THE CLAY IN THE HANDS OF THE POTTER.
By J. O. Corliss
A few days ago, I stepped into a pottery, and watched the workman as he molded different vessels; and while watching the process, the language of Paul came to my mind: “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?” Rom. 9:21. I had often heard this text quoted to prove that God has power over all men as the potter has over the clay; and that as the potter makes one kind of vessel of one piece of clay, and another kind of a second piece, so God makes one man a Christian and another a sinner, at his will! It always seemed mysterious to me that God should commission men to preach the gospel to every creature in all the world (Mark 16:15), and command all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30), and yet make a large proportion of men so that they could not possibly repent. No doubt this seems as strange to the unbiased reader of the Bible as it did to me, yet an evening or two ago I heard an advocate of this doctrine say that Christ did not die for all the world—only for the elect! Certainly, such reasoning (?) must overlook some of the plainest declarations of Scripture, when Paul tells us that Christ died for all men. See 2 Cor. 5:15; Heb. 2:9. But to return. I began to reason: Is there any aptness in the illustration? Certainly there must be, or the Spirit of God would never have dictated its use. Then the question occurred to me: Has the potter any power over the clay to make it into vessels of any kind while it remains in its natural state? No. In the first place it is taken from the bank and drawn to a mill, where it is ground and worked over until every lump is crushed, and every small stone taken out; when it is taken from the mill and worked over by hand, to insure the removal of all stones and lumps. Then the potter has power to make it into vessels of different kinds; but no vessel, whether of honor or dishonor, could be made from it until it had gone through this softening process. Then we make the application: No man can hold a place in the service of God, either high or low, without first being fitted for it to some degree by the softening and subduing influence of the Spirit of God. It does not require any of this process to make a sinner. A man can be a sinner in his natural condition. Hence we conclude that the vessel unto dishonor does not represent a sinner, but rather one who holds a subordinate position in the service of God. The potter never exercises any power over the clay in the bank while it remains in its natural or crude state; so the individual who will not submit to the process of refinement, but chooses rather to remain in his natural condition, God exercises no power over, but lets him alone. But every one who will yield himself to obey God’s law places himself in the hands of God, and the process of refining commences. Where a rash, uneven temper existed, a gentle, smooth one will appear; and where faults were once prominent, virtues will shine. In fact, a person can become, like the clay, so plastic that he will be molded just as God sees fit, and can fill any station in life that God desires he should. Yes; though in his natural state he may have appeared very rough and forbidding, yet by yielding himself fully into the hands of God, he may become a useful instrument in his hands to accomplish good in any station of life in which he may be placed.