PARALLELS LEARNED FROM THE MASTER POTTER
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Many of us have experienced - or are experiencing severe trials and tests. Unfortunately, some buckle
under the pressure instead of learning the vital lessons these trials are intended to teach us. Lessons that are
absolutely essential for us to develop into being sons of God! We all want to endure and conquer trials and
temptations. But in order to do so, we must understand why our Creator designed our life to be a seemingly un-ending number of problems.
If God has permitted you to be sorely tried, perhaps repeatedly, then that's the surest sign that your
Creator knows you've got it in you to "endure unto the end.” And that is also – the surest sign that the ruler of
the entire universe is working out some higher purpose in your life.
We will do some spiritual and physical comparing today using the parable of the potter “Christ” and the
“clay,” our being His called children. It will involved a 7 step plan which I have titled “ Lessons Learned from
the Master Potter.”
The prophet Isaiah understood man was merely a c1ay model to be formed and fashioned by the hand of
his Creator. Notice Isaiah 64 verse 8, where he wrote, “O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay; and you
our Potter; and we all are the work of your hand” (Isa.64:8).
The Apostle Paul uses the same imagery or symbolism of the potter and the clay in Romans 9: 21. “Has
not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto
dishonour?” God compares Himself to a master potter and all mankind is likened to clay. Elihu, Job’s friend
said in Job 33:6, “I also am formed out of the clay.”
It is clear man is made out of clay. We are just the clay model God created for the specific purpose
of molding us into the image of His perfect character.
Reading up on pottery sculptors explains some of the fascinating aspects of the art. There are seven
important steps in pottery making: 1). The master potter must first select the type of clay he wants to use in
making a specific piece of pottery. There are many types and colors of clays, each with its own particular
advantages. 2). The potter then lets this c1ay age, weather and ferment until its in “Musty smelling” and is
therefore ready for use. 3). Next, the potter kneads, beats, and treads upon or pummels the clay, to remove
lumps and air bubbles and to make it more pliable. 4). The potter is then ready to begin actually shaping and
forming the clay into whatever shape or design he has chosen. Throughout this process it is necessary to add
water or oil to keep the clay manageable. 5). Once the potter has shaped the clay, he puts it into a furnace (Or
kiln) where it is heated until it reaches its “Maturing point.” This initials baking or firing in the furnace to
permanently sets or hardens the vessel in its desired form so that it can never be altered. 6). After the first firing
of the clay model, it is removed from the fire [the kiln], to let it cool, down for decorating and finally glazing
over. This newly glazed pottery is then given a second firing to bake these decorations onto this new clay model.
There are often several decorations and firings before the pottery vessel reaches its ultimate perfection of beauty.
7). The 7th last step is, the potter is finally ready to judge his work. If the clay model hasn't cracked, exploded
or become marred in some way during these firings, it is at last ready to be used, in whatever manner the
designer and creator may decide.
Now let us understand the crucial spiritual analogy of these seven vital steps in pottery making. We will
now acquire a deeper comprehension of exactly how the great master potter deals with us mortal clay models.
remember, this is God's analogy, not mine! First spiritually, God must choose us. Just as the potter chooses the
type and color of the clay he will use. So God chooses the individuals He will use. Different kinds of clays
have different properties. Some are more malleable than others. Some are better for certain types of work than
others. Likewise with different human beings. The potter must decide which color and type of clay He will use
before He begins His work.
By looking at the illustration of the potter and the clay, we first learn “The parallel” that God always does
the choosing! We never choose Him any more than the clay chooses the potter, who will shape and mold the
vessel or a vase. Christ said to His own disciples, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and
ordained you” (John15:16). He also told the disciples, in John 6: 44, and 65, “No man can come to Me, except
the Father which has sent Me draw him” (John 6:44, 65).
Certainly, no one can say that it is God's will that all mankind must hear and receive the truth during this
age. Many have not been called yet and have never taken the time to open and read the pages of a Bible, God’s
instruction book for life. Paul shows that it is God who decides what He will do with His created creatures. The
clay models He has created tells us, “So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that run, But of God that
shows mercy”(Rom.9: 16). Paul asks in verse 21, “Has not the potter [God] power over the clay [mankind],
of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?” Lets ponder for a bit why
God has chosen us? Many in God's church has asked this question, ‘Why has God chosen me? What have I
done?’ The answer is not what you have done, but what you will do, because you have been chosen for a
specific purpose.
Our God does not choose one at random. Our God does not play roulette, nor does He roll the dice. You
have been called and chosen for a particular level of responsibility and some very specific jobs in God's work
today and in God's government tomorrow and in God's family for all eternity.
Second: step is to recognize our stinking sins! After a potter selects the clay he wishes to use, he must
let the clay weather, age, ferment, and sour and it often literally stinks. Aging the clay, that is, keeping it moist
in a container for several months, makes it better to work with. If the clay begins to smell bad that's really a good
sign. Sometimes inoculating a fresh batch of clay with some of an old batch promotes the growth of bacteria
and so helps plasticity. It is commonly known among potters that clay when its mature, has literally come to
the point of stinking! It is more malleable than un-matured clay.
What lesson are we to draw from this ? Simply this, God cannot really begin to deal with us or can not
begin to convert (change) us and bring us to the place of true repentance until we have come to “stink”[reek]
in our own eyes!
Many scriptures show that our sins are a continuous stench in the nostrils of God. “But we are all as an
unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; And our iniquities, like
the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calls upon Your name, that stirrers up himself to take hold
of You: for You have hid Your face from us, And have consumed us, because of our iniquities. But now, O
Lord, You art our Father; we are the clay, and You our Potter; and we all are the work of Your hand” (Isa. 64:
6 - 8).
It is impossible for the carnal mind to see itself as it really is. Therefore God cannot begin to use us
until we come to see ourselves as we really are. Christ summed it up, “For I am not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance” (Matt. 9:13). A most difficult human being to bring to true repentance was Job -
because he thought he was righteous! He thought he was pretty good in God's sight. But eventually, God really
did get through. Job was finally whittled down to size. Then Job repented, “Wherefore I abhor myself, and
repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6). Many profess to be true Christians, but are still wallowing around in their
own self-righteous filth! God cannot really begin to shape and mold beautiful spiritual character in such
individuals.
Third: step is, Why beat the clay? Before the clay is ready for use it must be beaten and pummeled
to help remove any air pockets and to break up its dried out hard lumps. This makes the clay more plastic and
consequently more easily shaped. What is the significance of this beating, pounding and squeezing of the clay?
It is to show us, God has to rebuke and chasten us. He has to subject us to some tough, unpleasant circumstances
before we will really repent. This is precisely what God did with self-righteous Job.
God allowed Satan too take away all of Job's physical possessions and to destroy his partying children.
Then he let Satan afflict Job with grievous boils, all to pummel Job to his senses, to bring him to real
repentance. (Job 1, 2).
Just as a potter cannot properly work clay that hasn't been thoroughly beaten, so God can't properly
work with us until we repent of our self righteous hardness of heart and our wind of vanity – both of which puff
us up and prevent us from yielding to God. Notice God’s reminder in I Cor.5:6- 8, “Your glorying is not good.
Know you not that a little leaven Leavens the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be
a new Lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the
feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth.
Pounding on the clay can be done by many different methods: beating or pummeling, kneading, slamming
the clay against a special table or bench top, repeatedly cutting it in half by using a taut wire or treading heavily
on it with the feet just as potters treads clay, Isa. 41:25 tells us. Similarly, God has many ways to chasten and
correct us, but He never chooses the ones we want-He always seems to find our most sensitive nerve.
Moving foreword now to the fourth step: “Molding the pottery.” Once the potter has gotten the lumps
and bubbles out, he is ready to start molding and shaping his clay into the form he desires. But some times there's
still a problem: the clay is not supple and consequently cannot be properly molded. The solution is basic: the
potter must add the right amount of water, sometimes oil is used instead of water to make the clay more plastic,
more pliable.
Once God has beaten our hardness of heart out of us and knocked some of our know it all vanity out of
us, we then are ready to receive the “living waters” of God's Holy Spirit that He shares with us, so we can be
properly molded by His instructions.
No one can truly yield to God and obey Him unless and until he has the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. When anybody God calls really thirsts for God's spirit, He will give it to him. Jesus said in John 7, “Out
of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters.” John 7: starting with verse 37 thru 39, “In the last day, that great
day of the feast Jesus stood and Cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that
believeth on Me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spoke He
of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that
Jesus was not yet glorified.)”
Without the addition of water to the clay, it will not be malleable enough to be continually molded in
the hands of the potter. Likewise, without the addition of the spiritual waters of God's Holy Spirit to our minds,
we could never be yielded enough to be continually shaped in the hands of our Creator, the Master Potter.
The fifth step– plunged into the fire. After the potter has molded his vessel and has let it dry
thoroughly, he puts his un-baked piece of pottery into a furnace or kiln, where it must be heated slowly at first
so it won't explode at the high temperature, before it will become sufficiently baked to attain its maximum
hardness. If it is fired at too high a temperature, it will warp, loose its original molded shape. On the other hand,
if it is fired at too low a temperature, the pottery will be “soft” and will not attain its maximum "maturity,"
density and hardness.
The master potter has ways of testing to find the proper "firing range': the proper temperature at which
a particular type of clay should be fired at. There is an amazingly close parallel here between the human potter
and the Master Potter. When God allows us to be put through trials, He has to know just how high the “heat”
should be “turned on.” If God does not allow us to be subjected to enough trials and tests, we get spiritually
weak and flabby and we will never develop the hard, firm character hat is absolutely required for son- ship in
God's family. Notice a few verses in support of what was just said. “Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now
for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being
much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and
honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (I Pet. 1:6 -7). And in James 1:2 - 3 advises us, “My brethren,
count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience.”
If God were to let us be tried by such a big temptation that we couldn't cope with it, it would destroy us
beyond redemption. God knows the precise degree to which each true called child of His can be subjected, and
He watches over us very carefully to make sure that the trials and tests we receive are neither too light nor too
severe.
We find the evidence of “ neither too light” in the epistle to the Hebrew brethren in Heb 12:6-11, “For
whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. if you endure chastening, God
deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chastens not? But if you be without
chastisement, whereof all are partakers, hen are you bastard’s, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers
of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the
Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our
profit, that we might be partakers of His Holiness. Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but
grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of Righteousness unto them which are exercised
thereby.”
In I Cor. 10:13, We read of God’s mercy and faithfulness, when our testing comes too being to severe
“There is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you
to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be
able to bear it.”
Step six: speaks of finishing touches. After the clay has been baked in a furnace to give it its
permanent shape, strength and hardness, it is removed from the kiln and decorated, after which it is glazed over.
Then what happens? Back into the fire– back into the furnace it goes, so that the decorative work and the glazing
can be baked onto the surface of the vessel. This constitutes the second firing.
What should we learn from this, decorating, glazing and second firing? After our calling and a passing
of time God often puts finishing touches into our character, polishing different aspects of His perfect character
within us, through allowing additional fiery trials of various types.
Remember– it is through trials and temptations that the most beautiful facets of our character are
developed. Now, even after a piece of pottery has been fired twice, it often has further stunning decorations
applied, perhaps with fine, pure gold or silver metals.
Then after these beautiful finishing touches are added to the nearly finished vessel, it must go back into
the furnace. Back into the fire with its beautifully decorated finished touches on it, for the third and in most
instances final firing.
So it is with God and His called out children. We sometimes think we have had enough, we've gone
through enough fiery trials, but God, in His infinite wisdom, usually feels other wise. He may realize that still
more beautiful, God like facets of character need to be added, if we are to have the refined, indescribably
stunning character, that is made in the image of the perfect, holy and glorious God!
The seventh and last step is a work of art. At this point the piece of pottery has withstood three or
more firings. The master potter can now survey his work and he will judge it very critically. Has it stood up to
the test? Has it come through all of the firings a hard, strong, beautiful creation. Some thing the potter can truly
be proud of? Or, has it cracked, exploded, sagged, drooped, flaked, or become warped, some where along its
assembly line?
Likewise, at the end of our lives, our Master Potter will judge us extremely and critically, to see how we
have come through all our trials, knowing He will reward us accordingly. At this point we are to rejoice in our
trials so take courage! If God has permitted you to be sorely tried, perhaps repeatedly, then that's the surest sign
that your Creator knows you've got it in you to "endure unto the end."
That’s also the surest sign that the Ruler of the entire universe is working out some higher purpose, in
your life. Because it is only by means of sever tests and rigorous trials that God can develop His character in
you, and will consequently give you a greater reward in His kingdom if you come through the tests given you.
Christ has solemnly promised that, those who hold stead fast till the very end , those who
endure all their fiery trials will definitely make it! We are told – “He that shall endure unto the
end, the same shall be saved” (Matt. 24:13). Think of that. When a potter finishes his work, he
only has a beautiful piece of pottery. But when the Master Potter finishes His work with you;
He will have a son of God!
The real Master Potter has reassuringly promised that those who endure their fiery trials
will inherit everything! We are told in Rev 21:7, “He that overcomes sin, trials, tests,
temptations shall inherit all things; and I will be his god, and he shall be My son.” What a
fantastic future to look forward to! ☜James Russell