Failed But Not Finished - 1
He Made It Again - Jeremiah 18 Verses 1 to 4
It was a clear instruction from God. And it wasn’t the usual one for the prophet, to take a message of hope or challenge or encouragement to the people of Israel. No! This was different! God told him very clearly and distinctly, "Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message". Before Jeremiah could preach he had to listen…before he could give he had to receive. Perhaps that’s a word for those of us who preach today; we cannot give a word for God until we receive a word from God. Oh, I know that the Bible is God’s Word, and there’s a sense in which any message based on the Bible is "a Word from God", but only God can search the human heart and meet its deepest needs. Only God can speak the word which will lift men and women out of depression and give them hope and peace and joy. Only God can really challenge our consciences and give us the desire to live for Him. So preachers today need to be tuned in to the clear guidance of God, so that what they say will meet the needs of the people to whom they minister.
And that’s why I’ve been praying that these talks will be what God wants me to say! I believe the word from God for this series is "He hasn’t finished with you yet", or if you like "Failed but not finished". We’re inclined to write people off far too easily, but we have a God of patience and long-suffering… He doesn’t write us off the moment we make a mistake. No! if we’re prepared to listen to these "Discovery programmes" over these coming weeks we will indeed make a wonderful discovery. Our God is the God of Another Chance. So as we look at Jeremiah chapter 18, verses 1 to 4, we will take two simple headings: Reminding and Re-making.
Reminding – Verses 1 and 2
Jeremiah was a man of God, who had been raised up for a special purpose. He had seen the people of God ruled by an evil king; God had given him, Jeremiah, a powerful word for King Zedekiah, but the Second Book of Chronicles chapter 36 verse 12 tells us "He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the LORD". Now God reminds the prophet that He is still in control and although the king had refused to heed the warning which he, Jeremiah, had given so faithfully, God hadn’t given up on His people: "You go down to the potter’s house and I will give you my message". As Jeremiah went down to the potter’s house he must have wondered just what kind of message he would receive in such an unusual place. What he didn’t know was that God had already arranged a powerful visual aid which would remain with the prophet and the people for many years, and would be a blessing to millions of people right up to our day. Jeremiah little dreamt that men and women would be listening by radio to the events of that day, and would be blessed as a result of what they heard; which leads us to our second word:
Remaking – Verses 3 and 4
As Jeremiah looked through the open window of the workshop, he saw the potter busily engaged in shaping a pot. The wheel was whirring around, the water was lubricating the operation, and the clay was like plastic in the skilful hand of the potter. The vessel began to take shape beautifully and perfectly; someone was going to be the proud owner of a hand-crafted pot of exquisite beauty and design. But no! The potter has stopped the wheel; what has gone wrong? There’s a look of dissatisfaction on his face. Jeremiah asks the potter for an explanation and the skilful artist tells him that the first effort was marred! It was spoilt! It was defective! Whether a small stone or an insect was in the clay, we’re not told, but if he went ahead with his work it would only be fit for the scrap-heap; it would never grace a table, it would never be an ornament of beauty…it was marred. I can hear the eager voice of the prophet asking the potter "What are you going to do?" He wonders what message God is giving him through this picture of the potter at his wheel, and a marred pot. "Oh, don’t worry," says the potter, "I will take this same piece of clay, press it patiently in my hands until it is workable and pliable, and then make the vessel all over again". And as Jeremiah watched, so the skilful potter took the clay in his hands and gently, tenderly, almost lovingly, he formed it into another pot, shaping it as only he could do. "Now" says the LORD to Jeremiah, "that’s what I am going to do with my people; they are resisting Me as I seek to mould them, but I will give them another chance … I won’t write them off".
And the wonder of it is that He hasn’t changed throughout the centuries, and just as He took His earthly people, Israel, and "gave them another chance" so He will take men and women today. Perhaps you think God has written you off. You’re feeling discouraged and disheartened, things haven’t gone well. You feel that you’ve made a mess of your life! Well, I’ve good news for you. Christ died on the cross for people just like you. If you’ll put yourself into the hands of the Lord, the Master Potter, He will make you again, shaping you as only He can do. He will give you a work to do for Him which will absolutely amaze you. He is still the One who takes broken vessels and makes them all over again, then fills them with His Holy Spirit and uses them for His glory.
Perhaps you’re a Christian, but you’ve failed your Lord. Well, the story of the potter is for you, too! The Lord is ready and willing to take you and "make you all over again". Remember, He is the God of the Second Chance. We are only too ready to write people off when they slip up…even Christians do that! God doesn’t! He picks them up gently, works on them patiently, taking them into His tender and loving hands. Remember, He is the Perfect Potter, give Him the opportunity of remaking you! Put your total trust in Him today.
Perhaps you think you have sunk too low, have sinned too badly for God to forgive you. Don’t forget that He is the One who forgave a dying thief upon the cross. He is the One who forgave Peter who had denied Him with oaths. Someone has said that the only sin God cannot forgive is the one we are unwilling to forsake.
Think about it! You may be a failure but God hasn’t finished with you yet!