Participants: Alvin Kibble
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000126
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
00:15 live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:21 Well we just welcome you to a cool rainy night here 00:26 in southern Illinois. 00:28 But it's warm in this auditorium. 00:31 And we're so happy tonight to have Dr. Alvin Kibble 00:36 who is going to be our speaker for this special 00:41 Anchors Of Truth. 00:43 And he's going to be speaking on a Christian view 00:47 of suffering and heartache. 00:50 Because this is something that Christians face 00:54 just like everybody else. 00:56 And it's an amazing adventure in some instances. 01:02 This whole series came out of a discussion that 01:06 Pastor Kibble and C.A. Murray and I were having together. 01:12 And this took place at ASI last August in Orlando, Florida. 01:21 We were talking about an illness that Pastor Kibble went through 01:27 that was extremely serious. 01:29 I happened to have been in the office next to him 01:32 during those years. 01:34 We were both vice presidents, general vice presidents, 01:37 of North American Division. 01:39 And Alvin Kibble had a cancer battle that was like 01:46 none I have ever witnessed. 01:49 We were so worried and concerned that we were going to lose him, 01:54 but through the treatment, through the prayer, 01:57 through all of those things that took place, 02:00 we saw healing emerge. 02:04 But that road to healing was a long and rocky road. 02:10 He's going to be sharing some of those things with us. 02:13 And it is going to be exciting. 02:16 Backstage just a moment ago, I said something to him 02:21 about this, and he said, "You know, I wouldn't wish 02:24 what I went through on my worst enemy. 02:28 But I wouldn't have missed it for the world, 02:32 for the experience that God brought me through." 02:38 And he's going to share that with us. 02:39 Some of you are suffering. 02:41 You may know someone who is suffering. 02:42 Go to the phone right now, call them. 02:44 Tell them this series is for them. 02:47 You know, some series we do on prophecy, 02:49 some series we do on some of the exciting issues of today, 02:53 and some we do on things that are of a very spiritual nature. 02:59 And this is one of those. 03:01 Because, my friend, going through suffering with our Lord 03:06 can be a deep spiritual experience. 03:11 And I hope that if you are going through something, 03:15 that you will not miss the blessing that comes from it. 03:20 And that's what this series is going to be about. 03:23 And so we invite you to join us. 03:26 As I mentioned, Pastor Kibble, Alvin Kibble, is Vice President 03:31 of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. 03:35 He's a well educated man. 03:36 All of his education in the early years, of course, was 03:40 Christian education from academy grade school, 03:46 academy, college, Atlantic Union College, 03:50 and then Andrews University. 03:52 And then he's done doctorate studies beyond that. 03:56 So this is a man who has been very diligent 04:01 in the study of God's Word and in preparing himself 04:05 for ministry. 04:06 He's a very detailed individual. 04:09 Pastored eight churches. 04:12 Was president of a conference in addition to having now been 04:18 Vice President of North American Division. 04:22 He does so many things there, wears so many hats, 04:26 that it would be almost impossible for me to 04:30 give you the rundown of all the committees 04:32 that he chairs. 04:34 He is married to the former Jewel Peck. 04:40 And Jewel is a lady of distinction and we just 04:45 love her, Camille and I do. 04:47 She's a registered nurse, 04:50 she's a performance improvement consultant, 04:54 a musician. 04:55 They have two adult sons, Santo and Jason, 04:59 one daughter-in-law, Danielle, three grandchildren, 05:04 Trinity Marie, Jason II, and Hailey Madison. 05:09 And, my friend, it's going to be my privilege to sit 05:14 tonight at the feet of a man who I love as a friend, 05:20 I trust as a brother, and I believe in as a dedicated 05:28 Christian servant of God. 05:32 And you'll be listening to him. 05:34 He will open the series tonight with prayer before his sermon. 05:39 But before he comes, we've invited 05:43 Michael and Celestine Berry to come and to present 05:49 the beautiful song, Were It Not For Grace. 06:22 Time measured out my days, 06:28 life carried me along; 06:36 in my soul I yearned to follow God, 06:43 I knew I'd never be so strong. 06:48 I looked hard at this world 06:52 to see how heaven could be gained 07:01 just to end where I began 07:05 where human effort is all in vain. 07:16 But were it not for grace 07:23 I can tell you where I'd be; 07:29 wandering down some pointless road to nowhere 07:36 with my salvation up to me. 07:42 I know how that would go, 07:49 the battles I would face; 07:55 forever running but losing the race 08:02 were it not for grace. 08:14 So here is all my praise 08:20 expressed with all my heart, 08:27 offered to a Friend who took my place 08:34 and ran a course I could not start. 08:40 And when He saw in full 08:45 just how much His love would cost 08:53 He still went the final mile between me and heaven 09:00 so I would not be lost. 09:08 But were it not for grace 09:16 I can tell you where I'd be; 09:22 wandering down some pointless road to nowhere 09:29 with my salvation up to me. 09:36 And I know how that would go, 09:42 the battles I would face; 09:49 forever running but losing the race 09:56 were it not for grace. 10:04 Forever running but losing the race 10:11 were it not for grace. 10:36 Good evening. 10:38 I am so grateful to be with you as we begin this spring, 10:45 as we begin this spring series. 10:51 I've traveled pretty much all day, 10:53 but I've had a wonderful day. 10:56 And I've been looking forward to the time when we would come 11:00 and we would experience the power of Jesus 11:06 through His preached and through His divine Word. 11:15 This is the spring time of the year. 11:18 And spring time for me is one of my favorite seasons. 11:24 Because it evidences the promise of renewal. 11:30 It evidences the assurance that life can start over again. 11:38 And so as we pick up this Anchors Of Truth series 11:45 I want us to focus clearly on God's Word 11:49 and His promises to us. 11:52 Because God is never short concerning His promises, 11:58 but He is long suffering. 12:01 Our message this evening is taken out of the 12:05 book of Jeremiah. 12:07 And I'd like, if you have your Bibles, to turn with me 12:11 to the book of Jeremiah and the 18th chapter. 12:15 And we're going to look at verses 1 to 6. 12:19 Jeremiah chapter 18 verses 1 to 6. 12:28 Here's what it says. 12:30 "The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 12:35 'Arise and go down to the potter's house, 12:39 and there I will cause you to hear My words.' 12:44 Then I went down to the potter's house, 12:48 and there he was making something at the wheel. 12:53 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred 12:57 in the hand of the potter; 13:00 so he made it again into another vessel, 13:03 as it seemed good to the potter to make. 13:09 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 13:12 'O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?' 13:18 says the Lord. 13:21 'Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, 13:26 so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.'" 13:37 Before I speak to you, please join me as we talk with God. 13:45 Holy God, our heavenly Father, speak to us 13:52 the wonderful words of life. 13:56 Rekindle within us the faith that will ensure us 14:04 the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. 14:08 Demonstrate Your power once again to save, 14:13 and that mightily. 14:15 In the blessed and holy name of Jesus, amen. 14:22 Watchman Nee, the great Chinese theologian, 14:26 said on one occasion that God is a domestic God. 14:32 Domestic in the sense that some of His best works 14:37 and many of His miracles have taken place in a house. 14:43 Assuming that this divine domestic label that has 14:47 been attached to God is true, it is no surprise that the 14:52 first public miracle of Jesus Christ, according to John, 14:57 took place in a house. 15:02 In fact, when you peruse the Scriptures you discover that 15:05 many of the Scriptures substantiate the claim 15:10 that our Lord had a certain affinity with the house motif. 15:17 On one occasion in Saint Luke's gospel, chapter 19, 15:22 the Bible declares that as Jesus made His way through Jericho 15:27 He stopped at a Sycamore tree. 15:30 A Sycamore fig tree. 15:33 And looking up, He discovered a man who was short of stature 15:37 peeking through the branches. 15:40 And Jesus said, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, 15:45 for today I must stay at your house." 15:52 The gospel of Saint Mark, chapter 1 verses 29 to 31, 15:57 tells the story of how Peter's mother-in-law lay prostrate 16:01 sick with a fever. 16:04 When you read the account, we discover that the panacea 16:08 for the particular problem was Jesus stopping by her house. 16:16 A few chapters later in Mark chapter 5 and verse 35, 16:21 we hear how Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, 16:24 had received word that while Jesus was en route to His house 16:30 his daughter had died. 16:32 But the record declares things got measurably better 16:37 when Jesus went into his house. 16:42 So when you look at the Scriptures, some merit 16:46 can be made and some validity can be attached to the fact 16:51 that it was something about the house that God often used 16:57 to illustrate His point. 17:00 Even when Elijah's brook dried up, in 1 Kings 17, 17:06 God told him, "Go by the house of a widow of Zarephath." 17:15 When he died and Elisha took his place, in 2 Kings, 17:19 there was a woman whose property was almost in probate court. 17:24 Her sons were about to be taken as bond servants. 17:27 And Elisha, the man of God, verse 2, looked at her and 17:32 asked her a question. 17:33 Do you remember what it was? 17:36 He asked, "Tell me, what do you have in your house?" 17:45 So it is, my brothers and sisters, that on the canvas 17:50 of this text God has a special message for us tonight. 17:58 For we discover that Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, 18:02 Jeremiah the prophet, God's mouthpiece, 18:05 God's prognosticator, God's preacher, 18:09 received commission to arise and go down to the potter's house. 18:18 Now if we are to understand the magnitude of this message, 18:23 we have to understand where Jeremiah is living 18:27 in proximity to where the potter's house is located. 18:32 Jeremiah is living up in Jerusalem. 18:36 Up in the plains. 18:38 Which explains why the text said that he had to go down 18:43 to the potter's house. 18:46 The potter's house was located south of the Valley of Hinnom. 18:53 And this valley is a very important valley. 18:57 Most of you as Bible students will remember, 19:00 in 2 Kings chapter 16, when King Ahaz was king of Israel 19:06 He used the Valley of Hinnom as a place of infant sacrifice. 19:14 Turn to your neighbor and say, "Say what?" 19:18 Infant sacrifice. 19:22 Where their children, their children, 19:25 their children were set on fire as offerings to the fire god. 19:33 To put an end to this abomination, 19:36 the place was polluted on purpose by Josiah 19:40 who made is ceremonially unclean by spreading human bones 19:46 all over it. 19:49 After that, it appeared to have become a cesspool for the city 19:55 where it's sewage was collected and carried off by the 19:59 waters of Kidron. 20:01 Some years later, due to the remains that stayed in the 20:06 Valley of Hinnom, Jews changed the name 20:09 of the Valley of Hinnom to the Valley of Gehenna. 20:16 Now when you translate the name, "Gehenna," to the Greek word, 20:22 when you translate the name, "Gehenna," into the Greek word, 20:26 it means, "hell." 20:30 So to understand where God was trying to direct Jeremiah, 20:39 you have to understand the background and the context 20:43 of this message. 20:45 God is saying to Jeremiah, "I've got a word for you. 20:49 I've got a message for you. 20:51 But in order to get the message, you're going to have to 20:54 go through some Gehenna. 20:58 You're going to have to go through some places 21:01 that are not sacred. 21:04 You're going to have to go through some 21:06 uncomfortable conditions." 21:08 Does anybody understand where I'm going with this message? 21:13 Often, my brothers and sisters, God will allow you to go through 21:19 something in order to get a word to you. 21:25 And I believe that there may be some who are watching 21:29 this series this evening, or some of you who are here tonight 21:34 who can testify, "Yes, Pastor Kibble, God will sometimes 21:39 allow you to go through something to get a word to you." 21:43 In fact, that might explain why some of you are 21:47 catching some things right now. 21:50 On your job, in your home. 21:54 Right now. 21:58 Some time ago one of my pastor colleagues came to my office 22:02 in Silver Spring, Maryland for a visit. 22:07 And as we talked, he enquired, "Pastor, why would God 22:15 allow you, a man of God, to go through that experience 22:21 that you had with cancer?" 22:24 And if I had the time I would talk a little bit about that. 22:31 One of the most rare cancers in the world. 22:34 Highest incidences in China and in North Africa 22:41 among people who were heavy smokers... 22:43 I had never smoked in my life. 22:46 ...people who worked among formaldehyde... 22:48 I hadn't been around formaldehyde since 22:51 college biology class. 22:56 ...or people who ate a high diet of salt fish. 23:04 I'm a vegetarian. 23:08 Never ate fish in my life. 23:12 It is because God is getting ready to take you 23:17 to another level. 23:20 He's getting ready to take you to a level that is greater 23:26 than your pain predicament. 23:29 A level that is bigger than your burden. 23:33 But in order to get you where God is trying to take you, 23:37 you've got to be willing to go through something. 23:41 I can remember the conversations that I had with God. 23:47 And we all go through that. 23:50 When something awful happens to us, 23:53 we are prone to ask, "Why me?" 23:59 And I distinctly remember God saying, "Why not you? 24:06 Are you better than the child that was born with brain cancer? 24:13 Or the little girl who was born with her internal organs 24:18 outside of her belly? 24:22 Are you not mine?" He said. 24:27 "Can I not do with you what I will?" 24:35 Now some people don't want to ever go through anything. 24:41 They always want their streets to be straight, 24:45 they want their skies to be blue, 24:48 they want their apples to be shiny, 24:50 they want their flowers to be in bloom, 24:53 they want their tides to come in, 24:55 they want their birds to sing, 24:57 they want their harvest to be bountiful, 24:59 their grass to be green, their stars to twinkle, 25:03 their hills to be low, and their eggs sunny side up. 25:10 But every now and then, God will take us through something 25:14 to get our attention and to help develop our characters. 25:22 And that's why I've come to spend this time with you 25:26 and to share with you out of the general theme 25:34 how Christians view trouble... 25:41 ...pain... 25:45 ...and heartache. 25:50 He will sometimes take you through something that will 25:53 test the very fabric of your faith. 25:57 So God declares to Jeremiah, "I want to give you something, 26:00 but in order to give it you're going to have to 26:04 go through something." 26:09 There are some individuals right now who are 26:11 scratching their heads trying to figure out, 26:14 "Why am I going through this? 26:18 Why is this happening to me? 26:23 Why is all of this mess happening now?" 26:27 You've been faithful in your engagements. 26:30 You have been exemplary in your deportment. 26:32 You have put a watch before your mouth. 26:35 You have avoided all tale bearing and backbiting 26:38 and excessive anger. 26:40 You have been curbing your temper. 26:42 Your response has been, "yea, yea," and, "nay, nay." 26:45 You have abstained from alcohol, you have never touched tobacco. 26:50 You even became a vegetarian. 26:52 You've been cutting back on dairy products. 26:55 You drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day, 26:58 exercising regularly. 27:00 You have been returning a faithful tithe unto the Lord. 27:04 You have been faithful in your church attendance. 27:06 You have been zealous in your efforts to advance 27:09 the kingdom of heaven. 27:10 But seemingly the more you give, the worse things get. 27:17 Am I talking to anybody here tonight? 27:22 Can I tell you something? 27:25 God may be trying to take you to another level 27:30 that is greater than your affliction. 27:35 He might be trying to get you ready to promote you 27:38 to a new assignment. 27:41 So instead of getting bitter, you ought to try to get better. 27:46 Instead of getting mad, you ought to count it all as joy. 27:50 God said to me, "If I were to have assigned you 27:54 to some serious assignment, some challenging assignment, 28:00 wouldn't you have accepted it?" 28:05 It was then that I came to realize that my ministry 28:09 was not something that I do. 28:15 My ministry was who I was. 28:23 My life is the canvas. 28:27 Good, bad, or indifferent, my life is the witness. 28:34 Not just the words that come out of my mouth. 28:37 Not just the activities of my limb. 28:43 My limbs. 28:45 So when you fall into diverse temptation, 28:51 know that the trial of your faith worketh patience. 28:56 "Arise Jeremiah, I want you to go down to the potter's house." 29:03 And the text says that God sent him to the potter's house. 29:09 And that is significant as well, because He is not sending him 29:14 to the potter's showroom, but to the potter's shop. 29:21 And there's a difference between the showroom and the shop. 29:26 Because the showroom is where the completed 29:29 vessels are stored. 29:35 The shop is where clay is under construction. 29:43 And don't you know that there's a difference 29:46 between seeing you on the showroom table 29:51 and seeing you in the shop? 29:54 Some years ago my wife and I decided to buy 29:58 a brand new Toyota Rav4. 30:02 And we went down to the CarMax dealership and we looked around 30:08 and she picked out the car that she wanted. 30:11 And we outlined sort of a budget as to how we were 30:18 going to handle this. 30:20 And a few days later we got a card from the dealership 30:25 inviting us to come for a special invitation 30:32 to meet with some of the mechanics in the shop. 30:39 And we were kind of... 30:43 We were a bit uncertain as to what this was all about. 30:47 But we decided to take them up on their offer. 30:50 And so we drove over that afternoon, and sure enough 30:56 they had some cookies and some punch, 30:59 and they walked us through the shop to explain to us 31:03 the mechanics of the car that we were about to buy. 31:15 You don't really know what you are made of 31:20 if you only view yourself from the showroom. 31:26 People really don't know who you are until they have 31:29 seen you in the shop. 31:32 You can't know me by looking at my accessories; 31:38 my clothes, my car, my house, my bank account. 31:44 In order to know the measure of who I am, 31:49 you've got to watch me when I am being reviled, 31:54 when I am being persecuted. 31:56 You have to watch me when people are saying 31:59 all matter of evil against me, 32:04 when my back is against the wall, 32:06 when I'm way down yonder all by myself. 32:12 When it's me, it's me, it's me, oh Lord, 32:16 standing in the need of prayer. 32:20 When I can no longer say the Lord is blessing me right now. 32:27 "Jeremiah, I want you to go down to the potter's shop." 32:32 And I'm glad He didn't send everybody to the potter's shop. 32:38 Because, you know, everybody can't handle seeing you 32:41 in your raw undone condition. 32:46 While I was sick, and my illness extended over several years, 32:52 people would call me from all over the country. 32:55 And sometimes early in the morning 32:58 and sometimes late at night. 32:59 And when they called, they expected to hear from me, 33:05 "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised." 33:10 But there were some days that I didn't feel up to that. 33:16 There were some days I was awfully sick. 33:22 I was on a feeding tube for over two years. 33:27 I lost my taste buds. 33:29 I lost my saliva glands. 33:33 Tropicana orange juice tastes like vinegar. 33:37 Haagen-Dazs ice cream tastes like cold butter. 33:42 I could not chew a piece of bread. 33:47 My white blood cells had become so meager 33:55 that if I went to Wal-Mart and a baby sneezed, 33:58 I could catch pneumonia. 34:01 I had no germ fighters. 34:04 If I got up and took care of a few things around the house, 34:08 maybe washed a few dishes, I would have to go back 34:12 and lay down and sleep for the next four hours 34:15 because I was exhausted. 34:18 I couldn't drive either of my cars. 34:20 I couldn't take care of my house. 34:24 I couldn't wear my clothes. 34:28 Of all my clothes, the only thing that I had left 34:31 that was of any use to me were my handkerchiefs, my ties, 34:37 my socks; even the shoes became too big. 34:41 And people were calling saying, "Well, how are you today?" 34:46 Everybody can't see you in your raw undone condition. 34:51 I remember one lady called me one day and she said, 34:54 "Pastor Kibble," she said, "you don't know me, 34:59 so I don't need to give you my name. 35:03 But the Lord asked me to call you and tell you that 35:07 if you're too tired to pray, "I've got your back." 35:13 "I've got your back." 35:20 Everybody can't handle the real you. 35:25 And there are two you's. 35:30 Paul talked about that as well. 35:32 There is the you with your holy habit. 35:37 And there is you, "When it's me, it's me, it's me, oh Lord, 35:43 standing in the need of prayer." 35:49 But God says, "Jeremiah, go down to the potter's house. 35:54 Because I want you to hear My word." 35:58 And verse two says that Jeremiah gets up 36:00 and goes down to the potter's house. 36:02 And when he gets to the potter's house, he sees 36:05 clay under construction. 36:09 Can I take you through this text? 36:12 And Jeremiah says, "God spoke to me out of this theophany. 36:21 When I got down to the potter's house, I saw several things. 36:25 The first thing I saw was clay being molded." 36:30 And verse three says that when he got to the potter's house, 36:34 that the potter was at work on the wheel. 36:39 Now clay being molded is what I call 36:42 the progression of the clay. 36:45 Because clay does something that the text does not celebrate. 36:51 And that is, clay makes progress. 36:54 You see, if you took the text at face value, 36:58 you would think that the clay originated in the house. 37:04 Because when you first look at the text, the first thing 37:07 you learn about the clay is that the clay was on the wheel 37:11 in the house. 37:12 But that's not where the clay came from. 37:15 The clay did not come from the wheel in the house. 37:18 The clay came from the dirt in the yard. 37:22 And the mere fact that the clay has come from the 37:25 dirt in the yard to the wheel in the house 37:29 lets us know that the clay has made some progress. 37:33 Can you say amen to that? 37:36 Every now and then you need to stop and give God praise 37:41 for your progress. 37:44 You weren't always in the church. 37:49 In fact, you were not always active in the Lord's service. 37:56 You weren't always singing the hymns of faith 37:59 and walking up the king's highway. 38:04 Let's be real. 38:07 You were not always saved, sanctified, 38:13 and filled with the Holy Ghost. 38:16 And the mere fact that you, like so many others, 38:20 are in progress is something to celebrate. 38:25 And you ought to turn around to your brothers and sisters 38:28 and say, "We've made some progress." 38:32 Because you really have. 38:42 Make no mistake about it, I love this church. 38:48 I love the message of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 38:54 I've got the good ole Seventh-day advent message 38:58 down in my heart. 39:04 There is much to be celebrated. 39:08 And yet, I'm not in the showroom. 39:13 I'm still in the shop. 39:17 Sometimes if you ask a fellow member, 39:20 "Are you saved," they start fumbling and mumbling. 39:24 They're almost scared to answer. 39:28 If somebody asks, "Are you saved," 39:31 you ought to be able to give a resounding, "Yes." 39:37 Because you are saved. 39:39 You have been saved from the power of sin. 39:44 But you are also in the process of being saved 39:48 from the presence of sin. 39:51 We are justified, the Bible says, by faith. 39:56 I am saved. 39:58 God treats me just as if I have never sinned. 40:03 But I am being sanctified. 40:05 Which is a day by day process as God pours His life 40:10 into my life and acts out through me the will to do 40:18 His commandments. 40:21 But finally, I shall be saved. 40:24 That's glorification. 40:27 Saved; past tense. 40:34 Being saved; present tense. 40:39 Will be saved; future tense. 40:44 Did you get it? 40:46 So the clay is not in the showroom, it's on the shelf. 40:50 But the mere fact that the clay is in the shop 40:56 on the wheel and not in the showroom on the shelf 40:59 lets me know that the clay still has a long way to go. 41:05 But the fact that the clay is no longer in the yard in the dirt 41:09 but on the table on the wheel in the house 41:13 lets me know that the clay has come a mighty long way. 41:18 So you can rightly turn to your neighbor and say, 41:20 "You know, I've come a mighty long way." 41:25 In fact, when you look at the fact that the clay 41:29 is in the house on the wheel, you'd have to realize 41:33 it has been dug up, it has been brought into the house, 41:37 it has been washed off, it has been put on the table, 41:41 and now the clay is in the hand of the potter. 41:48 Doesn't that sound like somebody's life that you know? 41:53 And you ought to thank the Lord that you were dug up 41:55 with the plowshares of the gospel, 41:57 and that He has washed you off in that 42:00 fountain filled with blood, and He has brought you into the 42:03 house of His tabernacle, and He has put you on the wheel 42:06 of sanctification. 42:08 The hand of the Lord is upon your life. 42:11 And even now when people look at you, they realize that 42:16 you are not the same. 42:18 That you have been changed. 42:25 The Bible says if anyone is in Christ, 42:28 that they are new creatures. 42:30 "Old things have passed away; 42:32 behold, all things have become new." 42:35 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17. 42:39 The old slave picked that up and said, "I looked at my hands 42:42 and they looked new; I looked at my feet and they did too." 42:47 We've made progress. 42:50 Jeremiah saw clay being molded. 42:53 Clay being molded speaks of the progression of the clay. 42:56 The second thing that he saw was that the clay was marred. 43:02 Which speaks of the problem of the clay. 43:06 The Hebrew word for, "marred," is, "shachath." 43:10 It means, defective. 43:12 It means, spoiled. 43:14 It means, ruined. 43:15 The clay had some imperfections, it had some blemishes, 43:19 some cracks, some damage. 43:20 It was marred. 43:22 But when you keep looking at the text, you discover that 43:24 though the clay was blemished it was not banished. 43:29 For it was still in the potter's hand. 43:31 Do you get it? 43:33 Somebody is not getting this at all. 43:35 And what excites me in the text is that the imperfection 43:39 of the clay did not lead to the rejection by the potter. 43:46 In other words, our hang-ups don't affect the hand of God. 43:54 And I praise God that my imperfections, 43:58 my flaws, my blemishes, are not so disgusting to God 44:04 that He is willing to throw me away. 44:07 That even though I am marred, and even though I have 44:10 imperfections, and even though I still have a plethora of 44:14 problems, that my mistakes and my hang-ups have not hindered 44:20 the hand of God. 44:22 Because as long as I am in His hand, 44:26 there's a chance that I'll get it straight. 44:30 And I want to encourage anybody who is listening this evening, 44:34 don't give up on God. 44:37 Because God will not give up on you. 44:42 Don't give up on God. 44:45 I'm talking about His hands. 44:47 Hands that formed man from the dust of the ground. 44:51 Hands that manage my time. 44:53 Hands that feed me, hands that guide me, 44:56 hands that uphold me, hands that were pierced for me. 45:00 Hands that heal and hands that bless. 45:03 And hands that will one day wipe tears from my eyes. 45:08 You see, the only thing that separates me from the person 45:12 that doesn't know the Lord is not that I am not messed up, 45:21 it's not that I am not marred. 45:24 The only thing that separates me from the man on the street 45:28 is that I am in the shop and I am in God's hands. 45:36 I may be talking to somebody tonight who has 45:39 some real life issues. 45:42 And I am so glad that I can tell you that 45:45 God can handle your issues. 45:50 I am so glad tonight that we serve the God who is 45:54 able to deal with your dilemmas. 45:56 He has answers for your agonies, and blessings for your burdens, 46:00 and cures for your calamities, 46:02 and deliverance for your distresses, 46:04 and erasers for your errors, and forgiveness for your faults, 46:08 and grace for your gloom, and sunrises for your sunsets, 46:12 and beauty for your ashes, 46:14 and the oil of joy for your mourning. 46:20 We serve a God who is able to reach down in our humanity 46:26 and who saves from the uttermost to the gutter most. 46:32 The gutter most to the uttermost. 46:35 The clay was marred, but it was still in the potter's hand. 46:41 You know, my dad had some big hands. 46:50 And as a toddler, I loved to hold my father's hand. 46:56 My little hand would just be lost in his. 46:59 We lived in Chicago and sometimes when we'd 47:04 go walking down in the loop, that is the downtown 47:09 shopping district, and I was so proud to hold my dad's hand. 47:17 As I grew up, as a youth I was sometimes rambunctious 47:26 and rebellious. 47:28 And my biggest fear was when my father had to raise his hand 47:34 to reprimand me. 47:37 Now my father had big hands, he also had fast hands. 47:43 And there would be times when he could quiet down the 47:46 whole back seat of the car just with one swipe of his hand. 47:54 There were times when I would pout, shrug my shoulders, 47:57 mumble something under my breath. 48:01 Times when I would even talk back a little bit. 48:06 And I knew because I was marred that I might do something 48:09 that might cause my dad to have to lay hands on me. 48:15 Well, my dad is now resting in the Huntsville, Alabama 48:19 Memory Garden awaiting the call of the life giver. 48:23 But I have another fear. 48:26 Because I am still marred, because I am still blemished. 48:31 My fear is no longer my daddy laying hands on me, 48:35 but my heavenly Father taking His hands off of me. 48:41 You see, every now and then I've got to say, 48:44 "Father, I stretch my hand to Thee; no other help I know. 48:50 If Thou withdraw Thyself from me, wherever shall I go?" 48:56 Jeremiah saw the clay, it was marred. 48:59 But it was still in the potter's hand. 49:03 Somebody has made some mistakes in their life, 49:07 and loved ones won't forgive you. 49:10 People won't let you forget it. 49:14 But as long as you stay in His hands, 49:17 everything will be alright. 49:18 Family may not love you, people may not give you 49:21 a second chance. 49:22 Those who you live with will hold you hostage to your past. 49:29 But I am glad tonight to be able to say to you 49:33 that we serve a God not of just a second chance, 49:37 but of another chance, and another chance, 49:40 and another chance. 49:42 A God who said to Peter when Peter had messed up, 49:47 and asked, "Lord, how many times do I have to forgive 49:51 my brother who has wronged me? 49:53 Seventy times? 49:55 Seventy times seven?" 49:57 And God said, "No, seventy times seven times seven times..." 50:01 It's an infinity of forgiveness. 50:08 You may still have some issues, but you're in His hands. 50:11 I've got some problems, some hills to climb, 50:14 but I'm in His hands. 50:18 Jeremiah saw clay being molded, which spoke of the 50:21 progression of the clay. 50:22 He saw some clay that was marred, which spoke of the 50:28 problem of the clay. 50:29 But then he saw clay being made over, 50:33 which spoke of the potential of the clay. 50:35 When Jeremiah said, "I saw clay in his hands," 50:38 when he testified that the clay; and it was being molded 50:42 and developed, and the imperfections and the mar... 50:45 If I had been the potter, I would have 50:47 thrown the clay away. 50:50 And you know, I couldn't have blamed the potter if he had 50:53 decided to shove the whole mass of clay that I represented. 51:02 If you and I had been the potter, we would have 51:04 probably trashed it. 51:06 You couldn't have blamed the potter. 51:08 The potter had given the clay every possible chance. 51:13 Dug it up out of the ground, washed it off, 51:15 brought it in the house, put it on the wheel. 51:18 And this old hard-headed clay would not do right. 51:23 But what I like about the text is not just the potential 51:27 of the clay, but the patience of the potter. 51:31 Ah, I'm feeling good now. 51:33 Because the Bible declares that instead of throwing the 51:37 clay away, the Bible says that the potter made 51:40 the vessel over again. 51:43 I don't know how that makes you feel, 51:45 but that makes me feel great. 51:53 Women are not the only ones who get an extreme makeover. 51:59 God does extreme makeovers all the time. 52:04 And He made the vessel over again. 52:09 And as I hasten to close, I wondered how in the world 52:13 did the potter make the vessel over again. 52:17 And I came to the conclusion that the potter 52:20 had to crush the clay. 52:25 You know, the potter has several instruments. 52:29 He has a shovel to find the clay, 52:32 he has a table to turn the clay, he has water to soften the clay, 52:37 he has hands to shape the clay, he has a furnace to 52:41 strengthen the clay, but he also has a mallet 52:44 to beat down the clay. 52:46 And every now and then what the potter has to do 52:50 is to take out the mallet and beat the clay down. 52:56 The Bible says in Hebrews 12 and verse 6, 52:59 "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, 53:01 and scourges every son whom He receives." 53:06 So that means that every now and then what the Lord has to do is 53:11 He has to chasten us. 53:13 He has to make us over again. 53:20 When I look back over my life and I find myself asking God, 53:25 "Why did you have to make me over again when I thought 53:28 that I had just arrived?" 53:30 When I thought that I was just getting my praise 53:34 to a certain level. 53:35 When I thought that my prayer life had just reached 53:38 a certain platitude. 53:40 When I thought that my devotion was at a certain level. 53:46 God saw some imperfections in me. 53:49 He saw some blemishes yet. 53:53 And what the Lord did was, He had to make me over again. 53:58 I don't know who may be listening tonight, 54:02 but I believe that I have a witness somewhere 54:08 in the media world, somewhere in this auditorium tonight, 54:13 that can declare and testify that when you are in your 54:18 darkest moment, it is then that the Lord is trying to 54:26 make you over again. 54:28 And so I've come to the place in my life where I am 54:31 willing to say, "Anyway You shape me, 54:34 anyway You make me, I'll be satisfied." 54:43 But I want to ask you is whether or not you will be faithful. 54:48 God will mold you, He will shape you, 54:51 He will hold you. 54:54 But you have to be faithful. 54:56 I heard God talking to Jeremiah and He told him, 54:59 "Jeremiah, did you see the potter? 55:01 Did you see the clay?" 55:03 He said, "Jeremiah, I am the Potter and you are the clay. 55:08 Son, it ain't about you, it's about Me. 55:13 So let Me do it. 55:15 I'm able to mold you, I'm able to shape you, 55:19 I'm able to hold you. 55:23 And I'm able to bring you through." 55:28 And the more I read this Bible, the more I discover 55:33 that it's not about me. 55:36 It is about Him. 55:38 And that's why it's called good news. 55:46 And I am so glad... 55:52 ...because He has me in the palm of His hands. 55:57 "I've seen the lightening flashing, 56:00 I've heard the thunders roll, 56:02 I have felt sin breakers dashing trying to conquer my soul. 56:07 But I heard the voice of Jesus telling me still to fight on. 56:12 He has promised never to leave you, 56:15 never to leave you alone." 56:18 I'm nothing but clay under construction. 56:23 But one of these days when the Lord gets finished with me, 56:28 one of these days when the Lord has molded me and shaped me, 56:33 I shall come forth as gold when I have run the race, 56:38 when I have finished the course, when I have kept the faith. 56:43 So don't become weary in well doing. 56:46 For at the proper time you will reap a harvest 56:52 if you don't give up. 56:57 Your heads are bowed, your eyes are closed. 56:59 Father... 57:05 Father, we give our lives to You in full surrender, 57:16 and ask that You will work in us that which is well pleasing 57:23 in Your sight. 57:28 Through the glory and by the power of Jesus our Christ, amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17