“The Potter’s House” One Part Only

Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 906 -- taken from Closed Captioning Text

— Brother Phil Enlow: Praise God! Turn if you will to Jeremiah chapter 18. Jeremiah was known to many as the weeping prophet. He had a terrible assignment in the natural, I guess. He lived through the destruction of Jerusalem. The nation of Israel from the time of David had just went downhill. The kingdom split and Israel never did serve God, the part that was called Israel. But the part that was called Judah had a few little revivals along the way, but mostly their pathway was downhill.

And it reached the point where God had warned ‘em, and warned ‘em, and warned ‘em, and warned ‘em and they had killed prophets, they had persecuted them, and it came to the point where it was time for judgment to fall. And this was the period of time that Jeremiah prophesied. He lived to warn that it was coming. He lived to see Nebuchadnezzar come, on at least two occasions, and ultimately destroy the city of Jerusalem, and lay it waste...carry most of the inhabitants off to Babylon for captivity...left a few poor people in the surrounding areas.

And even after that there was still some rebelliousness among the handful that were left, and Jeremiah was carried from one place to another and had to live through all of that and be faithful to give out the Word of the Lord. And his reward was to be thrown in a pit and sunk up to his armpits in mud on one occasion. Another time he gave out the Word of the Lord and the chief of the priests...not the chief priest, but the head man at the temple actually had him put in stocks overnight. That was his reward for telling the truth and giving out the Word of God.

This was a particular word to Jeremiah and God wanted to give an illustration of a truth, and so he says this. “This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Go down to the potter’s house....” (NIV). I’ll say, it was kind of hard to ignore that last song. I was saying, Lord, please let something else happen here this morning.

( laughter ).

But I guess He didn’t listen. He’s the Potter, that’s why.

( laughing ).

Praise God, I’m glad He is ‘cause all I can make is a mess. “...Go down to the potter’s house...” If you want a title, that’s one right now, we can settle that real quick. Praise God! “...Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message. So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

“Then the word of the Lord came to me: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? declares the Lord. Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.’“

I see...’course the historical context is what I’ve just described, and that was the fact that he was called to proclaim the coming judgment to Israel. But even in the midst of that, don’t you see the mercy of God to say, if they’ll just listen I’ll change my plans? I will do...I will reward them. I will bless them, and help them, and forgive them, and all of those wonderful things. That’s a message of hope to every one of us.

But the lessons are very obvious in this and they certainly apply to us today. Every one of us in one way or another can take a lesson from the simple visit that Jeremiah made to the potter’s house. Now the first lesson that the Lord gave to Jeremiah was that the nation of Israel was the clay, and He was the potter, and didn’t He have the right to do as He pleased? And the fact is that every one of our lives is in God’s hands whether we have willingly and consciously put them there or not. God is God and can do as He pleases.

( congregational amens ).

And it would help us to listen, to be aware of that fact. God...I tell you God can, as He said here later...there are those who hear a word of warning and they turn, and there are others who hear a blessing and they don’t pay attention to it, they’re careless in their spirits. But God is the ultimate determiner and He will absolutely make out of us something.

So we need to pay attention to the fact that God is in charge of everything and realize that there is a Day of Judgment coming. There is a day of reckoning coming when we will all stand before God, and God is going to make vessels of honor, or He’s going to made vessels of wrath fitted for destruction out of every single one. So we need to honor and reckon upon Him.

( congregational amens ).

Praise God! But I noticed something as I was reading this--I won’t get into the side subject but it certainly bears upon the subject of God’s sovereignty and our responsibility, because look at what He says here about the pronouncements of judgment and the pronouncements of blessing. There was the possibility of the people who heard the message changing God’s mind and God’s intention. It’s not that He was changed in any fundamental way, but God determines the things that happen in our lives based upon us in many cases. We do a lot of sowing and we do a lot of reaping.

( congregational amens ).

And it’s not that God delights in doing anything of a negative nature to anyone but I’ll tell you we reap what we sow many times. And so...I’ll tell you we’re in a place here where we have heard the blessings of God. God has ministered wonderful things to us. And oh, may God help us to take them seriously and realize they are not to be taken for granted, that God has offered some wonderful mercy.

We sung about the joy that’s laid before us, the hope of heaven itself, and the new heavens and the new earth. But oh, we need to be in the potter’s hand. We need to say, oh God, not only am I glad to rejoice in that, but I want to consciously honor and worship you with all of my life, and let you work in my life as you see fit. Praise God! And so we see that human responsibility has everything to do with the shaping of the clay.

Now you think about what he was describing here. He goes in and he sees the potter working on the wheel. Now one message that you could draw from an experience like that which is not mentioned here is simply that as the potter goes, things don’t always go exactly according to plan. There’ll be a little bit of a shape here that he has to work on, a little one here, and there’s a little fine tuning even if he goes right straight through the process and makes a beautiful finished pot.

Absolutely there is a lot of shaping that happens along the way, but what he is describing here is a point that that potter reaches where it’s a lost cause to finish what he had started. He can’t do it. All he can do is just ball it up and start over. Now whose fault is that? Is it the skill of the potter? Well I guess in the human sense it’s possible. But I’ll tell you, when we’re talking about the divine Potter, He doesn’t lack anything that He needs. He is God. So whose fault is it when this happens? It’s the clay, isn’t it?

But I tell you what--something happens that changes what God’s wonderful, blessed intentions to make a beautiful, useful vessel for His honor and for His glory--something intervenes and the pot is ruined. That’s what marred means. It says the vessel was marred--the clay was marred in his hands. So what happens? So the potter formed it into another pot shaping it as it seemed best to him.

Now I see the wonderful balance between my responsibility to God and His promises to me. All He is looking for from me, all He is looking for from you is a heart that honors, and recognizes, and believes in Him, and submits to Him, and commits our whole life into His hands. He is the potter then and we are the clay. He “...is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” (KJV).

( congregational amens ).

I thought of a couple of scriptures in...I believe they’re found in Proverbs chapter 16, I think. Well praise God, I put a marker. I should be able to find that. Proverbs, chapter 16 and verse 9 says this. “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” (NIV). Now do you catch the balance there? It’s what happens in my heart that determines the course of my life. If I am determined to go my own way, then that kind of sets the tone. That’s where I’m headed and God is going to work with me, or do with me according to those choices that I make in my heart.

But for someone who determines in their heart to serve God, God is going to work with that kind of a vessel and produce a vessel unto honor. But notice who’s responsibility it is to direct the steps. See you and I don’t have what it takes to direct our steps. It is not in man that walks to do what? To direct his steps. You and I don’t know how to work out the details. We need God at every stage to work in us. But once we have done as Paul did in the New Testament when he says, I “...am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day,” (KJV), that’s our responsibility. Once we have done as Paul did in committing our hearts to Him, then He’s able to work out the details. Praise God! That’s the message here.

And of course you can see examples in the scriptures of every kind of thing here that he’s describing in the terms of the way the Lord interprets the lesson that he has told about. How about Jonah? You remember the charge that Jonah was given? Now he didn’t like it much, but you know God’s a big God. God was able to work it out anyway. There was a nation...there was a city in a nation--Nineveh...great city. What did he say? A hundred and twenty thousand that didn’t know their right hand from their left. That was a big city. That means a handful...that many kids and Lord knows how many other people...big city, wicked city, and God had seen them in a condition where judgment was necessary.

But before He brought judgment, He sent a prophet--a very reluctant prophet, to warn them that 40 days from now God’s gonna pour out judgment. Well, of course we know what happened. Jonah said, if I go there and tell them that, they’re gonna repent and God’s gonna not judge ‘em, and I don’t want that, so I’m gonna run. Of course he ran and everybody knows the story of how he took a ship and God sent a storm, and then when they threw him overboard, God sent a fish.

God is a big God. He knows how to get the job done. He had a whole city he was concerned about and one little reluctant, stubborn prophet wasn’t gonna get in His way. And so he brought...has the Lord ever put you in the stomach of a fish with seaweed wrapped around your head and you didn’t have any wiggle room anymore?

( laughter ).

Praise God! That’s the goodness of God. I’ll tell you what, He can do what He needs to do to get the job done. Well, I Praise God! I don’t want to be that way to start with. There’s a whole lot better way to get to Nineveh than the way Jonah traveled.

( laughter ).

He spent three days thinking about it down in the stomach of a fish. And he said, well I’m about to die, I guess I’d better turn my heart to the Lord. He says, all right Lord, I’ll do what I vowed. And the Lord spoke to the fish and the fish spit him out. Of course then he went to Nineveh and he did exactly what the Lord said. He preached the message. He entered the city. It said it took three days to get across it...this was a big place.

And so he began to preach, and from the king to the beggar they everyone put on sackcloth and repented and God did exactly what Jonah was afraid of and He forgave ‘em and He relented and recognized their repentance. I tell you, don’t we have a good God?

( congregational amens ).

He doesn’t just bring judgment. He warns, and warns, and warns. Even in Noah’s day there was a warning. Had they repented in that day, you’d never have seen a flood. But they didn’t. And I’ll tell you, that’s the way this world is going to end. It’s gonna be like it was in Noah’s day. You’re gonna have everybody who has been confronted in one way or another with truth, and they’ve said yes or they’ve said no, and there won’t be any more crossing the line at that point. Judgment will fall.

But here was a case where the Lord pronounced judgment...if you don’t repent...they repented. And of course Jonah was mad about it. He just was...he said, isn’t that what I said, Lord? That’s why I ran. I knew they would repent, and you’d do that. I didn’t want that. I’ll tell you, what a guy.

( laughter ).

And so he sits up on a hill in the sun to see what’s gonna happen. The Lord has pity on him, and in one day grows a nice shady, leafy gourd to come up over his head and shade him from the sun. And the next day the Lord sent a worm.

( laughter ).

And that old gourd withered and died. And not only did He send a worm, He sent an east wind--a hot east wind. And boy I’ll tell you, Jonah was upset. He was just like you and me.

( laughter ).

He didn’t like that a little bit. He was mad. The Lord said, you do well to be mad. Here you are worried about a gourd. You didn’t even plant it. It came up one day and died the next, and you’re all upset about a gourd. And here I’ve got a city this great. Shouldn’t I have pity on that many people?

But I’ll tell you, that reveals to me the character of God. God does not take pleasure in judgment. He takes pleasure in mercy. He extends His hand. As Jesus said, a “...smoking flax shall He not quench...” I’ll tell you what, you may be a smoking flax today, but God’s not gonna quench you if you’ll turn your heart to Him.

( congregational amens ).

This is a message of hope to me. But oh, we’re in His hands. But I think of somebody like Pharaoh. You know the Lord knew what kind of a man Pharaoh was. He told Moses ahead of time when He sent him to Egypt for the message of ‘let My people go.’ He said, I’m gonna harden his heart. The first time that it records Moses going in to talk to Pharaoh, it says, Pharaoh hardened his heart. See, God knew what kind of a man he was. All He had to do was push the right buttons and that nature of his that was so full of pride would rise up.

So after that, I’ll tell you every time it says God hardened his heart. God just kept doing the things that He knew would cause that proud man to bow up in His face And what was the result? Everybody in the known world heard about the God of Israel! But you see what happened was...God had a man here whose heart was turned against Him, was set in his heart to be God’s enemy, God made a certain kind of a vessel out of him, because He’s the potter and we’re the clay.

And I’ll tell you God can use people like Judas. You ever wonder how he got to be a disciple? It says the Lord knew from the beginning who it was that didn’t believe. And so he was chosen because there was a role that he needed to play in the providence of God. I read that one scripture in Proverbs chapter 16 about a man planning his heart is what determines our course, but the Lord’s the one that determines our steps.

But in verse 4, there’s another scripture that I thought about. It says this, “The Lord works out everything for his own ends...” You wonder what the meaning and purpose of the world is? It looks like it’s out of control but I tell you, God is working things out for a certain end and a certain purpose, in spite of what it looks like to us. “...Even the wicked for a day of disaster.” See that shows the all-encompassing position that God holds as the Potter over the human race.

But oh, I’ll tell you, I want to be one who willingly recognizes Lord, You’re the Potter. I’m the clay. I believe in You with all my heart. I want You to order my steps. Praise God! But you know the message to us is not about pronouncing judgment and God relenting. This is about a vessel that’s marred. I’ll tell you a lot of our lives have been marred in one way or another. And they’ve been marred because of choices that we’ve made and I’ll tell you we can get in all kinds of circumstances, but we serve a God who is a Redeemer.

( congregational amens ).

If a human potter, when his pot gets beyond fixing...and you know adjusting and all those kind of things, when it gets beyond that point, he says, well there’s only one thing to do is start over. If a human potter is willing to start over, don’t you think our Heavenly Father is willing at any point we turn our hearts to Him, to start over.

( congregational amens ).

And the God that we serve is still able to make a vessel of honor. There’s no going back. You can’t go back and fix the pot that has been marred, but our God can take our lives from here on forward and he can make a vessel of honor.

( congregational amens ).

Praise God! I don’t know how your life has been marred today, but I think of people in the Bible. Mary Magdalene was a woman who had a lot of problems. The scripture said she had seven devils. I mean Satan had a home in her. There were seven wicked spirits, enemies of God, that had a home in her life. They drove her, no doubt, to all kinds of sinful excess.

In spite of all the ruin that there was in that woman’s life, when Jesus came everything was different. He had the power to drive those devils out of her life. He had the power to make her over into a saint--into someone that He loved as a sister in the kingdom of God. God can turn anyone’s life into something that is beautiful and rich and wonderful if we’ll just put our lives in God’s hands. Praise God!

You think of others. Think of the woman at the well. There was a woman who [was] just living her life, and Jesus comes to the well of Samaria. And of course she is of a different people group there and they didn’t get along. The Jews looked down their noses at these particular people because they were half-breeds. They had some Jewish blood and then they had some of the blood of the nations around them...and so that was their attitude toward them.

And so it was a surprise to the woman that Jesus would even ask for a drink of water, and that got her attention right there, and so they fell into a conversation. The Lord used just a simple act like that to initiate a spiritual conversation. It progressed to the point where she realized this was somebody who knows something. He brings her down to a point where she realizes He’s a prophet, but the point where it really got her attention for time and eternity was when He said, first of all go call your husband. And the woman said, I don’t have a husband. The Lord said, you told the truth. You’ve had five and the one you now have is not your husband.

Well, she knew that there was no way he could have known that unless He had a gift and call from God. That brought...I’ll tell you salvation came to her house. Jesus did not look at her and say, you so-and-so, look at you and look at the mess you’ve made of your life! I’m through with you. Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world. The Lord knows He has enough justification for it with all that’s wrong with us, but Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world, and neither should we be here with a message of condemnation.

( congregational amens ).

We need to tell people the truth. We are sinners in need of the grace of God. But I’ll tell you there is grace and there is hope. It doesn’t matter how much your vessel has been marred by sin and by bad choices in your life, and bad decisions you’ve made...rebelling against what you knew to be right. God can take your life from this day on. He can make a vessel of honor out of it, if you just put your life in His hands.

I’ll tell you we need everyone to look to the Lord and say, we can forget those things that are past. The potter did not go back and try to recreate the past. He took that clay, and he balled it up, and he started over. And what he made was beautiful.

I’ll tell you it doesn’t matter how late in the game. You think about the thief on the cross. There he was, he had lived a wicked life of crime and violence. He was dying deservedly because of the crimes that he had committed. There he was nailed...hands and feet to a cross in agony just like Jesus.

And Jesus didn’t look over at him and say, you’re getting what you deserve. I’m glad to see it. Oh no. When that man humbled himself and recognized who Jesus was, he asked Him, oh remember me when You come into Your Kingdom. There was a recognition, there was a faith in who Jesus was, and that He could help him.

And even then--even then there was a message of hope for that man. I’ll tell you there’s a message of hope for anyone who will turn their life and their heart over to Jesus Christ and say, Lord, I’ve made a mess of my life. I’ve made choices that I can’t undo. I cannot go back. Oh God, but You’ve told me there’s hope just like that potter. I’ll tell you what, any time you’re tempted to look at your life and say, I’ve made too big a mess, there’s no saving it now. You need to go down to the Potter’s house--you need to go down to the Potter’s house, in your mind and in your heart and realize that if a human potter would do like this potter did, there is a God who can do anything.

We think in terms of this life. Oh my God, I’ve come this far in my life. I have wasted all of this. There’s nothing left. Oh there’s all eternity left--there is all eternity. What did the thief on the cross have left? I’ll tell you what--we’re gonna meet Him one day...those who know and love the Lord...we’re gonna meet that thief on the cross and his face is gonna be shining with joy and with thankfulness. Oh bless the Lord. We have a God worth serving, don’t we?

( congregational amens ).

Praise God!

( congregational praise ).

I don’t know...this thought just popped into my head the other night and I hadn’t thought about it in a long time, about the clay being marred. I’ll tell you, I can look back at my life and see a lot of choices and things that are there that...I need the Lord. I think everyone of us, if we’re honest, we can see a lot of room for the Potter to do His work and there’s some among us, as I’ve said, who have really...you know in your mind, you’ve messed up and your life is ruined.

I’ll tell you, it’s not ruined. There is a God who can take a ruined life and turn it into something worth everything because of what Jesus has done. That’s the message of the grace of God. You’re never beyond hope in this world if you turn your heart to the lord Jesus Christ. Oh praise God! He’s the potter and I’m the clay!

( congregational amens ).

I rejoice in His mercy this morning! I pray that everyone here will become...will understand that mercy, and cast themselves upon it, and believe in it with all your heart. If you commit your heart, you don’t have to figure it out. That’s a problem we make. You know, the clay didn’t have to figure out what to make itself. All it had to do was just say, I trust the potter.

( congregational amens ).

And that’s all we have to do. The Lord has the plan. Our heart determines which way we go, and the Lord’s going to work accordingly. He can make vessels of wrath, too. But I’ll tell you, He can make vessels of honor out of anyone in this building this morning. And that’s my prayer. Praise God!

( congregational amens ).

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