WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.419 There's a man sitting here worried that he has sinned too much. 00:00:07.900 --> 00:00:15.259 A woman sitting here worried her hidden sin will be revealed and God will not love her anymore. 00:00:16.059 --> 00:00:21.320 There's a person here worried that God doesn't love them because they can't love themselves. 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:22.359 They have no reason. 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:28.940 There's a child in kids' church who's unsure how God the Father could love them. 00:00:28.940 --> 00:00:35.200 They're unsure how God the Father will treat them because of how their own father treats them. 00:00:36.120 --> 00:00:43.539 There's a parent angry with themselves because they were not patient or gentle or loving with their children. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:52.260 There's a man and a woman exhausted from pushing themselves to obey God because they're scared that he doesn't love them. 00:00:53.659 --> 00:00:56.240 These are all hypothetical people. 00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:09.520 And yet, they are all us, ordinary people, that feel like they're sinking down to rock bottom, trying to earn, to deserve and to be worth God's favor. 00:01:10.500 --> 00:01:15.620 What each of them desperately need to know is God's grace. 00:01:15.620 --> 00:01:33.960 Jonah is one of those people. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:37.500 He is jealous of God's grace and love. 00:01:37.500 --> 00:01:42.359 He doesn't want any other city like Nineveh to have God's grace and love. 00:01:43.219 --> 00:01:50.980 He has made God into his own version of God who will only show grace and mercy to those whom Jonah decides. 00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:59.379 So when God sends Jonah to preach to Nineveh, he runs, even on a ship heading in the opposite direction. 00:02:00.260 --> 00:02:03.680 God sends a storm and Jonah is thrown overboard. 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:08.260 His life is sacrificed for the lives of the sailors. 00:02:10.200 --> 00:02:12.719 Jonah isn't that different to us. 00:02:13.420 --> 00:02:16.520 He too needs God's grace and love. 00:02:17.040 --> 00:02:23.780 It just takes him being thrown into the ocean, down to rock bottom, to realize that. 00:02:24.540 --> 00:02:29.500 What is it going to take us to realize that we need God's grace? 00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:33.699 As we come to God's word this morning, let me pray for us. 00:02:33.780 --> 00:02:39.800 Heavenly Father, as we come before you today, we come before you in desperate need. 00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:42.460 Help us to know your grace. 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:43.580 Amen. 00:02:44.939 --> 00:02:51.479 Jonah was thrown into the ocean at his insistence in the middle of this divine storm. 00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:58.379 He was sacrificed so that the lives of the sailors might continue, so that they might live. 00:02:58.379 --> 00:03:03.340 And it's likely that he was thrown into the ocean, fully expecting to die. 00:03:03.879 --> 00:03:06.840 Because who would expect what God did next? 00:03:07.379 --> 00:03:09.759 Have a look at verse 17 of chapter 1. 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:14.159 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah. 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:18.180 And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:22.879 Often when we think of the book of Jonah, we think of that big fish. 00:03:23.780 --> 00:03:26.280 The fish only gets three verses though. 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:28.740 He's just a bit part player. 00:03:29.500 --> 00:03:38.620 The book of Jonah really is a book about Jonah seeing God's grace and mercy and Nineveh and God's grace and mercy. 00:03:39.780 --> 00:03:48.159 It takes going down to the depths of the ocean in the belly of a fish for Jonah to know God's grace personally. 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:55.740 Ever since God told Jonah to arise and go to Nineveh, he has done the exact opposite. 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:58.359 Jonah has been going down the whole time. 00:03:58.620 --> 00:04:00.479 He went down to Joppa. 00:04:01.019 --> 00:04:02.519 Down to the ship. 00:04:02.740 --> 00:04:03.900 Down into the ship. 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:07.620 And now he's gone even further down. 00:04:08.019 --> 00:04:11.560 He's metaphorically gone down to hell itself. 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:33.800 Jonah is going down to the depths. 00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:39.000 And all of this imagery presents a picture of a watery grave. 00:04:39.699 --> 00:04:44.840 He was as good as dead until God sent that big fish. 00:04:45.780 --> 00:04:46.759 But for how long? 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:48.280 How long was he going to survive? 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:50.819 It was only a temporary salvation. 00:04:52.080 --> 00:04:56.800 It's a radical mercy by God that he's alive even in the belly of the fish. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:00.960 But he's going to need another act of God to save him. 00:05:01.879 --> 00:05:06.800 That would only come when he was all the way down to the bottom. 00:05:07.420 --> 00:05:08.180 The rock bottom. 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:13.600 Until he couldn't be lifted up by his own sense of self-sufficiency. 00:05:14.139 --> 00:05:18.420 But instead when he could depend on God's saving grace. 00:05:19.080 --> 00:05:21.780 Because there was a fatal flaw in his character. 00:05:21.779 --> 00:05:24.899 And it got him sent to rock bottom. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:28.379 So that his complete failure could be seen. 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:31.000 So that he could begin to change. 00:05:32.419 --> 00:05:36.339 Now there are different types of rock bottom experiences in life. 00:05:37.119 --> 00:05:39.059 I'm going to try and describe two of them. 00:05:39.559 --> 00:05:42.959 There's two different kinds of rock bottom experiences I think we can have. 00:05:43.059 --> 00:05:45.639 There are absolute rock bottoms. 00:05:46.419 --> 00:05:49.539 And there are crisis induced rock bottoms. 00:05:49.539 --> 00:05:51.419 Let me try and explain these two. 00:05:52.619 --> 00:05:56.199 Absolute rock bottoms are when a person. 00:05:56.639 --> 00:05:59.779 Because of an action or an act has lost everything. 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:02.739 Here Jonah he's in the belly of a fish. 00:06:03.039 --> 00:06:05.779 He has lost absolutely everything. 00:06:06.699 --> 00:06:08.879 And from this position of rock bottom. 00:06:09.119 --> 00:06:10.899 He cries out in desperation. 00:06:11.359 --> 00:06:13.839 Because all he has is God at this point. 00:06:14.539 --> 00:06:16.659 He is unable to solve his situation. 00:06:16.659 --> 00:06:17.599 Verse 5. 00:06:17.979 --> 00:06:19.379 The engulfing waters threatened me. 00:06:19.679 --> 00:06:20.799 The deep surrounded me. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:23.600 Seaweed was wrapped around my head. 00:06:24.620 --> 00:06:27.420 He is down in the depths. 00:06:28.180 --> 00:06:29.400 He may as well be dead. 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:31.680 This truly is a crisis. 00:06:31.840 --> 00:06:34.020 This truly is rock bottom. 00:06:35.020 --> 00:06:37.340 You may have experienced this. 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:40.500 You may have seen someone experience this. 00:06:40.500 --> 00:06:47.019 It's the type of rock bottom that you see when someone has gone bankrupt. 00:06:47.180 --> 00:06:48.379 They have nothing left. 00:06:48.860 --> 00:06:50.600 When someone has gone to jail. 00:06:51.139 --> 00:06:53.100 When someone is convicted of a crime. 00:06:53.240 --> 00:06:58.399 It's like Job in the Old Testament who lost everything he had. 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:05.179 That's the first type of rock bottom that we can see. 00:07:05.179 --> 00:07:08.000 The rock bottom where everything is gone. 00:07:08.979 --> 00:07:10.679 There's another type of rock bottom. 00:07:11.219 --> 00:07:12.779 Which is... 00:07:12.779 --> 00:07:15.899 I'm going to describe it as crisis-induced rock bottom. 00:07:15.899 --> 00:07:22.539 It's where a crisis causes the bottom of our life to go out. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:25.959 It's a crisis that comes when maybe there's a health scare. 00:07:26.679 --> 00:07:29.019 When there's a diagnosis of cancer. 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:30.379 And you still have family. 00:07:30.500 --> 00:07:31.719 You still have friends around. 00:07:32.719 --> 00:07:35.239 But you have that feeling of hitting rock bottom. 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:38.759 Maybe when a family member dies. 00:07:38.759 --> 00:07:41.300 And you're confronted with your own mortality. 00:07:42.660 --> 00:07:45.420 Maybe when your sin is revealed publicly. 00:07:45.840 --> 00:07:48.040 It's that moment that you just want everything to change. 00:07:48.220 --> 00:07:49.540 You want to put your head in the sand. 00:07:49.620 --> 00:07:50.519 You just want to run. 00:07:50.980 --> 00:07:52.560 That moment of crisis. 00:07:53.560 --> 00:07:56.139 So there's two different types of rock bottom. 00:07:56.220 --> 00:07:58.180 The rock bottom when everything is gone. 00:07:58.579 --> 00:08:02.680 And the rock bottom when we're just confronted with the reality of life. 00:08:02.780 --> 00:08:03.699 And we need to flee. 00:08:03.699 --> 00:08:05.620 They're different. 00:08:05.979 --> 00:08:10.180 But what is unique is that it leads us to say something has to change. 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:13.479 Jonah's rock bottom moment. 00:08:13.719 --> 00:08:16.319 It's different to Job's rock bottom moment. 00:08:16.699 --> 00:08:21.699 It's different to the Apostle Paul's rock bottom moment when he was confronted with Jesus. 00:08:22.939 --> 00:08:29.659 We all have different experiences of what our rock bottom is. 00:08:30.339 --> 00:08:33.259 And we can experience different levels of crisis. 00:08:33.700 --> 00:08:35.900 High and low throughout our lives. 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:42.120 What is important is not what kind of crisis or rock bottom that we have in our life. 00:08:42.520 --> 00:08:45.400 It's not important how big it is. 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:52.020 The most important thing is how do we respond when our life is down in the dumps. 00:08:52.020 --> 00:08:53.980 When our life is in crisis. 00:08:53.980 --> 00:08:59.399 Getting out of rock bottom might be something that we try and fix ourselves. 00:08:59.539 --> 00:09:00.560 There's a health scare. 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:03.680 And so it's new fad diet. 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:05.399 It's exercise. 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:11.420 All done in an attempt to not hit that crisis again. 00:09:11.419 --> 00:09:14.240 It's a grasping for control. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:17.519 You know, I was scared before and I don't want to be scared again. 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:19.519 So I'm going to take control of the situation. 00:09:20.379 --> 00:09:22.759 It's that I'm going to pull myself up by the bootstraps. 00:09:23.079 --> 00:09:25.360 I don't know if you have boots that have straps. 00:09:25.579 --> 00:09:29.079 But it's that idea of I'm going to take control and everything's going to be okay. 00:09:29.080 --> 00:09:31.040 I'm going to work really hard. 00:09:31.180 --> 00:09:36.480 But the reality is in life, there is always another crisis coming. 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:39.300 There will always be something in the future. 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:42.560 Whether it's another global financial crisis. 00:09:43.139 --> 00:09:47.520 Whether it's going to be a severe storm that damages a house or a property. 00:09:48.040 --> 00:09:48.920 You lose your job. 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:52.660 You recover from one health scare only to be hit by another. 00:09:53.780 --> 00:09:59.060 Something will always come along to remind us that we are not in control. 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:06.100 Our moment of rock bottom, our biggest moment of rock bottom hit in 2011. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:10.200 Alyssa and I had lost our first pregnancy. 00:10:10.379 --> 00:10:11.300 We lost our first baby. 00:10:12.560 --> 00:10:15.360 It was utter grief. 00:10:17.080 --> 00:10:20.120 We didn't know why we'd lost this little baby. 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:24.280 And we spent days in tears. 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:27.420 Unsure why God had let this happen. 00:10:27.419 --> 00:10:31.639 I was at Moore College studying to be a pastor. 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:33.939 And there was a part of me that cried out, 00:10:34.259 --> 00:10:36.860 God, I'm doing everything to serve you. 00:10:36.959 --> 00:10:38.919 I'm studying so I can become a pastor. 00:10:39.599 --> 00:10:40.879 Where is your blessing? 00:10:41.139 --> 00:10:42.179 Why has this happened? 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:49.219 That rock bottom moment sent us to God in prayer. 00:10:49.220 --> 00:10:50.720 confused? 00:10:51.340 --> 00:10:51.940 Angry? 00:10:53.100 --> 00:10:54.879 We had many questions. 00:10:56.899 --> 00:11:02.940 When we got pregnant a second time with Isaac, we were terrified. 00:11:04.940 --> 00:11:05.759 What is going to happen? 00:11:05.940 --> 00:11:07.500 Is the same thing going to happen again? 00:11:07.740 --> 00:11:10.920 Are we going to make it to full term this time? 00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:15.059 And we realized that in life we are not in control. 00:11:15.979 --> 00:11:18.579 Only God is in control. 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:21.879 And all we had was to depend upon God. 00:11:22.719 --> 00:11:28.360 That rock bottom moment sent us to God in prayer and dependence. 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:32.479 That even though his love is unearned, undeserved, 00:11:32.699 --> 00:11:36.279 he still chooses to show us grace and love. 00:11:36.579 --> 00:11:38.579 Love to one such as us. 00:11:38.580 --> 00:11:45.480 Let me encourage you not to miss out on a rock bottom moment in your life. 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:51.480 God might be using it to give you an opportunity to draw closer to him. 00:11:53.400 --> 00:11:55.580 Not to depend upon yourself. 00:11:58.180 --> 00:12:01.520 Some of us here right now might be in a crisis moment. 00:12:01.620 --> 00:12:03.879 We might be in a rock bottom. 00:12:04.379 --> 00:12:06.259 Where it feels like you're stuck. 00:12:06.259 --> 00:12:08.159 All seems lost. 00:12:08.620 --> 00:12:12.139 Life is crippling like it was for Jonah. 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:14.799 Let me encourage you. 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:20.480 Come to our Heavenly Father in prayer as one who loves and shows his grace to us. 00:12:21.439 --> 00:12:24.639 We must hand over these moments to God to actively say, 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:26.080 God, I am fearful. 00:12:26.220 --> 00:12:27.139 I am terrified. 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:29.279 I don't know what is going to happen. 00:12:29.939 --> 00:12:31.679 I don't know what's going to come from this. 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:34.679 I don't know what tomorrow is going to look like, let alone the next hour. 00:12:35.199 --> 00:12:37.799 But you are in control. 00:12:38.739 --> 00:12:42.599 And regardless of what happens, you have shown your love to me at the cross. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:48.579 Now, if we don't, we just risk these crisis moments, just rocking the boat. 00:12:48.719 --> 00:12:49.799 It'll send us down. 00:12:49.879 --> 00:12:50.459 We'll recover. 00:12:50.659 --> 00:12:52.319 We'll hit rock bottom again. 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:57.440 Instead of depending upon God. 00:12:58.379 --> 00:13:02.960 For Jonah to be brought up out of this situation, he needed help. 00:13:03.740 --> 00:13:09.180 Being cast down to rock bottom doesn't necessarily bring Jonah closer to God. 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:14.540 But it gives him an opportunity now that everything has been silenced. 00:13:15.260 --> 00:13:16.460 There's nobody else talking. 00:13:16.540 --> 00:13:17.640 He can't go anywhere. 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:19.100 Can't do anything. 00:13:19.100 --> 00:13:21.240 I have no idea what he's eating at this point. 00:13:22.379 --> 00:13:26.240 He's left alone with God in the belly of that fish. 00:13:26.740 --> 00:13:27.659 He's all alone. 00:13:27.740 --> 00:13:28.320 He can't run. 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:33.879 And in his prayer, he comes to understand and to draw closer to God. 00:13:34.980 --> 00:13:39.879 At the climax of Jonah's prayer, the thing that gets him spat out of this fish, 00:13:40.019 --> 00:13:46.000 out of the land of the dead, and back into the land of the living, is God's grace. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:49.360 It takes the whole prayer to get there. 00:13:49.860 --> 00:13:52.200 Have a look with me at verse 7. 00:13:53.399 --> 00:14:00.559 When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:05.059 Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love for them. 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:08.820 And then in verse 9, salvation comes from the Lord. 00:14:09.700 --> 00:14:13.379 Jonah, in his rock bottom moment, remembers the Lord. 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:15.360 He remembers who he is. 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:16.680 He is a God of love. 00:14:17.080 --> 00:14:19.080 He is a God who brings salvation. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:20.000 No one else. 00:14:21.620 --> 00:14:23.840 And this love is a special love. 00:14:23.899 --> 00:14:25.500 It's not the love between a husband and a wife. 00:14:25.820 --> 00:14:27.879 It's not the love of friends or family members. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:31.220 This is a totally different kind of love. 00:14:31.220 --> 00:14:34.060 I know very little Hebrew. 00:14:34.060 --> 00:14:36.019 I know this word. 00:14:36.100 --> 00:14:40.040 This word for God's love here is hesed or hesed. 00:14:40.680 --> 00:14:45.720 Other translations use the word steadfast love. 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:49.040 It is a gracious love. 00:14:49.040 --> 00:14:51.980 God's gracious covenant love. 00:14:52.560 --> 00:14:56.080 Where he says, I will love you despite you. 00:14:56.779 --> 00:15:04.080 It is God's gracious love where he stays faithful to us regardless of our rebellion. 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:10.860 I will show grace to you unmerited favor even though you do not deserve it. 00:15:11.460 --> 00:15:15.520 This is a loyal love which cannot be shaken. 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:18.100 And this is the climax of Jonah's prayer. 00:15:18.519 --> 00:15:23.460 He describes God as the one who shows love, which is a gracious love. 00:15:23.539 --> 00:15:25.340 This is God's grace. 00:15:25.340 --> 00:15:35.580 And this really is the climax because Jonah in the belly of the fish, he dwells on the God who shows grace to people like him. 00:15:36.500 --> 00:15:39.980 Here at church, we often talk about God's grace. 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:44.080 We sing songs like amazing grace. 00:15:45.280 --> 00:15:49.360 It is so important for us to know what it means. 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:56.500 We actually need to feel it in our hearts because it's only God's grace which brings Jonah back from this rock bottom moment. 00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:02.460 And it's only going to be God's grace that pulls us from a rock bottom. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:08.680 It's crucially important that we know at least three things about God's grace. 00:16:08.800 --> 00:16:09.580 At least three things. 00:16:09.740 --> 00:16:12.039 First, God's grace is undeserved. 00:16:12.779 --> 00:16:15.220 Second, it is unearned. 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:17.420 And thirdly, it is costly. 00:16:17.419 --> 00:16:20.519 Firstly, undeserved. 00:16:21.879 --> 00:16:25.360 We don't deserve anything good from God. 00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:27.579 This is really hard to hear. 00:16:28.019 --> 00:16:31.419 I find this hard to hear for myself because we have such an entitled mentality. 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:35.000 I deserve good things to happen to me. 00:16:35.319 --> 00:16:38.939 I deserve the raise, the good marks at school, the happy family. 00:16:39.259 --> 00:16:44.059 Not because I've done anything to deserve them, but it's just expectation. 00:16:44.059 --> 00:16:49.379 This makes God's offer of grace and love unnecessary. 00:16:50.099 --> 00:16:51.339 Even an insult. 00:16:51.479 --> 00:16:53.019 God, I don't need your forgiveness. 00:16:54.219 --> 00:16:55.459 I don't have any problems. 00:16:55.599 --> 00:16:56.479 I can't fix. 00:16:57.559 --> 00:17:01.439 And if your God has problems with me, well, he can come and deal with me himself. 00:17:03.439 --> 00:17:08.000 Jonah's prayer recognizes that he deserves God's punishment. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:12.359 In verse 3, he describes who is responsible for this situation. 00:17:13.099 --> 00:17:19.140 To God, he says, you hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas. 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:23.519 Jonah understood that he was the guilty one. 00:17:24.259 --> 00:17:25.980 And it was God who punished him. 00:17:26.059 --> 00:17:30.099 And it was right because he didn't deserve anything good from God. 00:17:30.099 --> 00:17:36.299 Like Jonah, to understand God's grace, we must understand we don't deserve it. 00:17:36.819 --> 00:17:38.639 It is totally unmerited. 00:17:40.379 --> 00:17:44.799 Now, second, we must know that we cannot earn God's grace. 00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:47.359 Again, this is hard for us to hear. 00:17:47.859 --> 00:17:54.039 How many of us like admitting that we can't do things on our own? 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:59.099 To be told, you can't earn God's grace. 00:17:59.099 --> 00:18:00.740 It almost sounds like a challenge. 00:18:01.219 --> 00:18:01.619 Really? 00:18:03.259 --> 00:18:04.500 Haven't you met me? 00:18:04.579 --> 00:18:05.740 I'm a real hard worker. 00:18:06.259 --> 00:18:07.699 I can earn God's grace. 00:18:08.019 --> 00:18:08.799 I can do that. 00:18:08.959 --> 00:18:10.299 I've earned everything else in my life. 00:18:10.539 --> 00:18:11.199 I'm a professional. 00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:12.359 I've got everything great. 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:13.419 I can earn that. 00:18:13.500 --> 00:18:14.039 I can do that. 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:14.579 That's fine. 00:18:14.619 --> 00:18:15.500 That's a great challenge. 00:18:17.099 --> 00:18:18.859 I'm going to read my Bible and pray every day. 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:21.039 And then he'll have to do what I ask. 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.659 We saw from Jonah, he thought he could be self-sufficient from God. 00:18:25.660 --> 00:18:29.560 He thought he could run from God and have his own version of God. 00:18:30.019 --> 00:18:33.940 But he ended up at the bottom of the ocean in the belly of a fish. 00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:36.360 Totally helpless. 00:18:37.380 --> 00:18:40.360 Even if he managed to pry open that fish's mouth and get out, 00:18:40.560 --> 00:18:42.680 he was just going to be somewhere far worse. 00:18:44.040 --> 00:18:45.940 Eaten by something far worse. 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:50.320 He had not earned any of God's grace. 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:53.859 Rather, Jonah had only earned punishment. 00:18:54.679 --> 00:18:58.220 God's grace is there once we realize that we don't deserve it. 00:18:58.759 --> 00:19:02.379 But also how much we depend on it as an unearned gift. 00:19:03.859 --> 00:19:07.960 And for God to show grace to us, it cost him something. 00:19:08.819 --> 00:19:11.460 God's grace to us is very costly. 00:19:12.619 --> 00:19:17.779 Twice, Jonah mentions God's holy temple in verse 4 and verse 7. 00:19:17.779 --> 00:19:19.779 He says he looks to the holy temple. 00:19:20.500 --> 00:19:22.720 It's not heaven that he looks to. 00:19:22.859 --> 00:19:25.220 It's not specifically to God. 00:19:25.899 --> 00:19:30.539 It's something about God's temple which draws his eye. 00:19:31.639 --> 00:19:35.579 Because it's in God's temple that God has promised to dwell. 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:39.180 If you imagine God's temple that was built, 00:19:39.639 --> 00:19:43.099 there was a number of different levels that you could go into. 00:19:43.099 --> 00:19:48.519 And the high priest is the only one that could go into the holy of holies, 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:53.179 the central place in the temple. 00:19:53.399 --> 00:19:55.419 He could only go in there once a year. 00:19:55.599 --> 00:19:58.939 And he could only go in there with the blood of an animal. 00:19:59.959 --> 00:20:03.339 He could only go in there with the blood of an animal or his blood would be shed. 00:20:04.019 --> 00:20:07.079 And in the center of the temple was the Ark of the Covenant. 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:10.879 This big gold box which had the Ten Commandments. 00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:18.980 And on top of the Ark of the Covenant was this big slab of gold called the mercy seat. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.159 And it's on this seat that blood was sprinkled. 00:20:25.339 --> 00:20:31.740 And it was to show that Israel's sins were paid for by the blood of someone else. 00:20:31.740 --> 00:20:38.359 So Jonah in the depths of the sea, totally alone, 00:20:39.099 --> 00:20:42.359 dependent on God just to live another hour, 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:48.720 casts his eyes to the place where his sin is dealt with. 00:20:48.779 --> 00:20:50.880 The place where there is no condemnation. 00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:56.200 The place that God's loving grace is seen. 00:20:57.160 --> 00:21:00.279 But it's only through the death of another. 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:07.139 Just like Jonah sacrificed himself so that others could live when he was thrown into the water, 00:21:08.059 --> 00:21:12.099 so too an animal was sacrificed to pay for Jonah's sins. 00:21:13.259 --> 00:21:17.579 God's grace is undeserved, unearned, and it is costly. 00:21:19.399 --> 00:21:21.740 Jonah realized this at his rock bottom. 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:26.920 Our rock bottom could be a low one like Jonah's, 00:21:26.920 --> 00:21:31.640 or it could be a high one, a crisis where we reconsider everything in our life. 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:33.740 For Jonah, 00:21:34.620 --> 00:21:42.480 he reminded himself of God's awesome, undeserved, unearned, and costly grace to him. 00:21:44.120 --> 00:21:45.759 We don't look to the temple. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:49.300 We don't have a big slab of gold here in the middle of church. 00:21:49.299 --> 00:21:50.879 We have a new symbol. 00:21:51.059 --> 00:21:52.980 We look to the cross, 00:21:53.659 --> 00:21:56.799 where the one who deserved life had it taken, 00:21:57.419 --> 00:22:00.200 so that it could be given to us who do not deserve it. 00:22:01.019 --> 00:22:04.759 He who had earned God's love by perfect obedience, 00:22:05.119 --> 00:22:07.680 gives it to us who cannot earn it. 00:22:08.299 --> 00:22:13.460 And he pays that costly price of death so that we can be free. 00:22:13.460 --> 00:22:18.380 Casting our eyes to the cross where Jesus died and bled for us 00:22:18.380 --> 00:22:23.380 is the antidote to despair when we are at rock bottom. 00:22:24.519 --> 00:22:28.380 God's grace becomes endlessly wondrous, 00:22:29.620 --> 00:22:32.340 endlessly consoling, beautiful, humbling, 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:40.680 and uplifting when we believe and grasp onto and hold onto these three truths. 00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:45.000 That God's grace to us is undeserved, 00:22:45.700 --> 00:22:47.100 unearned, and costly. 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:53.019 There is a risk that we run of becoming familiar with the phrase, 00:22:53.420 --> 00:22:54.120 God's grace, 00:22:54.620 --> 00:22:56.900 and that it loses all meaning to us. 00:22:57.160 --> 00:23:00.259 And we can pay lip service to God's grace. 00:23:00.660 --> 00:23:02.880 We can sing of amazing grace, 00:23:03.420 --> 00:23:05.840 but not let it penetrate our souls. 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:11.619 A funeral I was involved in a couple of years ago 00:23:11.619 --> 00:23:14.539 of an elderly Christian woman, 00:23:14.879 --> 00:23:19.019 the family wanted the song Amazing Grace sung at her funeral. 00:23:19.579 --> 00:23:23.879 Fairly common, wonderful song, great song to sing, 00:23:24.279 --> 00:23:25.439 seems fairly normal. 00:23:26.539 --> 00:23:28.980 But one of the family members who wasn't a Christian 00:23:28.980 --> 00:23:31.779 didn't want this song to be played 00:23:31.779 --> 00:23:35.000 because it has a line, 00:23:35.639 --> 00:23:37.019 Amazing Grace, 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:38.579 how sweet the sound, 00:23:38.700 --> 00:23:39.859 that saved a 00:23:39.859 --> 00:23:42.139 wretch. 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:44.279 A wretch 00:23:44.279 --> 00:23:45.440 like me. 00:23:45.740 --> 00:23:47.660 And this man didn't want his mother 00:23:47.660 --> 00:23:49.819 to be referred to as a wretch 00:23:49.819 --> 00:23:53.160 because he loved her so much. 00:23:53.660 --> 00:23:55.839 He didn't get that she was a wretch 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:57.960 and she knew it. 00:23:57.960 --> 00:24:01.120 She was a lovely Christian woman 00:24:01.120 --> 00:24:02.500 who knew that she was a wretch 00:24:02.500 --> 00:24:05.519 and she depended upon God's grace. 00:24:07.819 --> 00:24:09.079 Jonah has hit rock bottom 00:24:09.079 --> 00:24:10.460 in the belly of the fish 00:24:10.460 --> 00:24:13.660 and realized that God's grace is all he had. 00:24:14.840 --> 00:24:16.660 Undeserved, unearned, costly. 00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:18.779 And when he grasps this, 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:21.160 God instructs the fish to spit him out 00:24:21.160 --> 00:24:23.579 back from the dead 00:24:23.579 --> 00:24:26.100 only by God's grace. 00:24:26.099 --> 00:24:29.639 To the man who is sitting here 00:24:29.639 --> 00:24:32.359 worried that he has sinned too much, 00:24:33.539 --> 00:24:35.319 God says in his grace, 00:24:35.679 --> 00:24:37.740 you could never have earned my grace. 00:24:38.119 --> 00:24:39.219 Take it for free. 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:42.459 To the woman sitting here worried 00:24:42.459 --> 00:24:44.519 about her sin being revealed, 00:24:44.879 --> 00:24:46.019 God says in his grace, 00:24:46.219 --> 00:24:48.199 you do not deserve my love, 00:24:48.599 --> 00:24:51.759 but I will take away your hidden shame 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:52.779 on the cross. 00:24:53.339 --> 00:24:54.099 Come to me. 00:24:54.099 --> 00:24:57.519 To the person worried 00:24:57.519 --> 00:24:59.659 that God doesn't love them. 00:25:00.099 --> 00:25:01.679 God says in his grace, 00:25:01.819 --> 00:25:02.740 I love you, 00:25:03.339 --> 00:25:06.099 though it costs the life of my son. 00:25:07.059 --> 00:25:07.879 Let me pray. 00:25:08.759 --> 00:25:09.579 Heavenly Father, 00:25:11.299 --> 00:25:13.039 we come before you 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:15.079 as wretches. 00:25:15.079 --> 00:25:19.859 no reason that you should love us, 00:25:20.419 --> 00:25:21.619 but Lord, 00:25:21.740 --> 00:25:24.079 you have chosen to love us so much, 00:25:24.259 --> 00:25:26.939 even though your grace to us 00:25:26.939 --> 00:25:28.220 is undeserved, 00:25:28.939 --> 00:25:29.619 unearned, 00:25:29.679 --> 00:25:31.179 and so costly to you. 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:33.000 Father, 00:25:33.199 --> 00:25:34.859 to us today, 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:35.519 help us 00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:36.659 to hold 00:25:36.659 --> 00:25:37.899 onto your grace. 00:25:38.299 --> 00:25:38.740 And Father, 00:25:38.879 --> 00:25:40.519 for us here who are 00:25:40.519 --> 00:25:42.940 in a place 00:25:42.940 --> 00:25:43.839 of pain 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:44.619 and difficulty, 00:25:44.879 --> 00:25:45.299 of 00:25:45.299 --> 00:25:47.700 rock bottom, 00:25:47.859 --> 00:25:48.619 of crisis, 00:25:48.859 --> 00:25:49.160 Lord, 00:25:50.039 --> 00:25:51.139 help us 00:25:51.139 --> 00:25:51.920 to call out 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:52.480 to you, 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:54.000 to put our trust 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:54.660 in you 00:25:54.660 --> 00:25:55.440 who control 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:56.180 all things. 00:25:57.319 --> 00:25:58.359 This we ask 00:25:58.359 --> 00:25:59.220 in the name 00:25:59.220 --> 00:25:59.759 of your son, 00:25:59.879 --> 00:26:00.119 Jesus. 00:26:00.639 --> 00:26:01.000 Amen. 00:26:01.000 --> 00:26:01.160 Amen. 00:26:01.519 --> 00:26:02.059 Amen. 00:26:02.059 --> 00:26:03.059 Amen. 00:26:03.059 --> 00:26:03.119 Amen. 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:03.180 Amen. 00:26:03.180 --> 00:26:03.240 Amen. 00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:03.299 Amen. 00:26:03.299 --> 00:26:03.680 Amen. 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:04.180 Amen. 00:26:04.180 --> 00:26:05.180 Amen. 00:26:05.180 --> 00:26:05.240 Amen. 00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:05.279 Amen. 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:05.299 Amen.