Let's turn now in the word of God to the passage from which we were reading. That's Jeremiah chapter 18 and seeking the help of the Lord we will take our text in the words of verse 6. Jeremiah 18 and reading again verse 6. O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter, saith the Lord? Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. And certainly we know that there's many a time that a single sermon illustration has taught us more than a thousand words of pulpit exposition of doctrine. We have minds that are taught in pictures, and so it was with Jeremiah. And therefore, Jeremiah was sent to get an object lesson to the potter's house. Go to the potter's house, the Lord told him, and there he would learn something precious. And so he was sent, and so he saw a very solemn scene. Into the pottery he went, and he saw the craftsman at work. Now the children know what a potter does. He takes clay, hard clay, and he puts it upon the wheel and he starts to form it. A potter has strong hands. It's hard, hard work to shape, to form that clay into a dish or bowl or vase. And you know that the wheel spins as the potter is working. And the reason for that is to keep the dish symmetrical so that what he does to one side will also be done to the other side. so that gradually the pot will take shape. He watched as the pot spun. He watched as the craftsman used his strength and his skill to create something of usefulness and of beauty. He saw the skill of the potter. But more than just skill, he saw the wonder of creativity. And as he saw a human being create, so his mind was lifted up to the creativity of God, to realize that we are all the work of his hands, that God upon his wheel makes men. that you and I are his creatures, that on the wheel of God are designed brains and eyes and undying souls. God makes men and that in itself is sufficient to bring us low, to fill us with wonder and with awe that creatures of such complexity and such intricacy are the very handiwork of our God. But there was more to this illustration, because as Jeremiah watched, he saw the pot marred. Maybe there was some impurity within the clay. Maybe there were air pockets that caused it to lose something of its shape. In any case, it was no good. It would not serve the purpose. And without hesitation, without a moment's thought, the potter did what he always did in that situation. Think about it, children. He's formed the pot. Now it's no good. And in an instant, it is crushed. that is returned to the lump. All that beauty and creativity is in an instant gone. He'll start again. He'll make it, and he'll make it better. He'll make it right. He'll make what he wants to make. So the marred pot is crushed, its form is destroyed, and a new pot instantly begins to be formed and to take shape. Oh, it's a solemn message. Like a knife through the heart of Jeremiah, the message goes. This is Judah. This is the kingdom of his own people. They're marred. They have sinned against God. They're not fit. They're not worthy. They're not what God has desired or has determined or has commanded. They are a flawed pot. And what then will the potter do as he looks upon this rebellious people, as he sees this kingdom that has turned its back upon his law? What would be the natural, the reasonable, the logical thing for this sovereign, glorious, all-powerful heavenly potter to do? Surely in an instant to crush, to destroy that form that he had made and to bring forth something new. They are God's people but they are flawed and the Lord would be just to utterly reject and destroy them and make anew a fresh people of God fashioned to serve and to glorify him. Jeremiah sees God now not as bound to help Judah, not as tied by some responsibility to always uphold and keep in safety this kingdom, whatever their sins. He learns a lesson in the pottery. He learns a lesson there. This people have sinned. They are flawed, and they have no right to expect the preservation of their God. Cut it down. Why cometh it that cry? And you see the same terrible message comes to you and I this night. It comes to Scotland, it comes to you as an individual. You and I are flawed pots. God has given his will in this word, his revealed will, his commands. And we have not obeyed the Maker's instructions. We've taken and perverted these bodies of beauty and intricacy and have made them vessels full of sin and all uncleanness. We have perverted His good gifts. We are flawed. We are As it were, almost beyond repair, but for the power of God. And why should he not cast us away forever, as those fit only for destruction? Lamentations 3.22, it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. because his compassions fail not. And here is the wonder of the message of the potter's house, that the Lord does not instantly bring this destruction that Judah has earned, that the Lord does not instantly bring this destruction here, that our nation, that our island, that our town of Stornoway, that our own families and households that we as individuals have earned from him, he does not crush. what he has made. He does not destroy, but he is patient and he waits and he gives time for repair, time for that work to take shape and to take better form. The Lord is merciful above all that could be expected. He is sovereign, absolutely sovereign, but the wonder is that he exercises that sovereignty in patience and in long-suffering and in the preaching of a gospel of salvation. He does not crash. He waits. He waits. That's precious. The Lord is sovereign. And that adds urgency to this message. How much longer do we have? How much longer do you have before the heavenly potter brings distraction? It came for Judah. Oh, we know the history. We know what was to happen to that kingdom. Jeremiah preached and preached and called them to repentance. and they hardened their hearts and said no until eventually the nation of Babylon came and the kingdom was destroyed and the temple was demolished and the city walls were knocked down and the vast majority were massacred or carried captive into a foreign land. A picture of the destruction of hell itself and how much worse the eternal wrath of God to fall upon you and I if we continue in rebellion against him. We'll take as our theme this night, the sovereignty of God in the gospel. The sovereignty of God in the gospel. And we'll consider three points as the Lord spares us. Firstly, the sovereignty of God. Secondly, the gospel of God. And thirdly, the response of man. So firstly, the sovereignty of God. Verse six, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter, saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. God is sovereign and he has made you who you are. That's familiar teaching and the trouble is that familiarity can blunt the wonder of that message when it's new. That is a radical teaching indeed. I was recently over in America visiting our church's congregations there, and I had the opportunity to meet a lovely lady, a member of the African-American community who is a member in one of our congregations. And she told me her story, and it's an interesting one. About two years ago, there was an unarmed black man who was shot by the police. The merits of the case don't greatly matter to us tonight. But the point is it caused great outrage amongst the African-American community. There were riots in that place in the suburb of Ferguson in Missouri, you might recall the case. And there was great anger against the police. And this black lady was very distressed and upset by what had happened. And she poured out on social media a lot of anger. She poured out furious posts against the police and against the way that they had behaved in this situation and in other like situations. And a friend of her pulled her aside and said, why are you reacting like this? You're a Christian. You should not be pouring out all this anger. And her friend gave her a book to read, The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink. who lies, of course, across the road in the Sandwick, cemetery his mortal remains. She read the sovereignty of God and it was like a light went on. She understood, I am God's creature. This world is the world that God has made. This isn't some human jungle in which we have to fight for our rights in which only the fittest survive. We are God's creatures and what matters is our relationship with God. How different her worldview once she had read and absorbed that book. And she started to look around for more Reformed teaching and went from church to church and eventually she came to the Free Church Continuing Congregation and there sits today under the teaching of our pastor in that area. She learned the sovereignty of God, and you and I, who are entirely without excuse, who have, most of us, heard these doctrines and teachings from our youth, we too need to absorb these teachings. In the words of Scripture, in Him we live and move and have our being, and that's radical. Your whole life is the life God has given you. You yourself as a person are who God has made you. Everything that happens to you is God's plan for your life. You are in his hands. Do you recognize the sovereignty of God? Do you see the hand of the divine potter at work in your experience? Oh, there have been hard experiences. It's a hard thing for the clay to be beaten and pummeled into shape. There have been hard experiences in your life and in mine, but the potter is at work. He is fulfilling his purpose. You are his body and soul, his design, his craftsmanship. Your every defect is your resistance to the potter. You're striving against him. The clay striving with the potter and resisting his hand. And yet your existence, your very existence, the fact that still you breathe is a testimony the Lord still has more in store for you. There is still more of the plan of God not yet fulfilled in your life. Isn't that an extraordinary thought? There is more to the decree of God for you than yet you have experienced. And how wonderful when you see the plan of God leading you, not into the world, not to love the things of this life, but more and more you see the plan of God leading you into the house of God. leading you under the sound of the preaching of the word, bringing you again and again to thoughts of eternity and to the reading of scripture and to a realization that you are God's creature. How wonderful you children that your place is found here this night, that you don't have parents who just shrug their shoulders and give up and let their children be entertained by electronic gizmos all day. How wonderful that your place is here in the house of God, that in the providence of God, it's given to you to hear the preaching of the gospel, the message of everlasting life. Have you thanked God for that privilege? You who are grown, who are making decisions for yourselves, you who are choosing to be here, have you not thought how wonderful, how precious it is That for better or worse, your choice is still to be here. That whatever it is that draws you or leads you, be it family pressures, be it a nagging sense of right and wrong, be it your own sense of duty, That you are here and that you are still listening and that that word is going in. Isn't that precious? Is it not a token for good? A sign that the Lord still has more in store for you and perhaps. and eternal salvation. Oh, may it be so. May it be so. Are you resisting the potter this night? Are you trying to be something different? Are you resisting the hand of God and the word of God revealed in scripture? Are you resisting the purpose of God for the life of man, which is here proclaimed? Are you pursuing something else? As Job said, chapter 23, verse 10, but he knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. And every true believer can say that, and isn't it wonderful? God knows our path, and God will bring us forth as gold. Oh, that that would be your testimony as well. How do we respond to such teaching? Well, of course, the first step is to acknowledge God owns me. It is to acknowledge God is my master. I am his pot, so to speak. He is my maker and I am his. Have you acknowledged it? Do you recognize that God is your God? That you are in his hand, his creature, to do what he wills with. That God would be just to bring down his hand in an instant and crush that pot into the lump once more. He would be just to do that. Are you here claiming your rights? Fighting for what you deserve? Standing up for yourself before God? recognizing you don't have any rights before God? He's the potter, you're just the clay. Are you here recognizing that his will is best, that his word is best, and that more and more you need to be conformed to the hand of the potter? Oh that we would learn that. You have sinned as I have sinned. You've stolen, cheated, lied, run from God. And yet still, still he pursues. Still the hand of the potter is evident in your experience. You've not been allowed just to go your own way. God is still working. Yes, you're like a clay pot full of air, pockets full of impurities. For you, the rightful sentence is death and death in an instant, and he could execute that in an instant, and yet he stays his hand. Yet he says, but another year. Yet he gives you time. What are you doing? the extra time that you are being given? What are you being doing as still he holds back the hand of destruction? Are you submitting to him? Isaiah 64, verse eight. But now, O Lord, thou art our father. We are the clay, and thou our potter, and we all are the work of thy hand. Can you say that this night? Before God, you are the creator. I am a creature of God. Can you say it? Do you acknowledge that one is your master? Have you come to see that? Have you submitted to the sovereignty of your God? But you see, there's a second step required. Submit to the sovereignty of God, but what then does God require of you? And that brings us on to our second point. We've considered, firstly, the sovereignty of God. Let's consider, secondly, the gospel of God, the gospel of God. now at verse 8 of our chapter. If that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. It's an awesome warning. Let Judah change and and the destruction won't come. Let Judah repent and the Lord will turn from that purpose which he has proclaimed already in the sermons of Jeremiah, that awful destruction which was to come upon Judah. Let them repent and he will turn. He will not bring down his hand to crush and destroy a pot that is formed as he would have it formed. He will not destroy a repentant nation. Isn't that precious? And how much more to you that message comes. The gospel comes. Repent and the Lord will not bring destruction. Repent and the Lord will not cast you into that everlasting hell which you have earned and deserved. Repent and the Lord will not bring the consequences of your sin on your own head. Repent. Turn from that sin. Turn from it with shame, with grief, with sadness. Sin is vile and ugly. See it for what it is. Hate it. Confess it. It's your work. You can't blame God for your sin. It's your sin. Confess it. You sinned. You rebelled. You hardened your heart. But oh, praise God, there is still time. There is still a place of repentance. You are still here, and that alone is a token for good. You are still here. There is still time, but will you use it? Will you repent? Will you seek His face? Will you confess your sin? Will you ask His forgiveness? Will you lay hold upon Christ as He is freely offered in the gospel? Will you lay hold upon Him as God's anointed Savior? As the very gift of God to your soul, will you lay hold upon Him by faith and trust in Him as your Savior? Verse 11, return ye now everyone from his evil way and make your ways and your doings good. That's the Lord's messages, turn and I will turn from my planned destruction. Turn and I will turn from my declared purpose that this nation will be destroyed. But as we reflect, as we go a little deeper and a little further, as we start to put these two truths which we have spoken of together, the sovereignty of God and the gospel of God, then we start to see something truly wonderful, that God is sovereign and yet there is a gospel. And so you realize this was his plan all along. This was God's plan that a rebellious, unworthy, marred pot should rather be restored and repaired by means of the gospel, by means of the work of Christ. How else can it be if God is sovereign over every motion, over every event, over every occurrence? He is, of course, sovereign over the heart of man. He is, of course, the God of salvation. He is sovereign. And if there is a gospel, and if you hear that gospel, and if that gospel is pressing upon you now with urgency, with force, as a message of eternal significance, is that itself not an indication that the Lord is at work, or that we would have ears to hear? Oh that we would have hearts ready as the sovereign God molds and shapes those whom he has chosen. It's a glorious truth the Lord has a plan of salvation, a plan of repair for his chosen pots to make them not marred but perfect. exactly what he would have, and that's the gospel. That's the gospel, a plan of repair, a plan of redemption, and the Lord fulfills it in Christ. The image of the potter is significant in scripture. We have it taken up again in Isaiah 64. We have it taken up in Romans chapter 9 by the Apostle Paul and advanced significantly further. The apostle Paul carries it really a logical step further. He speaks about how the Lord makes one pot for honor and another pot for dishonor. The potter in the pottery takes from the same lump a lump for a coarse earthenware pot for an animal to feed out of and from the same lump of clay, clay for a beautiful vase that will be so refined and so elegant and so beautifully decorated that it will take pride of place upon the mantelpiece of the home. The same clay serving two radically different purposes. So it is with men upon the wheel of our creator God. God makes one pot for destruction and another pot for honor. One pot for hell and another pot for heaven. From the same lump, from the same humanity, he makes these two different pots. Why? Why? Paul explains. Romans 9.22. What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had aforeprepared unto glory? You see, the unrighteous, are made and are endured for a reason. And this world continues for a reason. And be clear, the world is not continuing for the benefit of the Lord's people. This world is not continuing for Christians. It's continuing for the sake of those who are not yet the Lord's people. This world continues because the number of God's pots is not yet made up. He has jewels that have not yet been found, sheep that have not yet been gathered into the fold. And so the day follows day until all are gathered. And this world continues for the benefit of you who are still outside of Christ. But are you using that time? He is enduring those who will certainly be lost, that his own will be found. He is patient. He is long-suffering. He will fulfill his purpose. He will gather in all the elect of God, And the world continues for the sake of you who are the elect of God and who are yet outside of Christ. The world continues for such as you, sinners hardened in heart still and yet chosen and loved and redeemed and called such as you. But is it you? Are you one? There's only one way to find out, and that is to come, and that is to repent, and that is to believe in Christ. And when we come, we will find it was for us all along. Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. John 6 verse 40, this is the will of him that sent me that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life. and I will raise him up at the last day. So how is this purpose fulfilled? It's God's sovereign purpose. He will fulfill it, but it's being fulfilled by the gospel, by the preaching of the good news of Christ crucified for sinners. God's sovereignty is achieved by God's gospel. And so the gospel comes to you this night as God's sovereign message with God's sovereign power behind it to make that distinction which God sovereignly makes in this world. And you must ask yourself what side are you found upon this night because there are only two. Those who hear that gospel and who obey it and who believe in Christ and who receive him as savior. and those who harden their hearts and say, no, I will not have this man to reign over me. I choose this world and to live for this life and to fill my belly with the husks that the swines did eat. I choose that above Christ. Only two choices. And the gospel this night makes the distinction in this room between those who are his and those who are not. And God's sovereignty is at work this night in the preaching of that gospel. It is humbling, isn't it, to consider that from all eternity our place here was planned, that from all eternity we were to hear this message this night in these circumstances, that the potter had determined it so, and that the potter formed and shaped and made you, that in such situation, that in such circumstances, that just as you are, you would be found this night here under this message. That you would be found hearing this gospel. That's how big the sovereignty of God is. From all eternity to the finest detail. Your life story determined. But here's the question. How does it end? How does the story end? We've got it this far. Where does it go from here? Don't you see the urgency? Don't you see the awfulness? What if that story is a tragedy? What if that story is like one of these plays of Shakespeare that ends with blood all over the stage and most of the characters lying dead? What if that story of your life is a story that leads to sadness and grief and loss and the destruction of all your hopes and a final loss of all blessing and privilege in eternity to come? What if the epitaph over you is like the epitaph over Judah? That they loved this life and they had their treasures here And at last the judgment of God came, and every single treasure which they loved and which they valued was taken from them, that in an instant they lost all that they had prized, and they found themselves with nothing, nothing forever. May it not be so. May it not be so, may it be rather that the story has a happy ending, that God's purpose is fulfilled in your life in salvation, that you give glory to him not as a vessel of wrath fitted for destruction but as a vessel of honour, to sit as it were, and we say it reverently, upon the mantelpiece of God, to be one of his jewels in that day that he gathers them, to be prized and delighted in and loved by God for all eternity. May the Lord make it so. We've considered the sovereignty of God. We've considered the gospel of God. Let's consider now thirdly, the response of man. We're coming now to verse 12. And let's hear what Judah said. And they, that is the people of the land said, there is no hope, but we will walk after our own devices and we will everyone do the imagination of his evil heart. What did they mean there is no hope? They had hope in this world, they had hope in this life. They believed that the country of Judah would continue as it had always continued. They believed that that would be so. They thought that Jeremiah was talking nonsense. Jeremiah 18, they specifically stated that they did not believe his message. So what did they mean, there is no hope? Well, they were speaking to the prophet, to the prophet who had urged them to embrace the gospel. And to that prophet they said, there is no hope. What they meant is plain. There is no hope that you will convince us. There is no way that you will bring us to repent of these, our sins. We love them too much. As we would say, no chance, no chance. You bring Christ, no way. We choose this life, we choose this world. There is no hope. They were determined. They were firm. We will walk after our own devices. We will, everyone, do the imagination of his evil heart. Oh, the stubbornness of this response. Isn't there something demonic about it? Doesn't it already have the ring of the pit about it? This defiance, this hardness, this unwillingness to bow and to accept the law of God. Mad. We would say mad, and yet it was their response. And the Virgin of Israel have done a very horrible thing, verse 13. It is horrible to reject the gospel. It is horrible to refuse Christ. It is ugly, it is vile, it is loathsome sin. And yet how many a time in this room have you committed that horrible sin and hardened your heart against the offer of Christ? How many a time? The commentator Philip Ryken states, those who begin to forget God end up hating him. And haven't we seen that ourselves? Those who have grown up in Christian families who are at first hardening their hearts against God. and at last they despise him. And even to speak to them of God is to earn their anger and their vitriol, their hatred of the word, their hatred of the gospel, their utter rejection and defiance against Christ. How many we have seen who have gone that way, and doesn't it break our hearts when we see those whom we love so given over to this world that they hate the Savior of sinners. They hate Him who is love. That is the sin of those who refuse Christ. See the result. Judgment is going to come. The land will be made desolate, verse 16, and a perpetual hissing. The people will be scattered, verse 17, as with an east wind before the enemy. Their whole land, their whole kingdom is to be destroyed. The people themselves will be scattered, some slain, some gathered to be taken into captivity in a foreign land, others left. as vinedressers, as servants within the land itself. The people scattered and there will be no help available. The Lord will turn his back to their prayers. I will show them the back and not the face in the day of their calamity. Oh, there'll be many who pray on the day of judgment. Many who cry out, Lord, Lord. when Christ returns. Many who as they arise from the grave will be using these mouths that were full of curses and anger in this life to appeal to Christ. But it's too late. The Lord has shut the door. The day of salvation is past and gone. The night cometh when no man can work. The number has been made up. There's no longer any room. There's no longer any space. Every one of the Lord's jewels are gathered in and those who utter such prayers will see the back and not the face. May it not be so for you. May this not be your end. See the effect. It's a solemn message and the result of it is that the people turn against the prophet himself. So incensed are they by his preaching that they actually express hatred against Jeremiah. We see it in verse 18. Come and let us smite him with the tongue and let us not give heed to any of his words. At this stage, they're still just smiting with the tongue. There was a lot worse in terms of persecution to come for Jeremiah. But oh, they smit him with the tongue. They abused him. They criticized him. They attacked him. They insinuated dark motives to him. The world hates those who preach to them of Christ, those who summon them to repentance. They love those who give smooth words, especially in the name of God. Those who speak from an open Bible to assure them of the love of God for those who continue in sin. Those who say smooth things at funerals. Those who encourage people along the path that they are walking on. But stark warnings, earnest appeals for repentance, they earn the hatred of this world. And the end result of this rejection is truly awful. We see it in a prayer for destruction. It comes from the mouth of Jeremiah, but it is my own conviction that the prayer for destruction which we find here In verse 21 is an inspired prayer that Jeremiah is here speaking in his capacity as a prophet of the Lord. It is not right for us personally as individuals to seek vengeance against our neighbor. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. I will repay, but it is certainly right to call for the vengeance of God against his enemies. And I believe that is what we are seeing here. that this prayer for vengeance that we see should be considered in the same category as the imprecatory Psalms, these Psalms of cursing, these Psalms which call down the wrath of God upon his enemies, like Psalm 58 or Psalm 109. Christ prays for the destruction of his enemies, and so Jeremiah prays, verse 21, Therefore deliver up their children to the famine pour out their blood by the force of the sword Let their wives be bereaved of their children and be widows and let their men be put to death solemn words But you know this the reason I am so confident in saying this to you that I believe this is an inspired prayer It's because this prayer was answered, every word of it. Every single word fulfilled when the Babylonians invaded and massacred the people and carried them into captivity. There were many mothers then who were bereft of their children, hacked to pieces by the savage marauding invaders, left widows to mourn their husbands slain with the edge of the sword. These prayers, these appeals to God were fulfilled. And these Psalms which we sing to God, calling for his judgment upon his enemies, they shall be fulfilled as well. They will be fulfilled in eternity to come. And the people of God will praise the Lord as the righteous judge who executes vengeance upon his enemies. But here's the urgency of it. If such vengeance is coming, if such destruction is just around the corner, if such a hell stands gaping in your path as what you have deserved and earned and purchased and where you are assuredly heading right now, Then don't you see the urgency of the gospel? Don't you see why this message matters so much? Don't you see that here we are speaking about the things of eternity, that here we are, as it were, wrestling with souls? But oh, that the Lord would draw you, that the Lord himself would speak to you this night. This gospel discriminates. The friends of Christ are revealed. Said the Lord Jesus, ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you. John 15, verse 14. You are a friend of Jesus if you do what he says. And his word says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you a friend of Christ? Are you obeying his word? Are you repenting of your sins? Are you trusting in the Lord Jesus? Are you turning to him? You are my friends. If you do whatsoever, I command you. But then we see the opposite, don't we? So too are his enemies revealed. Philippians 3 verse 18. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. There you have it, two categories. Only two, the friends of Christ and the enemies of Christ. Totally different and yet only two categories. Which is yours this night? Are you heeding the message? Are you obeying its command? Are you coming to him and trusting in him and accepting his salvation? Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. Oh, that the Lord would bring you this night to behold the Lamb of God, to see the Lord Jesus Christ, to see the Lord's anointed Savior, that the Lord would show you that there is eternal life in Him, and that the Lord would bring you to the feet of Jesus to repent of your sins and to trust in His mercy. Are you a vessel being shaped by the hand of the potter? Are you one of His, being prepared for honor, being prepared for a glory to come, an everlasting life? Or are you a vessel of wrath, fitted for destruction? The Lord only knows, but make sure that you are one of His. Oh, that the Lord would draw us and make us His own. Amen. The Lord bless his word. Let's seek his face in prayer.