We Are the Loving Work of God's Hands

I've appreciated very much the messages that we've received as congregation in recent times, both in terms of the sermonettes and the sermons, and there's been actually specific flavor in those messages that I've appreciated from all who have presented them, because we have to highlight the challenges in the world around us. We have to not ignore the struggles that we all face in this life and the trials we go through, because they are very real.

We have to look at those things head on and address them, but right alongside that we're hopeful. We're encouraged, because as we have already heard today, that's what God's Word gives us. It gives us encouragement and strength and hope in the midst of those things. And so I, again, have just appreciated the messages that have kind of taken that context of, you know, we should be among the most hopeful people on the face of the earth, and especially as times get more and more challenging, not because our hope is in this world and now our hope is sliding away with it.

No, our hope is in God and the kingdom of God. And so that encouragement should spring forth from us. Even if the topics that are addressed and covered are weighty and sobering, we can have hope, and that is the message, indeed, of God's Word.

It works it all out for the good in the end. So for today's message, I'd like to continue with that trend, hopefully, reminding us that in spite of the challenges that we may face in this life and the trials that some among us are going through right now, we can never lose sight of the fact that we are the loving work of God's hands. You and I, as the people of God called out of this world, are the loving work of God's hands. And that is the title of my message today, because, you see, for me, this is comfort. This is encouragement. In our times of difficulty and struggle, when we recognize we are the loving work of God's hands.

And as Mr. Pendergast mentioned in the first message, we have our high priest, our elder brother, the one who laid his life down for us that has walked through this life. He knows what it's like to be human, and he knows what it is to struggle in the flesh as well. He was victorious, and we can be as well. I want to begin today in Ephesians chapter 1, and beginning in verse 1, we're going to come back and forth, actually, a number of times to the Apostle Paul, because he understood this concept of the work of God very well.

It was actually something that was exemplified in his life day by day by day. Ephesians chapter 1, beginning in verse 1, says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you, and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul started so many of his letters with his greeting and salutation. Verse 3 says, Bless be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons.

You and I are called to be children of God by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he made us acceptable in the beloved. And so through this kind of lengthy introduction that Paul makes, there's a lot of value packed into his words here, but I want to focus again on the fact that the clear message in the Bible is God has a plan, God has a purpose, and he's using his divine will and power to carry out that purpose, and it was set in place before the foundation of the world.

It is a plan that will bring many sons and daughters to glory in the family of God, and it is a plan that God is hands-on. And I think sometimes, you know, we can think that, you know, when we've never seen God, he's in the third heaven, he's sort of maybe sitting back watching what we're doing here on earth, and then someday he'll come and intervene.

But the reality of the Word of God is that he's always been involved directly hands-on with his people in the development of our lives, and the God who declares the end from the beginning has both the will and the power to bring the past that which he has declared, and he brings it to the past again directly, personally, and hands-on. And for us, the encouragement is he is hands-on in our life today.

We've been called to be recipients of the work of God, the perfect work of God. Christ says in his physical life, you'll recall, my father's been working. He says, I'm working, is what he says, and my father's been working. We've been doing so until now, and the point is that work continues, and you and I are the recipients of that perfect work of God.

Now, Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1, Paul continues with the concept of this workmanship in us. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1, he says, In you he made alive who were dead, and trespasses and sins, in which he once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves, and the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

So we can't just sit back and think, I've always been different, right? I've always been better. I've always known better, and God ultimately saw that and decided to work with me. Now, the point is we were what everybody else was, which was dead due to trespasses and sin. And what God has done through this work, and it is the spiritual work, is to call us from the way of death. You know, we were in the grave, so to speak, and He took us from that point, and He set us onto the path of life. And His work today in us is bringing us along in that way. And that was His doing. Okay, that was not our doing. That was His doing to extend the calling, to give the spirit, to send His Son, and to continue His work in us today was ultimately His doing.

There's not a lot we can do for ourselves. As Paul said, we were spiritually dead, and in that condition, there's nothing we could do for ourselves, physically or spiritually, but there's a lot who the Father of life, physically and spiritually, could do for us in that state. And that is the work of His hands, and it is what He's doing. Verse 4 says, but God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love, which He loved us. This is about His compassion and love for us. Even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved. He's raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, yet in the future, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. So again, this is talking about the work that God is doing in us, and it points out to us that it doesn't happen apart from Jesus Christ. So God the Father extends the calling, but Christ says, you know, no one can come to Me, except the Father who sent Me draws Him, but it also says, no one can come to the Father except through Me. So this is a relationship by which then God brings us to Him. They are both involved, and we are involved, but it is ultimately the work of God, with the fulfillment being realized in its full potential at the return of Jesus Christ. Again, it says, the exceeding riches of His grace, that which is yet to come to its full extent, our change to glory, its return of Christ for all to see, will be the ultimate expression of God's grace in His work towards us. Verse 8 says, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast, for we are His, notice this word, workmanship. That's a very important word, and it means so much.

We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. And so we are His workmanship, brethren, and that should be incredibly encouraging to us as we go through life, as we face the good times, and we face the difficult times to realize we are the work that God is doing. As human beings, we tend to say things like, well, pardon me, I'm a work in progress, right? Or I still have work to do.

But oftentimes when we use those phrases, I would say we use them from the perspective of as if I'm the one doing the work. And it is true that we have our part to play, but not in terms of I'm the one doing this great work according to salvation, not according to our calling.

God has called us, and it is God who is working in us. We do our part, but He is the Master who is working with His hands, and we are His workmanship.

So what verse 10 does for us is it focuses us on the work that God is actively doing with us and in us, and the focus is on Him more than it is on us, right? Okay, because the workmanship can be a piece that's designed, but it takes a master with skill behind producing that product.

The word translated workmanship means a work. It means something that has been made or something that is being made. We're work in progress truly by God's hands in our life. Other Bible translations use words such as we are His masterpiece, we are His handiwork to describe what God does. And so the point is we are the result of His creative and redemptive work in action in our lives, and it's not all about us, and not all about what we can do so wonderfully. It is what God can do wonderfully in us. So this should be very encouraging and reminds us that God doesn't leave us alone to simply grope through life, to waller in our struggles and our trials seeking a way of escape. God is there every step of the way, and He's molding us. He's shaping us. He's fashioning us into an image according to His likeness ultimately, but in a way that is to, frankly, our eternal benefit. It's what we'll see us through this life and the next. Additionally, the word workmanship is a term that refers to more than simply, as I said, the created thing. It also refers to the degree of skill by which the maker produces the product. For example, if I showed you two paintings, and I said, you know, over here, Exhibit A, this is a Picasso, okay? A well-known painter of more recent times, a Picasso. And if I said, over here, Exhibit B, this is a Paul Moody. You would see a difference because of the skill of the master, of the creator of that painting. Dramatic difference. One would be a painting of skill, right? Masterful technique.

And the other would be a painting of, I don't know, something like stick people, little check marks for birds, curly-kew smoke coming out of the chimney. Go back to my grade school projects. They haven't changed much in the years, okay? But skill and technique of the craftsman is what's being reflected upon when you use the term workmanship. People buy houses, people buy furniture, people invest in lots of money and things because of who designed it, who made it, the workmanship, the quality, the craftsmanship in what it is that is produced. We are God's workmanship. And the point Paul is making is that it is God who is using his perfect skill to work on us, to mold us, to shape us, to bring us along to what it is that he wants, not simply for his glory, but for ultimately our glory as well as we receive that ultimate change at the return of Jesus Christ. He is taking dead people and he's creating life in them in Jesus Christ.

And we are his workmanship. So again, verse 10, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, Paul says elsewhere, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And so there's good works as well that God, it says, prepared in advance. And that doesn't mean simply that, you know, because he's called us and he's doing a work in us, we are now qualified to go work at a soup kitchen serving meals. If you have that opportunity, please do so. It's a beautiful and a wonderful thing to do to serve your fellow man in that way. But the good works that were created beforehand for us to walk in is the perfect law of liberty. It's the law of love. It's the commandments of God. It is what we have contained here in his Word, that this is what would fashion our life and our steps would be ordered by when we are his workmanship, when we are the product of his hands. So, brethren, we do clearly have our part to play, and we can't simply be passive either and just say, well, I let God do all the work. He's doing all the heavy lifting anyway. No, he's given us specific things to do, and we must be about doing this in our life. But he's called us to be recipients of his skill, of his master craftsmanship, and to be the work of his hands. And indeed, our life must be a reflection of that. Notice ancient Israel, what they recognized in terms of who they were and who God was by comparison to them. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 64. Isaiah 64. I was thinking as Mr. Pendergast was speaking, he started out mentioning Job, and it came to mind the fact that Job, it's a verse I'll read during memorial services oftentimes, where Job says, you know, point a day and remember me, you know, resurrect to life when that time comes. But he says, you will desire the work of your hands. That's what he says of God. He says, you'll remember me on that appointed day, and you will desire what it is you have crafted and molded in me. Job recognized this is God's work, and what God was doing in him even in that time was his work. But notice Israel, Isaiah chapter 64. This is them calling out to God in their time, one of their times of distress, and maybe they were finally humbled enough to recognize this point.

Isaiah chapter 64 and verse 1, oh that you would rend the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might shake at your presence. You know, they're wanting God to intervene now, okay? And yet, as we understand in terms of prophetically, this is indeed what will take place yet in the future. Verse 2, as fire burns brushwood, as fire causes water to boil, to make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence.

Verse 3, when you did awesome things, for which we did not look, you came down, the mountains shook at your presence. Probably referenced back to Sinai and God's thundering and shaking there. Verse 4, for since the beginning of the world, men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor has I seen any God besides you, who acts for the one who waits for him. This is a very encouraging verse. It says, the God that we worship is the God who acts for the one who waits for him, who looks for him, who yearns for him, and who yields themselves up to the work of God in them.

God says, I act on behalf of the one who waits for me. Verse 5, carrying on, it says, you meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, who remembers you in their ways you indeed are angry for we have sin, and these ways we continue, and we need to be saved, but we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags. We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away, and there is no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you, for you have hidden your face from us, and have consumed us because of our iniquities. Verse 8, But now, O LORD, you are our Father, and we are the clay, and you are the potter, and all we are the work of your hand. Very incredible words. Verse 9, do not be fair is with us, O LORD, nor remember iniquity forever. Indeed, please look, we all are your people.

And so, in their time of distress, Israel humbled themselves enough to acknowledge, frankly, who they were, and who God was, and the fact that by comparison, they really were nothing. They were putty in his hands. He's a master potter. They are the clay, and he is the one that has power over them to mold them, and to shape them, into what it is he would have them to be. And that's what they're asking for. That's what they're crying out for in their times of distress. They said, God, we've tried to form our lives the way that seemed good to us. We tried to do it our way, and we're in this disaster. Now, please, you're our Father, you are our God, you are the master potter, and we are the clay. Mold us to what it is you desire us to be. Again, that was their plea.

How eager and willing are we, brethren, to be molded by God? How anxious are we to acknowledge Him for who He is, and the authority of His work in our lives? How willing are we to yield ourself up to shaping, to molding, to maybe reshaping from an image that we've tried to perhaps build ourself into apart from God? How willing are we to put forth that trust, such that we're a clump of hay. Not a clump of hay, I've been feeding horses for too long. A lump of clay. Let's go with that, because that works.

We're a lump of clay. I'm going to do that now, two or three times. Let me just...

A lump of clay. A lump of clay. This is a growth process for us all, me included.

How willing are we to bring out the lump of clay of ourselves for God's workmanship, and say, Mold me into what you desire? If we truly put our trust in Him, that is what we will do. If we truly acknowledge Him as God and the one that has our best interest in our heart, that is indeed what we will do, and we will yield ourself to the work that He's called us to. To flee from Scripture, place by place by place, in varying degrees of description, is become a lump of clay in the hands of the Master Potter. Allow yourself to be His spiritual workmanship. Allow Him to mold you, to shape you, to design you into something that is for your ultimate spiritual good, and don't resist the process. That's very important. Don't resist God.

Don't resist the process. Notice Isaiah chapter 45 and verse 9.

Isaiah chapter 45 and verse 9, because I would say probably all of us at some level, because we still have this nature within us warring against the Spirit of God. We tend to resist at times the process. Isaiah chapter 45 and verse 9, woe to Him who strives with His maker.

So let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. You know what I'm saying? You little broken piece of clay, you go and strive with the other broken pieces of clay of the earth, but don't strive with your maker, not with the Creator of the universe. Shall the clay say to Him who forms it? What are you making? Or shall your handiwork say He has no hands? You know, this is kind of a humorous way of sort of showing what it is that we do as human beings. It's the clay talking back to the potter, saying, what are you even doing? Do you even know what you're doing?

Why are you forming me in this way? What authority do you have to do this in my life? It's arguing back. It's accusing God. It's declaring Him unfit to, frankly, mold what it is that He knows best.

It needs to be molded in our life. And yet Isaiah is saying that this is just what a lot of people do when they resist God, and they push back and they strive with their maker. Verse 10 says, woe to Him who says to His Father, what are you begetting? Or to the woman, what have you brought forth? We're not called to argue with God. We're not called to question Him in terms of His motives or His integrity. Frankly, we're called to yield to the process because what God is forming in us, He is doing by His wisdom, by His knowledge, by the full picture that He has of understanding.

The fact is, He works uniquely and individually with this all, and He doesn't want us to be alike. We can sit back and say, God, why am I going through this? They don't have to go through that.

Or, you know, why were they blessed in this way? I wasn't blessed in this way. Or how is it, God, that, you know, we're not all yellow pencils. And what's rolling off the production line, if I can use that in a very crude way, this isn't what God is doing, a production line, but the fact is we're not all carbon copy stamps of one another. We're unique in our creation. God has created us with different abilities, different talents, shaping us into many different kinds of vessels, cups, bowls, saucers, pitchers, yet they all have uses, specific. And they're all for a purpose of serving the Master. Molding us into what He knows best and what is according to His perfect plan for us is what God is doing. So, I have a couple of items to display here.

This is a lump of clay. I went to the hobby lobby, picked up a lump of clay. Pretty unimpressive in this form here, isn't it? Well, it hasn't been shaped yet. It hasn't been molded. It hasn't been worked with. It's flexible. You know, it's soft. It could be squished around and made into something, but it's a lump of clay. That's where we start, right? But what does God do? He makes unique designs from this clay according to His purpose. Our kids, over the years, as they were in school, middle school and then high school, one of the arts classes was you took clay and you made it into a certain fashion and you made a project. And at the end of a certain period of time, they got to bring it home. And what was interesting to me is that each, I'll call it artifact, that was made was actually a reflection, in my mind, of the ones that made it. So this is actually our niece, Julia made this. I think in middle school or maybe about the first year in high school, it's a cup. You know, it's a square cup and a handle. You could take and drink out of it. We have these all kind of in this display case. But Julia made this and, you know, this is Julia.

And the face of it here, this is a computer screen. This is, you know, controller buttons. And, you know, so I don't know what he was called exactly, but some form of a robo-cup here. You know, you get your, I guess your coffee is extra energized out of that. But again, this is what she formed out of, you know, something that was looking a degree like that. And it can serve a very certain purpose. And it's a reflection of her character, her personality, and her skill that came out in that.

This is something that Tabitha made. It's some form of a ceramic basket. And, you know, it's just kind of braided on the top and kind of weaved up and down in design. And it could be a candy dish.

It could be, you know, hold nuts, something like that. You know, so she made that.

I actually don't have anything with me for Austin. We were discussing it here last night, and apparently it broke one day because, I mean, we had to go back a number of years when he was in high school, but it was this tall mug. And I think I adopted it and used it as a beer mug because it was quite unique. When I drank out of it, I felt like a Klingon warrior or something. And it was quite, you know, dramatic in its making of heavy clay and paints and all of that. And we, I guess we figured out that that got broken a few years ago. So I don't have that to show you. But again, it was a reflection of his skill and his personality. And then, you know, if you know Tabitha, this was another one of her projects that she did. And, you know, this one actually has a lot of fascination among the children who come and visit our house. There's actually a practical application. You could put rubber bands, paper clips in there, and it can sit on my desk and you can pull them out. But again, I'll set it this way as to not create a great distraction.

But again, they're handiwork. They're different. They're unique. They're reflective of the one that created it. It's their workmanship. And what you would use this for isn't the same thing you would use this for. It's not the same thing you would use this for, but they all have a purpose.

And that's what God is doing in us. He's taking the lump of clay and hopefully not forming us into something as quite unique and grotesque as this. But again, it's beautiful. Our nephew, Sherlock, every time he comes over, we have to keep him from sneaking into the little glass cabinet and taking it out. He's just... it's like a magnet that draws him there. He's just fascinated by it. But God is creating a unique workmanship in us, reflective of who he is and, frankly, reflective of who he wants us to be. And it's true that there's times when we don't necessarily see or understand why God is doing what he is doing. You know, to go from this to any of these things takes a bit of work, doesn't it? It's a bit of molding. It takes a bit of... maybe it's on a wheel being spun around and pressed and molded and worked with. You've got to soften up the clay. You've got to work it around. And maybe it's not always a gentle process, but what is produced is to the glory of God. So I would say we have to learn as a lesson in all of this to trust God, to trust his skill, to trust that what he is doing is for our benefit, even when we don't understand why or what it is that we're going through, why it is molding us in a certain way. The point God is making here through Isaiah is woe to him who strives with his Maker. It's okay to ask questions and it's indeed normal and fine to have questions and to seek answers, but we never want to find ourselves to be in the place where we're questioning the integrity of God over how he chooses to work with us. Again, this has to be a relationship built on trust. God is the potter and we are the clay and we are the work of his hands. And that is a very, very intimate relationship, brethren, that we were called into at our baptism. Romans 9 and verse 14.

Romans 9 and verse 14, something we must always remember, is God doesn't make mistakes and God's work is perfect. It doesn't mean he creates every trial that we're going through in life, but he does allow it to be an opportunity, perhaps for our growth. I think we struggle, I know I struggle, honestly, with verses in the Bible that say, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, because it's not like, hooray for the pain! Hooray for the struggle! That's, I don't necessarily think that's the point other than we rejoice in what is then produced out of what we've gone through, what God can produce even in that circumstance. There's no way that you and I can learn to be patient without having to be put in circumstances where then we have to be patient, and we learn through that process. And it plays out in so many ways. Romans chapter 9 and verse 14, what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Paul says, well, certainly not. Again, do we question God when when He allows maybe a little molding and shaping to take place in our life and we're uncomfortable with the process? Do we ever attribute unrighteousness to God because of that? Paul says it's never there with Him. Verse 15, for He says, to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion. So then it is not of Him who wills or Him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. Again, this is ultimately about what God is doing, not about what we are doing for ourselves. And that's where the key lesson comes in. We're not our own workmanship, bringing ourselves to be something that looks good to us, so it ought to look good to God as well. No, we are His workmanship by His love and His perfect design. The encouraging part of all of this is that God knows what we need to be, and He knows what is necessary to get us there because He sees the eternal picture, and He knows what we need to be to be established in His family forever. Verse 17, for the Scripture says, to Pharaoh. Remember that guy, Pharaoh? Moses said, let my people go. God threw Moses, and Pharaoh said, I don't know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go. That rebellious, stiff-necked Pharaoh. For Scripture says, to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you, that my name may be declared in all the earth. Yes, brethren, even Pharaoh was a lump of clay in the hand of God.

And God used him for a purpose so that his glory would be shown. His purpose would happen.

And it is actually God who, to a degree, hardened Pharaoh. Now, understand, Pharaoh's heart was already hard. He was already bent in that way. God just kind of maybe massaged the clay a little bit, and He continued on down the path of where He was. But in the end, Pharaoh would serve God's great purpose in showing forth His power and declaring His name in all the earth through His actions, frankly, in opposition to God. So, he was clay in God's hand as well. And what we're going to see is that God calls different people to fulfill different roles, bringing His will to pass. Verse 18 says, therefore, He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. He says, You will say, then why does He find fault? For who has resisted His will? But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Well, the thing formed to say to Him who formed it, why have you made me like this? Will you talk back? You who are the clay, will you talk back to the Master Potter?

And say, what in the world are you doing? I would have done it that way. What were you thinking?

You know, will the One formed say that? Verse 19, will you say to me, then why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will? But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to Him who formed it, why have you made me like this? Verse 21, does not the potter have power over the clay from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? Not every vessel that's formed has the same function or purpose, but it is all for the will of God and the purpose of God. In our house, we have lots of things made out of clay and porcelain and ceramic, and some are very fine, very beautiful, very venery, honorable.

And other things we could say are extremely functional, let's just put it that way. And yet, they all serve a purpose and a design, and they're not all the same. The work that God is doing is intended to show forth the skill and the vision of the master potter, so that when the final touches are put on us at our change to glory, at the return of Jesus Christ, then we will be seen for what we are in its fullness the true workmanship of God. The glory will be revealed that His hands were here. His molding, His fashioning, His shaping was here. Matthew 5, verse 48, Jesus stated, therefore you shall be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect. That is our goal, because you see that is who and what God is and what He is ultimately fashioning us to be, but it is a process. And we don't start out there. This is not a perfect lump of clay. Become perfect takes a lot of work and a lot of handling. And sometimes, maybe even at times, a little, let's start this again, you know, you kind of beat it down and wrap it up. You've seen people with the pottery wheels and it's going around and maybe they get that pottery is a little off-balance. Maybe there's some imperfection in the clay itself and maybe as it starts spinning, now it's more and more out of balance. It's like, okay, we're going to start this again. And clay, if it has imperfections, the pot will crack.

You know, you got to get the imperfections out. It's got to be a pure product, but the skill of the maker is ultimately what is brought to bear to produce something that people say, oh, I know whose workmanship that is. Our responsibility in all of this is to recognize what God is doing in our lives and to faithfully yield to the process as he goes about his faithful work, his perfect work. And the question for us in all of that is, what kind of clay am I?

You know, you can ask that about you. I can ask that about me. What kind of clay am I? When a potter sits down at the wheel and he begins to shape a piece of clay, there are certain qualities that make that clay workable. And we need to be that clay. Isaiah 66 in verse 1. We'll jump back to that book. Isaiah 66 in verse 1. Clay sucked all the moisture out of my hands. It's hard to turn to Bible. Isaiah 66 and verse 1 says, Thus is the Lord. Heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool, where is the house that you will build me? And where is the place of my rest? You know, it's like you think you're going to build something by your hands? You're going to do a work that's going to house the one that has done all of this work. God says, verse 2, For all these things my hand is made, all these things exist, says the Lord. But on this one I will look, on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at my word. This is the kind of clay we must be in the hands of God if he's going to shape and mold us into a vessel that is pleasing in his sight. We must be humble, workable, moldable, willing to yield to him. The question is, are we soft in the hands of God? Are we flexible? Can he pick us up and then begin to form us and to fashion us? Or, you know, does God pick us up and we're sort of like this dried... if I left this out long enough, that would be dried out and hard and crusty and there's just not much I can do with it other than to throw it away. And so, are we what it is that God needs? Are we responsive to being shaped by his touch? Or are we stiff and cold and inflexible in the hands of God? We have to be the kind of clay that he can work with. Psalm chapter 43.

Put a one in front of that. Psalm chapter 143.

Ultimately, this is, brethren, about character. The character that God is developing in us. And sometimes that takes pressure. Sometimes it takes squeezing. Sometimes it takes firm kneading. Sometimes maybe it takes even a little bit of pounding. But it's not out of malice. It's not out of a joy for causing some degree of discomfort or trial. It is out of the love of God to produce what is to our ultimate good. Psalm chapter 143, verse 10. One verse of Psalm of David. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness. So David says, teach me. Teach me to do your will. Mold me. Guide me. Shape me.

Into what it is that you desire. It's the attitude you and I need to have towards the work of God in our lives. One that is yielded up to him. This is a very important verse because it connects God and his spirit with accomplishing the work in us. And just like David, God will teach us to be pliable as well. If we are willing to be so in his hands. And let's notice how he sometimes does this. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 5.

Hebrews 12 verse 5. What is sometimes the instrument of use in being shaped by God? Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 5. He says, you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons, saying, my son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him, for whom the Lord loves, whom he loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives. So when his mercy God doesn't just let us run wild, again with our own ambitions and our way of doing things in this life, God in his love actually at times chastises us, he molds us, he shapes us, and sometimes it comes through correction. Sometimes it's through trial or through test, but never assigned a motive to it that is not of God. He's loving and he is righteous, and that is the source from which his work springs. Verse 7. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

If God's just going to leave you alone as this lump of clay, you know, God leave me alone, because this is too hard and this hurts. You say, God just just leave me alone. If he's going to leave you alone like that lump of hay, it... ...clump of clay or a lump of hay, neither is going to produce anything, and you're not his son. That's what this is saying. We don't always see the end of what God is producing at the time.

Sarah, who went decades and decades past child birthing years to even produce an heir that was promised, I'm sure was in pain and distress. I mean, that's why she said, take my handmaiden Hagar. Okay, this is so distressing. What about Moses? What was his thought as he's run out of Egypt now, as he's fleeing for his life, as he goes from being in Pharaoh's palace now to out tending flocks for 40 years in the wilderness? We don't always see the end result of what God is producing through the shaping and the molding of the time. And yet, what God worked out through Moses in those 40 years was someone that was then a vessel fit for his service, for the purpose that he brought him forth. And it can be very much the same with us. Verse 9, Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect, shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the father spirits and live. For indeed, for a few days they chasten us, as seen best to them for our prophet, God does this for our prophet, and our parents do it for our prophet, that we may be partakers of his holiness. Again, it's about what he is accomplishing. Verse 11, Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. The people of God have always gone through trials in the Bible. Just read Hebrews 11. So many of those that are listed as our heroes of faith went through so much that God was taking that lump of clay and molding and shaping, and as they remained faithful and responsive in the process, then their names are recorded for our encouragement and our uplifting. Once a potter has shaped a piece of clay into a form that they are happy with, the clay is then fired in the kiln. You know, all these pieces up here were once once flexible, but once you've formed them into what you wanted them to be, you know, you put them into the fire. Now they're hard, right? They're set. They're permanent. They're not just going to fall apart and crumble unless you drop it, like apparently we did once upon a time. I mean, this is a permanent move. 1 Peter 4 and verse 12, God, if we are trusting for Him to shape us into what He wants, don't think it's strange then if He throws you into the fiery furnace of refinement and purification. 1 Peter 4 and verse 12, Beloved, do not think it's strange, concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you. I mean, what in the world? I was just minding my business, God, and where did this heat come from? You know, intense. Verse 13, but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. This is counterintuitive to our human nature, again, to rejoice in the face of adversity, in the face of a fiery trial. And again, I don't personally say, hooray for the pain!

Hooray for the suffering, you know, just bring it on. That's, I don't think that's the point. I think the point is that even in those things, though, hooray for what we can learn and what it is that God can can shape us into through the process, and the fact that we can be made strong and permanent and set through the fire. If you shaped our character into the image he desires, and we are now put into the fire, we are being set in a permanence of character that would not be brought about otherwise. First Peter chapter 1 and verse 6. First Peter chapter 1 and verse 6, In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire. I mean, you think of how precious gold is and has been purified through the fire, even it at some point still perishes. But you, not, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, to whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see him, yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, notice receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Without being put into the kiln, into the fire, again these pieces would simply disintegrate with time. They would fall apart. They would crumble and they would not be set in permanence. The wrapper that my clay came in on the back says recommendations for using, you know, need and shape. Okay, we know that process here, need and shape. But then it says to harden into porcelain heat at 1832 degrees or up to 2372 degrees Fahrenheit. Anybody feel like they're in that heat of a furnace? Well, perhaps, what is at least being produced by the work that God can do, even in the midst of a trial, is a permanence of our character, such that we're an enduring vessel fit for his service. Because, you see, God is a loving God who wants to grant us eternal life and we will be tested. That character will be tested and it will be perfected through fire. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 11.

1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 11. Again, the Apostle Paul, he kind of knew a thing or two about this in his life. It says, For no other foundation can anyone lay which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—see, hay's in there too, not all unbiblical—each one's work will become clear. For the day will declare it D, capital D, day, day of the Lord, the true furnace of refining fire, that will declare not just, frankly, the work that God has done. Actually, this is talking about the work that we're doing as well in response to God. But the day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned like hay instead of clay, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, yet as so through fire. So God allows us, again, to go through various trials in this Christian life in order to set our character.

And yet, as I appreciate in the messages we receive, what's the positive end of this? What's the hope? What's the joy? God is there. His hands are there. He is working. He is active. And what he is producing through it is for his glory and our ultimate benefit as well. We must be moldable, must be teachable, and willing to assume a form that is pleasing in his sight. And in the end, we must never forget that he is the master potter. That is who he is. And we are the clay.

That is who we are. And the clay is yielded to the skill of the one whose hands it is in.

God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. He won't fire us to the point that we are cracked and broken and destroyed in the furnace of trial. And that's because he loves his creation. He loves the work of his hands. And his handiwork will stand for eternity. Let's conclude today in Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6. When you're in the midst of the trial, don't ever think you've been forgotten. Don't ever think the work is just going to sit there uncompleted. Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6, very encouraging verse, being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you, again the work of God, will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

In the midst of our trials, there can be great comfort in knowing that God has not left us. He has not forsaken us. He has not taken now the hands-off approach because of the fire we find ourselves in. God never leaves us on the back shelf somewhere. Like I started this work and I got tired and I put it on the shelf and just sort of forgot about it. Rather, God always finishes what he starts as long as we are committed in response to him, remaining faithful to the end, being humble, being moldable, being workable in his sight. Because again, this is a covenant we made. God says, I will fulfill my end. You fulfill your end. And it is a lifelong covenant from the time of our baptism. Brethren, God is the master potter. We are the loving work of his hands. Let us always have peace in that wonderful relationship that God has established with us. And let us always take confidence in knowing that God's work, his plan, his will, his word, his actions, his hands in our life is perfect. God never, ever, ever makes a mistake. And God will indeed finish unto perfection that which he has started. I will leave my friends to keep Mr. Pendergast company.