At The Pottter's House

September 28, 2014

At The Potter’s House

Jeremiah 18:1-11 (also 18:12-19:15)     NOTES NOT EDITED

SIS— When we surrender to God’s will for our lives He shapes us into beautiful, useful vessels fit for His service.

This morning we are going to visit the Potter.  Join me as we read this story together:  Jeremiah 18:1-12

1.  The Potter’s House (v2)

² “Go down at once to the potter’s house; 
there I will reveal My words to you.”

Most would agree that the Potter in this parable is God, Himself.  The “house” is owned by the Potter. Clearly, the purpose of this excursion to the Potter’s House was so God could “reveal a message.”  It no doubt raised a question in Jeremiah’s mind as to why he would have to go down to a potter’s house to hear a word from the Lord.  Why couldn’t God simply speak to Jeremiah in his own home, or in the woods, or sitting by the bank of a gentle brook?  Have we not heard people proclaim often that, “I can hear God better sitting in the woods than sitting in church?”  Is there any truth to the idea that we do not need to “go somewhere” to hear a Word from God?

Well, of course God can—and does—speak to people in many different places.  That does not negate the fact that God has ordained that we would go regularly to His House for worship and instruction.  The fact that God CAN speak to people anywhere, anytime, and in any way that He so chooses, it is equally a fact that God DOES intend to speak to His people in His House. 

Regular attendance at the Potter’s House is essential to getting the Potter’s message.  This is not just something implied in Scripture but a truth scattered throughout the whole of Scripture like pine needles on a forest floor.  Admonitions to gather regularly at the Potter’s House (church, assembly, etc.) occur throughout the Word of God. There are simply too many to list but here’s a few that show how important the “House of God” was to O.T. saints and early believers:

·  "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord.'" Psalm 122:1

·  "For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God" Psalm 42:4

·  "We who had sweet fellowship together, walked in the house of God in the throng." Psalm 55:14

·  "I will tell of Thy name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise Thee." Psalm 22:22

·  "Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, In the company of the upright and in the assembly." Psalm 111:1.

The N.T. speaks of the gathering of God’s people many times.  The N.T. gives images of the church such as “a body” (Rom. 12:4-5):

⁴ Now as we have many parts in one body,  and all the parts do not have the same function, ⁵ in the same way we who are many  are one body in Christ  and individually members of one another.

A body as an image of the church would be absurd if the individual parts have no connections.  Christ’s church—the believers gathered—is a central focus of the N.T.  There are no books written to individuals except Philemon and it served as exhortation for the greater body of believers.

Hebrews 10:25 warns us against forsaking the fellowship.  Throughout the Book of Acts we have God’s people gathering to break bread and worship.  The Book of 1Corinthians gives us strong evidence believers met regularly for worship and preaching:  1 Cor 11:17-18, 20, 33; 14:23,26.  In 1Corinthians16:1,2 Paul instructs them about giving "EVERY first day" of the week clearly implying they met regularly at Church.  Jesus assumed His followers would gather regularly, whether it was only two or three, or three thousand (Mt. 18:20).  The earliest church handbook we have, The Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) speaks about both regular Sunday worship, as well as a midweek worship service.  This was written as early as 225 A.D.  Gathering as the Church is a foundational element of what it means to be a Christian.  It is folly to think otherwise.

A significant element in this Parable of the Potter is that the action takes place at the Potter’s House.  God’s House is where the action is and we need to give attendance at God’s House the devotion God demands.

2.  The Potter’s Wheel (v3)

³ So I went down to the potter’s house,
and there he was, working away at the wheel.

One of the tenets in the Humanist Manifesto is “the autonomy of man.”  The Humanist Manifesto (I, II, III).  The Humanist Manifestos set forth the tenets of secular humanism that seeks to define all areas of life--ethics, morality, science, philosophy—without any consideration to any power beyond that of the human intellect.  The Humanist Manifesto II states this in regard to man:  Article 5: "We believe in maximum individual autonomy consonant with social responsibility."

A key concept in these atheistic manifestos is, “human autonomy.” Since God does not exist in any meaningful way for a humanist, man is responsible to no other authority than himself.  Man is the “captain of his own destiny.”  Man, and not God, determines what is or is not true.  There are not absolutes.  Everything is in flux and changing, including truth and morality.

The Potter’s Wheel teaches us something much different.  Man is not “autonomous” (self-acting).  Man is utterly dependent upon God. Without God, man cannot exist. Any power inherent in man is dependent upon God.  The Potter’s Wheel teaches this beautifully.

The Potter’s Wheel actually was two wheels.  In English we have two forms of a noun in regard to grammatical number:  singular, meaning one, or plural, meaning more than one.  In Hebrew as in other languages there is a form meaning, “two.”  The noun translated “wheel” (obnāyim) is a dual form meaning “two wheels.”  The word literally means, “two stones,” because the wheels resembled millstones (oben). 

The bottom stone, or wheel, was large and turned by the foot of the potter.  The top wheel was connected by a wooden shaft and spun in conjunction with the bottom stone.  The clay sat on the top stone and was shaped by the potter as the top wheel spun.  The top wheel had no power of its own.  The top wheel had no power to create anything from the clay.  The only power the top wheel possessed was that created by the larger bottom wheel.  As long as the top wheel was connected to the bottom wheel, the power was transferred and the top wheel could be used to shape the clay.

The application of this passage seems abundantly clear.  We are the small wheel.  God is the large wheel. Nothing happens unless God supplies the power.  Listen to these words through the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself John 15:5:

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.

I think this verse sets forth the most seminal (basic) principle of Christian theology—our welfare, indeed our very existence is dependent upon the favor of God as displayed through the life and work of Jesus Christ.  Let me repeat that: our welfare, indeed our very existence is dependent upon the favor of God as displayed through the life and work of Jesus Christ. 

Our every breadth; our every heartbeat comes as a gift of Almighty God. The N.T. sets forth this same truth (Acts 17:28):

For in Him we live and move and exist, or as other translations say,
in Him we live and move and have our being.

The dual stones of the Potter’s Wheel teach us that man is utterly dependent upon God.  Yet, I must confess that I do not see many people living this way—including myself. I see people trying to solve their own problems.  I see people trying to purchase their own happiness.  I see people making decisions without even a concern for what the Potter might desire. We are perfectly happy to have God participate in our salvation, but we live our lives as one person describes as “practical atheists.”

3.  The Potter’s Clay (v6)

⁶ “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?”

As clay, we are a work in progress.  This is clear from the text.  Look at verse 4:  But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.

Perhaps the greatest error that has infected the Church is the error that the consummation of God’s plan of redemption is to save us from our sins.  The purpose of God saving us is to bring glory to Himself as we become “perfect through the work of the Holy Spirit.”  Eph. 1 says three times that the purpose of God saving us is that we might “bring praise to His glory!”  Getting saved is not the end of the story but the beginning.  Getting saved is the first step in an eternal journey with Almighty God.

We, as God’s clay, may develop flaws—no, we will develop flaws—but we do not have to be defined by those flaws.  God can and does continue to work on us until we become a beautiful vessel useful in His service. 

The story is told of a grandfather and a grandmother who were in a gift shop looking for something to give their granddaughter for her birthday. Suddenly the grandmother spots a beautiful vase, “Look at this lovely piece of work”, she says to her husband. He picks it up and says you’re right, this is one of the loveliest vases I have ever seen. At that point something remarkable happened. Something that could only happen in a children’s book. The vase says to the grandparents. “Thank you for the compliment, but I wasn’t always beautiful.” Instead of being surprised that the vase can talk, the grandfather ask it, what do you mean when you say you weren’t always beautiful? Well, says the vase, “once I was just an ugly soggy lump of clay. Then one day some man with dirty wet hands threw me on a wheel. Then he started turning me around and around until I got so dizzy I couldn’t see straight. Stop..Stop I cried. But the man with the wet hands said, Not Yet! Then he started to poke me and punch me until I hurt all over, Stop..Stop I cried, but the man said “Not Yet”. Each time I thought he was through, he would crumble and roll me up and began to poke and punch me again.  Finally he did stop. But then he did something much worse, he put me into a furnace. It got hotter and hotter until I couldn’t stand it. Stop..Stop.. I cried. But the man said, “Not Yet”. Finally when I thought I was going to burn up, the man took me out of the furnace. Then some short lady began to paint me, and the fumes got so bad that they made me feel sick. “Stop…Stop..” I cried. “Not Yet” said the lady. Finally she did stop, but then she gave me back to the man and he put me back into that awful furnace. This time it was hotter than before. “Stop…Stop” I cried, but the man said “Not Yet”.  Finally he took me out of the furnace and let me cool. When I was completely cool, a pretty lady put me on this shelf, next to this mirror. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I was amazed, I could not believe what I saw. I was no longer ugly, soggy and dirty; I was beautiful, firm and clean. I cried for joy. It was then I realized that all the pain was worthwhile. Without it I would still be an ugly, soggy lump of wet clay. It was then that all the pain took on new meaning for me. It had passed, but the beauty it brought has remained.

Two elements combine to shape the clay on the Potter’s Wheel. First, there is motion. Then, there is the pressure of the Potter upon the clay.  Motion and pressure under the control of the Potter create objects of great beauty.  The clay must be constantly spinning in order for the Potter to work it into a symmetrical, useful vessel.  It is a process. 

Life often seems like it is spinning out of control.  Circumstances seem to scream at us that all is lost—there is not hope.  We just want the spinning to stop.  But, regardless of the reason our lives are spinning out of control, the Potter uses that motion to perfect us. The pressure we feel on our lives is the pressure of His loving grace. Look at verse 4 again:  “but the jar . . . became flawed.” This happens to all of us, more times than we would like to admit.  Our lives start spinning out of control and some flaw develops, or some flaw develops and we spin out of control.  It does not matter the result is the same—a useless lump of clay.  Yet, God has an answer for our flaws.  Look at verse 8:   However, if that nation I have made an announcement about turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it.
The word “turns” actually means to “turn back, or return” (שׁוּב shub).  When we find ourselves spinning out of control we need to surrender ourselves to the care of the Potter.  Look at verse 11 closely:

Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil (ESV)

The ESV gives a better rendering of this passage than other translations.  The word, “shaping” in relation to “disaster” comes from the same Hebrew root word for “potter.”  In other words, the same Potter that shapes us for good, can reshape us when we are flawed.  The same Potter that is sovereign over our good days is still sovereign over our bad days.  We need to simply allow the Potter to reshape us and remove the flaws in our lives.  We are His clay. God spoke through the Apostle Paul that God’s sovereignty does not only extend to good circumstances, but to every circumstance (Rom. 8):

²⁸ We know that all things work together for the good  of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.

We are God’s clay.  When our lives become flawed and spin out of control, we need to “repent” or “turn back” (shub) to the Potter.  As the Potter’s clay, we are a work in progress and from time to time we need to put ourselves back into His kind and gracious hand so He can apply the necessary pressure to reshape us according to His plan.
Sadly, the majority of people in this world have not turned back to God.  In fact, they continue to turn away.  They continue to resist the gracious pressure of the Master Potter and decide, not to turn back, but to continue according to their own stubborn and foolish desires.  The result of this stubborn rebellion is “hopelessness” and judgment. Look at the last point to be made in this ongoing story of the Potter.
4.  The Potter’s Clay Jar (18:12-19:15)

¹² But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless.  We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ ”

From chapter 18, verse 12 through chapter 19, verse 15 the Word of God describes the descending path of sin that leads those choosing rebellion to a final state of utter destruction under the Hand of God.  The same Potter that has the power to mold our lives into useful vessels for His service also possesses the power to utterly destroy our lives in judgment.  And make no mistake about it—God’s judgment against sin is as sure as His promises for obedience.
Chapter 19 tells the story of a clay jar.  A clay jar that represents all who reject the purpose and plan of God and seek to do as they please, instead of doing what pleases the Lord.  It is a scary story.
The Potter’s House Parable is incomplete without chapter 19.  The foundational truth of this passage, indeed the foundational truth of the entire Bible, is that God is sovereign.  He has complete control over man, represented by the clay.  As we have seen, clay that submits to the Potter and the pressure of His Divine Grace, become beautiful vessels of honor.  Even when we become flawed, if we have received the Holy Spirit through salvation, God will fix us.
Not so, the clay jars that become vessels of dishonor.  Look at 19:1-3:

This is what the Lord says: “Go, buy a potter’s clay jar. Take  some of the elders of the people and some of the leading priests  ² and go out to the Valley of Hinnom  near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you. ³ Say: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.  This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will shudder.  Another translation (NIV) says, Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.

Have you ever experienced something so shocking it makes you tingle?  In English we could translate this verse as, “It will send shivers down your spine!” Something horrible is going to happen to those that reject the grace of the Potter’s Hand.  They will experience the full force of His wrath.
Notice where the clay pot representing those who reject the offer of salvation from God is shattered.  Verse 2 says, “Go out into the Valley of Hinnom.”  Then verse 10 says, “Then you are to shatter the jug in the presence of the people.”
The Valley of Hinnom was a place where the Israelites (the clay jar) took up the pagan practices of the nations around them, particularly the Canaanites.  Idol worship alone would have been bad enough, but in the Valley of Hinnom, children were sacrificed to the god, Moloch.  Therefore, God declared this land to be cursed.  Verses 3-9 describes God’s hatred for these practices and the punishment He was about to bestow.  The clay jar represents God’s wrath that will be poured out on all who do not receive His free gift of grace.  The same God that bestows grace upon those who surrender to Him, will reign down terror on those that reject Him.  Jesus mentions the Valley of Hinnom:

⁸ Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Mat. 10:28).

The word for “hell” in this verse (and others throughout the N.T.) is “Gehenna,” the Greek name for the Valley of Hinnom.  The Valley of Hinnom was cursed and became the garbage dump of the City of Jerusalem.  There was always rotting meat and fires smoldering at Gehenna.  It was a horrible place.  The fires never went out and the maggots feasted constantly.  It was a fit illustration for what an eternity without God will be for those who fall under His judgment.
It was in this awful place God said, “shatter the clay jug.”  Even the disobedient represented by this clay jug, fall under the control of the Potter.
As we wind up our time at the Potter’s House, let me summarize the story.  The setting is the “House” of the Potter reminding us that God has commanded His people to gather at His House to hear His Word.  The Potter’s Wheel reminds us that we have no power apart from God, no matter how much we would like to think we do.  The Potter’s Clay shows us that when we submit to the gracious Hand of the Potter, even our flaws will be corrected by His grace.  We are work in progress. And, finally there is the Clay Jug—a terrible reminder that all those who resist God’s love WILL experience God’s wrath.
Now, the question that keeps coming back to me is:  “Am I willingly and expectantly submitting myself to the will of the Potter?  How often do I foolishly act as if I, the clay, have power to make anything good of my life?  These are piercing questions but we need to ask them.
Let the Master Potter make something beautiful out of your life by surrendering to His kind, powerful hands.
<<end>>

Honey From A Rock

September 21, 2014
Honey From A Rock
Psalm 81                        NOTES NOT EDITED

SIS – You can discover the sweetness of God’s blessings even in a hard place.

People debate whether the Bible is God's Word, or just a quaint literary work from antiquity. Proofs of the Bible's uniqueness and divine foundations have been given since God delivered His Word to Israel millennia ago. The debates will go on.  But, you can debate the Bible until the cows come home and still never have milk for your morning cereal. We have to learn how to apply the principles of God's Word to daily living as resources for joy and blessing. God's Word is a tool. At first glance, “honey from a rock” appears to be impossible, but in fact, it was quite common in the ancient world, and even many places today. Sweet blessings are yours for the gathering.

The story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!"  One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation, the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!"  To which the king replied, "No, this is not good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail.  About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake.  As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone who was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way.  As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend.  "You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so, I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this." "No," his friend replied, "This is good!" "What do you mean, ’This is good’? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?" "If I had not been in jail, I would have been with you."

In our modern mind we do not associate “honey” with a “rock” but with a hive in a tree.  Sweetness from a hard place seems improbable at best, impossible at worst.  Yet, “honey from a rock” was a common site in the ancient Middle East, and in many places today.  A hard place is no barrier to God’s sweet blessings in life, we use God’s resources to gather His blessings.  In Psalm 81, God gives us four ways in which we can extract honey from the hard places of life.

Let’s read our text together.  Psalm 81:1; 10-16

1. SINGING is a resource for getting “Honey From a Rock” (1-3)

¹ Sing for joy to God our strength; shout in triumph to the God of Jacob. ² Lift up a song—play the tambourine, the melodious lyre, and the harp. ³ Blow the horn on the day of our feasts during the new moon and during the full moon.

The reference to music in these three verses is emphatic. Various words are used to focus attention on the importance of singing in particular, and music in general.  Instruments are mentioned: the lyre (ancient Fender Strat), the harp the trumpet.  Various forms of vocalization are used from a “ringing cry” (ranan,v1a); to “a war cry” (rua, v.1b); to “lift a song” (seu zimra, v2a).  This by no mean exhausts all the vocalizations that Hebrew worship involved.  The worship of God has always been a raucous, energetic affair as you see in movies such as Fiddler On the Roof.  A non-singing Christian is an oxymoron.  The emphasis is not on how well you harmonize but how enthusiastically you vocalize.  I root a praise song based upon Psalm 150 years ago.  The first verse goes like this:

Praise Him with your trumpet // Praise Him with your harp
Praise Him with timbrel and dance.

These words come right out of the KJV.  But, then I added:

But if all you can do is shout//Shout Loud for His glory!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

That phrase comes from Luke 19:40 where Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for trying to silence the disciples praising Jesus as He made His Triumphal entry into Jerusalem on what we now call, Palm Sunday.  Jesus said,

“I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out!”

A soul touched by the tender Hand of God’s Mercy and having received the blessed gift of God’s Holy Spirit in salvation cannot help but “sing, shout, or praise God” with water ever faculties that soul possesses.  A non-singing soul is a soul without a melody of forgiveness from the strumming of God’s grace upon the heart strings.

At 6 weeks of age Fanny Crosby developed a minor eye inflammation and was taken to a local doctor for treatment. However, the doctor who treated her used the wrong medicine on her eyes and she became totally and permanently blind because of his carelessness.

Interviewed years later, Fanny Crosby said she harbored no bitterness against the physician. In fact, she once said, "If I could meet him now, I would say thank you, over and over again for making me blind." She felt that her blindness was a gift from God to help her write the hymns that flowed from her pen.

How could Fanny Crosby, blinded by a tragic failure of a careless doctor –still be filled with such joy and power in her songs?  She kept her heart focused on God. She looked up toward God rather than around at her disability and weaknesses (copied).  From the hard place of blindness she saw the sweetness of God’s glory and penned these words in addition to over 8000 other hymns and songs:

To God be the glory, great things He hath done;
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that all may go in.

Singing and music are tremendous resources in gathering “honey from the hard places of life.”

2.  SERMONS are another way to gather “honey from a rock”

Verses 4-7 tell us:  ⁴ For this is a statute for Israel, a judgment of the God of Jacob. ⁵ He set it up as an ordinance for Joseph when He went throughout the land of Egypt. I heard an unfamiliar language: ⁶ “I relieved his shoulder from the burden; his hands were freed from carrying the basket. ⁷ You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the thundercloud. I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

Two important words show up in this passage:  statute and ordinance.  They are synonyms referring to a “an obligation or rule; something prescribed or established.” In simple terms:  God’s requirements.  Now, modern Americans steeped in an attitude of rugged individualism and freedom react to any kind of “control,” especially in regard to religion.  That is human nature such as it is.  False religions put too much emphasis on control, rules, or what we might call “works of righteousness to gain favor with God.”  The Bible teaches us that we cannot “do” anything to gain the favor of God in salvation.  It is a gift.  Let me remind us of Paul’s admonition in this regard (Eph. 2:8):

⁸ For you are saved by grace  through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— ⁹ not from works.

God’s Word, the Bible knows of only one pathway to salvation and favor with God—receive the free gift that He has provided.  You need do nothing to receive salvation—in fact, you cannot do anything to receive it.  It is a gift.

That, however, does not end our commerce with God.  God does have expectations for those He saved.  God does have statutes and ordinances for us to follow.  Here, we find the relevance of sermons.  God calls those He chooses to speak forth to His people the statutes and ordinances He, Himself, has established. 

The occupation of the prophet, preacher, or whatever term one might use to describe the one called to expound God’s Word, is exactly that:  “preach the Word!” The task of God’s messenger is not to entertain.  Many will be surprised that the task of the preacher is not primarily to encourage, though that is a part to be sure.  And, certainly the task of the preacher is not to “keep everybody happy!”  Paul tells us why God sets aside leaders in the body (Eph. 4:11-13):

¹¹ And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son,  growing into a mature man with a stature  measured by Christ’s fullness.

Just the other day I received word through someone that a person was no longer going to attend our church (though they only showed up occasionally anyway) because they, “did not like my preaching!”  Now, this would be discouraging to be sure if, in fact, my goal was to get you all to like me—BUT, my goal is not to get you to like me, but get you to FALL IN LOVE with Jesus!  My goal in preaching is to give you resources for gathering “honey” even from the “hardest” places in life.  If along the way I entertain a bit, then may God be glorified.  If along the way I can encourage you in your difficult places then, may God be glorified.  But God help us if I ever lose sight of the fact that God’s messengers are to declare the statutes and ordinances of God.

Notice again verse 7:  You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the thundercloud. I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

Meribah means “place of strife or testing” referring to two incidences in which God’s people found themselves in a hard place with no water (Ex. 17; Num. 20).  How did God bring sweetness from the bitter waters of Meribah?  He spoke from a thundercloud!  Now, I understand that God can speak from a whisper as well as a shout, but I think when all hell is breaking out around us and the arsenal of the Devil is exploding in chaos and confusion, we need the preacher to “shout with the roar of thunder” showing us which way to go! 

I’ve said it before.  I have said it many times over the years.  I would not walk across the street to hear me preach, let alone get up early on a Sunday morning.  You don’t need to hear what I have to say.  You need to hear what God has to say.  I don’t give speeches.  I preach sermons.  And, if God was able to get His message to Balaam by the mouth of Balaam’s donkey (Num. 22), then there is no doubt God can speak through men like me!  If you don’t believe that, sermons are a waste of your time—and mine.  Look at verse 8:

⁸ Listen, My people, and I will admonish you. Israel, if you would only listen to Me!

I’ll say more about this verse in a minute or two, but the Psalmist has assumed the role of the Preacher and admonishes us, through this recorded Scripture:  “Listen.”  Sermons are a powerful resources for gather “honey from a hard place” in life.

3.  SEPARATING is another resources for gathering honey (9)

If one does not read carefully one might completely run by the resource tucked away in verse 9:

⁹ There must not be a strange god among you; you must not bow down to a foreign god.

The First Commandment sets forth God’s claim for complete and exclusive worship.  “Do not have other gods besides Me!”

Paul declares the necessity for separating ourselves from the world in 2Cor. 6:17:  ¹⁷ Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you.

The idea of “sanctification,” or “being set aside for the exclusive use and pleasure of God,” is taught throughout Scripture.  The Tabernacle which stood in the center of the camp for the Israelites as they wandered in the desert was a life-sized visual aid teaching sanctification—or, “being set aside for the exclusive use and pleasure of God.”  Sanctification means the process of becoming holy.  The Bible tells us this about the tabernacle (Num 7:1):

And [it came to pass] on the day that Moses had fully [set up]  the tabernacle, and had anointed  it, and sanctified  it, and  all the instruments thereof, both  the altar and  all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified  them.

The KJV maintains the more theological term, sanctified, where some modern versions use, consecrated.  The meaning is the same.  We must live in the world, of necessity.  We must intermingle with lost people and engage in the market place because of our call to love and reach the lost.  We must be with them, but we must not be like them. 

Listen to me:  we cannot watch the same worldly shows lost people watch; spend time in the same dives and drunken party places that lost people do; read the same books and magazines of lost people; or waste our money on the same trivial pursuits that lost people do, and think that somehow we are “setting ourselves aside for the exclusive use and pleasure of God.”  A worldly life does not reflect a godly heart.  We need to know where to draw the line of separation.  The purer we live our lives, the sweeter our lives are going to be. 

Years ago a popular gospel song went like this:

Every day with Jesus //  Is sweeter than the day before
Every day with Jesus // I love Him more and more.
Jesus is my Savior // He’s the One I’m living for
Every day with Jesus // Is sweeter than the day before.

A SEPARATED life is a sweet life.  I could say much more about this but we have yet another resource for gather “Honey From a Rock.”

4.  SERVING (8; 11-15)

⁸ Listen, My people, and I will admonish you.

Israel, if you would only listen to Me!  Then, 11-15:

……………………………….

¹¹ “But My people did not listen to Me; Israel did not obey Me. ¹² So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own plans. ¹³ If only My people would listen to Me and Israel would follow My ways, ¹⁴ I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their foes.” ¹⁵ Those who hate the Lord would pretend submission to Him; their doom would last forever.

“Listen; listen; listen; listen!”  Four times in these verses God uses a form of the Hebrew “shema,” translated “listen, or hear.”  Immediately a Hebrew’s mind would harken back to the most important verse in the Old Testament—Dueteronomy 6:4-9:

“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.  ⁵ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  ⁶ These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.  ⁷ Repeat them to your children.  Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead.  ⁹ Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Shemah Yisrael!  “Hear, listen, harken, obey!” That is the meaning of the word translated, “listen.”  It does not merely represent the event of sound waves striking the ear drum.  It does not even mean simply understanding what is being heard.  “Shemah” carries the weight of obedience in response to what is heard.  Real hearing of God’s Word is reflected in OBEDIENT SERVICE to the Lord through His church.

Remember how I said that a “non-singing Christian” is an oxymoron—two or more words put together that our opposites or absurdities, like Simon and Garfunkel’s song, “The Sound of Silence.”  Well, not only is a non-singing Christian an oxymoron, but a non-serving Christian is an oxymoron.  Many people think that getting saved is like a “fire insurance policy.”  Once you accept Jesus Christ you are forever free from the fires of hell.  That is certainly true, but that is not “all the truth.”  Getting saved is more like a “work permit.”  When you get saved you are sets His spirit inside so you can be set aside for His service.  Paul says it like this in the verses following those I already read from Ephesians 2:8-9.  It goes on to say: ⁸ For you are saved by grace  through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— ⁹ not from works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are His creation, created  in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time  so that we should walk in them.

We were not saved merely to go to heaven.  We are saved to go back into the world and “DO GOOD WORKS!”  If you a church member without a place of regular service you are not a “freedom fighter in the battle for souls,” but you are “freeloader on the freedom train.”  God doesn’t save us to sit and soak up His blessings.  He saved us to serve others.  It is wholly insufficient to say you have “Heard the Word of the Lord” if you are not actively engaged in the “Work” of the Lord!  Something is wrong with the mix of your life.  There will be no sweetness of God’s blessings for the person who is not SERVING others.  SERVING is a tremendous resource for gathering “honey even from the hardest places of life.” 

Christianity is not a “cruise ship but a battleship.”  On a cruise ship, the passengers are served.  On a battleship, every member has a place of service.  The sweet life does not come from sitting and soaking up blessings on a cruise ship.  The really sweet blessings of life, come from hard, sacrificial service on God’s battleship.  Perhaps a story I read this week will help us understand.

There once was a not so bright fellow who saw an advertisement for a cruise. The sign in the travel agency window read “Cruise -- $100 Cash.” I’ve got a hundred dollars, he thought. And I’d like to go on a cruise. So he entered the door and announced his desires. The fellow at the desk asked for the money, and the not-too-bright guy started counting it out. When he got to one hundred, he was whacked over the head and knocked out cold. He woke up in a barrel floating down a river. Another sucker in another barrel floated past and asked him, “Say, do they serve lunch on this cruise?” The not-too-bright fellow answered, “They didn’t last year.” It’s one thing to “hear a message,” it is quite another to understand and apply that message properly.

God does not want us to keep getting knocked over the head searching for blessings.  The sweet blessings of God are available for any who will use God’s resource for gathering them.  “Honey From a Rock” is no problem for God.  It’s there for the taking.

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