again and restored him and worked over him until fye was ready for Heaven, by way of the fiery chariot of deathless translation. Peter completely broke dowp, through self-confidence and prayeriessness, till he denied his Lord with oaths and curses; but the Lord began re molding him with a look, then with a personal message, then with a private interview, then with a grilling in the presence of other disciples, till he becomes “ a vessel unto honour, sahctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.” John Mark failed miser ably in his first attempts as an apostolic helper, but the Lord took him in hand and built apostolic stuff into him till Paul, who once rejected him, wrote to Timothy, "Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.” What is the reason for the failure, and.what is the cure? The reason so many Christians are defeated is sim ply because they carry over into the Christian life a rem nant of the old idea of running their own affairs. God will forgive their sins, but they must make the best shift they can at living the Christian life. In a vague way, they hope God will help them. That is not the score at all. When we come to God through our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit of God, the Third Person of the Divine Trinity, becomes resident in us. He Is God’s hand to mold us into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is opr responsibility to give the response of complete submis sion to the fashioning hand of God, and trust Him, day by day, hour by hour, to work His good work upon us. Whenever the Holy Spirit brings certain sins to light, you may be sure the time has come to have these dealt with and subdued. Yield to Him in regard to that upon which He lays His finger. Give your full consent to any means which He may apply, obey any demands He may make, and trust Him for the issue. The outcome will not long stand in doubt. He will make yoqr life a c o n s t a n t pageant of triumphs. He will make you more and more Christlike. Michelangelo was having serious disputes with the city fathers of Florence, and they were out to prevent his advancement. He was seeking a piece of marble, and the only allowance they would make him was a block upon which another sculptor had worked and which was spoiled beyond further use. This they gave him, on condition that the work proposed would be the full height of the block. They were sure he could not meet their demands, for the stone was so spoiled that it had not the breadth to match the height. The great artist accepted their challenge. He caught the vision of the youthful David, tall and slight, and started on his precarious task. As the marble wasted, the statue grew, and under the hands of the master the irreparably spoiled work became one of the world’s mas terpieces of sculpture. That life of yours only waits for the hand of the Master, to become “a thing of beauty and a joy for ever.” Only we have a privilege and a responsibility that neither clay nor marble knows. The Master waits for our personal act of submission to His touch of power. He must be given possession, and complete control. Do not be afraid that He will cramp you, and narrow you, and diminish you. He will use all the stature you have, and out of a personality and life spoiled by sin will bring forth, not a dead image of David, t>ut a living likeness of great David’s greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. “Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Thou art the Potter, I am the cl^y. Mold me and make me after Thy will, While I am waiting, yielded and still. “Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
I must say a word about the potter’s wheel before closing. “I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.” The divine Potter also has His wheels. All the joys and sorrows, all the successes and failures, all the tasks and conflicts, all the reprov ings and commendings, all the woundings and healings, all the multiplied and varied experiences of life—-these are His wheels, upon which He molds the clay of char acter. Circumstances are a dread and a fear, a veritable monster, to the man who knows not God. They are like a potter’s wheel spinning without the firm hand of the potter to secure the clay. Men strive bravely, but so futilely against these turning wheels, pot understanding, not submitting to the hand that fain would order every revolution to a glorious end. There is little peace, little hope in the stubborn defiance which William Ernest Henley expresses in his poem, Invictus: Yet that is the highest point to which any man can rise tfho does not know God, who has not committed his life to the molding of God’s hand. How different the man whose life is in the divine keeping. What others call “circumstances,” or “ chance,” he recognizes as God’s instruments, the great Potter’s wheels. When times are most difficult, when afflictions multiply, he cries out, not a defiance in the teeth of the storm, but a song of triumph, “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did fore know, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.” The wheel, then, js no purposeless thing, no rack to break and bruise and wound, but a necessary implement for realizing the predestined end. If our Lord Himself reached His present glory by the way of suffering, be not surprised if suffering be part of our preparation to share His glory. “If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” Divine purpose is ordering the spin of the wheel. - Need I remind you that divine wisdom also deter mines the revolutions of the wheels of life? We foolishly imagine that if all things went smoothly with us we should very quickly become like Christ and so reach our goal. But it only requires a little vexation to show up how far we are from the goal. How much would we learn to forgive if we were not sinned a g a i n s t ? How much patience would be exercised without tribulation? The great Potter knows how much of the wheel we need. Let us trust His wisdom. Not only purpose and wisdom, bqt divine love is turning the wheels. Purpose and wisdom might be a cold combination, but when these are teamed up with infinite love, we feel wonderfully safe and sure. Will you look at the foot that is on the treadle, controlling the spin of the wheel? There is a great wound in that foot. It is the wound of Calvary. The foot that is on the treadle walked the way of the Cross for me. There is loye at the controls of my life. Every revolution of the wheel spins me again into the hands of the beloved Potter. Neyer for a moment will He withdraw His hold and allow me to be hurled from the wheel, a mass of broken clay. Look at the hands that hold me: They too are wounded. They are the hands that bore the nails for me. I can trust those hands! *Copyright property Hope Publishing Company, Chicago, III. Used by permission. "In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed.”
Hold o’er my being absolute sway! Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see Christ only, always, living in me!” *
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