Clay in the Potter's Hand

Well, I want to wish you all the Lord's blessing this morning. I'm very thankful for the beautiful day. Yesterday was somewhat dreary, and it's just really, really a blessing to see the sun shining.

And I'm just really thankful for that. You can turn to Isaiah chapter 62.

We're going to look at three chapters this morning, 62, 63, and 64.

We sang the song this morning, "Heart, the Glad Sound." In verse 3, it says, "He comes the prisoner to release in Satan's bondage held. The gates of brass before him burst, the iron fetters yield. He comes the broken heart to bind, the bleeding soul to cure, and with the treasures of his grace to enrich the humble poor." In our last message here, we talked about the good news of the great salvation that Jesus brings.

And it says that very thing, that he, "The Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound."

In our passage today, what I'd like to think about is what is our response then to this great salvation?

And one of the aspects of that is that we've been given a new name. We've been given a new name. Let's read verses 1 to 5.

"For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory.

You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name. You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no longer be termed forsaken, nor shall your land anymore be termed desolate. But you shall be called Hepzebah, and your land Beulah. For the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you. And as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you."

And you know, you think about a new name, a name change is very significant if you think about it. We have examples of this in the Old Testament.

Abram's name was changed from Abram to Abraham. Jacob's name was changed from Jacob to Israel. Sarai's name was changed from Sarai to Sarah. And of course, we have Saul, whose name was changed to Paul. And if you look at that, instances of that, it was when there was a major shift, a major change in their lives. And we think about marriage, often the bride takes on a new name. And back in Isaiah chapter 49, "But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.'" That was the attitude that the people of Israel had back in chapter 49. They said, "Zion's been forsaken.

The Lord has forgotten me."

But here he says, "You're going to have a new name. You shall no longer be termed forsaken, nor shall your land anymore be termed desolate. But you shall be called Hepzebah." Now, that's not a name we probably hide on many of our lists, but it has a beautiful meaning. And it means, "My delight is in her. My delight is in her." And your land Beulah, and the word Beulah means married.

And what I like to think about here is the new name, and think about the institution of Christ's bride, the church. Ephesians 5:25 says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he might present her to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies, for he who loves his wife loves himself. No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherisheth it, just as the Lord does the church.

For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this reason, a man should leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. So we see this marriage that takes place.

And sometimes I think I'm afraid that maybe we become discouraged and say, "Has God forgotten? Has God forgotten us?" But he's called us Beulah. He's called us Hepzebah. "My delight is in her. You're married. I will never forsake you. I'm never going to leave you. I'm never going to divorce you. You are my bride."

And I just was really, really inspired by that, the new name. We are now the bride of Christ.

Along with the new name comes a great responsibility. Let's read verses 6 to 12. "I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem. They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord do not keep silent, and give him no rest till he establishes, until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by the arm of his strength. Surely I will no longer give your grain as food for your enemies, and the sons of the foreigners shall not drink your new wine for which you have labored. But those who have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord. Those who have brought it together shall drink it in my holy courts.

Go through, go through the gates. Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway. Take out the stones. Lift up a banner for the peoples. Indeed, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the world, 'Say to the daughter of Zion, surely your salvation is coming. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.' And they shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and you shall be called sought out, a city not forsaken."

So here he says then we've been called by a new name, and we have a big responsibility, and that is we're to be watchmen, watchmen on the gates. The word set has the same meaning as appointed. So I've appointed watchmen on your walls.

What does that entail? Someone has imagined what it was like to be a watchman. "The young watchman stood silently at his post on the wall. The cool Judean night caused an involuntary shiver. It had been a quiet evening. A few latecomers were allowed through the pedestrian gate, but nothing else. It was almost time for his shift to end when his eyes caught a glimpse of something glowing over the nearest hill to the north. Peering into the darkness confirmed that something was amiss not too far from the city. It could be a movement of enemy troops with their torches betraying their position. Of course, it could be a campfire of travelers. But why now in the middle of the night?

Whatever it was, the young watchman's orders were clear. He was to sound the alarm. Raising the trumpet to his lips, he sounded the three short blasts that would bring his superiors to the wall. Within minutes, the quiet sentry post was filled with soldiers. An armed scouting party was sent to the general area of the fire. The glow from beyond the hill died down, and soon the soldiers returned. A shepherd's hut had caught fire when a gust of wind blown across the sleeping shepherd's coals had ignited the thatch. Though the fire was not a danger to the city, the watchman was commended by his commanding officer for his sharp eyes. It could have easily been a threat that would have been stopped by the watchful eyes of the young man.

This was the very reason why the watchmen were in place." So we have the idea of vigilance. You know, as a watchman, every watchman has a reality, and that reality is his surroundings, the landscape, the things that he sees, the circumstances.

And you know, today we as watchmen also have a reality, and that's the cultural landscape around us and the circumstances that we find ourselves in. And a watchman also has a responsibility then, and his responsibility when something was wrong, as this young man did, to sound the alarm.

And it says that these watchmen never hold their peace day or night. And the idea there is in order to let everyone know that they're on guard and that they're alert and haven't fallen asleep, that they would cry out all through the night, day and night.

And the people would know, yes, the watchmen are in place, and they're doing their duty.

G.K. Chesterton said, "The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." And I like that idea. There's the soldier, that watchman up on the gate, and he's jealous, and he's protective of the things that are in the city, and he's there, and it gives him courage, and it gives him the ability to stick with it because he loves what's behind him. And do I love the kingdom of God and his church and his people so much that I'm willing to be vigilant day and night? Talmud Johnson said, "The world at its worst needs the church at its best." And we have a responsibility.

He has set watchmen upon his walls, and we have a responsibility to watch. Jesus, there's a lot said in the New Testament about watching. But Jesus said in the garden, he said to his disciples, then he came in verses 40 and 41, "Then he came to his disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, 'What? Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.'" And so here we see that Jesus himself says we need to watch lest we enter into temptation, lest we're caught up in some kind of

trouble because the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. So we have a responsibility to each one of us, and I like the idea that we take our turns, that we have our times, and we're on guard, and there's this constant awareness and looking out because of what we love and hold precious.

Then he says in verse, the end of verse 6, he says, "They shall never, you who make mention of the Lord do not keep silent." And this is another one of our responsibilities, and that is to be, as Spurgeon said, the Lord's remembrancers, people who are constantly remembering. This is what God has done for us. This is the things he's done to stir up the memory of his promises.

And I think it's a special gift that God gives us, some more so than others, to be those remembrancers. Remember the promise of God. Remember what he's done for us.

"Until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

And then we're not only to be in a defensive mode as watchmen, but in verse 10 he says, "Go through, go through the gates. Prepare the way for the people." So we're not only to be vigilant watching on the walls, but we're also to go out through the gates and prepare the way so that people can come in to the city. "Gather out the stones.

Make a highway. Make a way that's plain." And it says to lift up a banner. And you know, there's a lot of stock today put in banners. Again, I get around to a lot of different homes, and oftentimes if they're a sports fan, there'll be a banner floating, flying out in their yard.

And that banner tells everyone, advertises to everyone where their loyalties lie, and also encourages other people to follow that as well.

Are we lifting up the banner of Christ today? Are we going out through the city, city gates, and going out, and are we flying that banner that everyone knows that I'm part of the kingdom of God? Christ is my leader.

And as the song says, "I sought a flag to follow, a cause for which to stand." And that cause this morning is Jesus Christ.

Verse 12, he says, "And they shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and ye shall be called sought out, a city not forsaken." 1 Peter 2:9 says, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who were once not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy."

Hepzebah, my delight is in her, a city not forsaken.

If we continue this imagery of the watchman on the wall, I'd like to read the first six verses of chapter 63.

"Who is this who comes from Edom?" You know, a watchman, when they're walking around and they see someone come, and they say, "Who goes there? Who is it?"

And this watchman says, "Who is this who comes from Edom with dyed garments from Bosra? This one who is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength, I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save, why is your apparel red and your garments like one who treads in the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the people's no one was with me, for I have trodden them in my anger and trampled them in my fury. Their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my robes, for the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come. I looked, but there was no one to help, and I wondered, and there was no one to uphold.

Therefore my own arm brought salvation for me, and my own fury it sustained me. I have trodden down the people's in my anger, made them drunk in my fury, and brought down their strength to the earth."

So here we have the watchman, and he says, "Who goes there? Who is this who comes from Edom with dyed garments from Bosra?" Now, Bosra was known as... it means great gathering. So coming from Bosra, the watchman sees this guy coming, and he looks like he's coming from Bosra because his garments are splattered and stained with what you would look like if you were treading in the winepress.

And this person says, "I speak in righteousness, mighty to save." So this person, the answer to the question is, "Who is this who comes from Edom?" It's Jesus himself. And then the second question is, "Why are your garments red, spattered like one who treads the winepress?"

Turn to Revelation chapter 19,

verse 11, it says, "Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen white and clean, followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, and with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron.

He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, and he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords." So who's this that comes with blood-splattered garments? It's Jesus.

And it's a picture here of the God of judgment. He's talking about judgment here.

He says, "I alone have tread the winepress."

In John chapter 5, I'm going to read a couple verses there.

The business of judgment was given to Jesus, and John chapter 5, verse 19 says, "Then Jesus answered and said to them," these Jews that were trying to kill him, "Most did surely I say to you, 'The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do. For whatever he does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all things that he himself does. And he will show him greater works than these that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.

He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him." And so here we have a picture of the God of judgment coming, and it says that God has given that responsibility to Christ himself.

But he's not just a God of judgment. The prophet brings out here that he's also a God of mercy. And I just want you to really listen to this passage from verse 7 of chapter 63. "I will mention"—excuse me—"the lovingkindness of the Lord and the praises of the Lord according to all that the Lord has bestowed on us and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has bestowed on them according to his mercies, according to the multitude of his lovingkindness. For he said, 'Surely they are my people, children who will not lie.' So he became their Savior. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them.

In his love and in his pity he redeemed them, and he bore them and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned himself against them as an enemy, and he fought against them. And he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people saying, 'Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit within them, who led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them to make for himself an everlasting name? Who led them through the deep as a horse in the wilderness that they might not stumble?

As a beast goes down into the valley and the Spirit of the Lord causes him to rest, so you lead your people to make yourself a glorious name. Look down from heaven and see your habitation, holy and glorious.

Where are your zeal and your strength, the yearning of your heart and your mercies towards me? Are they restrained? Doubtless you are our Father. Though Abraham was ignorant of us and Israel does not acknowledge us, you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer. From everlasting is your name. O Lord, why have you made us stray from your ways and hardened your heart from your fear? Return for your servant's sake. The tribes of your inheritance, the holy people, have possessed it but a little while. Our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary. We have become like those of old over whom you never ruled, those who were never called by your name."

So here the prophet remembers the mercy of God, and he says, "I'm going to mention the lovingkindness of the Lord." So we see this picture of this man coming with bloodstained robes. He's a God of judgment, but he's also a God of mercy, and he recalls the great love that he had for his people. He said, "Surely they are my people."

In verse 8 it says, "So he became their Savior. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them, and he bore them." And then he says, "But we rebelled. We went against him, and he became our enemy because of the rebellion." And then he remembers some more, some of the blessings of the mercy and love of God.

He says in verse 16, "Doubtless you are our Father. Though Abraham was ignorant of us and Israel does not acknowledge us, you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer. From everlasting is your name."

So we have a God who executes judgment, and that can be terrifying. He says, "I've trodden the winepress alone. Judgment belongs to him." But he's also a God of mercy. He's a God who is faithful. He's a God who, when repentance comes, is willing to save. He just longs to have that relationship with his people.

And there's a realization that sets into the heart of the prophet here, that he realizes how often we've just strayed. We've strayed away from him. And in the beginning of chapter 64, he starts out and he says, "Oh, that you would rend the heavens, that you would come down, and that the mountains might shake at your presence." And I think, "Lord, if you would just make yourself known, shake the heavens as the fire burns brushwood, as the fire causes water to boil, to make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence when you did awesome things for which we did not look. You came down. The mountains shook at your presence.

Lord, you've done it before." And you know, have we ever felt that way? "Lord, just... would you just come and... I wish you would just show your power. Just show it forth." But he keeps going back and forth here with the realization that on one hand we have God's power and his faithfulness; on the other hand we have the unfaithfulness of men.

Verse 4 says, "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God beside you who acts for the one who waits for him. You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, who remembers you in your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned. In these ways we continue, and we need to be saved. But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away.

And there is no one who calls on your name who stirs himself up to take hold of you, for you have hidden your face from us and have consumed us because of your iniquities." So we see this tension back and forth: the faithfulness of God, his willingness to want to save, and then we see the sinfulness and how that separates man from God. So he says, "We're all like an unclean thing, and all of our righteousness is like filthy rags." And to put it delicately, the filthy rags really means a soiled menstrual cloth, if you just want to get a little bit of an idea of what he's talking about. And that's, in God's sight, our own righteousness; that's what it looks like.

It's filthiness. It's unclean. It's impure. It can't enter into the presence of God.

So what are we as people to do? We've been given a new name. He's instituted the church, the Bride of Christ, the land of Beulah. My delight is in her. He's given us a responsibility. We're to be watchmen on the walls. We're to go through the gates. We're to prepare the way. We're to lift up God's banner.

God is a God of judgment. He's a God of mercy.

And God is faithful, and so often we're unfaithful. So the question this morning is, how can we be one of the faithful ones?

I'd like to read... I think the secret is in verse 8. "But now, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are potter, and we all are the work of your hand." I think the secret... you know, if we want to be part of that glorious picture that he's painting of that kingdom, the glorious church, part of that, we're going to have to be. Clay in the potter's hand."

And that's the title of the message this morning: "Clay in the potter's hand." He says, "You are our Father. We are the clay, and you are a potter."

And you know, we've all seen, I think probably have experienced at one point or another pottery being made. I remember as a very young boy going on a field trip, I think it was over to Old Bedford Village, and there was a potter there. And I just remember being intrigued by how he would take this lump of clay, and he had a wire that he had stretched between sort of like a triangle, and he would take that clay, and he would cut that clay, cut that clay, threw it with his wire. And I remember going home and getting myself a wire, and we had a bank at the time that was that old red sticky clay, and we tried our hand at forming vessels out of the clay.

But we've seen that. And you know, a potter, he takes that lump of clay, and he centers it on the wheel.

And Christ has got to be in the center. You know, if that's off-center, we have something that's eccentric, and there's no way that a potter can form something if it's not perfectly centered there. So we need to be centered, centered on the wheel. Christ... and Christ, he reaches his hands in our lives, and he reaches way down in, and he starts to form us and mold us. And we as the clay, we need to cooperate in all that.

This imagery is used a lot, and we can turn to Jeremiah chapter 18, just in the next book after Isaiah.

Jeremiah 18, verses 1 to 11: "The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 'Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear my words.' Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hands of the potter. So he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?' Says the Lord, 'Look, as the clay is in the potter's hands, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to build and to plan it, if it does evil in my sight so that it does not obey my voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.

Now therefore speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the Lord, behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now everyone from his evil ways and make your ways and your doings good.'" The clay needs to cooperate. And what this lesson that he showed Jeremiah was, he saw the potter, and the potter was making this vessel, and the vessel became marred.

And he says, "That's the same as if I had planned to do something, a disaster against these people, and they repented." And because he's the potter, he can... and I remember a potter doing this. He's making something, and all of a sudden everything was looking good, and all of a sudden there it goes. He squishes it all. He takes it off, and he starts over again with another vessel. And he's saying, "I have the authority as the potter, and you are the clay, that if I'm deciding that I'm going to do something evil against you and you repent, I'm able to turn that vessel around and make something beautiful out of it. But the reverse is also true.

If I had something good in mind and you didn't obey and it does evil in my sight, then that vessel can turn into a vessel of dishonor. And so if we're the clay and he's the potter, then we as the clay... it depends on how we are as to what kind of vessel we become.

And that's the question I'd like us to think about a little: what kind of vessel are we becoming? A vessel of honor or a vessel of dishonor?

Romans chapter 9.

Verses 20 and 21: "But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, 'Why have you made me like this?' Does not the potter have power over the clay from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?" And some other things in there that are maybe a little more difficult for us to comprehend. But the point is, God has power over the clay to make out of that. But I really like the passage in Jeremiah there because it tells us that if we repent, he makes something different. And if we don't repent, we become a vessel to dishonor. 2 Timothy, we just read this in our Sunday school. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verses 20 and 21.

"But in the great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, for some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work."

I guess I was just really, really convicted that what God needs is yielded clay, humble clay. And I think so often pride is what gets in the way. And we don't like the fingers of God to reach down deep in our life.

And too often we want our own way. And when we want our own way, that clay becomes hard and not pliable, and God has to change his plans for what he wants for us. We become a vessel of dishonor because of our own hardness of our heart.

What kind of a vessel are we today? And so in some senses, we've made a full circle here this morning. Brother Anthony this morning talked about giving it all.

When we want that pearl great price, it means everything. And if we want to be a vessel of honor, if we want to be a person who can participate in this... the great work that he has of being a watchman, and if we don't want to experience that wrath of God, experience his mercy, it makes all the difference what kind of a vessel we're going to allow ourselves to be. He's the potter. We are the clay.

I think that's very fittingly illustrated by the song that we sang written by Adelaide Pollard. She was a single lady who had a very strong interest in going to Africa as a missionary. She was planning on doing that in 1902. She had plans to go to Africa. But at the last minute, she was unable to raise the funds that she needed, and she had to cancel her trip. She was very disappointed, and she went to a prayer meeting, and an elderly woman there during the meeting said, "It really doesn't matter what you do with us, Lord. Just have your own way with our lives."

And she went away from that. That really impacted her. And she wrote the song, "Have Thine Own Way, Lord." And I'm going to read the first and last verse: "Have Thine Own Way, Lord. Have Thine Own Way. Thou art the potter. I am the clay. Mold me and make me after Thy will while I am waiting, yielded and still. Have Thine Own Way, Lord. Have Thine Own Way. Hold, O my being, absolute sway.

Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see Christ only always living in me." And I guess that's the challenge I want to take from this passage today.

Clay in the Father's hands. And what kind of vessel are you going to be? And I, for one, I'm excited about participating. The New Jerusalem, the church, his bride, that's all very exciting for me, and I want to be a part of that. But in order to do that, I have to allow his fingers to work in my life to become the kind of vessel that he wants me to be.

That's the challenge for today. Does anyone have any comments?

I think what he did... remember what we were going to say? We don't use the potter. We use the clay. God came and ordered the way he wanted it to be, and then we're not going to observe it. We can't let God form the lives and take control of the lives. We're not going to observe that. So we're all just praying for us to succeed.

That's what Jeremiah was showing there, you know? He read that. God is trying to show these people, "Now what are your sins? I can't reform your life. I can't restore your life. I can restore your ship to what I want, what you want, what I could make it." Our lives are formed by Christ. We don't allow them to live in the lives of the child who's going to pray for us.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

I thought in the beginning of the message there was no more of the statement.

I can relate to that very much right now. And that's a frightening rejoicing of the bride, especially like God in terms of the way he works. That's very real in my life right now.

It's just a blessing. And to realize that God thinks about us in a way... And probably even more than we can even comprehend. That is the small picture of what he is.

"I know the plans I have for you," thoughts of goodness as we heard in the devotion. So yeah, may this inspire us to be faithful, faithful at our post as watchmen, faithfully going out through the gates, preparing the way, and be in the kind of vessel, the kind of potter, the kind of clay that the potter can mold.