Ron Dunn Podcast - Phone Call From Prison

Episode Date: August 5, 2020

Ron Dunn continues his sermon series from Jeremiah

Well, Jeremiah, I hope you've come to appreciate him a little bit better and know him a little bit better. I want us to look tonight in Jeremiah chapter 33, and we're going to read some very interesting verses, but really they are very familiar verses to all of us. Jeremiah 33, and we'll read just the first three verses. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying, Thus saith the Lord, the Maker thereof, the Lord that formed it to establish it, the Lord is his name. Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.

Those of us who are believers, I think would have to confess that God is always good. But sometimes we don't find him at his best until we are at our worst. It's a strange phenomenon about the Christian life. It operates best sometimes in the most adverse circumstances. The fact of the matter is, I think there are times when we don't come to appreciate the power and presence of God and what our salvation means to us until we come up against hard times that Ted was talking about last night in the death of this young woman. Spurgeon said, he who dives into the sea of affliction will come up with the rarest of pearls.

And so it is often true that we find God at his best when we are at our worst. And that's the way it is here with Jeremiah. Now you'll notice that it says the Lord came unto him the second time. The first time was in chapter 32 while he was in prison, and we talked about that when I was here once before. But now he's come to him a second time. But again, as I have emphasized again and again this week, the context of the situation is very, very important. He was shut up in the court of the prison. And he was facing, well, he was facing, of course, inevitable deportation, but likely execution before that ever happened, because he had been guilty of preaching treason

against Zedekiah the king. And so they had put him up in federal prison. And if things played out the way they usually did, then he would have been executed. But instead he was carried off into captivity. But he is in a dire situation. And I love that when it says, and the word of the Lord came unto him while he was in prison. And sometimes, as I've mentioned, the word of God comes to us more clearly, more personally, when we are in our prisons than any other times in our life. Now, Jeremiah, as he sat there in that prison facing, as I said, deportation or execution, has this word from God. What do you do in a situation like this? What is Jeremiah to do? What is God's will for him? What word do we have from God when we are in perplexing situations in our lives, when God seems to be operating differently than we think He ought to operate, when we're in the midst of mysterious waters in our life, what do

we do? What is our recourse? Well, the truth of the matter is, the Christian never needs to feel powerless. If you and I rightly understand what we're going to talk about tonight, a Christian never needs to say, there's nothing I can do. He never needs to succumb to that feeling of total helplessness. Jeremiah may be in prison, but he is not imprisoned. I love the words of Paul when he is in prison, and he said he is in bonds, but the word of God is not bound. And so what is God's word to Jeremiah? What is God's word to us in these life situations? He says in verse 3, Manly Be that I want to call your attention to.

The first one is a command, call unto me. The second one and the third one are promises. And I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. In other words, God is saying that when we find ourselves in those perilous times, in those dark times, in times of adversity, our immediate response ought to be to pray, to call upon the name of the Lord. Now, it strikes me here as a commentary on our hard-headedness that God must command us to do something that we ought to be jumping out of our shoes to do anyway. Right? Over and over again in the Bible, He commands us to pray. Why? Well, so that he can bless us. God doesn't have to command us to eat.

He ought to command some of us to stop eating so much. Somebody came up to me the other night, and of course this is one of the bad things when you come to a place every year for all these years. Somebody came up to me and patted me and said, you look like you're doing well. Well, I'll just have to tell you, I weigh more than I've ever weighed in my life. And enjoying it about as much as I can. Somebody said to me, well, you know, if you walk three miles a day every day, it could add, well, add a year to your life. I thought about that. And what I thought was, usually the last year ain't all that great. Which year is he going to add to my life? I wouldn't mind having

another 25th or 26th, you know, or 25A and 25B, but I don't know about 80 and 80B. You know what I'm saying? It isn't, haven't you noticed, that God never has to command us to drink or to eat or to sleep. But when it comes to what ought to be so natural to us as believers, He must over and over again command us to do these things. He says, call unto me. Now, there are two reasons why in this particular instance we need to call unto the Lord. First of all, because the situation that Jeremiah is in is a perilous situation. The word call here is an interesting Hebrew word. It means to shout. It means to cry out in alarm.

It is a word that is used when somebody recognizes a tragedy or when they recognize a peril, or they recognize some great difficulty, and they cry out for help, they cry out for aid. He's not necessarily here talking about a little meditative praying that we all do and which is good, and I think necessary for our spiritual walk with the Lord. But he's saying here that there are those times in the Christian life when we ought to be so overwhelmed with our need, with the chaos of our lives, that we cry out unto him. And it's always a cry that indicates an urgency,

that if God doesn't do something, then we indeed are lost. And we live in perilous times. Our lives are perilous. I tell you, it's just amazing to me how that one day can change your entire life. And the scariest sound in all the world is the phone ringing after midnight, isn't it? Especially when you have children that are out somewhere. And you, you know, even the leisure adults, you don't always live in leisure, do you? There can always be that phone call. There can always be that message.

There can always be that diagnosis. The truth of the matter is, I think that most of our lives, we do not lead them leisurely as we would like to. There hangs over us always the shadow of impending danger. That shadow hangs over us. You know, it was interesting. I was studying Hebrews, and it said in Hebrews, the second chapter, that God in Christ destroyed the devil, defeated the devil, stripped him of his power, who through all the days of our lives were in bondage. He held us in bondage by not death, but by the fear of death, the dread of death.

You realize that man is the only part of God's creation that knows it's going to die. You see, one reason Adam and Eve ate of that forbidden fruit is because they were tempted by the devil to gain knowledge, to know more and more. Well, they gained knowledge all right. They gained knowledge they wished they'd never gained. And for the first time when they saw God slay that animal and take its skins to cover them. What God did was to wrap death around them. And ever since, you and I wear death as a garment.

It is not death so much. It is that dread of death. It is that knowledge that everything we love we must someday lose and let go of. And man is the only one who knows that. Dogs don't know they're going to die. They don't buy insurance. Cows never go to a doctor for their physical checkup, you see. Well, I guess, I don't know. Do they? I mean, maybe they don't on their own. I know.

But only man, you see. We live in constant perilous times. Well, I tell you, one of my favorite verses is over in, see if I can find it real quick, in 2 Chronicles chapter 20. Oh, yes, in verse 12. Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat. And again, you know, it seems like the nation's always in trouble. But listen to what he says in chapter 20 of 2 Chronicles verse 12. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do. He said, we don't have any might.

We don't have any strength against this large company that's come against us. And if we did, we wouldn't know what to do with it. But, he said, our eyes are upon thee. What a wonderful verse. Lord, I don't have the strength to handle this situation. And Lord, I don't know what to do in this situation. But my eyes are upon thee. You see, that ought to always be the code of the believer.

And so he says, we need to call unto me, not only because the situation is perilous, but because our God is so powerful. Now, you notice, before he tells them, how many of you were not at the noon thing today? Would you raise your hand? You want to tell us where you've been? Yeah, some of you have been working.

Well, I made the statement today at noon that God never asks us to trust Him or to commit something to Him without first giving us a reason for doing so. Faith is not a leap into the dark. It's a leap into the light. God never asks for blind commitment. So before He makes this command in verse 3, look what he says in verse 2. Thus saith the Lord, the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it to establish it.

The Lord is his name. In other words, God is saying to Jeremiah, first of all, let's get one thing straight, Jerry. Jeremiah, excuse me. Let's get one thing straight, Jerry. Jeremiah, excuse me. Let's get one thing straight, Jerry. I know you're in prison. I know the Babylonians are coming, but I want you to remember one thing. I am the Lord, and I framed the potter's word that we saw the other night, I framed this world and I established it, which it means, he said, I established and accomplished my purpose in this world. You know, in the mind of God, as far as God is concerned, his eternal purpose has already been fixed.

It's already been established. We're just playing it out on the theater of history, but in the mind of God, it has already been established, hasn't it? Because we were what? Predestined before the foundations of the earth. All of this, God has taken care of all of this, and so God is saying to Jeremiah, Jeremiah, I know your situation is perilous, but I want you to know that the sovereign God is powerful, and I formed this world, and I established it. I've already accomplished it. I've done with it what I want to do. Therefore, call upon me. Don't hesitate to call upon me. Besides, who else you're going to call upon. Who else running this world?

You're not going to call on the President, are you? I mean, those boys up there can't even keep country running more than 14 days at a time. You're not going to call on them. You're not going to call on the United Nations, are you? Lord, what a wasted phone call that'd be. Who else are you going to call on? Well, why don't we just go direct to the top? Talk to the head man.

He says, call upon me. That ought to be our instant response. Now, notice the second thing. He says, when you do this, there will be an inevitable reply. And I will answer thee. What a blessing. I will answer thee. Now, I need to say two things about this. Brother Ted, I'm not ready to argue this theologically or scripturally.

But I don't know, I have a sense in which the prayers of all God's people when they cry out in perilous times will eventually be answered. We don't have time really to go to Revelation, but would you go to Revelation chapter 5 and chapter 8? Well, let's just take the time. There's not anything going on around here after... Yes, I know I've already checked it out. Most action I got was at Barnes & Noble bookstore. And they don't open until February 16th.

Let's see. Okay, let's look at chapter 5. I hope I'm doing this right because I hadn't planned to do this. But look at chapter 5 of Revelation. And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within on the backside sealed with seven seals. Now that book is the book of human destiny. Whoever can open that book is the one that controls history and the destiny. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much

because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not, behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And, isn't that great? What I'm doing is I'm trying to find what I'm looking for here. Ah, yes, yes, yeah. Boy, you know, I'm older than I've ever been, and it comes a little slower. In verse 6, And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders,

stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which were the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came, boy, what a dramatic picture, and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Now watch it. Here it is, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of fragrances, which are the prayers of the saints. Now jump over to chapter 8 and verse 1. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

And I saw the seven angels which stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer, and there was given unto him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. Now, here's what's happening. These angels come, and they've got these vials, and they're full of all the prayers of the saints, and they are mixed with the incense that flows up. When that happens, everything now that you're going to read about in verses 4 and following, everything is a result of those prayers being unleashed. And he says in verse 4, And the smoke of the incense

which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel took the censer and filled it with fire of the altar and cast it into the earth. And there were voices and thunderings and lightnings and earthquakes. And we'll not read anymore. I think that gives you the idea of what I'm getting at. You know, here are the prayers of the saints. These are, I believe, the saints who throughout the ages have cried out to God for mercy and justice and righteousness. And they have died martyrs' deaths. And they've died without seeing the promises come true in their lifetime.

But God has not lost one of their cries for justice or cries for righteousness or cries for vindication. He stored them in vials. And one of these days, all of those prayers are going to be answered. I'll tell you what, there's some vials up there with my name on it. But there's some up there with your name on it too. He says, you call unto me and I will answer thee.

I don't know, Pastor, I just somehow believe that the righteous prayers of the saints throughout the ages who have cried out to God because of the injustices of life and the ungodliness of the world, I think those prayers will be answered. I don't believe God loses the prayers of His saints. That's the first thing I want to say about that. The second thing is this word answer does not mean necessarily to answer with a, or

to respond with a verbal answer, or with a detailed answer. What it means is that there is an answer from God, how best to say this, that shows or lets us know that He is in control, you see. It is not, this word does not so much mean that when I call unto the Lord, that there will be a verbal response saying, here is exactly what I want you to do, but that there will be an answer in my heart assuring me that God knows what He's about and that He

takes notices of the situation. And really, folks, that ought to be enough, shouldn't it? I mean, you know, really? Now, all of us want that verbal response, and all of us want that detailed answer, but I think if He gave it to us, we wouldn't understand it. Do you think you could even begin to understand the infinite mind of God, and God said, all right, I'm going to explain to you what I've been doing. You think, oh, let me take notes, I'll understand all this. No.

I think what He gives to us in these days is that calm assurance. I've had this to happen so many times when Kay and I, through crises in our lives, have virtually said, Lord, we have no might against this, and we don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon Thee. And we haven't even known what to ask for, haven't even known. And I've said so many times, Lord, I don't even know what's the answer here. I don't know what to tell you to do. Somehow there comes that sweet peace of God to the heart that says,

That's okay. I hear you. And I've got everything under control. So he says, first of all, call unto me. And then he says with a promise, and I will answer thee. And then here is the second promise, the third statement. This kind of praying brings an incredible revelation to us. He says, and I will show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.

I will show thee. I will make you to know. I will make you to understand. I will reveal to you great and mighty things which thou knowest not. Now, that Hebrew word that is used here for mighty things means things that are hidden, things that are unknown, literally things that can't be fenced in. In other words, he says, I will show thee things beyond our comprehension. He says, I'll open your heart to see things that nobody

else sees. That's why Christians have a different worldview than lost people do, folks. You know, it amazes me as I read the secular newspapers and magazines and books and everything. You know, it just amazes me how vast is the gulf between what I understand to be going on in the world and what they see. But the matter of fact is they're ignorant. They don't know. The most brilliant of them do not know. They walk in darkness. Their minds are darkened.

The humblest saint understands what's going on in this world more than the proudest statesman who exists today. Why? Well, when we cry out to God, He shows us things that are beyond the comprehension of man to understand. What a wonderful promise. Why then must God command us to do it? Why must He command us to do it? I think it is this.

Our preoccupation with the world is such that God must command us. We have hours to give to the world, but only moments to give to God. In Psalm 130, verse 1, one of my favorites, he says, Out of the depths have I cried unto thee. I think sometimes the only way we'll ever cry unto thee is if God puts us in the depths. It is not normal and natural for fallen human nature to pray, folks. The disciples ask the Lord, Lord, teach us to pray. Prayer is not something that is normal and natural to fallen human nature.

It is something that we must learn. It is something that must be taught to us. Because our minds are so preoccupied with the other things of this world. And we just, I don't know, we forget to pray. A Christian never needs to feel helpless and powerless, whatever his situation and circumstance. And you never need to say, there's nothing I can do. There is something we can do.

We can call him up. We've got his number. And the line is never missing. The Ron Dunn Podcast is available only for personal edification, not to be duplicated, uploaded to the web, or resold without prior written consent. It is managed and operated by Sherwood Baptist Church. If you would like to listen to additional Ron Dunn messages, visit sherwoodbaptist.net slash bookstore and search Ron Dunn.

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