What Goes on at the Potter's House

God's Sovereignty over All Nations

Book of Jeremiah Chapter 18

A message I love dearly. The Potter's House. The main ingredients of the Potter's House are the wheel, the potter, and the clay to be molded.

We must understand that every message from the Prophet Jeremiah was given to him by the Lord!

Every time Jeremiah spoke, he spoke the words of the Lord.

Had Jeremiah spoken his own words, he would have spoken against the Lord.

Jeremiah wept because he knew that whatever Jehovah said was the complete truth and Jeremiah had a great love for his nation and its people. Even then he did not love them as much as the Lord did.

We may never understand what the Lord is doing but we just must understand that what the Lord is doing is the right thing to do!

So, let's go with Jeremiah down to the Potter's House.

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

Jer 18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

We must clearly understand that the work of the potter, even when those earthen vessels can be beautiful, they are fragile and easy to destroy. It is the same with human life!

The most wonderful of all God's creations are the human beings but we are very fragile and very easy to destroy.

In many cases the Potter can take that broken vessel made of this earth and put it back together as something brand new!

There are many things that we do not understand such as, why is there so much evil and wickedness in this world?

Why does God allow this evil to continue, when He certainly has the power to put a stop to it all?

The thing we must understand about the Potter is that his creations are under direct control!

The Lord has the sovereign right and the absolute power to save or to condemn as He chooses because He alone is God.

It is this same sovereign God who sets the standards for His creations to be saved or to be condemned.

Because of the "Mercy" of the Lord, He is never impulsive in His actions nor is He unreasonable in His request!

Our Lord is neither a dictator nor is He a tyrant!

He is just a loving God who expects righteousness because He is righteous in all His actions whether we agree or not!

We do not have the intelligence to say our Creator has done wrong or has done right according to our own expectations.

The LORD is holy in all the things He does!

We can all learn some valuable lessons down at the Potter's House!

*****Jer 18:3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

Jer 18:4 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.

There is not one living person nor any religion, including evolution and atheism, that cannot understand the work of the Potter!

What did Abraham ask?

Gen_18:25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right"?

I can tell you today that the Potter, our Lord will always do right because He does not know how to do wrong!

Doing wrong is something that is very far from the Lord.

Humans are the greatest of all God's creations and He tolerates us enough to offer choices and He respects the choices we make.

He will still allow for our repentance when we have made the wrong choice. How can anyone find fault in the ways of the Lord because there are none!

The prophet Jeremiah was not to miss this important lesson and the Holy Spirit intended for us all to visually see this lesson from the wheel of the Potter.

If we cannot see it here, then maybe we need to take a trip to the potter's house that exist today. The same lessons can still be learned!

Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

Even today there are craftsmen who make pottery basically the same way it was done in the days of Jeremiah.

There is the potter, the wheel, and his clay that he has chosen for a certain result.

Jeremiah was watching as the potter found a flaw in the work he was doing, and he looked to see if he had made a mistake when he saw a flaw in the clay and he had to start over again.

In the Potter's eyes every piece of clay contained its own individual master piece and He would make and remake each piece of clay until was satisfied that what he made was a true jewel of craftsmanship!

Then the Lord said to Jeremiah.

*****Jer 18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Jer 18:6 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.

We must understand that we are all a creation of the Master Potter and we are certainly to be a work of His own hands.

The Lord can do to people, to communities, and to nations as He pleases and remember it is the goal of the Lord that every single individual to come into a personal relationship with Him.

Sometimes people reject the truth of the Lord, but we as the children of the Lord are still to be witnesses of the truth.

Sometimes our communities reject the truth of the Lord, but we as the children of the Lord still are to be witnesses.

Sometimes our nations reject the truth of the Lord, but we as the children of God are still to be witnesses.

It is our job to witness and pray in the locations the Lord has placed us and it is the Lord who will send the Holy Spirit to convict those who have heard the Word of God and the "Gospel" of the Lord Jesus Christ!

It is the Almighty God who truly holds all His creation in the palm of His hands!

Sometimes our clay is so full of debris that the Potter must break us and start over again. In fact, when we reach that point that we are broken down completely, this is when the Potter does His greatest work!

We must certainly keep in mind that what God does today is in preparation for His Master work in the future and He just allows and prefers us be a part of it!

It is the Scriptures that take us through the history of Israel, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Phoenicia, Greece and Alexander the Great, and Rome and the circle continues until it has reached back to Israel.

We are nearing the end of the Church Age and the Lord's next move has been taught by most all the prophets of the Old Testament, beginning with the Birth of Christ.

God does not create robots, or machines that would automatically praise and worship Him, so it should be obvious that the Lord is preparing those who choose to live with Him throughout eternity!

Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Act 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

Act 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

And the truth of God as I have said, allows more than one chance to accept that what He says is true. In fact, until the day you die a physical death, you will have an opportunity to repent and be saved as long as you have not stepped over God's red line of forgiveness. Even God has a "Red Line" that must not be crossed. There is a sin unto death!

1Jn_5:16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.

1Jn_5:17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

God says just leave all these things in His hands and just tell as many as you can about the truth of the 'Gospel"!

Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Rom 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Rom 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

This truth will never change! Why would we think we could ever interfere with God's ultimate plan!

*****Jer 18:7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

Jer 18:8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

We should also understand that the wrath of God comes when we least expect it.

Luk 17:24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

Luk 17:25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

Luk 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

Luk 17:27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

Luk 17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

Luk 17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

The Lord teaches us to watch and He teaches us what to watch for, so we can know when an Age is about to end.

I firmly believe we are nearing the end of the Church Age because of the things we have already seen happen in our world and continue to happen.

The thing that is also true is the fact that when the Lord is chastising, He is craving for repentance, so He does not have to do the things He says He will destroy.

Anything that our Lord God does is out of love for His children. When God is your Father you can better understand all these things.

Again, the Lord gives us "Free Will" to make the choices we make, and the Lord will honor our choices and the Lord will spend some time teaching us why we made the wrong choice before He fulfills the things He said He would if we reject His words!

Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

Isa 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

We do not have the right to question the things that God does! We should never question the Lord's intelligence!

God does not owe us an answer to every question we ask Him! In fact the Lord does not owe us an answer to any questions we have.

The Lord says who He is and that should be enough, but He loves us too much to stop there!

*****Jer 18:9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;

Jer 18:10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

As a people how can we deny that there is a power revealing itself in the changes and the choices of human history. There is a power shaping the course of this world until it reaches that place where He has decided.

When some unexpected calamity strikes down an individual sinner, most people see this as the "judgment" of God, but it may not be judgment at all.

We cannot deny that "providence" asserts itself in human affairs.

Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Heb 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Heb 1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

Heb 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Heb 1:10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:

Heb 1:11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;

Heb 1:12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

It cannot be denied that our Divine Potter has total control of His creation.

*****Jer 18:11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

We are also foolish if we cannot see that our God, our Lord, is all about repentance!

Our Lord would have everyone to be saved so He says, "Return Return". God has so much love for all His creation that He almost begs us for repentance.

God has established "free will" but He has also established "judgment" both are His laws that must be enforced. This thing we must believe!

We can trust the Word of God to be true!

It is the law of repentance that brings "salvation"!

Eze 18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

If we choose to reject and deny the LORD, cursing His holy name, we will certainly face "judgment" and be condemned!

Act 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

What did the people of Judah say?

*****Jer 18:12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

The greatest problem we have in ourselves is, we refuse to believe that we cannot save ourselves!

It is these types that are hopeless and beyond repentance and the Lord knows who these people are, and He will recall the Holy Spirit from them and also His conviction.

These people know themselves that they are then on their own and without God!

They let the Prophet Jeremiah know he was wasting his time and again we see a reason for this Prophet of God to weep for his nation.

Carnal minds will continue to search for life’s answers in this world, where no such answers exist!

It is only by "Grace" that we can escape from the condemnation of this world!

It is only by "Faith" that we can have peace with God!

Many people are looking for salvation of another kind and another place, that simply does not exist!

So, history will certainly repeat itself on the Day of the Lord!

Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Gen 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

Again, we see that word "therefore".

*****Jer 18:13 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.

God said to Jeremiah, ask all those in the world who worship false gods if they would leave such a God as Jehovah!

If you are searching this entire world for a God who makes such promises as the Lord, one cannot be found.

The Lord presents us with a book of Scriptures that describe all His desires and all His actions and never leaves out the terrible times of His people, when others would.

Jehovah by His actions and by His Word shows that He is the only true Almighty God!

Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

The virgin Israel has certainly done a terrible thing!

*****Jer 18:14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?

We have gotten totally confused when we can forsake a greater good for something much less.

Pro 25:25 As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

We serve a God who has unlimited resources why in the world would we forsake our God for some false object that has no resources at all!

The worst thing that can happen to a military unit is for the enemy to get behind it and cut off its supplies.

When we forsake the true God of all "Grace" we have allowed Satan's false gods to come between us and our true God!

We have cut ourselves off from the fountain of living waters!

Jer_2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Jer_17:13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

When has nature changed her ways to suit the politics of any people!

The Lord God Jehovah will never change His ways to satisfy any one group of people nor for any or all people.

What was the verdict for the Judah of this day?

*****Jer 18:17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

What is the sinners doom, those who reject God's Divine Government?

They are guilty of idolatry.

They have rejected the "Mercy" of God.

They have become enemies of the Gospel.

They have forgotten the truth and traded it for lies.

They will see the wrath of God and if they do not repent. Then they will perish to a life that is not life but a place of eternal doom!

Amen!

Let's Pray!