n accidental death.
It is a fact that this corpse here upon the beach is not here by mere
chance. This king was flung here by the power of a disappointed and
grieved and rejected God. He lies here dead upon the shore according
to the deliberate plan and purpose of God. But while this is true, we
need to keep this big fact in mind: Though Pharaoh lies here according
to the purpose of God, this was not God's first and highest purpose for
him. But Pharaoh resisted and rejected every noble and worthy purpose
that God had in his life. By his own rebellion he made it impossible
for God to realize any purpose in him at all save the last and the
worst.

Do you remember that story in Jeremiah? One day the word of the Lord
came unto the prophet Jeremiah saying, "Arise and go down to the
Potter's house and there I will cause thee to hear my word." And
Jeremiah went down and heard the message. Arrived within the Potter's
house, three objects at once drew his attention. There was a man
working, the Potter. There was the instrument with which he worked,
the wheel. And there was the substance upon which he worked, the clay.
In the Potter's hand the clay was misshapen and unsightly. The cup was
not yet finished in the Potter's hand. But there was a place where it
was finished, and that was in the mind of the Potter. The Potter could
already see the finished product. He was trying to make the cup
according to the ideal that he had in his mind.

But we read that the cup was marred in the making. That is, there was
something in the clay that resisted the Potter. Now, what did he do
with the marred cup? We would have expected him to throw it away, but
he did not. He made it again. What a gospel that is for failing and
sinning men like ourselves. How glorious that, when we resist God's
purpose and all but wreck ourselves, He will make us again. Truly we
would be a hopeless race but for the fact that we have a mighty God who
is able to remake us even when we have rebelled against Him and have
thwarted His blessed plans for us.

He made it again. Yes, but notice this. He made it again "another
vessel." He changed his plan for this latter vessel. He realized that
he could not make it according to the fine ideal that was in his mind
for the first vessel. That one refused to realize the best, therefore
he made it into another vessel. He sought to make it realize the
second best.

There is a truth here of tremendo