really appreciated all the good singing, preparing our hearts, and especially the great preaching of the Word of God. Very thankful that you have invited men that believe God's Word and state it clearly and forthrightly. There's great power in that. And I do thank you again for your invitation. I'm going to be heading home after lunch today, but I do want to thank you so much for all your kindness, your hospitality. I greatly enjoyed being here. If you would, turn in your Bibles, and I thank you for the cards too. I got one about every week. I had them all laid out and I read over them before I came, but I couldn't remember all the names. I just want to thank you for that. It was an encouragement. Turn to Isaiah chapter 45. I want to give us a little frame of reference for the passage that I'll be preaching on today. And to do that, we'll read a couple of Old Testament passages. Isaiah 45. In verse 5, I am the Lord and there is none else. There is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord and there is none else. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it. Woe unto him that striveth with his maker. Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it, what makest thou or thy work? He hath no hands. Woe unto him that saith unto his father, what begattest thou? Or to the woman, what hast thou brought forth? Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel and His Maker, Ask of me things to come concerning my sons and concerning the work of my hands. Command ye me." Jeremiah chapter 18 and verse 3. Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he brought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter. So he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 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 my hand, O house of Israel. And now, if you would, Romans chapter 9 and verse 18. Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom he will, he hearteneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, why didst yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering 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 hath afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom He hath called not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles." He is the potter and we are the clay. In each of the passages that we read, a clear and unmistakable metaphor is displayed. God is the potter. And sinful man, whether Jew or Gentile, is the clay. All of these Old Testament passages were... it's as if Paul, as he writes is trying to explain to his Jewish listeners, folks, the potter has a work also to do among the Gentiles. And he is going to do it and it will be according to his own purpose and his own will. And he's even going to set you aside for a time and extend this grace to the Gentiles. Romans chapter 9 is one of the most forceful declarations in all of Scripture of the sovereignty of God illustrated by the work of the sovereign potter. God is the sovereign potter who chooses the elect out of the corrupt mass of depraved mankind as spoken of as the clay. And He does it according to His own purpose and grace and then fashions them according to His own purpose and according to His will. And how glorious is it that He calls these people made out of clay vessels of mercy. because they are the objects of God's love and affection which moves Him to change them in the work of regeneration by the power of the Spirit that enables them for the first time in their lives as they are brought to life to see their need of the only One who can cleanse them from all their sins by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The vessels of mercy are contrasted from the vessels of wrath who are said to be fitted for destruction. Because they are left in their original miserable state to perish in their sins, because that's the desire of their being. Jesus said, you will not come unto Me that you might have life. If God has been pleased to choose and prepare you as a vessel of mercy, your heart should be bursting with love and with gratitude. Because you are by nature no better than the vessels of wrath. I think it's interesting as you read through the chapter, a lot of people want to argue with the sovereignty of the potter. But Paul explains, this is the way it's always been. Especially as he is relating to some of his Jewish listeners, he explains to them in verse 7, Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, that at this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son. God is revealing His sovereignty of purpose in His choice of Isaac, the child of promise, as opposed to Ishmael who was born out of the energy of the flesh. They were both the sons of Abraham. But God's purpose of grace is revealed in Isaac. And then he goes on. Verse 10. And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand not of works, but of Him that calleth." Make no mistake about this, vessels of mercy. It has nothing to do with anything you have done. But it's according to God's purpose. And He evidences that. In verse 12, it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. In reality, Jacob was just as rotten as Esau. They were both, Jacob and Esau, were both sons of Isaac. But God loved Jacob with a sovereign electing grace and rejected Esau and left him in his sins. And this was determined before they were ever born. Before they had ever done any actions in life so that God's purpose again may be set forth. And He reveals to us that if you are saved, It's not because of your ability, your intellect, your goodness, your religious performances, your circumcision, your keeping of the law. No, it is not of works, but according to the purpose of the One who calls you. Out of darkness into His marvelous light. And he says in verse 14, he answers an objection, what shall we say then? Everybody wants to object. Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. Don't even think that there's unrighteousness with God. There is none. For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. It's all according to His will. Verse 16, based on this answer, So then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. And then Paul uses Moses and Pharaoh. to show His sovereign purpose in executing, first of all, His perfect justice against the vessels of wrath, who by their own depravity, their own sin, their own hardness, their own wickedness, are fitted to destruction. You and I, by nature, are worthy of God's unabated justice. That's all I deserve. If God were just to deal in complete justice, no one would be saved. That's what He's bringing out in this passage. These people, the clay of the world is slimy, it's dirty, it's filthy. But there are some that I make vessels of mercy. How glorious is that? Because I deserve to be judged just like Pharaoh was. For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. that I might show My power in thee, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth." God's glory is revealed in the judgment of Pharaoh and all of the enemies of God. There is a perfect justice with God. That's why you cannot judge Him. You don't have the right frame of mind. You're not holy. You're not absolutely righteous. You don't see things as He does. Therefore, hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He willly hardeneth? Thou wilt then say unto me, Why doth He yet find fault? For who hath resisted His will? And the answer, without giving a lot of intellectual reasoning, is this simple. Nay, but old man, you ain't nothing but clay. You have no right to say anything about the justice or the grace of God. Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replyest against God? He's given a ridiculous scenario. You think that the potter's on the wheel and the clay all of a sudden forms a mouth and says, hey, I don't like the way you're forming me. Why are you doing it that way? That's ridiculous. Nay, but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Cannot the potter power over the clay? There are some things we need to see about the character of the potter. in this metaphor. He's sovereign. He does as He wills, perfectly as He wills. The potter is holy and righteous. He sees everything clearly. He is not jaded by human depravity or by sin. He does everything according to His own purpose and according to His own pleasure and shall not the judge of all the earth do right. You've got to settle that in your mind. Our God is the sovereign Potter and He is right in everything that He does. He does as He pleases, when He pleases, how He pleases. He does not need permission or approval from the clay to accomplish His purpose, to carry out His will. Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath plead. I marvel at the fact that He would even deal with people in grace. People say, well, why doesn't God save everybody? It's never been the question for me, knowing the rock out of which I've been hewn, the miry pit out of which He brought me out of. My question is, how could God be so gracious as to save anyone, even somebody as filthy as me, as wretched as me? You see, He's the sovereign owner of all the clay. As the Creator, He owns everything. The earth is the Lord, the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. And He can do what He will. God the potter has power and complete authority over the clay. That is a real problem for modern day thinking. Because everybody thinks, I've got my rights. I'm going to tell you something. God is the only one who has absolute rights over everything in this creation. And if you're saved here today, your heart ought to be overwhelmed that He would look down in grace and pull somebody like you. I hope you don't think too highly of yourself, because all you are is clay. But He would pick somebody out like you and make you determined to make you a vessel of mercy to glorify Him and exalt Him, not just for time, but for all eternity. The sovereign potter is all wise. And as such, he works on the clay according to a plan. There's not a potter in the world that comes to the workbench and to the wheel without an idea of what he's going to do. You're not saved by accident. It's not just coincidental. Every detail has been arranged for God to scoop you out of the miry pit. Every minute detail has been ordained by God. He works all things out of the counsel of His own will. He is a sovereign potter. He knows exactly what He's doing. Every successful potter has in mind what he wants to do with the clay before he ever begins to work on it. He knows exactly what must be done to make a vessel of mercy. This was not done haphazardly. Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. You see, the potter has a sovereign purpose. And I'm just amazed that I'm a part of it. I've always thought of Ephesians chapter 1 as kind of like a New Testament psalm or phrase. There's nothing in there about man's ability or his will. It's all about the work of God. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He hath chosen us. that we should be holy, not because we were, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Christ Jesus unto Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His breath, wherein He, has made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. Praise God for the sovereign plan and purpose of the potter that was framed before the world began, that every detail is brought to pass to form every vessel of mercy. The sovereign potter is skilled and successful. Every vessel of mercy aforeprepared unto glory is in time brought out of the earth to be transformed by the invincible power of the potter. Everyone God has determined to make a vessel of honor will come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Because we're His workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus, ordained to good works, that ye should walk in them. Does it thrill you today to think that God has determined to work on you I'm overwhelmed by that. Because He knows everything about me. From beginning to end, inside and out, every sin that I will ever commit, He knew all about that in His infinite, eternal mind, yet in spite of who I was, He loved me. with an everlasting pride and glee. There is no one like it. The potter is absolutely just. Every vessel of mercy is so valuable. They've been bought with pride. The blood of the potter's son, Jesus Christ, thus secure for all eternity. And I've alluded to this some, but we do need to think for a moment about the natural condition of clay, what is here described as the lump, if you will, of man's pot. Depraved mankind is the clay. It says we're all out of this same lump. We're all fallen in Adam. There's no natural beauty in clay. There's nothing in it to attract the eye or the favor of the potter. The very best that we have to bring, all of our righteousnesses are considered in the sight of a holy God to be nothing but worthless rags. Unclean and filthy. Undone, deprived by the filth and sloth of our own depravity. God saw nothing in us but ruin and ash. Clay's head was lifeless. It can't do anything for itself. And you had the equipment to work that. And it trespasses and sinks. Clay just by its own nature, cannot mold itself into something that is pleasing in the eyes of the Father. It does not have that ability, even though Every false religion is based on this false premise that somehow the clay can rise above its nature and form itself into something that is pleasing, that would merit the favor of God. Every false religion, that is the basis for their existence. And it is completely false. Because all the clay can say is what Paul said in Romans 7, 18. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing. Jesus said, the flesh profiteth nothing, good for nothing. is what all the depraved lump of mankind is. Man at his best state is altogether vanity. That word means less than nothing. And yet man highly esteems his religious attempts to form himself. The Bible says, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is at enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are in the flesh, they that are in the clay, by their natural condition, So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. That's what magnifies God's mercy when He takes us out of such a miserable, pitiful state and changes us by His will. the transformation of clay to a vessel of mercy. If you read the text, it's entirely attributed to the work of the Father, and no one else. He's the one that brings the dead clay to life by the power, the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. He is the one that not only imparts life at the moment of the new birth, but immediately, at that very moment, He gives us also the grace to repent, to have a change of mind about what we are as filthy, wretched people of the clay. Offenders of God's justice and God's holiness and His law. And at that very moment, He gives us grace to believe that Jesus Christ died in my place, in my stead. He gave His life. He shed His blood. And then He rose from the dead. And the glory of the crucified, buried, and risen Christ is revealed. to this old clay that formerly was not worth anything. How amazing is that? That God doesn't leave you where you're at, in your sins. He works on the vessels of mercy. He creates within us a new nature. that desires to love Him and please Him and exalt Him and every day bow to the will of the potter. Here am I, Lord. Make me each and every day to resemble the ultimate goal to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. You know the potter, he cleanses that. He forms it, heats it, and then he washes it. I have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. I've been cleansed positionally before God. That position will never be altered. From before the world began, He determined that I would be a vessel of mercy. Jesus Christ purchased me and bought me and imputed to me His righteousness. The moment He gave me grace to believe, that righteousness will never be abolished. It will never be taken away. That position will never change. I am a vessel of mercy for time and eternity. all by the power of the potter, his plan, his work. That's not all he does. He fills these vessels of mercy, not only cleansing them positionally, but also progressively by the power of the Holy Spirit, using the Word of God. We are washed by the water of the Word to take out the blemishes, to cleanse us. And the potter fits the vessels of mercy for use. All these vessels of mercy hold within the treasures of the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power might be of God, and not of us. So every day we're reminded that it's the treasure that makes the difference. The treasure in us, the Spirit of Christ who gives us the grace to cry out, Abba, Father, and worship and praise and fellowship with the One who formed us. And there's great diversity among the vessels. They're formed out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, which is why we, vessels of mercy, we ought to be, you know what vessels literally were used for? To carry, a lot of time, to carry valuable things from one place to another, especially water. And as vessels of mercy changed by the power of God, we ought to be carrying the good news of Jesus Christ to every nation, every kindred, every tribe, every tongue, because He has a people out of all of them according to Revelation 5-9. Now some of these vessels are set apart for a use. I believe the Lord set some of these vessels of mercies in His church. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end." What a glorious thing it is to be saved, but if He's put you in His church, you have such a holy responsibility to serve Him. Well, the ultimate purpose of the sovereign potter is to completely transform that ugly clay into a beautiful vessel of mercy to be displayed for all eternity as living, glorified vessels of God's mercy. This is what really should humble our hearts today. What we were, where we were, the condition that we were in, the rock, the pit out of which we were hewn. And now we're seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, serving the King until He comes to spend all eternity with Him. So if I can just give a couple of practical applications, let's praise our God. For the work is all His. regeneration, sanctification, justification, glorification. It's all His work. And how our hearts ought to be filled with wonder and amazement. Don't forget, as vessels in this world, we are subject to defilement. The Bible says, "...of a man, therefore, purge himself from these. He shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified meat for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful lust, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." When you go to get a drink today, you don't get the one that's in the sink covered with macaroni and cheese. You want a drink out of that one. Now you want to get a clean one to be used. And all that we would daily be reminded that we're not our own. We belong to the potter. And let us never forget the purpose for which we were formed by his grace. Our lives are to be solely committed to bringing glory to our maker. Even the most durable and beautiful of earthly vessels made by men are subject to crack and leak. Earthly vessels are often broken and destroyed through neglect or carelessness. Even as God's vessels of mercy, we've all got some cracks. We've got some flaws. But we're His workmanship. And we can rejoice that one day every single flaw will be forever removed and every broken piece will be mended when Jesus comes again and we bear His glorious image. One day, that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Every flaw removed. No more brokenness. No more sin, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more death, no more disappointment, but vessels of mercy who will be displayed as the monuments of God's grace throughout all eternity, praising and exalting His holy name. Even so come, Lord Jesus.