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Wednesday night teaching series.
This message by Pastor Kenneth Bent.
Shaping the Clay
Review of Previous Teaching:
Scripture:
Jeremiah 18:1-6 (NIV)
1 ¶ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
2 "Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message."
3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.
4 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.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me:
6 "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.
3 things involved in making a clay pot:
1. The Potter
2. The Clay
3. The Process
Of course we easily understand:
1. God is the Potter
He gets to choose how He wants us to be when He is finished making us:
2. We are the clay
3. There evidently is a parallel process which is used by the Potter to make something valuable, useful, and desirable from the clay.
Five Steps for a Potter Making a Vessel
Step 1: Choosing the Clay
Step 2. Preparing the Clay - Washing and Treading
Step 3. Centered on the Wheel
Step 4. Shaping
Step 5. The Fire
Step 1: Choosing the Clay
We are dug out of the pit of sin by God’s gracious hand.
Psalms 40 NKJV
1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry.
2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.
Step 2. Preparing the Clay - Washing and Treading
God begins the work of Sanctification in our lives.
The clay must first be washed to remove the exterior dirt, mire and surface impurities. This initial washing will not be the last time the clay will see the potter use water to aid the process. Of course we understand the natural water of the potter to be a representation of spiritual water which is the Word of God.
Ephesians 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.
Water was used not only to begin the cleansing process but also to soften the clay and keep it workable. Now begins the treading process.
The potter, and/or others assigned the duty by him, would begin to tread upon the clay, stomp it, and jump up and down on it. He does this to get the pockets of air out of the clay, mix it good within itself to bring about a balance in the consistency of the clay, and to help identify for removal any foreign objects dangerous to the process. All during the preparation process the potter is gauging the purity and consistency of the clay. It is the goal of the potter to prepare the clay mixture so that it is ready to be placed on the potter’s wheel for shaping. Perhaps this time of preparation is the most important step in the process of clay becoming the beautiful and useful vessel the potter envisioned when he first went down into the pit.
We must all be prepared for use and submit ourselves to the cleansing and kneading processes of God.
Step 3. Centered on the Wheel
Thus far the potter has taken the clay out of the pit, prepared it, placed it on the rock, and has now established its goings. After the potter places this lump, this glob of clay on the wheel and sets it to spin, he places his hands on the clay, not to shape the clay, but to center it. At first the clay fights with the potter’s hands, as you can imagine, uncentered on the rock, each time it comes around to the potter’s hands it finds resistance.
Clay is centered when it no longer resists!
We must not be:
Eccentric
Egocentric
Ethnocentric
We must be:
Christocentric
True capacity is created only after a person becomes Christ centered and stops resisting the hands of God.
Tonight’s Lesson:
Step 4. Shaping the Clay
Video: The CLAY
(Potter and Clay Video (silence the audio on the video please) with narration by Pastor Ken)
Scene 1 narration
There was potter, and in this potter’s studio, there were 3 lumps of clay.
The first lump was hard.
When the potter took this lump to his wheel, and began to center the clay, it would not yield.
When the potter pushed, the clay pushed back,
The stubborn clay would not be centered.
The Potter was not about to fight this lump of clay, so he threw it into a bucket of water so that it might soften up.
Scene 2 narration
The second lump of clay was very soft
When the potter put this lump of clay on his wheel, it centered easily.
As he began to fashion it, the clay was so soft, that it could not hold the shape it was given.
It wavered and flopped until it finally collapsed. It was, as the scripture says, “marred in his hands.”
Then the potter took this pile of clay and put it aside so that it might firm up.
Scene 3 narration
The 3rd lump of clay was not soft, yet neither was it hard.
The potter brought this clay to his wheel.
Without any resistance, it responded to the movement of his hands.
Once centered, the potter began to raise up this lump in the shape of a pot.
And the clay held this form firmly so that the potter might finish his work, shaping the clay according to his design.
Teaching:
7 Points:
1) God’s Design, Not Ours
Romans 9:21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
God designs different vessels for different purposes.
Pouring, drinking, food storage, water storage, wine storage
Each one has a unique shape for God’s own choosing and specialized use.
2) God’s “5-Fold” Hand Molds Us:
The hands of the Potter work on us to make us into a vessel fit for the Master’s use.
Ephesians 4:11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 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 fulness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
The image of a hand is often used to represent God using what in our circles is called the “5 Fold” ministry to prepare God’s people for works of service.
Apostle - Thumb - can function within every other ministry, basic, flexible, foundational, functional
Prophet - “Pointy” finger - directional, purpose and guidance
Evangelist - the Long Middle Finger - Reaches out beyond, touches what others can’t
Pastor - “Ring” Finger - covenant compassion and love - tradition says it has a vein that flows blood directly to the heart, a Pastor is a shepherd, keeper of the sheep
Teacher - “Little Finger” - can get in your ears, prober, seeker, extractor of information
We need all 5 ministries in our lives to have a more complete development of our ministries.
“Perfecting” or “Preparing” here refers to mending (as in nets), perfect craftsmanship, restore to perfect working order.", "whipping something into shape."
We need to realize that those who teach the Word and minister to us are God’s molding hand upon us. We need to hear and receive the “Hand” of God working on us and molding us with the Word of God and the ministry of the Spirit to make us what He wants us to be, so we can work for the Lord.
3) Upward Pressure
The Potter applies pressure to the clay to mold it.
It is an “upward” pressure - God wants to lift us to higher capacity and usefulness.
Phillipians 3:14
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
God does not push us down or condemn us, He wants to lift us up in His mighty hands.
He is trying to draw us to Himself.
He is trying to enlarge our capacity.
Without pressure, this would not be accomplished.
When we are under pressure, we need to keep our eyes on the eternal purposes that God is establishing in and through our lives.
2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Affliction = “Thlipsis” = pressure
2 Corinthians 1:8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;
1Thessalonians 1:6 -You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
1Thessalonians 3:3 - so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this.
1Thessalonians 3:7 - for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith;
No Outward and Upward Pressure = No Development
4) The Heart
At this point in the formation of the clay vessel, the exterior, having had the upward and constant pressure applied, begins to take shape and look attractive.
You can begin to imagine what its ultimate shape might be.
You can begin to see what its intended use might be.
But then, something almost “cruel” begins to happen…
The Potter takes his fingers and forces them down into the center of the vessel.
The inside of the vessel is called, appropriately, “the Heart.”
If the potter doesn’t work on the heart, then the vessel cannot contain anything.
The vessel will only look good on the outside, but will have no usefulness.
The bigger it is ON THE INSIDE, the more it can contain and the more it can pour.
The scripture speaks of God “enlarging” our heart - enlarging our capacity for Him and to be used by Him.
Psalms 119:32 - I run along the path of your commands, for you will “make wide” ( enlarge) my heart
2Co 7:2 Make room for us in your hearts.
Our hearts must be changed,
Man looks on the outward, but God looks on the heart. (1 Sam. 16:7)
The potter at this stage has one hand inside the vessel, and one hand on the outside.
“God works on the whole man.”
**People observing a potter work on the inside of the vessel CANNOT SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING ON THE INSIDE UNLESS THEY ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE POTTER TO BE ABLE TO SEE THE WORK FROM THE POTTER’S PERSPECTIVE!**
**We might begin to criticize an unfinished vessel - and what they are going through unless we get close enough to the Potter to see what He is doing.**
To enlarge the capacity of the vessel, the Potter MUST WORK DEEPLY.
Our hearts are a repository for everything that will come out of us, and thus must be changed, having the Law of God written on them.
Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
5) The Mouth
After the potter has shaped and molded the vessel both inwardly and outwardly, he must finish with the topmost part, which is called “the mouth.”
The mouth is vital - it is the final part that anything inside the vessel touches when it is poured out.
Luke 6:45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.
For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
The mouth affects or influences everything that comes out of the heart. Even if what is coming out of the heart of the vessel is pure, if the mouth is broken or contaminated, it can change the nature and the way the pure substance is ultimately perceived or received.
Proverbs 18:21 ¶ The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
James 3:9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.
10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?
6) Always in His Hands
As the Potter works with the clay and the forming vessel, it never leaves the hands of the Potter. At least one hand is on it at all times, even when the other hand is reaching for some more water, or a forming tool.
God keeps His hands on us.
He will not let us spin out of control.
He gently and patiently forms us.
We are always in His hands.
He will never leave us or forsake us.
Even in times when we are being chastened by the Lord, He is putting His hand into our lives to form us increasingly into the image of Christ.
7) Water Poured on the Clay
Water is a type of the Word of God.
We must have the Word continually.
We must apply it to our hearts.
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Next Week:
Step 5. The Fire
