Messages on Christian Living
God is the Potter and I am the Clay
by Pastor John Khng
Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 18:1-10
I. Surrender – Jer 18:4
II. Submission - Jer 18:6
III. Subjection - Jer 18:7-10
During the preparation of this message, I read a number of articles on pottery and watch some videos on making of pots. My daughter, Anna Joy looked over my shoulder and saw me watching how to make pots and asked why are you learning how to make pots? I jokingly told her that this could be my retirement job – become a potter to make pots. There are some pottery factories in Singapore. Our church visited one called Ming Village a few years ago.
We know that a potter is one who makes the pots and pots are made out of clay but what is Clay?
"Clay is very fine particles of dirt which float in a stream or river and then sink to the bottom, where they press on each other and stick together. You generally find clay along the banks of a river or stream, wherever the river is pulling dirt down off the mountains or hills and dropping it in a quiet part of the river lower down. So people who live in river valleys, like the Harappans or the Egyptians or the Sumerians, generally can find a lot of clay.
What is so cool about clay (besides that it is easy and cheap to get) is that it is squishy when it is wet, so you can make it any shape you like, and then it dries hard in the sun, pretty fast, as the water evaporates out. If you dry clay in the sun you can make it soft again just by throwing it in a bucket of water and waiting a week or two.
But if you put your clay pot or sculpture in a fire, or in an oven (an oven for clay is called a kiln) and bake it for a while very hot, the clay is even harder and it will not get soft again even if you put it in water for a long time. This is called firing. People first began to fire clay about 6000 BC." - http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/arts/clay.htm
We are clay is very clear from God’s Word – Gen 2:7 - as mentioned clay is very fine particles of dirt that press on each other and stick together – a potter in a video I watched illustrated this by taking two thin flat pieces of glass and he poured some water over a piece of the flat glasses and then he stick the other flat glass onto the wet glass and the two pieces stick together and it takes some effort to tear them apart.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
God is the potter is also very clear from the Bible - Isa 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
Three Words to Remember from Jer 18:1-10
I. Surrender – Jer 18:4
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.
A) “Marred” – Ruined – Jeremiah saw the potter took a moistened lump of clay and place it on the potter’s wheel. The potter began to shape the lump according to the design or shape he has in His mind. He shape the clay by placing his hands against the lump and applying pressure on it while spinning the wheel. Fascinating to see the wall of the pot, bowl or cup rising up. As it nears completion, the clay collapsed – crumbled to the base of the wheel. The potter did not sweep away the broken clay but collect them back and make again another vessel. Why would the clay collapse? The problem is with the clay not the potter. I noticed by watching those videos on pot making that by the time the clay goes onto the potter’s wheel, the impurities and the air would have been removed unless there are some hidden ones that were not detected and only show up during the molding process. The main reason for collapse is that the clay could not take the pressure that was applied to it – many Christians collapse under molding pressure – due to lack of strength or due to resisting - refuse to yield to God’s molding their lives.
Difference between clay and human – clay has no will but human has a will. We are picture as clay so we are to learn the principle of surrendering our will to God
Surrender is a forgotten word today. It is the potter who does the molding and shaping of the clay. He knows what He wants the finished product to be and look like. The clay is totally under his control. It has to be 100% yielded to him, not 50%, not even 99%. The clay MUST YIELD to the potter's hand if it is to become something useful. We yield to God by surrendering our will
B) “He Made it Again another vessel” – Thank God He hasn’t given up on us. He gave us a second chance, a third chance, etc - Remaking
C) “As seemed good to the potter to make it”
1) We want to do and to be what seemed good to us – this is call self-will – we should desire to be what seemed good to God.
2) Parents want their children to be what seemed good to them – not always on target – should desire our children to be what seemed good to God – encourage them to pursue God’s will for their lives – no worry - always on target.
What we become depends on how we response to God’s dealings in our lives.
Examples – Abraham from an idol worshipper (Josh 24:2) to become a Friend of God (Jas 2:23), a father of those who believe (Rom 4:16); Jacob from a deceiver to a prince of Israel (Gen 27:36; 32:28); Joseph from a prisoner to become a prime minister in Egypt, David from a shepherd boy to become a king of Israel and a Man after God’s own heart. Peter from a denier of Christ to become an apostle to the Jews; Paul from a persecutor of Christ to become an apostle to the Gentiles.
Misconception: surrender to God means passive living – wrong – it means actively serving the Lord – grieves God’s heart that His people are actively serving self and the world.
Every Christian needs to surrender to God’s molding to become a useful vessel in His hand
Surrender to Preach
Brother George Honeycutt tells a real life adventure story about a friend of his who refused to surrender to preach the word of God.
During WWII his friend was aboard a destroyer in the North Atlantic, when torpedoes were spotted rapidly approaching his ship. His Friend prayed “Lord I’ll preach the word of God if you protect us”
At that very moment a rogue wave came from no where and lifted the bow of the ship enabling the torpedoes to pass under without destroying them. His friend surrendered faithfully to the call.
Because of his surrender to God - physical and spiritual lives were saved.
God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him. - Andrew Murray.
II. Submission - Jer 18:6
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.
A. “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter?” - Ans: Yes
B. “Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.”
C. God has the right to deal with Israel and also has the right to deal with us.
D. Are you the potter or are you the clay? Since we are the clay, our response should be that of submission.
E. Isa 45:9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
Amplified Bible
Woe to him who strives with his Maker!--a worthless piece of broken pottery among other pieces equally worthless [and yet presuming to strive with his Maker]! Shall the clay say to him who fashions it, What do you think you are making? or, Your work has no handles?
F. Rom 9:19 - 24 - Israel rejected Christ so God rejected Israel and the Gospel came to the Gentiles. Same apply to individual – if you reject Christ, the blessing of salvation will go to those who receive Him
G. Hymn - Have Thine own way, Lord by Adelaide Pollard
Have Thine own way, Lord, Have Thine own way;
Thou art the Potter; I am the clay.
Mould me and make me After Thy will,
While I am waiting, Yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord, Have Thine own way;
Search me and try me, Master, today.
Whiter than snow, Lord, Wash me just now,
As in Thy presence Humbly I bow.
Have Thine own way, Lord, Have Thine own way;
Wounded and weary, Help me, I pray.
Power, all power, Surely is Thine;
Touch me and heal me, Saviour divine.
Have Thine own way, Lord, Have Thine own way;
Hold o'er my being Absolute sway.
Fill with Thy Spirit Till all shall see
Christ only, always, Living in me.
HYMN HISTORY: (from sermon audio.com)
A young woman sat in a prayer meeting over eighty years ago. She was so pressed down by the weight of despair that she was hardly able to concentrate on what the speaker was saying.
Adelaide Pollard had a burden for the continent of Africa and was convinced that God wanted her to go there as a missionary. She had been on the very point of sailing away but then had to cancel everything, because the necessary funds just couldn't be raised. You can imagine her disappointment.
As she sat there the words of a prayer, often uttered by an old lady she knew, came into her thoughts: 'It's all right, Lord! It doesn't matter what you bring into our lives; just have your own way with us!'
In a moment her burden had lifted as she bowed in submission to the will of God.
Running home that night she meditated on the story of the potter, recorded by Jeremiah:
'Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand oft he potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.' Jeremiah 18:3,4.
These words seemed to fit Miss Pollard's own life and experiences exactly.
Adelaide Pollard had been born in Iowa in 1862. She had been well educated and for several years taught in a girl's school. She also had a talent for writing, both prose and poetry, and produced many religious artides, as well as a few hymns.
But her real concern was for the lost. She longed to see them reached with the message of Christ Jesus. Eventually, she began a ministry in Bible teaching and, travelling widely throughout the United States, spoke to numerous groups and churches.
Miss Pollard was also passionately interested in foreign missions. For a while she taught at the Missionary Training Institute at Nyack, New York and hoped that she would, herself, be a missionary one day. However, now it seemed that God, who had been with her all her life, was suddenly deserting her.
'But,' she thought, 'perhaps my questioning of God's will shows a flaw in my life, so God has decided to break me, as the potter broke the defective vessel, and then to mould my life again - in His own pattern,'
As she bowed in humble consecration before God, the words of a poem took shape in her mind, and she wrote:
Have Thine own way, Lord!
Have Thine own way!
Thou art the potter;
I am the clay.
Mould me and make me
after Thy will,
While I am waiting,
yielded and still.
Adelaide Pollard had learned that even Christians can be self-centred, self-possessed and self-willed. Even when doing God's work, like her planned trip to Africa, she had to be careful lest it be done in the wisdom and strength of self.
In God's own time he allowed her to go to Africa. She also spent several years in England during the first World War, returning later to her travelling ministry in the USA.
She continued to speak publicly until the age of 72 when, on her way to yet another meeting, she was taken ill in a railway station in New York City and died soon after.
The world will always have cause to be thankful for the life and ministry of that frail little woman who wrote:
Have Thine own way, Lord,
Have Thine own way;
Hold o're my being
Absolute sway.
Fill with Thy Spirit
Till all shall see
Christ only, always,
Living in me.
III. Subjection - Jer 18:7-10
Subjection both in bad times and in good times
When God judges us and if we stop doing evil, God will withhold His judgment – Jer 18:7-8
When God blesses us and if we start doing evil, God will withhold His blessings – Jer 18:9-10
Conclusion: Who Shapes Who?
God shapes you or you shape yourself?
God shapes you or you allow the world to shape you?
God shapes you or you allow your friends to shape you?
Do not let popular culture to shape you.
Do not let the pop stars, the idols, the actors and actresses to shape you
Do not let Hollywood, Soap Operas and Advertisements to shape you.
Do not let the worldly thinking, worldly philosophies to shape you.
Let God shape you.
Live your Christian according to the principle of surrender, submission and subjection.
Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 18:1-10
I. Surrender – Jer 18:4
II. Submission - Jer 18:6
III. Subjection - Jer 18:7-10
During the preparation of this message, I read a number of articles on pottery and watch some videos on making of pots. My daughter, Anna Joy looked over my shoulder and saw me watching how to make pots and asked why are you learning how to make pots? I jokingly told her that this could be my retirement job – become a potter to make pots. There are some pottery factories in Singapore. Our church visited one called Ming Village a few years ago.
We know that a potter is one who makes the pots and pots are made out of clay but what is Clay?
"Clay is very fine particles of dirt which float in a stream or river and then sink to the bottom, where they press on each other and stick together. You generally find clay along the banks of a river or stream, wherever the river is pulling dirt down off the mountains or hills and dropping it in a quiet part of the river lower down. So people who live in river valleys, like the Harappans or the Egyptians or the Sumerians, generally can find a lot of clay.
What is so cool about clay (besides that it is easy and cheap to get) is that it is squishy when it is wet, so you can make it any shape you like, and then it dries hard in the sun, pretty fast, as the water evaporates out. If you dry clay in the sun you can make it soft again just by throwing it in a bucket of water and waiting a week or two.
But if you put your clay pot or sculpture in a fire, or in an oven (an oven for clay is called a kiln) and bake it for a while very hot, the clay is even harder and it will not get soft again even if you put it in water for a long time. This is called firing. People first began to fire clay about 6000 BC." - http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/arts/clay.htm
We are clay is very clear from God’s Word – Gen 2:7 - as mentioned clay is very fine particles of dirt that press on each other and stick together – a potter in a video I watched illustrated this by taking two thin flat pieces of glass and he poured some water over a piece of the flat glasses and then he stick the other flat glass onto the wet glass and the two pieces stick together and it takes some effort to tear them apart.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
God is the potter is also very clear from the Bible - Isa 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
Three Words to Remember from Jer 18:1-10
I. Surrender – Jer 18:4
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.
A) “Marred” – Ruined – Jeremiah saw the potter took a moistened lump of clay and place it on the potter’s wheel. The potter began to shape the lump according to the design or shape he has in His mind. He shape the clay by placing his hands against the lump and applying pressure on it while spinning the wheel. Fascinating to see the wall of the pot, bowl or cup rising up. As it nears completion, the clay collapsed – crumbled to the base of the wheel. The potter did not sweep away the broken clay but collect them back and make again another vessel. Why would the clay collapse? The problem is with the clay not the potter. I noticed by watching those videos on pot making that by the time the clay goes onto the potter’s wheel, the impurities and the air would have been removed unless there are some hidden ones that were not detected and only show up during the molding process. The main reason for collapse is that the clay could not take the pressure that was applied to it – many Christians collapse under molding pressure – due to lack of strength or due to resisting - refuse to yield to God’s molding their lives.
Difference between clay and human – clay has no will but human has a will. We are picture as clay so we are to learn the principle of surrendering our will to God
Surrender is a forgotten word today. It is the potter who does the molding and shaping of the clay. He knows what He wants the finished product to be and look like. The clay is totally under his control. It has to be 100% yielded to him, not 50%, not even 99%. The clay MUST YIELD to the potter's hand if it is to become something useful. We yield to God by surrendering our will
B) “He Made it Again another vessel” – Thank God He hasn’t given up on us. He gave us a second chance, a third chance, etc - Remaking
C) “As seemed good to the potter to make it”
1) We want to do and to be what seemed good to us – this is call self-will – we should desire to be what seemed good to God.
2) Parents want their children to be what seemed good to them – not always on target – should desire our children to be what seemed good to God – encourage them to pursue God’s will for their lives – no worry - always on target.
What we become depends on how we response to God’s dealings in our lives.
Examples – Abraham from an idol worshipper (Josh 24:2) to become a Friend of God (Jas 2:23), a father of those who believe (Rom 4:16); Jacob from a deceiver to a prince of Israel (Gen 27:36; 32:28); Joseph from a prisoner to become a prime minister in Egypt, David from a shepherd boy to become a king of Israel and a Man after God’s own heart. Peter from a denier of Christ to become an apostle to the Jews; Paul from a persecutor of Christ to become an apostle to the Gentiles.
Misconception: surrender to God means passive living – wrong – it means actively serving the Lord – grieves God’s heart that His people are actively serving self and the world.
Every Christian needs to surrender to God’s molding to become a useful vessel in His hand
Surrender to Preach
Brother George Honeycutt tells a real life adventure story about a friend of his who refused to surrender to preach the word of God.
During WWII his friend was aboard a destroyer in the North Atlantic, when torpedoes were spotted rapidly approaching his ship. His Friend prayed “Lord I’ll preach the word of God if you protect us”
At that very moment a rogue wave came from no where and lifted the bow of the ship enabling the torpedoes to pass under without destroying them. His friend surrendered faithfully to the call.
Because of his surrender to God - physical and spiritual lives were saved.
God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him. - Andrew Murray.
II. Submission - Jer 18:6
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.
A. “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter?” - Ans: Yes
B. “Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.”
C. God has the right to deal with Israel and also has the right to deal with us.
D. Are you the potter or are you the clay? Since we are the clay, our response should be that of submission.
E. Isa 45:9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
Amplified Bible
Woe to him who strives with his Maker!--a worthless piece of broken pottery among other pieces equally worthless [and yet presuming to strive with his Maker]! Shall the clay say to him who fashions it, What do you think you are making? or, Your work has no handles?
F. Rom 9:19 - 24 - Israel rejected Christ so God rejected Israel and the Gospel came to the Gentiles. Same apply to individual – if you reject Christ, the blessing of salvation will go to those who receive Him
G. Hymn - Have Thine own way, Lord by Adelaide Pollard
Have Thine own way, Lord, Have Thine own way;
Thou art the Potter; I am the clay.
Mould me and make me After Thy will,
While I am waiting, Yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord, Have Thine own way;
Search me and try me, Master, today.
Whiter than snow, Lord, Wash me just now,
As in Thy presence Humbly I bow.
Have Thine own way, Lord, Have Thine own way;
Wounded and weary, Help me, I pray.
Power, all power, Surely is Thine;
Touch me and heal me, Saviour divine.
Have Thine own way, Lord, Have Thine own way;
Hold o'er my being Absolute sway.
Fill with Thy Spirit Till all shall see
Christ only, always, Living in me.
HYMN HISTORY: (from sermon audio.com)
A young woman sat in a prayer meeting over eighty years ago. She was so pressed down by the weight of despair that she was hardly able to concentrate on what the speaker was saying.
Adelaide Pollard had a burden for the continent of Africa and was convinced that God wanted her to go there as a missionary. She had been on the very point of sailing away but then had to cancel everything, because the necessary funds just couldn't be raised. You can imagine her disappointment.
As she sat there the words of a prayer, often uttered by an old lady she knew, came into her thoughts: 'It's all right, Lord! It doesn't matter what you bring into our lives; just have your own way with us!'
In a moment her burden had lifted as she bowed in submission to the will of God.
Running home that night she meditated on the story of the potter, recorded by Jeremiah:
'Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand oft he potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.' Jeremiah 18:3,4.
These words seemed to fit Miss Pollard's own life and experiences exactly.
Adelaide Pollard had been born in Iowa in 1862. She had been well educated and for several years taught in a girl's school. She also had a talent for writing, both prose and poetry, and produced many religious artides, as well as a few hymns.
But her real concern was for the lost. She longed to see them reached with the message of Christ Jesus. Eventually, she began a ministry in Bible teaching and, travelling widely throughout the United States, spoke to numerous groups and churches.
Miss Pollard was also passionately interested in foreign missions. For a while she taught at the Missionary Training Institute at Nyack, New York and hoped that she would, herself, be a missionary one day. However, now it seemed that God, who had been with her all her life, was suddenly deserting her.
'But,' she thought, 'perhaps my questioning of God's will shows a flaw in my life, so God has decided to break me, as the potter broke the defective vessel, and then to mould my life again - in His own pattern,'
As she bowed in humble consecration before God, the words of a poem took shape in her mind, and she wrote:
Have Thine own way, Lord!
Have Thine own way!
Thou art the potter;
I am the clay.
Mould me and make me
after Thy will,
While I am waiting,
yielded and still.
Adelaide Pollard had learned that even Christians can be self-centred, self-possessed and self-willed. Even when doing God's work, like her planned trip to Africa, she had to be careful lest it be done in the wisdom and strength of self.
In God's own time he allowed her to go to Africa. She also spent several years in England during the first World War, returning later to her travelling ministry in the USA.
She continued to speak publicly until the age of 72 when, on her way to yet another meeting, she was taken ill in a railway station in New York City and died soon after.
The world will always have cause to be thankful for the life and ministry of that frail little woman who wrote:
Have Thine own way, Lord,
Have Thine own way;
Hold o're my being
Absolute sway.
Fill with Thy Spirit
Till all shall see
Christ only, always,
Living in me.
III. Subjection - Jer 18:7-10
Subjection both in bad times and in good times
When God judges us and if we stop doing evil, God will withhold His judgment – Jer 18:7-8
When God blesses us and if we start doing evil, God will withhold His blessings – Jer 18:9-10
Conclusion: Who Shapes Who?
God shapes you or you shape yourself?
God shapes you or you allow the world to shape you?
God shapes you or you allow your friends to shape you?
Do not let popular culture to shape you.
Do not let the pop stars, the idols, the actors and actresses to shape you
Do not let Hollywood, Soap Operas and Advertisements to shape you.
Do not let the worldly thinking, worldly philosophies to shape you.
Let God shape you.
Live your Christian according to the principle of surrender, submission and subjection.
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