Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Broadcast

Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ. Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church located in Kernersville, North Carolina. We are the clay, and thou art our potter.

You say, why did you pick this one for Father's Day? Isaiah chapter 64 verse 8, you don't need to turn there, but I want to read this to you. But now, oh Lord, thou art our Father. We are the clay, and thou are potter, and we are all the work of thy hand. You know, being a potter is much like being a father.

We're going to talk about that this morning. Jeremiah chapter 18, and I'm excited about preaching this this morning. Jeremiah chapter 18, use that to set that on, and we'll begin reading in verse one. The word of the Lord, which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, arise and go down to the potter's house, and there will I cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought over the 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.

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. Father, we thank you for this morning. Lord, we thank you for being our shepherd.

We thank you for being our father. And Lord, I thank you for being my personal potter. And Lord, you have treated each of us in this building personally. All of us have spent time on your wheel. And Lord, I thank you for the personal attention and the personal care that you give to each of us.

Thank you for treating us that important. Lord, I pray as we look at these eight verses this morning that you would give us wisdom and insight as to the role that you have told us you play as a potter to each of us. In your name we pray.

Amen. God, here in this passage, is saying what happens in the potter's house is an illustration of what happens in your house. In other words, God is saying this, what happens between the potter and the clay illustrates what happens between us and God the Father. And He gives this eight verse illustration to somehow enlighten us on the role that He plays in our life. The relationship between us and God and what a dynamic relationship it is. It is often difficult for us because we cannot see what God sees. And we don't know what God knows. And the entire time that we are on this earth and once you give your heart to Christ and you are saved and you are His child and He becomes your shepherd and He is your father, the moment that begins God begins working and molding on each of us.

Do I have an amen right there? That is why it is very important for us to never be judgmental of each other. Now we are to judge, the Bible says, between right and wrong. We are to judge between what is of God and what is of the world.

But we ought to be careful to judge each other. You know why? Because it is not my job to be your potter. It is God's job to be your potter. It is not your job to let me manipulate you. I don't want to manipulate you.

It is your job to let God mold you. I am not your potter. You are not my potter. God is the potter of all of us.

Let God do His work. May we never compare vessels. That is a free one for this morning. Sometimes I want to look at some people and say, who do you think you are? You think you are just the best vessel in the house?

You think you are so much better and nicer than anybody else? Let me tell you something. God is the one that is molding and He is not done yet. Let me jump right into it. I didn't even write that down. That was just as of God this morning. Let me get back to my plan here. In these verses God gives some very specific things especially in verses three and four. We obviously will finish the rest of verses two. I want you to notice in verse three first the plan. This was the plan. Verse three, then I went down to the potter's house and behold, notice this, he wrought a work on the wheels. That was the plan.

I want you to notice that phrase, he wrought a work. That's always the plan for God to do a work in your life. That's the plan. The plan doesn't include what you want or what you think is best. The plan always includes letting God do what God wants to do. Letting God make a work out of your life. Letting God mold you into what He wants you to be.

That is always the plan. I notice out of this phrase a couple things. First I notice this, that the potter is the one in control. He wrought a work. The potter is the one in control. Look at verse six. This is what God says, behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand. That means this, he's the one in control. We are in his hand and he is to do what he wants to do.

Let me read you a verse. Romans chapter nine verse 21 says, hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor. Can I tell you something, folks, whether we like it or not, we are the clay. He is the potter and the potter has control over the clay. Whether you know it or not, realize it or not, want to admit it or not, God is in control in your life.

Now we can submit and make it easy or we can fight and make it hard, but you take note this morning, God is the one in control. I find this also that the potter had already envisioned what he wanted the vessel to be. Notice that. He wrought a work on the wheels. That means this, he doesn't just get up and start doing something randomly. That means that the potter already had in mind what he wanted that lump of clay to be. We don't know if he wanted it to be a bowl. We don't know if he wanted it to be some kind of a pitcher for fluid. We don't know if he wanted it to be something else. We don't know exactly what he wanted it to be, but what we know is that he already knew what he wanted when he put him on the wheel.

Can I say this? God already knows where he wants you to get in your life. God already knows what he wants you to be. God already has a plan for your life. He knows what he's doing.

He's the one in control. I find this also that the potter had a reason for every action that he took, and that reason was to make that vessel into what he had envisioned. Dear friend, everything that happens in your life isn't an accident. It's not just a circumstance. It's not just something that happened to randomly go on in your life.

Listen to me, dear friend. God has a reason for everything that he does or he allows. Now, if you step out of God's plan and you start doing things on your own and you start creating circumstances on your own, you're on your own. But if you sit there on the wheel and you let God do what God wants to do, I'm letting you know there is a reason for everything God allows.

It's not always easy, and it's not always fun, but there's a reason God is doing it, and there's a reason God has allowed it, and the reason he's doing it, and the reason he's allowed it is because he is molding you and making you into what he already envisioned you to be. I find this also that the vessel had no say in what it wanted to be. Potter didn't take a lump of clay and say, hello, clay. What would you like to be today?

Clay had no say. Can I tell you something, dear friend? We really don't have a say in what we need to be. Now, we can do what we want. God's given us that freedom. But can I say, when it's God's plan, it's up to him, not us. It's not up to what we want. We don't really have a say in that.

It's, you know what? We are God's creation. We are the clay.

He's the potter. It's not up to us. We don't have a say in it. It's not really according to our plan or our desire.

It's what God has envisioned and planned for us. It's up to him and whatever he does, whatever goes on in our life that he causes or allows, it is always to write that work on the wheel. He is rotting a work on that wheel.

It's all about him. The plan. I want you to notice, secondly, the process. He says this, he wrought a work on the wheels, plural. So that's the process that he uses to make that lump of clay into the vessel he wants it to be. He has to put it on what they call the potter's wheels. Back in those days, things are a little bit different now, but back in those days, they were stone wheels, and there was a couple of them. And he would turn those wheels, and many times now we have things you turn with your feet and different things, and that starts that lump of clay spinning, and it allows the potter to do his work. I noticed a couple things about this.

Number one is this. The wheels were rough and hard. They were stone wheels.

Listen to me. Those wheels didn't give an inch. When he threw that clay on those stone wheels, those stone wheels didn't give. They didn't bend. They weren't comfortable.

They're not cushiony. They have to be hard, and they have to be durable because not only when he gets done with that vessel, that wheel has to do the next vessel, and then that wheel has to do the next vessel and the next vessel. So it's really not about comfort for the clay, and it's really not about the comfort of the vessel.

It's about what is necessary to be able to make that vessel into what God wants it to be. So he puts it on the wheels. The wheels are rough and hard, and what those wheels do is they provide friction. The wheels start turning a vessel at a speed that all of a sudden the potter's hands, when they go on that clay, it provides friction with the speed of that clay spinning, and that's how he molds.

Let me tell you how God molds you and how God molds me. He causes friction. He's making a work, but he has to be able to mold us, and there has to be friction. You see, that vessel has to turn, and that clay has to begin to speed, and that potter knows exactly how to hold those hands to form that vessel into a vase, to form that vessel into a bowl, to form it into whatever he's making.

Are you looking at me? Those wheels are turning. They're not giving, and that clay is going through circles and going around.

Have you ever been in your life where you feel like you're just going around a bunch of circles? It's probably we're right on God's wheel, and that has to provide friction for the potter's hands to mold that clay. Can I say this that I notice from this that the potter controls the wheels, too? That means this, God controls how much friction you go under. God controls how much he allows in your life.

Can I say this? Not only does God control you as the vessel, but God controls the wheels that provide the friction. That means this, God knows that vessel's had enough. It can't take anymore, and God can stop the wheel. It's not like the wheels control their self, and, hey, we're just a victim of circumstance, and we're a victim to whatever happens in this world. Listen to me. I want you to know God not only controls you, but he can control the circumstances around you.

He's the one that brings the friction, and he's also the one that can stop the friction. He's promised that he will never put on us more than we can bear. Can I say this also that it's never fun being on the wheel, but it is necessary? Can I say, folks, when things happen in your life that make you grow and mold you into what God wants you to be, it is rarely fun, but it is always necessary. Some of those things have to take place for God to be able to make you into the vessel he wants you to be.

I want you to notice, thirdly, that he says this. Look at verse 3. Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. Verse 4, and the vessel that he made of clay was marred.

So we see the plan, the process, and thirdly, we see the problem. The vessel that was in his hand was marred. That means this, that this particular vessel for some reason did not stand up to the pressure of the process. Now, we do not know if it was marred while it was on the wheel.

That's what we would assume. I don't know if it was marred after he had formed it and took it off the wheel and dropped it. I don't know if maybe he got it off the wheel and the clay didn't react like it was supposed to. I don't know if maybe he had put that clay through the heating process. When you make ceramics and pottery, you have to put it in the kiln.

You have to be heated. I don't know if maybe he formed it into what looked good to him and he put it into the kiln and it got to be heated and all of a sudden it cracked. We don't know when it was marred and we don't know how it was marred. All we know is that that vessel that he had worked on was marred. And that's a problem. You know, I find in my life now a little bit doing some more counseling and things. It's always the question, isn't it?

What happened? Do you know that sitting right here in this building we have individuals, vessels that are marred? Do you know right now sitting in front of me there are individuals that God is working on? And for some reason or another, we in our life did not stand up to the pressure like we thought we would. For some reason or another, we thought we were doing well and we thought we were going along good and all of a sudden Satan just got ahold of some areas of our life and for some reason there's just some things that didn't go like we thought they would go. And sitting right here this morning you might be a vessel that's marred, a vessel that maybe God had molded and is part of the process but you didn't stand up to the process. It could have been while he molded you or it could have been when he turned the heat on.

But for some reason we didn't last the way we thought we would. And now all across America in churches this morning there are marred vessels and they sit down in a pastor's office and oftentimes they say I don't know what happened. I don't know if it was on the wheel.

I don't know if it was in the oven. I don't know what happened but it broke. I'm not what I thought I was and I'm not what I want to be and I'm just struggling and I don't understand it. Listen to me, dear friend, God put this story in here to let you know sometimes vessels get marred. Sometimes it happens.

Sometimes it's with the best of intentions. Sometimes we didn't have control of the friction. We didn't have control of the wheel. We didn't have control of the process but whatever happened and whatever came our way, it has left us marred. And I want you to know, dear friend, if you're sitting here this morning and maybe life hasn't been what you thought and maybe you didn't turn out to be the Christian that you had hoped to be, listen to me, dear friend, don't turn me off yet. Don't cut me off.

We still have some more verses to go. The vessel was marred. All I know from this, I don't know how it got marred. I don't know where in the process it got marred.

I don't even know how, what particular mar it had. I don't know if it cracked. I don't know if it broke.

I don't know what happened. All I know this is that from this story, that vessel never left the hand of the potter. It was in his hand at the start.

It was in his hand when it broke. And I'm going to tell you something, whatever happens in your life, if you're saved and you know it, you are in the hand of the potter. He doesn't let you go.

He doesn't throw you away. I want you to notice these last two points, kind of the second half of the story. In verse four, I want you to notice, we would say fourthly, but these are two R words that I want to share with you. Number one, I want you to notice the restoration.

The restoration. Look, if you would, verse four, in the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter. So he threw it away.

Doesn't say that, does it? So he made it again another vessel. Every one of us in our little suits and ties and dress clothes and our little stuffy little outfits and we're going to church, bless God, and thank God you're dressed good and nice, but every one of us ought to come down off our high horse this morning, get to this halter and say, God, thank you for giving me another chance. Thank you for making me again when I cracked. Thank you for not giving up on me when I messed up and when I cracked under the pressure. Thank you for loving me enough to put me on the wheel again. I notice this about that phrase, so he made it again another vessel.

I find number one, he did not give up on the vessel. And I want each of you to know this morning he has not given up on you. You might have given up on you. Your family might have given up on you.

Your friends might have given up on you. But the potter hasn't given up on you. He still sees a vessel in your life that he can use. I notice secondly about this is that he would not waste his time on that vessel if he did not think it could be great again. If that potter thought there's no chance that this vessel could be usable, he wouldn't waste his time. But the fact that although it broke and he decided to put it back through the process again, although the point that he had to go back and put all the time into it again that he had already given it tells me this, he wouldn't waste his time.

There's too many vessels that need work. He wouldn't waste his time if he didn't see something great in that pile of clay. And I'm letting you know, dear friend, you might not see anything great in your life, but God sure does.

And I want you to know if you're a teenager here this morning or a young person, you may or may not have a future ahead of you and you may or may not have dreams of things you're going to do, but I'm letting you know something right now. God sees something great in you. You might be here and you say, preacher, I've been through a divorce. I've been through some hard things in my life. Oh, listen to me, dear friend, don't give up on yourself because God hasn't given up on you. He still sees a vessel he can use. I find this also that he had to put it through the same process as before. You know, it's one thing for somebody that's maybe marred their vessel a little bit or somebody that's been through some rough patches, it's one thing to come up and say, you know what, I want God to still use me.

I believe that he can. That's wonderful, but guess now what that means. You got to go right back through the molding process and you got to be put right back in the oven to be what God wants you to be. See, a lot of times we say we're thankful for a second chance, but we don't want to have to go through any pain. We don't want to have to go through any friction.

We don't want to have to fight against anything. Listen to me, dear friend, God will still use you, but you're going to have to still let him have his way. That's the requirement. I find this also from this phrase that he made it again. It means this, we don't know if he made it into the same kind of vessel or something different.

I don't know. Do you know that I believe sometimes in our life we can mess up to the point that maybe we couldn't do exactly what God had originally intended us to do, but God can always make us into a vessel that he can still use. You say, preacher, there's some things I've done and I can't ever do such such.

Well, you know, there's very few of those, by the way, but you say, okay, but guess what? There's still a whole bunch of things you can still do. There's still a lot of things that there's a lot of vessels God can make you into that are needed. Maybe you can't be that particular vase that sat in the king's house, but bless God, you could be a bowl sitting in the potter's house. You can be something for God, and I'm here to tell you, God wouldn't remake it if he didn't see something great in it. I find this also that it was still formed into what the potter wanted. When he remade it, folks, listen, it was still about what the potter wanted. And I'm here to tell you, dear friend, there's always a second chance at life. There's always chances to serve God.

God loves you and God still wants to use you and God will still remake you into what he wants you to be, but it is still about what he wants, not what we want. And I do know this, lastly, that this vessel was not done until it seemed good to the potter. Notice this phrase. It says so he made it again, and I love that part.

He made it again another vessel, notice this, as seemed good to the potter to make it. If I can say this nicely, look at me. We are not done till he says we're done. Well, there have been times things I've gone through and I think, bless God, I handled that one. It must be done. Boy, was I wrong.

I'm not trying to get personal. We're dedicating Kayden tonight. It's been a kind of emotional weekend. We've gone through pictures that we've just not looked at for a few months. We were sitting in our living room and I was putting pictures on a CD and I saw images of him in the hospital again. It just brought it all back. I was just sitting there, tears coming down my face and my wife was like, what are you doing?

So I'm getting these pictures ready. It just broke my heart. Listen to me, dear friends, we faced open heart surgeries and all this. I thought, man, Lord, I don't know why you're doing this, but we've we've weathered this storm and we thought, boy, that's it's finally over. We're going to get through this.

And then they come in, tell us he has cystic fibrosis and that will probably kill him before his heart ever will. Man, I thought we'd had all we could take. I thought we had gone as far as he was going to make us go.

I thought that the wheel had stopped, but it hadn't. And listen to me, dear friend, it doesn't stop and it's not over till the potter says it's over. Quit complaining about it. Quit moping about it. Quit crying about it.

Quit saying how unfair life is. It's about the potter. And if the wheel's still going, he has a reason. I want you to notice fifthly, the repentance. Look, if you would, at verse six. Oh, house of Israel. Now he comes to the illustration.

He just told what the potter did and how he remade it and gave it another chance. And then in verse six, oh, 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.

Oh, house of Israel. And in verse seven and eight, it's an interesting verse. He says at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation. And you'll get a bit confused if you try to overthink these verses. What he's saying here in verse seven is this. He says at what instant I decide that I'm going to judge this nation. Notice what he says. And concerning a kingdom to pluck it up, to pull down and destroy it.

Just like a potter yanks that clay and molds that clay. God says at what instance I decide I'm gonna judge this nation and I'm gonna do to this nation what I feel needs to be done. Look at, if you would at verse eight. If that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil and will repent of the evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. God said when he gets to the point that I say, you know what, I'm not gonna use that vessel.

I've reworked it and reworked it and reworked it and it just will not respond. God says just like you, Israel, just like the potter, if that gets to that point, at the instant I decide to judge you, if you will repent of your evil and submit to me, I will repent of the evil I was gonna do to you. Look at, I mean, God says if you repent to me, I will repent to you.

If you will submit to me, then I will stop the judgment that I was getting ready to hand out. Oh, you know what it takes to remake your vessel here this morning? It takes repentance. It takes us getting right with God. Listen to me, dear friend, the instant that we become unmoldable, that very instant we become unusable.

The instant that you and I can no longer be molded by God is the instance that we can no longer be used by him either. Rachel, I'm gonna ask you to come, if you will. Look if you would at verse six. Oh, house of Israel.

Before Rachel sings this song, I want you to get this. That phrase, oh, house of Israel is an interesting phrase. If you trace it back, you find out all the times that God used that phrase with Israel, look at me. It was always at a time when he was pleading with them. It wasn't like me saying, brother Joe, it's like me saying, oh, brother Joe, please, would you? It's a pleading.

It's verging on begging. God loved Israel so much, and he saw the great vessel that it could be, and Israel was fighting against him. Israel was doing its own thing. Israel was having its own way, although he knew it wasn't right, and all Israel knew it wasn't gonna be what's best, and they knew it wasn't what God wanted. They were still doing what they wanted to do, and God said, oh, house of Israel, if you would just repent, I'll stop my judgment. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin Broadcast today. God bless you.