January 18, 2014 "Why God Won't Let Go" Pastor Howard-John Wesley

[Music] again a journey into a series to share with you what I thought was some of the most powerful principles that God want us to shape and govern our lives around as we began this journey into this new year for those who are with us remember that on last week God spoke to us through the life of Daniel about the need to have a spirit of excellence I'm gonna pause that series only because on tomorrow we have a very special guest preacher coming in honor of Martin Luther King's birthday I had thought it appropriate to bring in a seasoned veteran preacher who's lived through that era a great friend of this church many of you may not know if you've joined recently but the Reverend David Forbes and pastor emeritus of the Christian faith Baptist Church in Raleigh North Carolina is a beloved friend of the Alpha Street Baptist Church and he will be in this pulpit tomorrow in honor of Martin Luther King's holiday birthday that we celebrate and so we'll pick back up in our series on next week although I could have preached part two tonight I believe the eight and eleven o'clock crowd would be awful upset with me if I gave to you what they didn't get and I can't afford to be in disfavor with two-thirds of our congregations so tonight we're gonna journey in another direction but yet I still think in a very powerful and pregnant way of what the Lord wants to speak we'll invite you if you would to turn with me and your bibles or on your apps to The Book of Jeremiah and the Old Testament the prophecy of Jeremiah and if you were journey with me and locate the 18th chapter of the Book of Jeremiah there is a record or something that may be familiar to you but prayerfully it will speak to us in an unfamiliar manner the Book of Jeremiah in the 18th chapter and if you were able we ask that you join with us in our custom to stand as we reverence the reading of God's Holy Word Jeremiah chapter 18 beginning in verse number one if you're there with me won't you say Amen Jeremiah chapter eighteen beginning in verse number one reading out the New King James Version of the Bible the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying arise and go down to the potter's house and there I will cause you to hear my words then I went down to the potter's house and there he was making something at the wheel and the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the Potter so he made it again into another vessel as it seemed good to the Potter to me then the word the lord came to me saying o house of israel can I not do with you as this Potter says the Lord look as the clay is in the Potters hands so are you in my hand o house of Israel hang out in verse number 4 and the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the Potter so he made it again into another vessel as it seemed good to the Potter to make as we contemplate on these words from talk tonight about why God won't let go you may be seated in the presence of the Lord why God won't let go as I found out personally some of you have experienced and others you have heard of we are in the midst of what is almost considered an unprecedented epidemic of influenza if that's too big of a term it's flu season as you all know more and more of us are contracting the flu and finding ourselves checking out of work for a few days dealing with fevers and sore throats and congestion buying Vicks nyquil vapor up whatever your home remedy may be and it's watching the news there speaking about the spreading of the flu in different states around the nation they began to talk about ways that you can help keep yourself healthy during this flu season believe it or not getting the flu shot is not the number one way to keep yourself healthy there those who still debate whether that is a correct way to fight the flu but the number one recommendation of all those who deal with the flu is that you gotta wash your hands that it is critically important that you wash your hands to prevent the spread of germs when I went to the doctor and he asked me how I potentially caught the flu two weeks ago the answer was easy y'all shaking hands and not washing my hands and so one of the things I develop a habit of I love coming down before worship and meeting and greeting those who are here early I love talking to you it helps me find out what's going on in your world I get to be nosy and find out what's happening in your house and we talk I love that but if you ever notice that after shaking hands I leave before I come back down the walk to service let me tell you what I do I leave I go right upstairs and I wash my hands because people have a way of passing to you germs that they have and if you've ever seen somebody extend a dirty hand it's just something unpleasant about a dirty hand something unappealing about someone whose nails are dirty look at you're looking at your hand that there's something that just doesn't endear me the people with dirty hands I believe I'm not the only one in here that that there's just something that kind of repulses me turns me off doesn't want me to embrace someone who has dirty hands now if you can agree with me that there are few things in life that are displeasing and disgusting as someone with a dirty hand then the irony of walking with God is that you're walking with a God whose hands are always dirty now some of you may be upset because your theology can't handle that you believe in a pristine holy image of God salamé just to argue my case for a moment that God's hands are always dirty that's what God shows Jeremiah at the potter's house to understand what goes on in Jeremiah you've got to know the context of the people of Israel at that time those of you who are Bible readers you know that after David comes Solomon after Solomon Israel bomb and Rayo bomb is responsible for the division of the nation of Israel as a matter of fact under air bombs leadership ten tribes secede from the nation and form the northern country called Israel whose capital is Sumerian two tribes formed the southern region called Judah whose capital is Jerusalem and so after a a bomb they are literally two nations Israel and Judah Israel is led by a succession of Kings that the Bible says each one was more wicked than their predecessor and these Kings subsequently led the people away from God and as a result in 730 BC God allows the Assyrian army to conquer the northern tribes called Israel but the South is ruled by the lineage and the heritage of David the King on the throne is still one who bears David's bloodline and because of God's promise what happens to Israel in the north does not happen to Judah in the south Assyria cannot conquer Judah fast-forward 200 years and the winds of disobedience that caused Israel to lose to Assyria have now blown swiftly into Judah the people have rebelled against God disobedience runs the land and the Bible says that every man was doing what was right in his own mind and as a result in order to prevent them from the same destruction that Israel suffered at the hand of Assyria God begins to send prophets to Judah with a word that was not popular or welcomed one of those prophets was a brother by the name of Jeremiah and Jeremiah's prophecy was not like the prophecies you see on television today Jeremiah didn't promise that blessings were on the way Jeremiah didn't show up and declare that if you sow a seed offering the Lord will handle all your needs Jeremiah didn't tell them that if they wrote the right name down and send it to the right ministry that the nubu they were praying for would show up at the altar that wasn't his prophecy jeremiah showed up and this was the prophecy of Jeremiah God is growing weary of y'all and either get right or it's going to go wrong either clean up or the Lord is going to take some swift action get your house in order or the Lord is going to discipline you Bible says that when Jeremiah gives his prophecy not only was it unpopular and unwelcomed but it wasn't received well if you keep on reading in the chapter I just lifted up there were those who heard Jeremiah's prophecy and argued that what he was asking Israel to do was hopeless because they've been doing wrong so long and messed up so badly and had fallen so short of the will of God that they reached a point where they believed there was no possibility of change and let me just pull over and park right there and tell you that that's what the enemy does when you find yourself in a repeat pattern of sin don't say Amen or I know I'm talking to you that when you find yourself struggling with the same thing time and time and time and again the enemy creeps into your mind and convinces you that there's no way for you to change the habit that you formed you know people like that rather than trying to change they're trying to cope rather than trying to be delivered they're just trying to balance it rather than trying to get rid of it out of their lives they're trying to cover it up in their lives because the devil has convinced you that there's no way for you to change look how many times you said you would and you didn't look how many times you cried and went to the altar only firing yourself back in the same situation look how many times you told the Lord God if you bring me out of this already find yourself back in it again there is a hopelessness that exists in Judah and when God realizes that his children have become hopeless in the possibility of change he says to Jeremiah I need to show you something meet me at the potter's house Jeremiah goes down to the home of a Potter and when he walks in the man is making something on the pottery wheel and it's in his hands Bible says that Jeremiah notices that whatever the man is making is marred it's got some flaws in it it hasn't turned out as it should and this Potter who's got his hands on this clay the Bible says when he notices that it's marred got some flaws in it hadn't turned out the way it should that the Potter makes it again into a vessel that seemed good to him somebody holler he made me watch the driver says the vessel that he made of clay was marred so he made it again not now I need you to highlight that word again if that confessional Bible that's your Bible because there are two words that could show up here in Hebrew one means to recreate and the other means to repair say with me and the word again that shows up verse four is not the word recreate it's the word repair so the Potter has clay that is marred in his hands and when he sees that it's not what it should be he doesn't have to recreate it all he has to do is repair it now for some of you who haven't figured out the difference between a recreation and a repair as simple the level of effort it takes on behalf of the one who's doing the work to change what needs to be changed and so the emphasis is that the potter looks at what jeremiah sees and said listen all this needs is a repair this just needs a tune-up this just needs a little fixing what looks like a major thing for you it's not a major thing for me that all i got to do is tweak it a little bit and put my hand on it cuz even though it looks back to you it's not that bad to me that i can repair it because it's not a major thing for the lord because the devil has a way of making you believe that all hope is gone the devil has a way of making you believe that there are no other chances that you have messed up so bad that the rest of your life ought to be hopeless that your mistakes will haunt you for the rest of your days that you will be defined from this moment on by what you have come to and the Lord is saying listen listen listen if it's up to you it's got to be recreated but if you'll allow me to keep my hand on it it just takes a little touch from the Lord to repair what was broken to fix what broke down to change what looked unchangeable that in the hands of God nothing is impossible no matter how bad it's gotten no matter how ugly it looks no matter how much it hurt you the Lord says if you just let me keep my hands on it if you let me work my work on it if you give me time to shape this thing up I am able to fix what hurts I am able to heal what hurt you I am able to change what convicted you all you gotta do is let God keep his hands on him there's some witnesses in here and when you really turn it over to the hand of God God can work miracles in your life when you trust God with everything God will turn it into the best thing you've ever seen in your life if you allow God to put his hand on it God can take ugly and turn it beautiful God can take sin and turn it to salvation God can take a habit and bring deliverance God can take what used to drag you down and use it to lift you up God is able to turn things around it's just a repair the Bible says he didn't take his hand off it because he made it he didn't take his hand off because all it took was a repair but then the Bible says that he shaped it into what seemed good to him now stay with me Saints and I'm almost done this means that while the Potter has his hands on some dirty broken clay he doesn't just see that the clay is marred he has a vision in his mind of what it ought to look like and so while he's working with what is broken he also has an envisionment of what it will look like when he's done and so he is able to balance what is broken with what he knows is capable of being and that makes him different from everyone else everyone else only sees what is marred but he sees the vision he has in his mind of what it can be what it should be what it could be what makes God God and said yes he sees my brokenness yes he knows my sinfulness yes he knows my iniquity but God also knows my possibility God also knows my potential God also knows what he has created me to do in my mother's womb and God will not give up on what he still has a vision for so here's what makes the party so phenomenal the power says listen you came down to the potter's house and you need to know I've been dealing with clay along turn and this ain't so this is not the first marred clay I've dealt with you you are not the first broken life that God can put back together you are not the first person with a hang-up that God can deliver you are not the first person to go through the storm you're going through and the devil has a way of convincing you that you're the only one that's ever walked in these shoes and the Lord sent me by the night to tell you God has been handling your problem a long time God has been delivering Saints like you a long time God has been healing that sickness alone can't tell you why that's such a good word cuz the Lord says listen when I put my hands on clay I knew it was gonna be dirty before I put my hand don't know I knew this was gonna be a mess when I put my hand on it I knew this wouldn't be perfect when I put my hand on it I knew you would mess up I knew you wouldn't be perfect I knew you would fall short but I still put my hand on it watch this because I'm a patient God please tweet that correctly or at least say hey man we serve a patient god it's so often in our cliches of church we emphasize the you ought to just wait on the Lord they they wait on the Lord shall renew their strength he may not come when you want him it's always on time we talk about us waiting on God but here's the real good news God will wait on you that it's never too late to let God put his hands on it God will wait on you I've got to fly out tomorrow to a board meeting and I fly so much now theron that I'm really particular about flying I'm really particular I typically only stay with one airline so I like to not only accumulate miles but I like to get status that allows me to go through the security line faster than other felt guy i'm peculiar and peculiar about flying I always take carry-on all my luggage carry on because my dad taught me a long time ago there are two types of bags on a plane carry-on and lost so when I travel I always have carry-on all my clothes in my carry-on and my briefcase and so I'm typically coming through the airport with a lot of baggage which is why I'm most particular and resent noses because our jobs are on the line a couple times about this I don't like lay overs I need to be on the direct flight I don't like land taking off again I've missed meetings because there was no direct flight I just don't I don't like layover it's nothing because it's a hassle but oftentimes you're connecting gate ain't nowhere near the gate you landed in and and I don't like Leo so I was on a flight a while ago and we had a layover much to my displeasure we landed grab my bag I'm looking at the terminal to find out where am i connecting is it's all the way at the end of the other terminal and it starts flashing that it's boarding already now now I got issue because I'm all the way over here and I got to get all the way over there and I got carry-on luggage and this flight is already boarding which means I got about 10 minutes to make it from one end of the airport all the way to the others so here I am in my suit with my carry-on and I'm AJ Simpson and it threw up somebody's all too young I I am flying to the airport we carry-on luggage and trying to get from one end always to the other and as I passed by each sign that shows where the flights are it shows boarding boarding boarding and then finally I see boarding clothes and I'm running to a flight that's a connector and it's already boarding and saying the door is closed so I run up I'm all out of breath sweating get to the gate the woman says are you Reverend Wesley I said well yes I am she said come on get on board I said I thought the flight was closed what she said she said we knew you were coming so we waited on you we knew you were trying to make your way so we just waited on we knew you had a long way to go and a long road to run and a lot of baggage to carry but since we knew you are on your way we waited on you I wish I had some folk that could testify about a God who waited on you you had a long way to go but he waited on you you had a lot of baggage behind you but God waited on you you didn't get there in time but thanks be to God that when you gave it to him while you were running the streets he waited on you while you were doing your thing he waited on you when you weren't living right he still waited on you and whenever you decided to give your life to the Lord it was the right time cuz he knows how to wait on you the Lord knew you would not be a perfect creature so he waited on you now watch what happens I'm done now the Potter goes back to work on that clay and the challenge for Jeremiah is the challenge for anyone in this place who feels you have an ordained spirit of judgment powder begins working and what Jeremiah has to realize is that although I saw in marred God is still working on it and I've got to be careful of judging it before the Lord is finished with it I've got to be careful of saying what it can and cannot be until God finishes what God is doing and every now and you've got to remind some Saints with judgment in their spirit that you are a work in progress that you may not be what you ought to be but the Lord has his hand on you and the Lord is fine-tuning you and the Lord is correcting you and the Lord is changing you I wish I had some folk here today who know what it's like to have God working on you God is shifting things around you God is taking desires out of your heart God is straightening up your walk with him God is firming up your conviction God is strengthening your knowledge God is lifting up your worship God is giving you a new praise get somebody and tell them I'm under construction the Lord is working on me and the old tanks used to say please be patient with me cuz God is not through with me yet but if you hang around a little while and sit down for a season or two and let God do what God is doing in my life that I shall come forth as pure gold the pottery is working on me now now I got bad news and I got good news can I give you the bad news first and then we'll close on the good news the bad news is that if you understand pottery you'll know that after it's been shaped in the Potters hands ain't but one place for it to go did anything God has his hand on when he shapes it in order to harden it it's got to be placed in the fire that anything God is molding has to go through the fire anything God would use has to go through the fire anything God would bless has to go through the fire and the fact that you're in the fiery trials of life does not mean that the Lord has given up on you it means that the Lord is hardening you the Lord is strengthening you God says I can't use clay than they've been in the fire clay that comes to the fire is hardened that that's the bad news can't give you the good news and please don't make me work too hard here's good news that if you ever go and study archaeology they'll go to ancient sites they begin excavating that site inevitably they do not find a lot of human remains they decay over time they don't find a lot of currency decays over time one thing they always find at an archaeological site that has survived through the ages our pieces of pottery because what the Potter makes and sends to the fire can stand the test of time what the Potter makes and since to the fire can endure the storms that come what the Potter makes and says to the fire will be around when it's all over said and done he's got his hands on me he shapes me he sends me through the fire and when I come out I've got durability I've got sustainability I've got longevity all I got to do is let him keep his hands on me and I will survive whatever time will bring [Music] you

Channel: Alfred Street Baptist Church

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Length: 31min 12sec (1872 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 24 2014