaint against providence is to assert that I'm right and
God's wrong. To despise the wheel of God's
providence. is rebellion against him. He's
got us on the wheel, and he turns it as he wheels, if he wheels,
when he wheels, fast as he wheels, for as long as he wheels. The
wheel and God's providence. Can't escape it. Can't escape
it. Number two, the potter and God's purpose. the potter and
God's purpose. Nobody ever goes to the potter's
house and sees him working and says, what are you doing? And
he said, oh, nothing in particular, just fiddling around a little
with the clay, just experimenting. No, no, no. There is a purpose. There is a design from the beginning
before he ever starts. the potter and God's purpose. I grow weary of hearing men who
claim to be God's men speak about him as if he knows no more about
tomorrow than I know. I don't need a God that small,
neither do you. And they speak of his will being
subject to man's will. They assert that man has free
will, but no God. Not God. He don't have free will. He can only do what men allow
him to do. Well, my Bible don't just don't
say that. It just don't say that. Ephesians 111 says that he worketh
all. things, A-double-L, all things
after the counsel of his own will. He does everything just because
he wants to. It's his will. All the things you like, all
the things you don't like. It's his will regardless of what
you and I think about it. Daniel 435, he doeth according
to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. And none can stay his hand or
say unto him, what doest thou? Nobody can run up to the Lord
and say, hold on there now. You wait a minute. None can stay
His hand or say unto Him, what do I say? He does as He wills.
The prophet Nahum chapter 1 verse 3 said, the Lord hath His way
in the whirlwind and in the storm. You won't have your way in the
whirlwind or in the storm. A roof will blow off, a piece
of plywood go flying by, and here comes a car tumbling, and
you flying through the air in the whirlwind and the storm.
You won't have your way, but the Lord has his way in the whirlwind
and in the storm. You could have gone a lot of
places this morning and been told that God's not much without
you. But I'm glad you're here so I
can tell you plainly that you're absolutely nothing without him.
You're worth a few cents in fertilizer when he takes the breath out
of your lungs and we put you in the ground And this world
forgets that you existed before the flowers fade. That's what
you're worth without God. People like to quote Romans 8
28, except for the last couple of words. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God. to them who are the
called according to, and here it is, His purpose. His purpose, that's what He promised.
I want everything to work for good according to my purpose. I've got this all planned out,
everything I've got to do this week, and I know when I'm going
to do what, and who needs to cooperate, where I have to push
a little and I just want it to work out according to my purpose. But guess what? It never does.
It never does. But it does work according to
his purpose. What is his purpose he's talking
about there in Romans 8.28. The very next verse he tells
us what it is. For whom he did foreknow God's
foreknowledge. And men reverse that like they
do everything else and explain God's foreknowledge as his knowing
beforehand what you'd do. And he decides what he'll do
on the basis of what you'll do. That's not it. That's all wrong. When you read the word foreknowledge,
don't read it as His knowing beforehand what you'll do. Of
course He knows that. He's God. But you read God's
foreknowledge as His knowing what He'll do. He'll do. And what you do does not determine
or affect what He's purposed to do. See? He knows and forever has known
what He'll do in spite of what you do. That's why it's called
His eternal purpose. It didn't originate in time.
It can't change in time. It can't fail in time. It's His
eternal purpose. God hadn't decided on anything
since we've been here. You hadn't changed His mind about
anything. He's God. He declared, Isaiah
46, I believe it is, said that he has declared the end from
the beginning. Well, I can't do that. You can't
do that. But he's done that. We're talking about a God who
is God. We're not talking about the popular little Jesus around
Western North Carolina that's so desperate. For you to give him a hand. Oh,
no. We're talking about God. Who can save you or damn you
according to his good pleasure. And whichever one he does is
right. Whichever one he does is right. For knowledge. For whom he did foreknow. Not what he did foreknow, but
Whom he did foreknow. Paul's talking to God's people.
And here's his purpose. Whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate. That is, predetermined their
destination. What? To be conformed to the
image of his son. This is God's purpose for his
children. To have a whole family. A whole
bunch of children. just like Christ. For everyone
to be conformed to the image of his son. He'll settle for
nothing less. That's why we're on the wheel
of providence. We need a lot of changing. We need a lot of
fixing. That's why we have no control.
And there's so many dangers the way
we are in this life. Paul said there's trouble on
every side. Without, we're fighting. Within,
we're fears. We think we could do without
it, but none of it is without purpose. God's purpose to conform
us to the image of his son. The potter's foot, as he kicks
that lower wheel, and turns the upper wheel of providence. That's not all he does. When he kicks the lower wheel
and starts the spinning, then he takes his hands and touches
the clay. And as it turns on the wheel,
the sensitive touch of his fingers and thumbs to press down and
to lift up and to move out and to move in. To form a vessel of his choosing,
to mold it and shape it. Never asking the clay, what would
you like to be when you grow up? Uh-uh. But he does it with a design
in his mind and in his heart from the beginning. He does his
work. Let me read you again from the
old book. It would be good for us Westerners,
that's what the old country calls us over here. It would be good
for us Westerners with our independence irreverence and restlessness
to be touched with the spirit whereby the ancients realized
the sovereignty of God. God is great and it is not for
us to resist. God knows all and it is not for
us to criticize. We are his creatures and are
at his disposal. If we understand less of his
plans, then the dumb animal in your
stable knows about yours. We understand less about what
God's doing than that little puppy dog does
about what we're doing. That little puppy dog in our
house knows a lot, a lot more about us Then we know about God. It's what this writer is saying. Has he sent good? Blessed be
God. Does he send evil? Blessed be
God. What else can we say? We are
the clay. And he is the potter. Romans 9 20. Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honor? and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show
His wrath and to make His power known, endured with long-suffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? What if God, in
His long-suffering, lets that fellow that hates God and is
going to wind up in hell anyhow. What if God lets him live to
be a hundred years old and make millions of dollars and never
be sick a day in his life? What's that business is that
of yours? If the man's going to hell anyhow, he's no better
off. And that he might make known
the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had
aforeprepared unto glory. Back to our text, Jeremiah 18 and verse six. Oh, house of Israel. Cannot I do with you as this
potter, sayeth the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the
potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand. Oh, house of Israel. The wheel and God's providence. The potter and God's purpose.
A final thought, the clay and God's people. Somebody says, so-and-so is a
self-made man. Who wants that? Oh, to be a God-made man. To be a God-made man is to be
a remade man. There's an old work, Adam, that verse four says was marred
in the hand of the potter. It's without form. Genesis one, two, the earth was
without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
Wasn't created that way. And we won't dabble back there
about things we don't know about, but it was marred in the hand
of the potter. It was without form. So he made
it again, another vessel. That's what he's done for every
one of his children. Let there be light. And there was light. It's this being created anew.
in Christ Jesus. That's the remade vessel. Ephesians
2.10, for we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus. Oh Lord, deliver us from popular
religion that makes us our own workmanship, of which we're so proud and can
boast one to another. about how superior we are and
how much better we are than some people. No, no. We are His workmanship. God's workmanship. I heard about a man going to
a potter's shop. I read this long ago and he was
treated very kindly. Potter allowed him to work and
try to make a vessel, try to make something on the wheel. And he said it wasn't as easy
as it looked like it'd be. And he said it turned out looking
pretty bad, looking pretty bad. But he said, when I had done
just about everything I could do, the potter said, let me show
you. And he stepped up to the wheel.
And he poured a little water on it. And he began to reshape
it. And it turned out beautiful.
The potter knows what he's doing. I'm going to read you once more
from the old book, The Potter's Wheel. The descent of Moses from a prince
to a shepherd. And his often thankless labors
have given him the second place to Christ in the history of the
world. Greatest man ever lived apart
from the Lord Jesus Christ. And his greatness came by more
demotion than promotion. More pain than pleasure. And David, without his shameful
sin and passion, he had not been called the sweet
psalmist of Israel. He'd had nothing blessed to say,
but for his suffering, his sin and his shame and his restoration. And then this writer says, it
is with rough and often cruel tools that the potter achieves
the likeness of Christ in his people. Believers and unbelievers alike
sometimes complain of the wheel, God's providence. We're all guilty.
Believers and unbelievers alike. Those of us who have felt the
touch of the potter's hands through much tribulation, sorrow, suffering,
shame, sometimes complain, but it's
out of his love to us. And it's only these, the Lord's
people, who are brought to join with the songwriter and sing,
have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way. Thou art the potter. I am the
clay. Mold me and make me after thy
will while I'm waiting, yielded and steel, the wheel, the potter,
the clay. While confined to the wheel,
grant us grace, Lord, to be steel. And with the potter's pressing
hand, grant us grace, Lord, just to stand. And nothing are we but helpless
clay. Grant us grace, Lord, for another
day. The wheel, the potter, and the
clay are all God's doing for a better day. And when the potter's work is
done, all his clay will be like his son." End of story. All right, stand with me. Thank
you for listening.