1 The
word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Arise, and go
down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Then
I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the
wheels. 4 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. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 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.
7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning
a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; 8 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. 9 And at what
instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build
and to plant it; 10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my
voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them (Jer
18:1-10)
The
Sunday after Ascension Day.
The
Collect.
O
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GOD, the King of
glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy
kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us
thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us un-to the same place whither our
Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same
Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
The
Collect for The Ascension Day.
The
Collect.
G
|
RANT, we beseech thee, Almighty
God, that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to
have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither
ascend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and reigneth with thee and
the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said
daily throughout the Octave.
If man could learn one profound
fact about God and His nature, he might find it far easier to follow His every
counsel. GOD is the utmost SOVEREIGN. Nothing happens in Heaven or Earth that
God does not have the power to either perform or forbid. We build our castles
of sand with great care, but then comes the tide at God's command and washes
all into oblivion. Our labors die as the fires on distant dunes and are covered
with the sands of time as that vain statue, Ozymandias (Shelley): I met a
traveller from an antique land Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of
stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage
lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its
sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless
things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal
these words appear: `My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye
mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal
wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away".
Our very names, a household treasure among friends and family, shall be as
obscure as those works of the trifling `king of kings' Ozymandias, in two
hundred years or less after our demise. We are merely the clay of the land that
has produced us much like the corn of the fertile prairies and plains of
America. Only that which we have deposited in the Bank of our Sovereign shall
persist in value beyond our mortal days of fashioning by the Potter's Hands. If
we stiffen our necks and hearts, He will simply mar the vessel and start anew
to make another of better quality. Though the clay itself may be the same, the
spirit shall be different, and it is the spirit of the soul that is its
essence.
1 The
word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying How can we say
that our Bible is the Word of God when written by the scribe's finger? Because
it is the Voice of the Lord which uttered the Word, and the Hand of the Lord
that moves the finger that writes. In this verse, we see that it is the Word of
the Lord which came to Jeremiah – a great and good prophet of the Lord.
2 Arise,
and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Just as our Anglican churches are provisioned with candles above the Lord's
Table, a Cross thereon, and fine linen that hails back to the days of the
Temple, the Lord uses the concrete and material world to teach us His spiritual
truths at times. In the instant related above, it is the Potter and His Clay.
As pointed out earlier, the Lord is the consummate teacher. We have observed
that He teaches from the KNOWN to the UNKNOWN. It is not possible for learning
to occur from the UNKNOWN to the UNKNOWN. But in the present occasion, He adds
a learning asset that is also effective in teaching – not only by hearing, but
by sight and example. The Potter's House is the visible expression, and the
clay in His Hands is the example.
3 Then
I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
The Potter's Wheel is used to balance and devise symmetrically exact and
cylindrically balanced creations from the clay. It is also used to trim excess
clay from the Potter's Creation. God uses the dynamic of life to fashion us,
His creations of clay, into comely and useful vessels. Without that balance of
reverence, love, hope and character, we are not at all beautiful, but ugly and
warped images of a creation that God intended for good.
4 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.
I would like to point out an amazing probability: the clay from which your body
is made has been the very same clay of many other bodies over the centuries and
millennia. We know, scientifically speaking, that our bodies are composed of
the dust of the earth. We know as well that, when we die, our bodies return to
that dust of the earth. It is not our clay bodies that define us, but our souls
and spirits. God will have His desired vessel whether we are willing to be so
fashioned our not.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to
me, saying, 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. Shakespeare well said that a
"Rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Shakespeare was
right (as if he needs my acclamation!) We are all, fundamentally, in God's
Hands. We may sin woefully and finally reject God, but He is not deterred. He
squeezes us in His Hand until we are no more and begins to make another vessel
of better consistency and appearance – but the result will not be the same
vessel we were when we were rejected by the Potter. The vessel itself will have
altogether better properties and characteristics. The tribes that comprised
God's people of old have failed God. They have enjoyed His sweet blessings, but
rejected His righteous rule. He will mar that old Israel in the Palm of His
Hand and will make a new Israel bringing for the fruits of the Kingdom.
Remember the encounter Jesus had in the Temple with the Jewish rulers? Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the
builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the
Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore
say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a
nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And
whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall
fall, it will grind him to powder (Matt 21:42-44)
The people of God are not defined by national boundaries or racial composition,
but by the condition of their hearts toward God. If old Israel fails, God will
make them over so that new Israel of the Promise shall surely be His people.
7 At what
instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck
up, and to pull down, and to destroy it. That old proverb, "Where
there is life, there is hope" finds its authenticity in God. It is
never too late for a living soul to return to God and be granted grace and
forgiveness. God forgives nations that repent their sin, and God forgives
persons.
8 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. God will
DEFINITELY bring judgment on that nation that rejects Him and pursues sin. The
moment we depart from the Throne of Grace, our judgment is slowly forming in
Heaven. But it is always possible, spiritually, for a nation to repent its
wickedness and be restored to favor with God. I hope that it is not too late
for America. I know that God will forgive us yet if we only turn back to Him
and seek His Face. If my people, which are called by my name, shall
humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways;
then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land. (2 Chron 7:14) I am nearly embarrassed to mention this last verse
from 2nd Chronicles since it has been mentioned
as a cure for our sinful apostasy so often. But the fact that it is often
mentioned lends evidence to the veracity of need to comply with it. It is God's
WORD! My fear is that America's hearing will fail ere the Voice of God stops
calling. We have sunken deep in decadence and depravity, and we rather enjoy
our filthy rags and diet of roots and shrubs. The longer we remain in this
deplorable state of unrighteousness, the less likely the probability that we
can amend and turn to God.
9 And at
what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to
build and to plant it; We cannot patch our weathered main
sail and again weigh anchor in the gale-force winds of sin. If we repent and
God forgives, His judgment is abated for the time. But if we fall again into
desperate sin, what shall God do?
10 If
it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the
good, wherewith I said I would benefit them God
rules in the affairs of nations and of men. God has spoken Words of Life
in all of His Word. Have we heard, and if we have heard, have we obeyed. In our
early foundation as a nation, among the nations of the earth, America knew and
remembered her Maker. She was a virtuous people, modest and reverent. Today, we
are the purveyors of pornography to the world, the leader in the culture of
abortion, the very proponent of wicked perversions involving men marrying men,
and women marrying women. We lead the world in the numbers of single parent
households, and trail in scholarship and education. Our face should burn with
shame before the nations of the world who may recall our former grandeur and
excellence. God placed our vessel of clay on a high pedestal, but we have not
been pleased with such honors. We have preferred to return to the slop of the
swine of the old country, and wallowing in the mud with the pigs of perversion,
to that of serving God and preaching His Word with our hearts and actions. We
who love God and adhere to His every Word are blessed to know Him. We remain a
tiny remnant among the whole cloth of the Garment (world).
Shall we extend our scope and the size of this remnant, or
shall we continue to shrink in size until we are covered with the sands of
Ozymandias?
