THE WHEEL OF GOD
Jeremiah 18:1-3 -v3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel.
The word for wheel in the Hebrew is a word picture—it literally means two stones. The potter would simply use their feet to turn the clay, freeing up his hands to shape the vessel. We can think of the wheel as the wheel of life. Personal events give us opportunities to be shaped by the Creator.
The Lord makes us into the vessels by applying pressure through trials and suffering. He knows what the vessel should look like. He knows what He must do make us the vessel unto honor. No one suffered more than Christ!
Until we are tested we don’t know what we are really like. Often we want to run from or change our circumstances. If we do, we will only find that we will face the same circumstances elsewhere over and over again. Why does this happen?
Self will - God never forces His will upon us. Yet He knows the best - we need to lay our rebellion at His feet and not resist Him.
The unwillingness to break with sin - The vessel may look good to the normal person but the Master Potter knows the flaw in the vessel. He does His best to rid this flaw from the vessel.
Getting off the wheel - The vessel becomes a problem when it moves. the place that vessel become what it needs to be is in the middle of the wheel.
Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
HOW GOD SHAPES OUR LIVES AND CHARACTER:
CONSTRUCTION BY SUFFERING
Proverbs 17:3 “The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD tries the hearts.”
Psalm 119:67,71 Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.
The word "afflicted" means to experience pain, grief or injury; it also conveys the idea of failure with its accompanying feelings of defeat and dejection. Experiencing affliction promotes an obedient life - Experiencing affliction prompts a teachable spirit - Suffering teaches us: To see God – To see ourselves – To see and pray for others.
2 Corinthians 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.
Ex. 1: 6-14 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
It was my sickness, not my health, that showed me he was a healer.
It was my lack, not my abundance, that showed me that he was a provider.
It was my defeats, not my victories, which showed me that he would fight my battles. (Unknown)
We have been praying, “God make me more like you!” to be like him you have to be willing to go through some of the things that he when through!
• Your Christ likeness comes only on the back of affliction.
This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step. (1 Peter 2:21 MSG)
• Our salvation came by affliction.
• Our comfort came by affliction.
• Our deliverance came by affliction.
Christ was our example of how to suffer.
• He was our example of how to pray through.
• He was our example on how to be hated and not be a hater.
• He was our example of how to be talked about and keep our mouth close.
CONSTRUCTION BY TRIALS
Three reasons for trials:
1. To Build our Faith - 1 Peter 1:7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
2. To Purify our lives - 1 Peter 4:1,2,12-19 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. - 12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters.16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?18 Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. Malachi 3:3 “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
3. To Bring Glory to God - 1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Romans 8:28-29 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Those first three words should give us hope. They should give us assurance. If God knows and He does, then He wants us to know. It says “And we know.” Then those next three words, “that all things” should calm your heart regardless of what comes.
The turns of events come and go but the clay spinning on the wheel by itself will not make a pot. In the same way, circumstances in life do not necessarily shape us. We must have the third ingredient, the Potter’s hand
THE POTTERS HAND
The Potter is God. It is His hand that shapes the nations, and it is His hand that shapes you and me. The activity of the potter in Jeremiah gives us a glimpse into how God treats us as the clay.
1. He has a purpose for every piece of clay –in the Potter’s house we may see clay but the Potter sees the finished vessel – no matter who you are God has a purpose for you and has had since creation for the Kingdom – a purpose that brings delight to your life – our purpose is not what we want to do but what God has designed us to do. When the Potter shaped the clay into another pot, he did so as best seen fit by him. God is sovereign over the whole process. God is all knowing—does He know what kind of person we could be? He does. He fashions us according to Who we are and the kind of character he wishes for us to possess. He knows exactly how we as a piece of pottery will fit into His purposes. God is also sovereign—do we know what is best for us? The Israelites tried to be the potter, forgetting that they were the clay. Jeremiah 18:12 But they will reply, 'It's no use. We will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart.'" Isaiah 29:16 You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter,” He knows nothing"? We must resist taking our destiny into our own hands.
2. He always works from the inside out – the Potter always works from the inside to fashion the outside – if the inside isn’t strong enough – the outside will be pointless - Matthew 15:18 “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.
3. He displays His finished work – vessels of honor have a prominent place – the vessel has to be finished and functioned – Jesus – He is still working on our corporate body and in individual lives – no man can put us on display only the Potter
4. He always uses His Hands – that means He is personally involved in your life - While the clay spins around on the wheels, it is never out of contact with the Potter’s hands. He is in constant contact, molding, shaping and bringing the clay along through His loving guidance. If he were to ever remove His hand, the clay would spin right off the wheel and would be lost. Therefore, he remains there with the clay and brings along until it become what He desires it to be. What a picture of the Heavenly Father. There are times when God seems remote, removed and millions of miles away from us and from our needs. However, He has promised us that He will never leave us, nor forsake us and that He will ever be with His children, The child of God need never fear that the Lord will walk out on us and leave us to spin out of control. No matter how fast the wheels spin, or what comes our way, we can rest assured that the Lord of glory will never remove His hand from us. The pot the potter was shaping was “marred” in his hands. We do not know exactly what was wrong with the clay—it could have been too wet or too dry, have been ruined or spoiled in some way. But even though it was not perfect, he wanted to keep working with it. The clay is the subject of his love. Even though the nation of Israel kept straying from God, He loved and cared for Israel. If Israel were spoiled clay, then God would try to use it again. In the same way, we are in the hands of a loving God. Even if there is some blemish on us that seems to make us useless, God will find a way to shape us. He knows each one of us like the potter knows his clay, and He cares for enough to redeem us.
Isaiah 43:1-2 But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.
5. He breaks and remakes every vessel – every one of us needs to be reborn - remade – renewed - the potter formed the spoiled clay into another pot. The verb tense in the original language suggests that the potter would do this continually, over and over again, until the pot was made as He wished. He was steadfast in making that piece of clay into a beautiful and useful piece of pottery. He will not give up on us even if we need to be remade.
There is a Potters Field that is full of broken vessels - Even in the Potter’s hand, things can still go terribly wrong. The fault is not with the Potter, but with the clay. There are times when even with the best of care, the vessel still gets out of shape. Matthew 27:3-10 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.” And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, “and gave them for the potter’s field, as the LORD directed me.”
Potters Field – south of Jerusalem – in the Valley of Hinnom (a jebusite) - by the Potsherd Gate - Jeremiah 19:1,10 Thus says the LORD: “Go and get a potter’s earthen flask, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests.10 “Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you,
It was basically a garbage dump – and became a place of the worship Molech with child sacrifice – first prosperity cult we give our best you give us your best - 2 Chronicles 28:3 He burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
Matthew 13:44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
GOD TAKES THE POTS THAT ARE BROKEN FROM THE FIELD OF DESPAIR AND SIN AND MAKES US NEW AGAIN!
