Ron Dunn Podcast - What To Say When You Don't Know What To Say

Episode Date: July 28, 2021

Ron Dunn continues his series "The View From The Pit"

Wish I'd have had a bunch in a church I was in not long ago. It's deader than anything I'd ever been in. I wasn't adding much to it. And I'll show you how dead it was. Song service only lasted 10 minutes one night. And I usually go on for about an hour, but a fella just sort of gave up and looked at me said you're it you're on one night I was sitting on the platform with the pastor looking out at the

few folks that had gathered there and one lady I had not seen before an elderly looking woman that the first time I'd seen in the service. And something happened during the singing. She sort of got carried away and she did this, you know, sort of like this. I leaned over to the pastor and I said, she must be a visitor. He said, yes, sir, she is. Well, I was glad to have her. I come to find out after talking, she was from the local Assembly of God church. And I started to stop by there the next night and pick up a bunch more and bring them on over. Well, this is a Bible conference, I think. The Bible conference, you know, that is a name now that we use just

to cover anything you know just to meet but we call it a Bible conference I was in a Bible conference not long ago and I wasn't sure what it was because sometimes I don't know what we're going to do when we get there and I do different things and most of them are Bible conferences but sometimes I don't know what the pastor really is thinking as in mine and so Monday night I said he kept talking about this Bible conference we're just here to enjoy the word and learn the word and I said

now pastor we were in the office and just had prayer I said now you keep calling this Bible conference and you just want people to come and enjoy the word I said now do you want me to give an invitation tonight after the meeting on service? He said, oh no, don't do that. He said, we're not expecting anything to happen.

And sure enough, but it's good to be here. It's good to be with you. And I appreciate the opportunity of sharing with you tonight. I want you to open your Bibles to the Gospel of John, Chapter 12. The Gospel of John chapter 12. And I notice that part of my text is already written up here for me on the pulpit. Begin our reading with verse 20 and read through verse 29.

The Gospel of John, the 12th chapter, verses 20 through 29. The Gospel of John, the 12th chapter, verses 20 through 29. Now there were certain Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast. These therefore came to Philip, who was from Bethesda of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew. Andrew and Philip came and they told Jesus. Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself.

But if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves me, let him follow me. Where I am, there shall my servant also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Now my soul has become troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify thy name.

There came therefore a voice out of heaven, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. The multitude therefore who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered. Others were saying an angel had spoken to him. Now I want to read again verse 27, where Jesus says, Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? I want to talk to you tonight for a few minutes on what to say when you don't know what to say. I want to talk to you tonight for a few minutes on what to say when you don't know what

to say. I sat with a couple not long ago, a pastor and his wife. They had requested some time to talk some things out. They felt like a third party, objective, one that would be gone in a few days and couldn't blackmail them with anything that was said. They just needed to unload like we all do at times. The only problem is sometimes after we've unloaded the people we wished we hadn't because we somehow get the idea now they think less of us. If we really confess what we are and what we feel, we sometimes diminish ourselves in the eyes of others. And later on, we're filled with regret and say, oh, I could kick myself for ever having admitted weakness. But there are times when we all need to sit down with somebody that we can rest with and say, listen, this is the way it is. This

is the way I feel. And so I sat with this couple. They said, it's been the worst year of our lives. It's been the biggest battle, one after another, one after another. The pastor said, it's been harder on my wife than on me. And I said, yes, I can imagine that. I've noticed through the years that I always, the first thing I look for when I go into a church is I look for the pastor's wife. I want to see her face. I want to see her countenance because it seems that everything that happens in the life of the church comes to rest in the countenance of the pastor's wife. You can tell a great deal about what's going on in the church by whether or not the pastor's wife is smiling, whether she's happy, whether or not there's a look of peace. And she began to weep and she said, I don't know what to pray anymore.

She said, I've prayed and prayed and prayed. And she said, I'm so confused. She said, I'll be honest with you. I'm just too weary to trust and too weary to pray. She said, I'll be honest with you, I'm just too weary to trust and too weary to pray. She said, I don't know what to say. And there came to my mind immediately, and that was all that I could think of. I simply said to her, well, you're in good company. Because there's been someone else along the way that were in your same position. They were so deeply troubled and distraught, so confused, so unsettled,

and their heart was at such unrest, they didn't know what to say. And she said, who was it? I said, it was the Lord Jesus. And I noticed the surprise on her face. It's interesting how we read some of these verses so many times, and yet they never really sink in. And there's a verse that has given me a great deal of encouragement and comfort in the past, and it's this statement that our Lord makes in verse 27 when he says, Now is my soul troubled.

I wouldn't be surprised at that coming from anybody else, from some lesser mortal, from some mere mortal, from some person who had inherited Adam's sin, but here is the master of all worlds, here is the supreme among the angels, adored at the Father's right hand, and yet he confesses, now is my soul troubled, and I don't know what to say. Do you mean Jesus himself at a loss for words? Do you mean he who knew the Father's will?

Do you mean that same one who spoke the worlds into existence and holds them in their course tonight? Do you remember that one that knows from the beginning to the end and everything in between? He comes to a point where he says, I don't know what to say. I'm in such deep distress. My soul is torn. And the tenses of this verb indicates this wasn't a passing thing. Our translations read, now is my soul trouble, as though all of a sudden Jesus became trouble. But the idea is here,

here is a continuing state and condition that our Lord was in. It's a revelation to us about Jesus because we see him in his early ministry as he moves along with such swiftness and with such success and smoothness. And there seems to be such a peace about him. And yet all the while, this verse reveals all the while there is a turbulence underneath the call. He's not simply saying now all of a sudden my soul has become troubled. He said my soul's been troubled all along. Or he said I know why I've come into this world. I've come into this world for one cause.

And it was the appearance of the Greeks that reminded him of. Now, you see, what's happening to our Lord is that there's a conflict of emotions. These Greeks, these Gentiles come and they say, we want to see Jesus. And that's the first indication. That's the first indication that these Gentiles are going to be grafted in. That's the first indication that salvation is going to be worldwide. For the Lord Jesus Christ, it's a good sign. These Greeks wanting to see Jesus, and yet when they come mixed with the joy of these Greeks desiring to see Jesus, Jesus realizes that the only way they can ever come to see him is if he dies for them. And so there is a collision of different emotions. There is the emotion of joy because here are men that want to see him,

but there is the emotion of dread and fear, if you please, because Jesus knows that their fulfillment of that desire can only be accomplished if he's willing to die. And so he says, now is my soul torn in different directions. Now is my soul torn in different directions. Now is my soul torn in different directions and what shall I say? Now if we understand this as it applies to our Lord, then we can understand it as it applies to ourselves. Because the truth of the matter is there's not a one among us tonight who had not sometime in our Christian experience, if we were honest enough, would say, my soul is troubled and I don't know what to say.

My soul is troubled and I don't know what to say. It may be because some child is out yonder in the wayfaring way and you don't know what's happened to them and you prayed all the prayers you know to pray and you say, I don't know, I don't know what to say. It may be that your wife has announced or your husband has announced that there's somebody else and wants to end this marriage and you've prayed all the prayers you know to pray and you've done all that

the books say to do and you don't know what else to say and you say, I just don't know what to pray. I don't know what to say anymore. It may be that the doctor has told you that there's nothing more he can do for you and you've done everything you know to do. You've read all the books and you've listened to all the preachers and you've gone through all the rituals and yet the sickness has not abated and there's only one course. You're dying and that's all there is to it. And you say, I don't know what to say anymore. I don't know what to pray anymore. My soul is struggling. I think we become more vulnerable than ever in those

points because we're liable to say something later on we wish we hadn't said. Sometimes in the ministry we say, my soul is troubled. Boy, is it ever troubled. And I don't know what to say. I know what I'll say. I'll quit. That's what I'll say.

Sometimes at those moments if we're not careful, we'll say the wrong thing. So I want to talk to you tonight about what to say when you don't know what to say. Jesus said, now my soul has become troubled and what shall I say? Shall I say, Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose, I came to this hour. Here's what I'll say. And here's what I want you to get. There is always, whatever the situation, whatever the turmoil, whatever the confusion in your heart and in your life, there's always something that you can rest assured is proper and fitting to say.

And this is it. Father, glorify thy name. That's what to say when you don't know what to say. When no other prayer seems to work and you've tried all the other prayers and you've read all the how-to books and you've gone through all the steps and nothing seems to be changed and you're facing an uncertain future and there's nothing but darkness in your heart, you don't know what to ask God. If God were to say, I'll give you anything you ask for.

He's like, Lord, I don't know what to ask. I don't know what is right. What is fitting and proper to say? What can I honestly say that I'll never regret? This is always right. This is always fitting. This is always proper. Father, glorify thy name.

Now, let me just point out three things about this kind of prayer, this statement. Number one, it immediately brings to us, I think, a sense of security. It is a prayer that offers security. Notice Jesus says, what shall I say? Father, glorify thy name. Notice the first word, father, father. This prayer has in it security, reassurance. He doesn't say God. He doesn't say impersonal fate. He doesn't say the stars. He says, Father, glorify thy name.

You know, I'm afraid that in our day we have forgotten a very important person. We say so much about Jesus, and well, we should, and we say so much about the Holy Spirit, but I'm afraid we've forgotten the Father. And yet it is for this purpose that Jesus came into the world to reveal to us that God is a Father. That was the unique revelation

that God brought to reveal to us that this God who created all things and this God who is a God of such terrible judgment that he'll destroy the cities of Solomon and Gomorrah yet is a father. He is a father. That's the great revelation. It's a revelation that means that we put our destiny into the hands of one who cares. You say, I don't know about you tonight, but I've never really gotten into horoscopes and all that sort of stuff. I never have. And I was on a plane one day some

years ago and a lady sat down next to me and after we'd been traveling for a while, she turned, she said, what are you? Well, I didn't figure she meant animal, mineral, or vegetable. I, you know, it's pretty obvious what I was, at least, you know. And I said, well, I'm a minister and I'm on my way to Denver to preach. She said, no, I mean, what are you? Said, what sign were you born under? As far as I knew, I wasn't born under any sign. Unless it was emergency room or something like that. She said, no, no. She said, when is your birthday? When

is your birthday? I said, it's October 24th. She said, oh, you're a Scorpio. Oh, what a relief, you know. She said, I'm Pis'm pisces and i don't know i thought maybe i should applaud or something i don't know like that's some great thing i don't i don't get into that that doesn't bother me i run into people who won't go outside the door until they read their horoscope in the morning that seems to me to be a terrible bondage. I know there are forces in this universe and forces in this world. And one day somebody told me the reason I was having problems is because I was under a curse, something my great-grandfather did. And I hear all that stuff. All I know is tonight that my life is not in the hand of some impersonal fate or the position of

the stars and the planets, but it's in the hand of a Heavenly Father who knows me and loves me. I shouldn't be afraid to say, Father, glorify Thy name. I'm not afraid of my father. I'm not afraid of him. I have two children. God being my witness, I wouldn't do anything in the world to hurt hurt them I'd lay down my life for them I trust my father with my life my father is still alive I trust him with my life

I don't need to be afraid of my father and when I don't know which way to turn and I don't know what to say I can always say father glorify thy name there is some there's a sense of security in that prayer because it's a father who cares, but it's a father who's in control. The trouble with we earthly fathers is we may want to care for our children, but sometimes things get out of our control. Nothing we can do for them. But we have a heavenly father who not only cares, he also is in control. So what we're to say is, Father, glorify thy name.

There is security in that statement. But second, there is submission in it. There is submission in this statement. Father, glorify thy name. Now notice, go back to verse 27, what Jesus says, Now my soul has become troubled, and what shall I say? What shall I say? What shall I say? Well, I could say, Father, save me from this hour.

Oh, that's what I'd say. That's what I want to say. Jesus is tempted at that moment. Because, you see, the thing that's troubling him, what's causing the turmoil and the unrest in his heart is he knows he has to face Gethsemane. And what we have here before us is really the Gethsemane before Gethsemane. So he says, what shall I say?

And the first thing that comes to his mind, and I think here you see the humanness of our Lord as perhaps no other place. What first comes to his mind as it would come to my mind is, well, this is one thing I could say, Father, deliver me from this hour. That's what I'd really like. I can remember a time a few years ago when we were going through some terrific struggles in our life and some battles,

and I do believe in spiritual warfare because we were engaged in it. And I tell you, it's just as real to me as you are real to me tonight. It's as though the devil came to me one day and said, I'll tell you what, preacher, I'll make you a deal. I'll leave you alone if you'll leave me alone. And you know something? I was tempted to take him up on it. Because I believe the devil's in a bargain in business. I believe he's always ready for a deal. And if I'll compromise,

and if I'll lower the standards, and if I'll fudge just a little bit here and say, well, it doesn't really matter if the Father's will is done. I mean, he can get somebody else to do it. I'll make you a deal, devil. I'll give up this part if you'll leave me alone. I am tempted at times to say, Father, deliver me from this hour. When I say, Father, glorify thy name, there is submission in it because it means there is a conflict, there is a struggle that has been

waged, and I've come to the end of it, and I submitted myself and saying whether rather whether than ask God to deliver me from this hour what I will say is no for this very purpose came I into the world and may I say to you that it's the same with us that for this very purpose we came into the world the purpose for which God has saved us friend is if we might glorify his name I think and I talked with a pastor the other day about this. He said, what do you see everywhere you go? You know, one of the troubles with being in a traveling ministry, everybody thinks, you know, that you've got the pulse on everything that's happening.

Actually, I don't know any more than you do, if that much. But I have to act like I sound like I do when they ask me. But I did know the answer to this question. He said, you go around a lot of places, and he said, what do you think is happening? I said, I'll tell you what I think is happening. It's just my own opinion, but I think what's happening is the devil is very successfully detracting us from the purpose for which we've all been saved. Now, I want to tell you something. This is just my opinion, which I greatly respect, but I've got news for you. I don't think the devil cares one whit whether we're charismatic or whether we're a Baptist

or whether we're a liberal or whether we're a modernist as long as we do not glorify the name of the Father. He couldn't care less what we are or what we do as long as we don't do the main thing. Sometimes we need to be reminded that for this purpose came I into the world. Listen, I didn't come into the world to escape. I did not come into the world so that God could flourish me with all sorts of comfort. I ran across an old hymn over in England some time ago, and it's never made it over here, and I can understand why. It's a little one-sided in its theology, but it asks a question and answers it. It says, and what if I find him, and what if I follow him? what reward awaits me here? The answer comes back, many a labor, many a sorrow,

many a tear. No wonder that's never made it over to our side of the sea. And I know that's one-sided and I wouldn't buy any stretch of the imagination that I'd have you to think that the only thing that awaits the follower of Jesus is many a toil, many a labor, many a sorrow, many a tear. But I do know this, that we at times need to be reminded that the purpose for which we came into the world was to glorify the name of the Father, whatever that involves. I was in England this past September. I heard a pastor that had come out of Romania. Some of you may have heard him also. And he was telling about the time when he was under house arrest and they were threatening his life. And this communist officer said, don't you know, don't you know that I can kill you? And this Christian pastor said, oh, yes, I know that you can.

He said, he said, that's all right. He said, your greatest weapon is killing. My greatest weapon is dying. You think about that for a minute. Your greatest weapon is killing. My greatest weapon is dying. He said, you're trying to stamp out my message. But he said, you kill me and force me to die for my message and it'll be multiplied a thousand times over. And everybody will know then that I wasn't

just preaching, I meant it. For this cause came way into the world. The reason God god saved you my dear friend is not so that you can escape but so that you can exalt the lord jesus christ it's a prayer of submission father glorify thy name that's god has to keep bringing us back to this because there's so many other things of interest there's so many other things that wear spiritual and religious tags that I get caught up in and the devil is setting off to one side filled with glee tonight. I'm convinced because he has sidetracked us on the secondary issues. Father glorify thy name. The interesting thing about it is when Jesus said that, he knew what it meant. When you and I say it, we don't know what it means.

When I tonight come to the Father and I say, Father, all I want, the desire of my heart in my church, in this situation with the family in this problem right now, is that your name be glorified. I just want your name to come out looking good and grand and glorious. I don't know what that involves. I don't know what that means. I don't know what path God's going to lead me down. The difference is that Jesus knew exactly what that meant. That meant the cross. That meant suffering. That meant death. And yet he said it. And so he stands tonight to us as an example, as a prayer of submission, Whatever it takes, whatever course is required, whatever path I have to travel, this is my prayer. Father, glorify thy name.

And for Jesus, it meant passion and suffering and death. I read something. I just have to throw this in. I've got a minute or two. I was reading the other day a fellow writing about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. You remember the beginning of Passion Week riding on a donkey. And there you have the grand setting for the passion of our Lord and the redemption of the world. And you know what this fellow comes up with?

He comes up with the doctrine of prosperity. He said right there when Jesus rode that donkey into Jerusalem, he was enunciating the doctrine of prosperity. Because, he said, riding a donkey was the same as today driving a luxurious limousine. That's great exegesis. Of course, he failed to mention that the donkey was borrowed. I think if our Lord was enunciating any doctrine, it was the doctrine of Rennikar.

That's what he was saying. Well, let me just close by mentioning this third and final thing. Not only is there security in this, not only is there submission in it, there's also significance in it. You say, what do you mean by that? What I mean by that is, friend, it adds significance to my life and to every detail of my life. There are two words that are not there, but they are implied. Jesus says, Father, glorify thy name in me.

Now, they're not recorded, but that's what he means. Father, glorify thy name in me. And when you and I pray that same prayer, that's what we mean. Father, glorify thy name in me. What I'm trying to say is that that somehow gives significance to what's happening to me. That somehow adds meaning to what's happening to me. And if I happen to be laid flat on my back in a hospital bed, somehow, if out of that I say, Father, glorify thy name, suddenly there's significance to that.

And if the stock market crashes and my investments go sour, and like James says, I let the rich man when he's brought low, I can say, Father, glorify thy name. I don't have to relegate what happened then to just a miscalculation by my broker or miscalculation on my part. There is significance to that. Father, glorify thy name. It takes my life out of the everyday, out of the ordinary. And it means that there is nothing that is either incidental nor accidental in my life but that every

fabric of the day of my daily life is being wound woven into a beautiful tapestry of the glory of the Father's name. It gives significance to the lowly as well. Now I want you to say notice two things in closing.

First of all I want you to notice the misunderstanding of the people. The Father answered and there came a voice out of heaven, verse 28, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. The multitude therefore who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered. Others were saying an angel has spoken to him. Now, I'm just going to take a moment to mention this, but anytime, friend, you put your life on the line and say, all I want is for the name of the Father to be glorified,

you rest assured there are times when God will take you down certain paths that will cause other people to misunderstand, even when the Father does glorify. You see, the problem is with definition. God doesn't use the same dictionary we use. And God doesn't define glory always the way we define it. And so there are some who, when they see the Father glorifying or attesting to us, they'll misunderstand. They're the materialists who say, well, it just, that's just thunder. And then you've even got the more spiritually inclined who say, well, that's an angel.

Well, that's close, but not close enough. Notice the assurance when Jesus prays this. He says, Father, glorify thy name. And there came a voice out of heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. You say, I've never had a prayer answered. Friend, this one prayer I promise you, God will answer it. I guarantee you tonight you can walk out of here knowing that one prayer you offer to God is going to be answered.

I was thinking about this this afternoon. It occurred to me this is January. I didn't realize it's January. I'm not through with 83 yet, much less 84. And I do stay behind a little bit. But I thought, you know, what better theme for the year, what better theme for the life? Father, glorify thy name.

Father, glorify thy name. I don't know what paths God will take me down this year. I hope there's some better paths than he took me down last year. But I don't know what paths he'll take me down. But I want to say tonight, here's my prayer. Father, glorify thy name. Whatever that involves, whatever it takes. And we ought to say that to one another. And encourage one another with that.

And in the darkness of the night that we move through. Call out one to another. Father glorify thy name. Reach out and touch one another. In the darkness. In the sorrow. Father glorify thy name. And when morning comes.

And we find ourselves standing on the shore. Of the sea of glass. We will sing with the host of all the redeemed, worthy and honor and blessings and power and glory to him that sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever. Father, glorify thy name. That's what to say when you don't know what to say.

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