JEREMIAH 18:1-6

1. THE POTTER HAS A PLAN FOR THE VESSEL HE MAKES.
1. The NIV says that the potter was "shaping it as seemed best to him." Our text in the NASB says, "he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make." Perhaps the vessel was to be a water jug, or a cooking pot, or something from which to eat. But he had a plan for that vessel.
2. The Great Potter has a plan for each of our lives. Each of us is gifted to do different ministries, but there are purposes which we all share in common: I will mention just two.
1. In Isaiah, God says, "All who claim Me as their God will come, for I have made them for My glory. It was I who created them." Isaiah 43:7 (NLT). He purposes that we glorify Him - Do we? Do we bring honor to His Name?
2. "Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work." 2 Timothy 2:21 (NASB). He purposes that we perform every good work. Do we? Do our lives demonstrate benevolence, evangelism, and service toward others?
3. God has a purpose for your life; if you put Christ in first place, He will help you find it. But tragically
   
   
2. SIN HINDERS HIS PURPOSE AND MARS THE VESSEL HE FORMS:
1. We were made in the image of God to begin with; but we have been marred by selfishness, and lust, and greed, and dishonesty, and meanness and every other sort of sin and wrongdoing.
2. Instead of fulfilling His purposes, we fulfill our own; instead of glorifying Him, we glorify self; instead of doing good works, we do whatever we please. And our lives are distorted, misshapen and marred by those sins.
3. Oscar Wilde wrote a chilling story called, "The Picture Of Dorian Gray." In it Basil Hallward paints a picture of a pure, handsome boy named Dorian Gray. Dorian sees the picture and gasps at its beauty. He takes the portrait home to admire and he decides that he never wants to grow old and lose that beauty, so he sells his soul to the devil to gain that end. Under the influence of Lord Henry Wotton, he begins to live a life of debauchery and dissipation. For years Dorian lives in cruel joy; yet he keeps the look of one unspotted by the world but with every sin, he notices that his portrait changes and loses some of its beauty. It takes on a look of cynicism and cruelty, though his countenance does not change. He falls in love with an actress named Sybil Vane and at a whim, jilts her. She commits suicide in her sorrow and the portrait continues to take on an uglier and meaner countenance, but Dorian himself remains handsome and youthful. Unable to stand the horrifying change in his portrait, Dorian moves it upstairs and covers it with a sheet. At age thirty-eight Dorian is again visited by his old friend Basil Hallward. He comes in hopes of persuading Dorian to finally change his ways for by this time, Dorian has become totally corrupt, as vile and ugly as the figure in the portrait. In spite, Dorian invites Hallward up to the room to see his filthy soul, face-to-face. As he draws back the sheet from the portrait, Hallward stands aghast at the hideous figure on the canvas; yes, there is his own signature, that onetime stood out beneath the portrait of a handsome young lad. Basil immediately begs Dorian to pray and repent. Instead, Dorian seizes a knife and plunges it again and again into the painter's neck and back. Then, relocking the door, he leaves the room, feeling sure that Basil would not be missed for months. After all, no one knew he had come to the house, and he was expected to be in Paris from that night forward. In his final visit with Lord Henry, Dorian admits that, despite his unchanged features, he no longer thinks himself handsome - his zest for life is shattered. "What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" Lord Henry righteously quotes. Disheartened, alone, and longing to be at peace with himself, Dorian contemplates his situation. Should he confess and atone for his evils? No! A new life! That is what he wants. Resolving to kill that "monstrous soul" in the portrait, Dorian hurries upstairs, seizes the same knife he had used on poor Basil, and stabs the picture. A horrible cry brings the house servants creeping up to the barred room. Finally gaining entrance, they find upon the wall the splendid portrait of their master, as fresh and beautiful as the day it was painted. On the floor is a dead man, "a withered, wrinkled, and loathsome man," with a knife in his heart. Only the rings on his fingers reveal his identify. It is Dorian Gray, who, in a miscarried struggle to kill his conscience, has killed himself. That's what sin does to our lives; and that mars the vessel the Lord wants to shape. OR When Leonardo da Vinci was working on "The Last Supper," he asked a young man named Pietri Bandinelli, who was a chorister in the Milan Cathedral, to sit for the character of Christ. Da Vinci spent the next twenty-five years working on the painting. He finally had only one character left to paint -Judas Iscariot. After searching and searching for the right person to sit for the character of Judas, the great artist noticed a man in the streets of Rome who he asked to be his model. His shoulders were bent toward the ground. He had a cold, hard, evil look on his face. He looked just like da Vinci's conception of Judas. When the man was brought into Leonardo da Vinci's studio he began to look around, as if he were recalling incidents of years gone by. Finally, he turned and with a look of sad discovery he said, "Maestro, I was in this studio twenty-five years ago. I then sat for Christ." That's what sin does to our lives; and that mars the vessel the Lord wants to shape. But fortunately

3. THE POTTER DOESN'T THROW THE CLAY AWAY, HE STARTS OVER:
1. God asks, "can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay?" What did the potter do? He started over.
2. That's what grace is all about. That's how mercy works. That's the essence of salvation. That's why Jesus came. That's why Jesus died and rose again. So God could start over with marred clay vessels.
3. "But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so the potter squashed the jar into a lump of clay and started again." He is willing to start over with you if you are willing to start over with Him. He can soften hardened clay. He can reshape distorted vessels. He can put the broken pieces together again. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the LORD. 'They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

"But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so the potter squashed the jar into a lump of clay and started again. Then the LORD gave me this message: 'O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand.'" Be clay in His hand; Let Him form you as He pleases. Let Him change and redeem your life. He stands ready to do that today if you will let Him have His own way. Song, "He Didn't Throw The Clay Away." Invitation: "Have Thine Own Way, Lord."

Story about Dorian from Oscar Wilde; DaVinci from Illustrations Stories and Quotes To Hang Your Message On, Jim Burns and Greg McKinnon

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