Lessons From The Potter's House
Lessons From The Potter's House
Lessons From The Potter's House
The Bible uses symbolism to deepen the message God has for His people. He uses a metaphor to describe on
how He WORKS IN OUR LIVES.
o One such symbol is that of potter and clay.
o The most detailed example is found in Jeremiah 18.
In our Text– God wants Jeremiah to again address the people and try to get them to correct the errors of their
ways before He will cast them away.
It is interesting to note that he wants Jeremiah to go to the POTTER’S HOUSE to have a “visual” understanding
of what he wanted to convey to the people - Verse 2
o There was something wrong with what He was shaping and so he smashes the clay back down and
starts over.
There are many things we can take from this, but for our lesson we want to note that the clay was not shaping
into what the Potter wanted it to be. It was rejected. VERSE 4
Let’s take a few minutes today and look into these verses together as we consider the subject, Lessons From The
Potter’s House.
This is a clear picture of the process we all go through prior to salvation and even after salvation.
After we receives Christ as Savior, God begins the molding process.
1. A Mallet –
After the clay has been cleansed and processed, it is placed on a table and beaten with a wooden mallet.
The Potter does this to remove any air bubbles that might be trapped in the clay.
If he doesn’t the air bubble will form a pocket that will produce a weak spot and cause the vessel to be fragile
and unusable.
This is a picture of the trials, calamities and chastisements of life that tend to work together to shape us in the
image of the Lord Jesus Christ - 2 Cor. 4:17.
We may not like the pounding of the mallet, but its sole purpose is to make us more usable and flexible in the
Potter’s hand.
You see, the Heavenly Potter is in the business of making us look like Jesus –Eph. 4:13. Therefore, it is a good
thing!
o until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the
whole measure of the fullness of Christ
2. His Hands –
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.
HE ADDS PRESSURE IN IT SO THAT IT WILL BE MOLDED TO WHAT HE WANTS IT TO BE ..
Again, this is a picture of the work of our heavenly Father in our lives.
There are many times along the way that I can look back to and see myself deformed and misshapen upon the
Potter’s wheel.
At those times, He loving pressed upon me with His hands and began the process once again.
This process is not always pleasant!
There are times when the Lord has to bring His chastisement into our lives.
He does this because He loves us and seeks His best in our lives.
However, it isn’t a pleasant thing when the Lord has to press us down, Rev. 3:19 Those whom I love I rebuke and
discipline. So be earnest and repent
When the vessel is marred (DISFIGURED) , the Potter does not throw the clay away and start fresh with a new
piece.
There is a reason for this.
o He has already invested too much time in salvaging the clay from the soil and in preparing it for use.
o He has a vested interest in what happens to the clay.
o Therefore, He can afford to be patient and to keep working in the clay until it begins to resemble that
image that He desires it to bear.
Now, I will say this, there are times when the clay becomes no longer workable to the Potter’s touch.
When this happens, the Potter has no choice but to set aside that hardened vessel and chose another lump of clay
with which to work.
It is a picture of being shelved.
There are times when the Lord removes His hand of blessing and places us aside and uses another vessel instead.
However, we can be assured that this will never happen to us by always being moldable and yielded to His hand -
1 Cor. 9:27-No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not
be disqualified for the prize.
There are times in our lives that we don’t yield to the will of God.
Or “There are areas where we are still in control.
There are parts of us that we haven’t given to the Potter.
There are circumstances that we face that we still try to control and work out.
Conc:
God has made something beautiful from an ugly piece.
JUST AS GOD HAS TAKEN AN UGLY LUMP, DIRTY LUMP OF CLAY, HE WAS ABLE TO COME UP WITH A BEAUTIFUL
MASTERPIECE, A VESSEL UNTO HONOR, SO CAN YOU BE!
HE CAN MAKE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL OUT OF YOUR UGLY PAST, OUT OF YOUR UNWORTHINESS, FROM A VESSEL
UNTO DISHONOR TO A VESSEL UNTO HONOR!
Can you sense the hands of the Heavenly Potter and He patiently, lovingly molds your life into His image?
If you are a vessel that is refusing to yield in your life, here or there, there is no better time that the present to
take care of that need.
Will you come to Jesus today and place yourself afresh and anew into the miracle working hands of the
Heavenly Potter?
Will you allow Him to work His will in your life so that you can be a vessel of honor and glory unto the Lord?
If you have never been saved by God’s grace, you need to know that God loves you and that He will save you if
you will come to Him through Jesus Christ His Son.
He wants to take your life and make it into a thing of beauty for His glory. Will you come to Him?
However, as it is written: "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" -- the
things God has prepared for those who love him- 1 COR 2:9 (ISAIAH 64:4)