The Potter The Clay and Cracked Pots Jeremiah

The Potter The Clay and Cracked Pots Jeremiah 18: 1 -6

Jeremiah 18: 1 -6 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down at once to the potter’s house; there I will reveal My words to you. ” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel. 4 But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.

5 The word of the Lord came to me: 6 “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay —this is the Lord’s declaration. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel Holman Christian Standard Bible

The Potter Shapes the Course of Our Lives “this is the Lord’s declaration. ‘Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand’” Verse 6 1 • Isaiah 29: 16 “You have turned things around, as if the potter were the same as the clay. How can what is made say about its maker, ‘He didn’t make me’? How can what is formed say about the one who formed it, ‘He doesn’t understand what he’s doing’? • Some Deny the potter – “He didn’t make me” • Some Defy the potter – “He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”

• FALSE: I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul. - Invictus, William E. Henley – Jeremiah 10: 23 “I know, Lord, that a man’s way of life is not his own; no one who walks determines his own steps. ” • Romans 8: 28 “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. • 29 For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…”

The Potter Has the Right to Shape Our Lives “Can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay” Verse 6 • Isaiah 45: 9 “Woe to the one who argues with 2 his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does clay say to the one forming it: What are you making? …” • Romans 9: 20 -21 “But who are you—anyone who talks back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this? ’ Or has the potter no right over His clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor? ”

The Potter Uses Pressure to Shape Our Lives “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand’” Verse 6 • 2 nd Corinthians 4: 16 -17 “…even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. ” 3

The Potter Has The Power to Re-shape Our Lives “But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do. ” Verse 4 • Even in the times when God is correcting us… Isaiah 64: 8 “Yet Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter…” 4

We Are A Work in Progress “So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel. ” Verse 3 • Isaiah 64: 8 “Yet Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter; we all are the work of Your hands. ” 5

The Cracks Are Where The Treasure Shines Through 2 nd Cor. 4: 7 6 • 2 nd Corinthians 4: 7 “Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. ”

A Clean Vessel is a Useful Vessel 2 nd Timothy 2: 20 -21 7 • 2 nd Timothy 2: 20 -21 “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver bowls, but also those of wood and earthenware, some for special use, some for ordinary. So if anyone purifies himself from these things, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. ”

A Clean Vessel is a Useful Vessel 2 nd Timothy 2: 20 -21 7 • 2 nd Timothy 2: 20 -21 “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver bowls, but also those of wood and earthenware, some for special use, some for ordinary. So if anyone purifies himself from these things, he will be a things special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. ”

A Clean Vessel is a Useful Vessel 2 nd Timothy 2: 20 -21 7 • 2 nd Timothy 2: 20 -21 “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver bowls, but also those of wood and earthenware, some for special use, some for ordinary. So if anyone purifies himself from these things, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the apart Master, prepared for every good work. ”