WEBVTT 00:00:00.615 --> 00:00:03.077 I think what the Lord has directed me to, 00:00:03.147 --> 00:00:06.056 and many of you don't have a Bible, and that's fine... 00:00:06.231 --> 00:00:08.857 Most of you probably know this verse already, 00:00:09.005 --> 00:00:12.748 It's in Jeremiah, the 33rd chapter, in the 3rd verse 00:00:12.765 --> 00:00:15.610 and what strikes me about this verse is that 00:00:15.959 --> 00:00:18.866 we are encouraging you to pray... 00:00:18.946 --> 00:00:21.712 we encourage our families to pray, 00:00:21.726 --> 00:00:24.866 we encourage our churches to be fervent in prayer 00:00:24.866 --> 00:00:28.483 But here, the Lord Himself is encouraging us to pray. 00:00:28.483 --> 00:00:32.661 This is the Lord's encouragement for us to pray. 00:00:32.661 --> 00:00:36.343 We should know our God is sovereign. 00:00:36.368 --> 00:00:40.602 He is all powerful; He calls the end from the beginning, 00:00:40.623 --> 00:00:42.786 He ordains the end... 00:00:42.786 --> 00:00:46.200 But He also ordains the means to that end, 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:50.224 And the means to the end, one of the means is prayer... 00:00:50.224 --> 00:00:54.812 it's fervent, effectual, constant prayer of the saints. 00:00:54.821 --> 00:00:57.251 If God's going to do something, He's going to 00:00:57.251 --> 00:01:01.043 move His people generally to pray before He does that. 00:01:01.045 --> 00:01:03.188 In the 32nd chapter here, 00:01:03.188 --> 00:01:06.188 God is promising Jeremiah some things. 00:01:06.188 --> 00:01:08.071 Jeremiah is shut up in prison. 00:01:08.071 --> 00:01:10.117 He is promising him that He is going to 00:01:10.117 --> 00:01:12.332 take the people of Israel into captivity, 00:01:12.332 --> 00:01:15.856 but also there in verse 37, He says "I'm going to gather them 00:01:15.856 --> 00:01:18.933 back out of those countries, whether I have 00:01:18.933 --> 00:01:21.963 driven them in My anger, and My fury, and My wrath, 00:01:21.963 --> 00:01:23.712 I'm going to bring them again into this place, 00:01:23.712 --> 00:01:25.802 I'm going to cause them to dwell safely 00:01:25.802 --> 00:01:28.868 and they shall be My people, and I will be their God 00:01:28.868 --> 00:01:32.286 and I will give them one heart, one way that they may 00:01:32.286 --> 00:01:36.657 fear Me forever, for their good and their children after them, 00:01:36.657 --> 00:01:39.323 and I will make an everlasting covenant with them." 00:01:39.345 --> 00:01:43.792 Wonderful promises that are promised to you and I as well. 00:01:43.792 --> 00:01:47.982 So, Lord, how are You going to do this? 00:01:47.988 --> 00:01:50.907 He opens up chapter 33, he's still in prison, 00:01:50.907 --> 00:01:53.036 The Lord comes to Jeremiah again and He tells him 00:01:53.036 --> 00:01:55.212 how He's going to do this, 00:01:55.212 --> 00:01:57.761 and here's the verse, verse 3 of chapter 33, 00:01:57.761 --> 00:02:01.243 He says, "Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, 00:02:01.243 --> 00:02:05.744 and show thee great and mighty things that you do not know." 00:02:05.744 --> 00:02:08.006 I'm going to show you great things. 00:02:08.006 --> 00:02:12.023 I'm going to show you hidden things, that you don't yet know. 00:02:12.034 --> 00:02:15.866 This is how I'm going to answer My promise to you. 00:02:15.866 --> 00:02:18.195 These hidden things. 00:02:18.231 --> 00:02:20.809 So, He commands us to pray. 00:02:20.809 --> 00:02:22.134 "Call unto Me." 00:02:22.134 --> 00:02:24.066 This is encouragement for us to pray, brethren. 00:02:24.075 --> 00:02:25.423 "Call unto Me." 00:02:25.423 --> 00:02:28.097 Can you imagine, the Almighty God, the God of Heaven, 00:02:28.097 --> 00:02:31.076 the Sovereign One, the Eternal One, Jehovah God, 00:02:31.115 --> 00:02:34.558 the self-existent God speaking to you and saying, 00:02:34.558 --> 00:02:36.872 "Call unto Me." 00:02:36.872 --> 00:02:39.137 And we might bring this to our level... 00:02:39.137 --> 00:02:40.517 "Give Me a call." 00:02:40.517 --> 00:02:41.681 "Call me." 00:02:41.732 --> 00:02:44.839 You know I love it when my daughter or my son says, 00:02:44.839 --> 00:02:46.879 "Dad, call me. I need to talk to you." 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:49.857 They don't do that very often, but I like that. 00:02:49.857 --> 00:02:52.168 This is our God saying, "Call Me." 00:02:52.205 --> 00:02:55.141 "Call unto Me and I will answer you." 00:02:55.141 --> 00:02:59.178 Not only I will answer you, but I'm going to show you 00:02:59.222 --> 00:03:03.308 some great and hidden things that you don't yet know. 00:03:03.322 --> 00:03:04.887 Now here we are at this conference, 00:03:04.887 --> 00:03:07.244 who knows what the Lord may do? 00:03:07.244 --> 00:03:11.027 Often times, seed is sown and it's weeks, months... 00:03:11.027 --> 00:03:15.350 even years before the fruit comes forth, 00:03:15.356 --> 00:03:18.569 but don't you have an expectation here? 00:03:18.569 --> 00:03:20.568 This is what this verse says, 00:03:20.568 --> 00:03:23.843 "Call unto Me and I'll answer you." 00:03:23.843 --> 00:03:26.505 This should be our expectation as we call upon the Lord. 00:03:26.505 --> 00:03:28.640 You're going to answer us, God, You promised. 00:03:28.640 --> 00:03:33.672 And not only that, You're going to enable us to experience something. 00:03:33.672 --> 00:03:36.281 Now we're not here just to go through the motions I hope... 00:03:36.281 --> 00:03:38.722 I hope we're here to experience God. 00:03:38.722 --> 00:03:40.504 What do we want to see? 00:03:40.504 --> 00:03:43.834 We want to see God working in our own lives personally, 00:03:43.834 --> 00:03:47.493 We want to make advances; we want to reach higher ground, brethren. 00:03:47.493 --> 00:03:51.118 We want to be more faithful than we were when we got here. 00:03:51.118 --> 00:03:54.133 We want to go home with our wagons loaded, 00:03:54.133 --> 00:03:56.472 and walking in the light that God gives us. 00:03:56.505 --> 00:03:59.143 But we want to see this in our families, and in our marriages, 00:03:59.143 --> 00:04:00.664 and in our churches. 00:04:00.664 --> 00:04:01.862 What a blessing last night was! 00:04:01.862 --> 00:04:04.862 Practical, real helps for the people of God. 00:04:04.862 --> 00:04:07.496 So, how's this all going to happen? 00:04:07.514 --> 00:04:11.038 Well, pray. 00:04:11.038 --> 00:04:14.537 "Call unto Me. I'll answer you and I'll show you 00:04:14.537 --> 00:04:19.337 great and mighty things that you have not yet seen." 00:04:19.337 --> 00:04:21.372 Paul says it this way in the New Testament: 00:04:21.372 --> 00:04:23.811 "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 00:04:23.811 --> 00:04:25.791 neither has it entered into the heart of man 00:04:25.791 --> 00:04:30.699 the things that God has revealed to those that love Him. 00:04:30.699 --> 00:04:33.295 Who knows what the Lord may do? 00:04:33.295 --> 00:04:36.282 Who knows what great things the Lord is going to reveal 00:04:36.282 --> 00:04:40.748 to each of us, through prayer, 00:04:40.748 --> 00:04:42.928 through conversations that we might have 00:04:42.928 --> 00:04:47.012 with others, through fellowship, through singing, 00:04:47.012 --> 00:04:51.444 through encouragements; God breaking strongholds of sin, 00:04:51.444 --> 00:04:53.903 God opening eyes... 00:04:53.903 --> 00:04:57.497 You know I've had many conversations through the years, 00:04:57.497 --> 00:04:59.707 And someone will share something with me, 00:04:59.707 --> 00:05:02.977 and it's just like the voice of God has spoken... 00:05:02.977 --> 00:05:07.084 I hear. I hear. I understand. 00:05:07.118 --> 00:05:11.201 And so, let us pray, brethren. God is encouraging us to pray. 00:05:11.201 --> 00:05:15.433 "Call unto Me. I will answer you, and I'm going to show you 00:05:15.433 --> 00:05:19.436 great and hidden things that you don't even know yet." 00:05:19.436 --> 00:05:22.643 And when we leave here, we go home, next week, next month... 00:05:22.643 --> 00:05:24.410 maybe we can raise an Ebenezer 00:05:24.410 --> 00:05:27.410 and say, "Lord, You've brought me this far... 00:05:27.410 --> 00:05:30.032 and You've used even this weekend, 00:05:30.032 --> 00:05:33.032 this conference, these prayer meetings, 00:05:33.032 --> 00:05:36.914 these preaching meetings, these conversations, 00:05:36.914 --> 00:05:39.914 these times of fellowship... 00:05:39.914 --> 00:05:42.829 You've used this to advance Your kingdom." 00:05:42.858 --> 00:05:49.321 And it's a very easy verse to remember. Call 333. Jeremiah 33:3. 00:05:49.321 --> 00:05:52.008 "Call unto Me. I will answer you and show you 00:05:52.008 --> 00:05:55.049 great and mighty things that you don't know."