Broken In The Potter's Hands

PP0637 DATE

BROKEN IN THE POTTER’S HANDS

Jeremiah 18:1-6

Jer 18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

4 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.

5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

6 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. (KJV)

INTRODUCTION: M.R. Dehaan said all scripture has a primary interpretation, and all scripture has a personal application. That is the case with this passage. The primary interpretation is that Israel had turned away from God and He had allowed them to be broken in attempt to get them to turn back to God. God allowed Jeremiah to see the potter at work at the wheel to show him what He would do with Israel. The application is that each of us will see ourselves as this clay on the wheel, being molded into a vessel for the Potter’s sake.

David speaks of the same thing in Ps 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. (KJV) We know that David wrote this Psalm at a time when he had been broken by God because of his sin. The clay is a picture of the individual that is broken and then remade by the Potter.

I wonder today, if there are any here who is broken? You once was in the will of God daily and doing what He commanded you to do, but then came resistance from you against His leading and His pressure to correct you has broken you. You are marred but still on the wheel.

I want to share some things with you about the Potter, the Wheel, and the Clay.

I. WE SEE THE POTTER – THIS IS GOD

Job 10:9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again? (KJV)

A. The Purpose Of The Potter.

1. To make the vessel after His will. He has a specific purpose for you. A plan or a blueprint. God has made each of us according to His own design. Ps 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. (KJV)

We had no control over the color of our eyes, our hair, our height. We do have control over our weight.

We are talking about the Purpose Of The Potter.

We should memorize and sing often the song:

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 am waiting, yielded and still.

2. The finished product is the work of the Potter.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,(That’s the purpose of the Potter) which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (KJV)

B. The Passion Of The Potter.

1. To perfect the vessel.

2. He knows what part of your life is not surrendered. He is always thinking about us. He knows what He wants to do with each of us.

His mind is on us all the time. He says, “I can’t get my mind off of you Ivan.” Or maybe, “I can’t get my mind off of you Beth Haven.”

C. The Potter Is Soverign Over The Clay.

He plans everything in our life to mold us into a vessel worthy of honor. Adversities are present to mold us.

George W. Truitt shot a friend accidentally while hunting one day. He was Pastor of the First Baptist Church, of Dallas, Texas. He and Chief of Police, James Arnold went on a bird hunting trip. As Chief Arnold was climbing through a barbed wire fence, the rifle that Dr. Truitt was holding accidentally discharged and the bullet hit Chief Arnold in the calf of the leg. On February 4, 1898, he died as the result of complications of that gun shot wound.