Trust The Potter

As they make their way around uh to join us for the preaching of the word, if you have your Bibles, turn with me to the book of Jeremiah, chapter number 18. potter's wheel. There's two wheels. One worked with the feet or one worked with the hand. So he beheld the work on the wheel 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. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, "Oh house of Israel, can I not do with you as the potter? Behold, as clay, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, oh house of Israel. Now, pause right there. I feel such a word from the Lord. Sister Peggy, is so good to see you today. I feel such a word that if somebody will get what I'm going to preach today under the uncction of the Holy Ghost, your life's about to be changed. I just want to help somebody today come to a revelation and instruct you, trust the potter. Just trust the potter. If you'll trust the potter, everything's going to be okay. If you'll trust the potter, it doesn't matter what it looks like right now. Everything's going to be okay. Would you just lift your voices and lift your hands all over the house? Father, I need you today. I need your presence. I need your power. I need that anointing that can come from only you today. It's in the name of Jesus we pray. God, I commit this this service unto you and I rely on you this morning. It's in the name of Jesus we pray. Would you turn to your neighbor and just say these words? Trust the potter and you may be seated. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Just trust the potter. Trust the potter.

There are moments in scripture where God doesn't just speak. He actually shows us something. For it's in Jeremiah chapter 18 that God gives a prophetic word, but he doesn't deliver that word in the sanctuary. He doesn't deliver it in a synagogue. He doesn't deliver it on the battlefield. He doesn't deliver it on the mountaintop or in the valley below. But he would speak to the weeping prophet, "Arise and go to the potter's house." For Jeremiah would take a journey into this simple workshop. No fanfare, no crowd, no applause, just a potter and two wheels and some clay. But what Jeremiah witnessed in this somewhat of a quiet place, somewhat a lonely place, somewhat a place of misunderstanding would affect not only that generation. But I believe God has sent me to this pull pit to thunder again across this generation. FOR YOU SEE, JEREMIAH IS prophesying to a it's a rebellious people. Judah had turned away from God. Idolatry, sin, stubbornness. You can just use your imagination and let your mind wonder just how deep in the muck and the mire of sin that that Judah had gone. But God had WARNED THEM AND GOD had called them and God had promised them mercy. But they continued to resist. By the time we get to verse number 12 of Jeremiah chapter 18, the people responded with words that I feel have crept into some of your spirits today. And it was simply this. There is no hope. They had given up. They had given up on change. They had given up on repentance. Uh they had given up on God. Uh, and maybe today you sit on this Sunday morning service uh, and if you're real honest, uh, that some of you whispered these same words, uh, if not today, uh, over the last several days, uh, you have let these words creep out of your mouth, uh, and if not in your mouth, YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THEM. UH, THERE'S NO HOPE FOR my family. There's no hope for my situation. Uh, there's no hope FOR ME. BUT I'VE got a word from God UH THAT JEREMIAH GOT FROM THE LORD. GO TO THE POTTER'S HOUSE. UH AND I'M ABOUT TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING. I'M ABOUT TO GIVE YOU A REVELATION OF JUST HOW POWERFUL I AM. Praise God.

Jeremiah walked with me would go down that cobblestone path and he would walk down at the instruction of the Lord and he SEES THAT FAMILIAR POTTER sitting at a wheel, hands working, feet working, doing something that he was doing every day of the week. Every day he showed up, he was making vessels. He was doing his job. But when I look in the natural, it gives sight into something so beautifully in the spiritual. The clay number one was being formed. The potter had that lump of clay on the wheel. It wasn't finished. It was just in the process. Number two, that clay was marred in the hand. IT WAS MARRED IN the hand of the man who could do something with it. there. The Bible said it was marred in the hands of the potter. I don't know if you know what marred is to most people, but something went wrong. Maybe it was a flaw. Maybe the pressure uh was uneven. Maybe the resistance IN THE CLAY CAUSED THAT piece of clay to be marred. But it does matter whose hand you're marred in. The Bible said it was marred. But here is the revelation that I feel so strong. THE POTTER DIDN'T THROW the clay away. He didn't get frustrated with the clay. HE DIDN'T TOSS IT ASIDE. HE DIDN'T SAY this piece is useless. Uh but let me tell you what the potter did in the natural. He made it again another vessel. Uh the same CLAY UH IN THE SAME HANDS UH ON THE SAME WHEEL HE STARTED AGAIN AND MADE IT ANOTHER VESSEL. THE BIBLE SAYS, "AS IT SEEMED GOOD TO THE potter to make," somebody say, "Same clay." Same clay, same hands, same feet, SAME FEET, SAME WHEELS, SAME WHEEL, but another vessel. You are the clay, sir. You are the clay, man. And God would say to that to that prophet, "Oh house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter did with the clay?" God was saying to the prophet Jeremiah, "You're the clay. I'm the potter." I want you to let that settle right there in your spirit. UH THAT WE ARE NOT SELF-MADE. We are not self- sustained. Uh we are not in control, BUT LET ME TELL SOMEBODY IN THE HOLY GHOST. UH YOU MAY NOT FEEL LIKE IT RIGHT NOW, BUT YOU'RE IN THE HANDS OF A LIVING GOD. YOU'RE IN the hands of a merciful God. You're in the hands today OF A MERCIFUL SAVIOR THAT HAS YOU IN THE PALM OF HIS HANDS.

But here's where we fall short so many times. We must learn to trust the potter. I know I hit this in Sunday school, but the Lord is bringing me back around. The potter sees what you can't see. Can I just take Let's Let's just rip the mask off. You're not the potter. You're the clay. Sometimes I think we think we're the potter, but we can never remove ourselves from the from the equation that he's the potter, I'm the clay, he sees what I can't see. And when I'm on the wheel, it doesn't understand the pressure. WHEN YOU'RE ON THE WHEEL, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW FAST HIS HANDS MAY MOVE. YOU MAY NOT UNDERSTAND HOW SLOW HIS FEET MAY GO. You may have said this morning, "Why am I being pressured? Why am I spinning out of control? Why is this so uncomfortable?" Hear me in the Holy Ghost. The potter sees the finished vessel. You're still the clay. You're still in his hands. You're still under his control. God knows exactly what he's doing in your life. even when it doesn't make sense. Uh, do I have some witnesses in this house today that you would raise your hand AND SAY, "PASTOR, I don't understand where I'm at. I don't understand what I'm going through. I don't understand why the pressure. Why? Why? Why? He does. You just got to trust THE POTTER." BECAUSE THE POTTER OH, I feel my THE POTTER USES PRESSURE on purpose. THAT SPINNING ISN'T PUNISHMENT. You You want to know what it is? It's process. If the pressure wasn't there, you wouldn't end up the way you ought to. If the pressure wasn't there, the process couldn't be complete. For the pressure is what SHAPES YOU. THE STRETCHING IS WHAT STRENGTHENS YOU. THE FRICTION is what forms you. UH IF HE'S REACHING DOWN INTO YOUR VESSEL RIGHT NOW, IT'S SAYING, "I'M TRYING TO GET OUT OF THAT. I'M TRYING TO GET THAT BITTERNESS OUT. I'M TRYING TO GET HE'S GETTING ON THE INSIDE OF THAT VESSEL AND SAYING, "THERE'S SOME STUFF IN YOU THAT I'M TRYING TO FORM. THERE'S SOME THINGS IN YOU THAT I CAN'T MAKE YOU TO BE UNTIL I get I GOT TO GET MY HANDS DOWN. IT'S NOT JUST ON THE OUTSIDE. SEE, WE LOOK GOOD ON THE OUTSIDE. WE GOT OUR CHURCH CLOTHES ON ON THE OUTSIDE, BUT I'M NOT PREACHING TO THE OUTER MAN. I'M PREACHING TO THE INWARD MAN WHERE HIS FEET ARE WORKING AND HIS HANDS ARE WORKING. AND HE'S SAYING, "WILL YOU LET ME STRETCH YOU?" All right. Can I get in where nobody can see? Can I? If you're under pressure right now, it may be because God's forming something in you that couldn't come out any other way. Oh, it's the process. It's not punishment. The potter doesn't discard. Somebody needs to unbuckle their seat belts. There's something trying to break loose in this house. The potter doesn't discard. He restores.

Well, I've gone out far. The I've gone too far. I've committed too much and I've done this and I've done that. The devil is a lie. I rebuke that mindset and that thought pattern in the name of Jesus. Uh I've come to remind you, you're still clay. UH THERE'S STILL PURPOSE. UH THERE'S STILL UH SOMETHING INSIDE OF YOU. YOU'VE NOT GONE TOO FAR, SIR. YOU'VE NOT GONE TOO FAR, MA'AM. YOU'VE GOT PURPOSE. AND THE PROCESS IS UH NOT TO DISCARD YOU BUT TO RESTORE. I KNOW WHAT I FELT. THE ENEMY'S TRIED TO TELL YOU MESSED UP TOO BAD. YOU FAILED TOO MANY TIMES. GOD'S DONE WITH YOU. The devil is a lie. Jeremiah saw something different. When the clay was small, the potter didn't throw it away. He just remade it. Same clay, same hands, same wheels, new vessel. Well, this church be better off without me. The devil is a lie. This church would be better off. The devil is a lie. No, no, no, no. I rebuke that mindset in the name of Jesus. You're just in the process of transformation. You're just in the process of of the potter putting you on that wheel to create you into what he has designed for you to become. The potter did not throw the clay away. He just remade it. Amen. Let me just help you, brother Kenny. HE WOULD RATHER REMAKE YOU THAN TO DESTROY YOU. HE WOULD RATHER REMAKE US THAN TO DISCARD US. THAT OUGHT TO GIVE YOU HOPE ON A SUNDAY THAT HE LOVES ME SO MUCH. HIS MERCY IS SO REAL THAT HE WOULD RATHER REMAKE ME THAN TO THROW me away. HE WOULD RATHER REMAKE me than to discard me. Come on, brother Codingham. He'd rather remake us. Your failure is not final, sir. Your failure is not final. Ma'am, no. Your brokenness is not the end. Your story is not over. I said your story is not over. You still got the pen in your hand. It's time to flip the page and start writing a new chapter. THIS CHAPTER OF RENEWAL THIS CHAPTER OF REDEMPTION. THIS CHAPTER OF RESTORATION. UH WE'RE STUCK IN AN OLD CHAPTER. AND GOD SAYS, "YOU'RE IN MY HANDS. UH YOU'RE ON MY WILL. MY HANDS AND MY FEET ARE WORKING FOR YOU. He'd rather remake me and throw me away. I think sometimes I'm going to be got to be careful right here. I do believe in the judgments of God, but I'm telling you, I see a God that's sitting on a mercy seat today. I see a God still issuing out mercy. There'll come a day of mercy. There'll come a day when the mercy ceases and the judgments of God will be poured out. But today ain't the day for judgment. Today's the day for mercy. Today's the day where you can walk to an oldfashioned altar and say, "Here I am. I'm the mar. I'm the messed up. I'm the mixed up." And if you could just be honest with yourself today and I could encourage you right now with this one thing. If there's anyone under the sound of my voice that you're grateful that he did not throw you away, would you stand with the redeemed today with praise on your lips and worshiping? I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE TODAY AND YOU'RE STRUGGLING. I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND YOU'RE WONDERING, "GOD, HAVE YOU LOVED ME? HAVE YOU FORGIVEN ME?" LOOK AROUND THIS ROOM. LOOK AROUND THIS AUDIENCE. YOU'RE SEEING PEOPLE WHO WERE MARRED IN HIS HANDS. But he remade us. He remade me. He didn't throw the clay away. He didn't do it.

The enemy would love to convince you there is no hope. Catch a second wind. You can be seated. The enemy would love to tell you, sir, there's no hope. There's no way this can work out. Do you hear this old pastor today? There is a danger in saying there is no hope. I got to get that out of your spirit today. Verse 12 reveals there is no hope. Here's the the great deception. But we will walk after our own devices. When people lose hope, they stop turning to God. And when they stop turning to God, they turn deeper into sin. But God's about to wake up some young men and young women. God's waking up a generation right now that are sick and tired of playing the devil's games. They're tired of playing the role that hell has tried to cause them to play. He's trying to He has tried his best to let devices and let things turn them from trusting the potter and trusting God in their circumstances. Because here, I've got a word for you. I've got a word for your prodals. I've got a word for your sons and your daughters. As long as God is still working, there is hope. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I BELIEVE THIS. I DON'T CARE IF THEY ARE IN A JAIL CELL RIGHT NOW. THERE'S STILL HOPE. I DON'T CARE IF THEY ARE IN A HOSPITAL BED, IN AN INSANE ASYLUM. I DON'T CARE WHERE THEY ARE. AS LONG AS GOD IS WORKING, THERE IS HOPE. As long AS THEY CAN HEAR THAT STILL SMALL VOICE, THERE IS HOPE. AS LONG AS I GOT A MOM AND A DADDY THAT'S HITTING THEIR KNEES IN PRAYER, THERE IS HOPE. As long AS I'VE GOT A FEW ELDERS THAT ARE JOIN WITH ME AND SAY, "HE DID IT FOR MY BABIES." I BELIEVE HE CAN do it for yours. If he did it for my home, he can do it for your home. Let's get If he did it for my marriage, he can do it for your marriage. He do it for my kids, he can do it for your kids. If he can reach right down in a hospital room right now, Brother Brian, and touch that baby. How can you say because he's done it before? He can reach on the death bit of affliction. And raise them up cuz he's done it before. Here is what you've got to get in your spirit today. Hope is not in your ability. Hope is in his hands. I hope. Therefore, I trust. I hope. Therefore, I trust what he's doing. Brother Guzman, I don't understand life. It's cruel. But I got I got to trust his hands. He's making something beautiful out of me. He's making something to behold. Could it be he's making something to carry glory in? Could it be he's creating you a vessel of honor and purpose to carry his glory in? He goes, "You just got to trust the potter."

God makes it so crystal clear. If a nation can turn from evil, he will relent. the words that he had already spoken of judgment over them if they would just turn. If God can be merciful to a nation, what would happen when people repent? He will restore. I'll restore unto you the years. He didn't say days. He said years that the caterpillar and the palmer worm. I'll restore those years that you thought had been eaten up. When you're in the hands of the potter, he can create things as beyond your wildest imaginations. Uh he can restore and renew time into your life and give you fresh vitality to do what you never thought you would thought possible. When you remain in the hands and trust the one who holds you and you get this revelation. Oh, here's where

here's where we're at today, church. This message is not about being shaped. I know I've talked about the vessel. I talked about him reaching in and forming you its process. If you're ever going to trust the potter, you lose the fixation of the shape of your vessel. It's more about being surrendered. We can go get We can get so fixated on the shape of our vessels. We spend a lot of money to get the shape of our vessels straightened out. Ain't that right, Dr. Weaver? I probably need to get some of this stretched and pulled and little lipo, little Botox. Oh, I ain't going to call nobody's name. Y'all just bear with me in my illustration. This isn't about being shaped. It's about being surrendered. Clay doesn't fight the potter. Clay doesn't resist the hand. Clay simply yield. You got to yield to it. The longer you refuse to yield, the more he's going to have to reach in. I don't know about you, but I don't like him digging too much out. That hurts. That's painful cuz I I thought I had dealt with that. But he said, "I I got to reach in there one more time. I thought I was over that." You got to trust the process. He's still calling you to surrender to his hands. He's still saying today, if you'll turn from sin and turn to me, I'll make you a new vessel. Another vessel. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Today. I got a word for this church. Got a word for some mamas. And I got a word for some daddies today. I'm telling you, as I sat in my chair last night, said, "God, I I know what you've put into me, and I know what you want me to say to this church. I'm just going to speak. Sanctuary Community Church, you're in the hands of the potter when things don't make sense. Trust him when your life feels marred. Trust him. When the pressure increases, trust him. Here's one thing you need to leave this house in a few moments with a a clear understanding. Hear me and hear me loud. He is not confused with your clay. He's not confused with your clay. He's not careless with your calling. He didn't put that call in your life to withdraw. He didn't put that anointing ON HE DIDN'T PUT that anointing on you. No, he put it in there and he factored in everything you would do. He's not confused with who you are. But here's the greatest of all of those revelations. He's not finished with your story because he's going to take everything you've done. He's going to take every sin and every mistake and every every word, every deed, and all of that is already factored into the feet and the hands of the potter. And he knows just how fast. He knows how TO FORM YOU. HE KNOWS HOW TO MAKE. HE'S NOT CONFUSED. HE'S NOT CARELESS, BUT HE'S NOT FINISHED. HE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HE'S DOING. AND when he gets finished, you're going to STAND WITH THE REST OF THE REDEEMED, UH, WHO HAD BEEN through the process, UH, AND YOU'RE GOING TO DECLARE, UH, ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD. UH, EVERYTHING I WENT THROUGH, EVERYTHING I COMMITTED, UH, EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED, it was for my good. It was from a Yeah, it was. Fill in the blank. And if you could just get an it. It It was in your spirit. Fill in the blank. And somebody say it was. It was for my good. Broken. It was marred. It was unworthy, abused, hopeless. It was for my good.

The thing that I must get us to now not only believe but to respond to as our musicians come is you've got to you've got to flip the thinking process because you've believed a lie that God's done with you when the potter's still working. I'm going to say that again. You've believed the lie that God's done with you, but I took a trip to the potter's house in the spirit and you're still on the wheel. You're still being worked on, sir. You're still being worked on, ma'am. Don't you give up in this moment of process. Don't you give up on the in this moment of frustration. He's not looking to throw you away. He's ready and looking to remake you. Thank you, Lord. But for for us to be remade, we must surrender the temptation for the clay. Just take me off the wheel. The change is is too painful. It hurts too much. I don't understand. Just Just I want to jump off the wheel. I don't trust his hand cuz I don't know his heart. The clay must surrender. It doesn't jump off the wheel. It doesn't harden against his hand. It doesn't dictate the design. Let me tell you what it does. It yields. It yields to the hand of the potter. It says, it says today to your spirit, will you surrender to my hands? I know your hands are fixed hands. I know your hands that they can work anything out. Your hands can figure it all. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. But marred clay can only be fixed with nail scarred hands. Marred clay can only be fixed with nail scarred hands. Not my hands. Not your hands. The only way that marred clay can be fixed is when you say, "God, I surrender. I repent. I turn from my sin. I place my life back into his hands. There's always hope when you're in his hands. There's always hope. If you knew his hands were here today, literally, if you knew his hands were here and he was standing before you, how would you respond? If you knew a trip to the potter's house would change the rest of your life, how would you respond? Would you stay in your seat? Would you let that seat hold you captive? There it is. Would you Would you stay in your seat? Would you Would you say, "I got to I got to go to the potter's house. I got to get back in his hands. I got I I can't keep doing things with my hands when his hands are calling me and his hands his feet are trying to direct me and his hands are trying to shave me." Oh. Oh, God. His hands are here. His feet are here. But I'm going to tell you the most important part of what he did not see at the potter's house. He saw hands and feet. But what Jeremiah got a revelation of that the Bible did not say specifically, he got a revelation of the heart. of the potter. He could see his hands. He could see his feet. But what God was trying to show Jeremiah, if you only knew my heart. My hands are working. Yes, my feet are working. Yes, but my heart is what I long for you to know. I want you to know my love. I want you to know my mercy. I want you to know how much I love you. In spite of your martness, I will make you again another vessel.

Are you here today? Have you walked into this house needing to be remade? Do you need to be born again of the water and the spirit? You're at the right place at the right time. The potter's hands. The hands are saying, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I'll I'll give you rest. Come unto me and I'll make you a new creation. Come unto me, sir. Come unto me, man. Come unto me. Come into agreement with the calling and anointing I put over your life. come into the agreement of my love for you. They're going to sing, but I want you to pray. Brea.