WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.839 I want to start off by saying I was grateful for the opportunity to share from the word about this morning. 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:12.880 This is going to be my first sermon here here at Ontario. 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:19.760 And I want to say that I am truly honored and quite honestly I'm truly excited to be here this morning. 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:26.719 This church family has been so loving, has been so kind and generous and welcoming to myself, 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:33.119 to my wife and to my children. I just want to thank each and every one of you for your kindness 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:38.960 and your love and your support. I just can't help but thank you for all of that. 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:44.960 So today we are going to start, we're going to embark on a new series. We're going to delve 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:51.120 into the book of Jonah. You know this book has been, it's really been sticking out, 00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:58.399 it's been resonating with me. I felt like God has placed this story on my heart 00:00:59.199 --> 00:01:06.239 and I felt the Lord leading me to preach from it. Over the next few weeks we will be exploring this 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:13.120 classic. Many of you know this story as Jonah and the Whale or Jonah and the Great Fish. 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:21.200 Before we go into our passages today what I'd like to do is to introduce the book of Jonah to you. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:28.080 It's always good to brush up on the basics before we even start a study in any book in Scripture. 00:01:28.960 --> 00:01:35.920 We should look at every book in the Bible with openness to our Lord and our God speaking to us. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:43.120 We should look at every book with intentionality. We should look at every book reading it, 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:48.480 studying the Word of God and recognizing that every book in the Bible is significance. 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:58.560 So who is Jonah? In your notes here you can write, Jonah is one of the 12 minor prophets 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:10.479 and through God Jonah saved the city of Nineveh. I realize it's a little small read up there 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:22.640 but through because of God Jonah saved Nineveh, a city of 120,000 people. Now I don't know about you, 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:29.199 that's a lot of people. That's definitely the one. It's an intriguing fact that, did you know that the 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:37.759 word the name Jonah it translates to dove? That's an interesting one. You know in biblical times we 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:44.639 find that dove has been used as a symbol of peace. In fact in Genesis chapter 8 verses 8 through 12 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:51.519 you don't have to turn there just at this time. That's the time when Noah releases the dove if you 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:58.880 remember. So dove has been used as a symbol of peace and also is used as a sacrificial offering 00:02:58.880 --> 00:03:06.320 during the Old Testament times. So in our series we're going to learn that Jonah he is playing a role 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:17.120 of a symbolic offering. This story of Jonah is going to pre-figure Christ. It's going to foreshadow 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:24.400 Christ. There's a lot of parallels with Jesus Christ, with his death, his burial and resurrection 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:33.039 and the story of Jonah. So we'll learn more about that. And in your notes I want you to write 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:40.719 that the meaning of Jonah is dove. You can put in there peace. 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:50.400 This dove is a symbol of peace and you can also put sacrifice. So traditionally we think of 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:56.960 dove as a sacrifice that was used in the temple. So many of us know about the story of Jonah and 00:03:56.960 --> 00:04:02.319 the whale. How many of you have heard of Jonah and the whale as a kid? Maybe in Sunday school, 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:09.199 maybe in the EDS. We hear about Jonah and the whale. You know when I think of Jonah and the whale 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:14.239 just right off the bat, I think of a poor guy who gets swallowed by a whale, then he has to pray to 00:04:14.239 --> 00:04:21.360 the Lord and he ends up saving city. What we find is that there's much more to the story than just 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:27.599 that. You know we learn the story of Jonah as children, but what about when we learn the story 00:04:27.599 --> 00:04:35.599 of Jonah as adults and we're a little bit older and able to understand scripture better? Did you know 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:43.280 that in the story of Jonah there's actually no mention of the whale? You know that? I found that 00:04:43.280 --> 00:04:51.439 very interesting when I was studying it. Jonah speaks of a great fish which is traditionally used as 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:56.879 it's interpreted as a large creature. So it can mean a whale, but it doesn't specifically say a 00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:01.360 whale. It just says a great fish, which when I think of a great fish I'm going to think of 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:06.160 something like a whale. So it's perfectly acceptable. It's perfectly fine to call it a whale or the 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:11.280 great fish. In our journey through Jonah we're going to see many things like I was mentioning. 00:05:11.280 --> 00:05:17.040 We're going to see a lot of parallel with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and the 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:25.120 story of Jonah. So Jonah is mentioned in a few passages outside of the book of Jonah. So it comes 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:35.759 with the question then, okay, where is Jonah? I'd like us to turn to page 377. It's the 17th 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:55.680 Kings passage. We'll find here. Let me go ahead and feel free to take a moment to turn page 377 in your view Bible. And it's going to be 2nd 00:05:55.680 --> 00:06:12.720 Kings chapter 14 verse 25. It says here, he restored the border of Israel from Levo Hamad 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:21.680 as far as the sea of Arama according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:32.959 by his servant Jonah, the son of Matai, the prophet who was from Gathop. That's the first time we see 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:44.000 Jonah in 2nd Kings. We also see that in Matthew, it's going to be in Matthew chapter 12 verse 39 00:06:44.000 --> 00:07:00.160 through 41. That is going to be on page 974. 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:20.160 Page 972. This is when Jesus Christ is talking to the Pharisees, the scribes and the Pharisees. 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:28.320 And what's happening here is the Pharisees are asking Jesus for a sign. And Jesus is 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:36.240 replying to them and says he answered them, and evil and adulterous nations seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:48.319 the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah, listen to this, just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, 00:07:48.319 --> 00:08:02.399 so will what? The son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. He's referencing the resurrection. So his death 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:10.399 burial and resurrection, Christ himself is pointing that out. The men of Minavut will rise up at the judgment with this generation 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:20.399 and condemn it for they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, I like this part, something greater than Jonah is here. 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:30.399 Well, who is greater than Jonah, my friends? It's Jesus Christ. So in this section, although we're not going under the Matthew passage, it's very interesting that Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:44.399 saying, you guys are looking for a sign. But don't you realize that Jesus, I, Jesus Christ, I'm greater than Jonah? That's a very interesting section that we find from that. 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:59.399 Now going, that's where we see the parallel. The New Testament has a parallel with the book of Jonah. Jesus refers to Jonah by using this metaphor with his death, burial, and resurrection. 00:08:59.399 --> 00:09:14.399 So what about the man Jonah? Well, Jonah is not your ordinary prophet. He is imperfect. And his humanity is shown clearly in this book. This is one of the reasons that this book in the Bible sticks out so much to me and I hope it sticks out to you. 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:34.399 Jonah is unique from the other prophets because here's the thing. When you look at the prophet Moses, or you look at the prophet Jeremiah, they had hesitation. They had doubt when God called them to do great things. 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:49.399 Jonah, on the other hand, he ran. He made the conscious decision to say, you know what, I'm not here, God, I really don't know what you're talking about. I'm gone. And that's what we find in Scripture. 00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:59.399 He runs from God and what we learn in this, what we're going to learn in the study here is that consequence will follow by a storm that will take place. 00:09:59.399 --> 00:10:12.399 It's one thing to struggle, my friends. It's one thing to have your doubts for God's call in your life. But it's another to completely reject to run away or to turn your back on God. 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:25.399 In the case of Jonah, well, you tried to run away from God as far as possible. Does this remind you of another story in Scripture? 00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:35.399 I found a very interesting parallel when Adam and Eve, they tried to hide from God. They tried to flee from the presence of the Lord. 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:48.399 It's interesting that you see Jonah hiding from God. And Adam and Eve, they tried to hide from God. And we know that God will work. We know that. 00:10:48.399 --> 00:11:02.399 Now, as I mentioned, Moses and Jeremiah, they showed hesitation. This is not in your notes, but in Exodus 4-10, that's where Moses is showing hesitation about fear not being a good speaker. 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:10.399 He's saying, well, God, I'm not eloquent in speech. I'm not really a good speaker. Why are you going to send me? 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:22.399 God responds to that. In the book of Jeremiah, the same thing, except Jeremiah was saying, hey, I'm young and I'm not really good at speaking. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:34.399 Why are you going to send me? And God responds to Jeremiah. And so that's very interesting, is that when we have doubts, God responds to the prophets. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:46.399 I'll mic Jonah to Renzel. So they went out, so Moses and Jeremiah, they went out to fulfill what God called them to be. I bring this up because at times, like, I cannot emphasize this enough. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:54.399 I think it's okay to have doubts sometimes. But it's very different to run away from God. 00:11:54.399 --> 00:12:04.399 There's an opportunity for God to comfort us in our times when we're vulnerable or in times when we are afraid or in times where we're hesitant. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:12.399 We have a choice whether to get up and go or to get up and flee anymore to learn more about what that means. 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:17.399 We'll learn about both decisions because Jonah is going to make both of them. 00:12:17.399 --> 00:12:28.399 We also learned that Jonah was unhappy after the fact the city was saved. Now, this is something that's very unique about the story of Jonah compared to other prophets. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:39.399 You know, I don't know about you. If a city repents from their wicked ways, their sin, the evil that they do, wouldn't you be happy? 00:12:39.399 --> 00:12:54.399 I would quote so, right? But Jonah, on the other hand, when Nineveh gets saved, when 120,000 people turn from their evil ways and they un-mengre-pent, he's angry. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:13:02.399 That's the unique thing about Jonah is that he has that anger in his heart towards the people in Nineveh. 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:16.399 Most prophets, and I would say most people will be happy if the city turned from their evil ways, Jonah wanted Nineveh to be judged like Sodom and Gomorrah, for the evil that was happening. 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:23.399 Jonah is the only prophet also to speak out or to proclaim to the city of Nineveh. 00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:28.399 What's interesting about Nineveh? It's a Gentile city. 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:33.399 Most of the times, the prophets are speaking to the Israelites, speaking to God's people. 00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:43.399 But in this specific case, you're seeing that Jonah is speaking to a Gentile city, which is part of a representation of Jesus Christ when he dies, when he is buried. 00:13:43.399 --> 00:13:49.399 And he rises again for salvation for everyone. Do you see the parallel there? 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:56.399 It's very interesting that Jonah is the one prophet that would save the Gentile city. 00:13:56.399 --> 00:14:00.399 So there's a parallel there. 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:05.399 Other prophets, as I said, they spoke to the Israelites, not the Gentiles. 00:14:05.399 --> 00:14:11.399 Now the book of Jonah is going to be broken down into five sections if you want to go ahead and go to that slide. 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:21.399 So the outline here, part one is God calls and Jonah flees. He runs away. 00:14:21.399 --> 00:14:28.399 And because Jonah runs away, a storm comes around the tempest seat. 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:37.399 And what happens during this time is that because Jonah is trying to flee, he's trying to go completely away from Nineveh, 00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:41.399 there's a whole part where you learn about the sailors. 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:45.399 They cry out to their own God, but nothing works. 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:51.399 They learn and they discover who Jonah is and that Jonah worships the Lord. 00:14:51.399 --> 00:14:58.399 And because of the storm that's so, it's such a wild storm that's going on, 00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:05.399 you actually learn about the sailors turning to the Lord. They are converted. 00:15:05.399 --> 00:15:17.399 How very interesting that despite the fact that Jonah is running away, God is still using Jonah by having these sailors come to know the Lord. 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:23.399 So it ends up that Jonah gets swallowed by the great fish, our three Jonah and the great fish. 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:26.399 This is where Jonah is praying. 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:32.399 Because when we run away from God, when we sin, there must be repentance. 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:38.399 There must be a ask you God saying, Hey Lord, I'm sorry for my sins. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:43.399 And there's a whole section where Jonah is repenting for his sin. 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:50.399 And at the very end of part three, that's when you learn the fish skits out or ballants out. 00:15:50.399 --> 00:16:00.399 Jonah, Jonah is restored and sent back where he needs to go to the city of Nineveh. 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:03.399 And we learn in part four the prodigal city. 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:06.399 It's interesting that sounds very similar to the prodigal son, right? 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:10.399 You know the story of the prodigal son as someone who ran off with his inheritance. 00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:17.399 He squandered all his money, he used it on frivolous things and he comes back to his father. 00:16:17.399 --> 00:16:26.399 Well, very similarly is the story of the prodigal city where the city of Nineveh turned away from the Lord, right? 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:32.399 There's a lot of bad things that are not good, but turns back to God. 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:34.399 Very interesting. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:39.399 And then finally part five, the most interesting part, at least that what I found in Jonah is, 00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:43.399 despite the fact that Nineveh is sin, Jonah still has anger. 00:16:43.399 --> 00:16:50.399 And we learn about God, God's race towards the city. 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:57.399 So over the scripture today, we are now ready to go ahead and go to our verse in page 920, my friends. 00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:03.399 We can go to page 920 where I want us to read together. 00:17:03.399 --> 00:17:09.400 I want us to read the first few verses here. 00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:17.400 So it says in the title, Jonah needs the presence of the Lord. 00:17:17.400 --> 00:17:23.400 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amitya, saying, saying what? 00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:33.400 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city and call out against it for their evil has come up before you. 00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:35.400 We can stop right there. 00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:43.400 We know the third verse is he runs away, but I want us to focus on the first two verses here. 00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:45.400 So let's begin. 00:17:45.400 --> 00:17:49.400 It starts off with the word of the Lord coming to Jonah. 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:52.400 Well that's an interesting word. You see that a lot in the prophets. 00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:54.400 You see that in Jeremiah 1.4. 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:58.400 You see that in Ezekiel 1.3. You don't have to write this down. 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:02.400 You see this in Hosea chapter 1 verse 1 or Zechariah 1.1. 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:05.400 You also see it in 1 Kings chapter 16 verse 1. 00:18:05.400 --> 00:18:13.400 You see this pattern of in Scripture where the word of the Lord is coming to the prophets. 00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:18.400 And in this case, Jonah 1.1, the word of the Lord came to Jonah. 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:23.400 You know throughout Scripture, you find that God speaks to his people. 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:28.400 He speaks to the prophets, the people in the Old Testament in different ways. 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:33.400 And let's write this in our notes. How did God communicate to the prophets? 00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:36.400 How did he communicate with his people in the Bible? 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:44.400 We find that God spoke to the prophets with dreams, visions. 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:48.400 You can put voice, right? The voice of the Lord. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:52.400 And also through angels. 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:57.400 Now there's a couple other ways that doesn't have any names. 00:18:57.400 --> 00:19:02.400 Through dreams, voices, or visions, excuse me, 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:08.400 and direct revelation of the voice of God and through angels. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:13.400 It should be noted while I'm speaking about this is that 00:19:13.400 --> 00:19:18.400 there's the question that comes up. Does God communicate to us today? 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:20.400 And the answer is yes. 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:24.400 So the question comes up then, well then how does God speak to us today? 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:28.400 Well we find that God speaks to us through number one. 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:32.400 First and foremost, God speaks to us through the Lord of God. 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:37.400 That's such a powerful way that the Lord speaks to us today. 00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:41.400 Secondly, I would say through conviction. 00:19:41.400 --> 00:19:46.400 Sometimes you're making a decision and it just doesn't feel right. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:51.400 The Lord is complying on your heart that maybe you shouldn't make this decision. 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:56.400 So the second is through conviction and the third is through people. 00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:00.400 What's very interesting about people is sometimes Christians, 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:03.400 God will speak to us through other believers. 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:08.400 And sometimes we'll actually learn in Jonah of a time where 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:13.400 someone who doesn't believe in the Lord speaks to Jonah. 00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:17.400 So sometimes a non-Christian, sometimes an unbeliever, 00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:21.400 or an unchurched person will speak to us. 00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:24.400 We don't know exactly how Jonah received the divine message, 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:28.400 but we know that the instructions were clear to him. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:33.400 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city and call out against it, 00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:36.400 for their evil has come up before me. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:39.400 There's a sense of urgency in this message, isn't there? 00:20:39.400 --> 00:20:42.400 He doesn't say take your time and get up. 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:45.400 He says arise and go. 00:20:45.400 --> 00:20:49.400 So that word arise, it has pretty significant meaning. 00:20:49.400 --> 00:20:54.400 To literally get up, to rise, right? 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:58.400 It can mean to stand up or stand, 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:01.400 and it can also literally mean to arise, 00:21:01.400 --> 00:21:04.400 why I chose to stand without. 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:10.400 Get up is another appropriate word. 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:14.400 The word arise, it appears frequently in Scripture, 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:18.400 just as when Abram is directed to explore the promised land 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:21.400 in Genesis 13 and 17. 00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:25.400 It also occurs when Jacob is called to worship that Bethel 00:21:25.400 --> 00:21:29.400 in Genesis 35 when John was raised. 00:21:29.400 --> 00:21:34.400 It also occurs that Moses is calling for God 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:37.400 for protection for the Israelites in Numbers 1035 00:21:37.400 --> 00:21:40.400 during the wilderness journey. 00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:45.400 We see this word as even when God is promising 00:21:45.400 --> 00:21:49.400 to give a successor to David Song. 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:53.400 So I'm just mentioning here that there's quite a few times 00:21:53.400 --> 00:21:55.400 that that word arise shows up. 00:21:55.400 --> 00:21:59.400 And God commands John, okay, so you're saying, 00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:02.400 God is telling Jonah to get up, to arise. 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:04.400 Well, get up and what? 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:05.400 Get up and go. 00:22:05.400 --> 00:22:07.400 It's the second word in our nose, 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:14.400 and you can put in there, to walk, to go, or to leave. 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:19.400 The specific word go is the same word that is used 00:22:19.400 --> 00:22:23.400 when God is directing Abraham to go from his cold land 00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:24.400 to the promised land. 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:29.400 It is the same go that when God has instructed Moses 00:22:29.400 --> 00:22:33.400 to go back to Egypt and to liberate the Israelites 00:22:33.400 --> 00:22:34.400 from slavery. 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:39.400 God has commanded his people to go and to do great things. 00:22:39.400 --> 00:22:42.400 Okay, so Jonah has commanded to get up and go, 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:44.400 to arise and go. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:46.400 What's his mission here? 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:54.400 God calls Jonah to rise, right, to go and to call out against 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:55.400 Nineveh. 00:22:55.400 --> 00:22:58.400 This is very interesting because what I've learned 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:04.400 in studying this is that we see in Scripture so often 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:08.400 that we are to call out to the Lord, right, 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:10.400 cry out to the Lord. 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:12.400 This is the one time in Scripture where it says 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:14.400 call out against. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:21.400 This is where God is saying to proclaim against. 00:23:21.400 --> 00:23:24.400 So when we hear the word before, 00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:27.400 let's set aside call out against for a second here. 00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:30.400 You hear the words calling out. 00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:34.400 That has a certain meaning for us nowadays, doesn't it? 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:35.400 When you hear someone say, 00:23:35.400 --> 00:23:38.400 I'm going to call out the CEO for something bad 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:41.400 that they're doing, right, or someone is calling out someone, 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:45.400 it has a very different meaning than what it does biblically. 00:23:45.400 --> 00:23:48.400 When we think of the modern meaning of the word calling out, 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:51.400 it typically means criticism. 00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:55.400 When we think of the biblical meaning of calling out, 00:23:55.400 --> 00:23:57.400 it means to proclaim. 00:23:57.400 --> 00:23:59.400 It means to preach. 00:23:59.400 --> 00:24:02.400 It means to use your words. 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:05.400 Now there's going to be a difference. 00:24:05.400 --> 00:24:08.400 We won't go in that slant just yet. 00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:13.400 Today's culture uses the word calling out people for their wrongdoing. 00:24:13.400 --> 00:24:16.400 It does echo the idea of calling out against, 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:19.400 where it's like, hey, you need to change from your ways, right? 00:24:19.400 --> 00:24:22.400 So certainly there's a component of calling out, 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:26.400 but we'll find that there's another aspect in there. 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:28.400 So the next slide. 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:31.400 We have here a guy pointing the finger, right? 00:24:31.400 --> 00:24:32.400 When we think of calling out, 00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:34.400 we think of somebody who's pointing the finger. 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:39.400 The modern definition of calling out is, like I said, there's criticism. 00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:42.400 Is there the opportunity for forgiveness though? 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:46.400 When we think of the modern game, not necessarily, right? 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:49.400 I'm talking specifically for modern calling out. 00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:51.400 So there's no forgiveness, there's no repentance, 00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:52.400 and there's no restoration. 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:56.400 But when we're thinking out calling out against, right, 00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:59.400 or to proclaim against the city, 00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:03.400 it is the opportunity for forgiveness. 00:25:03.400 --> 00:25:08.400 It is calling upon the city to make that you turn, right? 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:10.400 To turn it around. 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:13.400 It's giving the city, it is allowing for forgiveness. 00:25:13.400 --> 00:25:17.400 It is allowing for repentance, and it's allowing for restoration. 00:25:17.400 --> 00:25:20.400 Do you see the difference? 00:25:20.400 --> 00:25:23.400 There's a huge difference between the two 00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:28.400 when we're thinking of what the scriptures say. 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:33.400 So again, calling out in the modern day, that criticism, 00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:35.400 you're doing wrong. 00:25:35.400 --> 00:25:39.400 Calling out in the sense of calling out against, 00:25:39.400 --> 00:25:45.400 turn your ways, turn it around, allow for them. 00:25:45.400 --> 00:25:50.400 So in your notes, I put here the Bible verses of calling out. 00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:53.400 While if we're talking out specifically the words calling out 00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:56.400 as opposed to calling out against, 00:25:56.400 --> 00:25:58.400 calling out against shows up once, 00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:02.400 in the case of Jonah reaching against interval. 00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:05.400 But when we use the word calling out, 00:26:05.400 --> 00:26:09.400 and we see that over 500 times in scripture, 00:26:09.400 --> 00:26:11.400 the word proclaim. 00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:17.400 God using that word to create the heavens and the earth, 00:26:17.400 --> 00:26:19.400 that word is being used there. 00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:29.400 So you can put over 500 times in your notes. 00:26:29.400 --> 00:26:32.400 So we see that Jonah is receiving these instructions 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:37.400 to get up, to go, and to call out against Nineveh. 00:26:37.400 --> 00:26:40.400 He is to appeal, he's to plead, he's to preach, 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:43.400 he's to proclaim to Nineveh to change their ways. 00:26:43.400 --> 00:26:48.400 So Jonah has chosen for this mission, why? 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:51.400 Let's look back at the verse, right? 00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:58.400 Call out against for it, for their evil has come up before me. 00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:00.400 So what does that mean? 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:02.400 Well, that's a pretty easy one, right? 00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:06.400 It means that when people are doing bad things, right? 00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:10.400 There's sin that's happening in Nineveh. 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:14.400 God's attention is on Nineveh. 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:18.400 And I think that's something that is important to note. 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:24.400 Nineveh has not reached the point of no return or of judgment. 00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:30.400 If they do not repent, that would be a very different outcome. 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:36.400 But in this specific case, I put a generic term which is up there, right? 00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:38.400 Bad things are happening to Nineveh, 00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:41.400 but it's not to the point of no return. 00:27:41.400 --> 00:27:45.400 And when I think of this country, when I think of America, 00:27:45.400 --> 00:27:50.400 I pray that we're like Nineveh and we can turn things around 00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:52.400 and that we're not like Sodom and Gomorrah, 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:55.400 where it was passed to a point of no return. 00:27:55.400 --> 00:27:59.400 I certainly pray that we can turn things around 00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:01.400 and repent of our sins. 00:28:01.400 --> 00:28:03.400 So bad things are happening. 00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:07.400 There remains an opportunity for Nineveh to repent. 00:28:07.400 --> 00:28:13.400 Nineveh is not the same as what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah 00:28:13.400 --> 00:28:15.400 and what happened in Egypt. 00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:19.400 Sodom and Gomorrah, the scripture talks about, 00:28:19.400 --> 00:28:21.400 we don't have to turn there. 00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:27.400 They were in grave sin to the point of no return 00:28:27.400 --> 00:28:29.400 or to the point of judgment. 00:28:29.400 --> 00:28:33.400 This is why there were two angels who were dispatched to escort Lot 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:36.400 and his family out of Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:39.400 There is a distinction that Nineveh hasn't reached this state 00:28:39.400 --> 00:28:44.400 because God is dispatching Jonah to go speak out to them and say, 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:47.400 hey, you'll learn later in Jonah, 00:28:47.400 --> 00:28:50.400 in 40 days there will be judgment. 00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:52.400 You need to turn it around. 00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:57.400 You need to repent and come to the Lord. 00:28:57.400 --> 00:29:00.400 That's a pretty significant difference, isn't it? 00:29:00.400 --> 00:29:02.400 It's a pretty big difference. 00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:04.400 So let's remember, 00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:07.400 Sodom and Gomorrah passed the point of no return. 00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:11.400 Nineveh hadn't reached that point. 00:29:11.400 --> 00:29:15.400 We'll also discover that Nineveh will find, 00:29:15.400 --> 00:29:19.400 they will repent through Jonah's guidance, 00:29:19.400 --> 00:29:22.400 through Jonah's word by proclaiming to the city. 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:25.400 The city will repent and they will leave behind their ways. 00:29:25.400 --> 00:29:29.400 It reminds me of when Christ called the woman at the well 00:29:29.400 --> 00:29:31.400 in John 8.11. 00:29:31.400 --> 00:29:36.400 When Christ says, go and sin no more. 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:41.400 We should repent of our sins and certainly go and sin no more. 00:29:41.400 --> 00:29:45.400 But we always need God, though, because we are going to sin. 00:29:45.400 --> 00:29:48.400 And I hope that each and every one of us 00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:50.400 will not pass the point of no return. 00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:53.400 We certainly have the opportunity to repent. 00:29:53.400 --> 00:30:00.400 We certainly have the opportunity to ask for forgiveness from our Lord. 00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:04.400 God called Jonah to arise, to go, 00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:08.400 and to cry out against the evil that is rising in the city of Nineveh. 00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:17.400 And similarly, we as Christians are called to rise up and go into the world. 00:30:17.400 --> 00:30:23.400 God invites us, each and every one of us, to have a relationship with Him. 00:30:23.400 --> 00:30:28.400 Let us realize that we are like Nineveh 00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:30.400 and we are also like Jonah. 00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:33.400 We have our flaws and our shortcomings. 00:30:33.400 --> 00:30:37.400 We don't let sin, it's just like what Scripture says, 00:30:37.400 --> 00:30:39.400 that all falls short of the glory of God. 00:30:39.400 --> 00:30:41.400 We have to remember that. 00:30:41.400 --> 00:30:44.400 We need Christ in our lives. 00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:47.400 Just as the thief on the cross turned to Jesus, 00:30:47.400 --> 00:30:50.400 we too must repent of our sins 00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:54.400 and commit ourselves to Jesus Christ, 00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:58.400 as the way, the truth, and the life. 00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:02.400 You know, God has a purpose for each and every one of us, 00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:04.400 much like He did for Jonah. 00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:08.400 Now it's not going to be the exact thing that God called Jonah to do, 00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:14.400 but God does have a divine plan for each and every one of us. 00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:19.400 No one is perfect, but we serve a God that is perfect. 00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:22.400 We worship a God who saves. 00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:27.400 We love a God who has done extraordinary things through us as people 00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:30.400 who are imperfect. 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:34.400 God will lead and guide us. 00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:38.400 God will lead us to do incredible things in His name. 00:31:38.400 --> 00:31:41.400 We just need to choose to follow Him. 00:31:41.400 --> 00:31:44.400 We are saved by grace through faith. 00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:48.400 We are called to go out into the world and do. 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:55.400 Let us be doers of the Word and not just hearers by arising and going. 00:31:55.400 --> 00:32:02.400 I want us to remember these words as we're getting close to our end. 00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:08.400 Is that God calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things, 00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:12.400 to rise and to go. 00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:19.400 We should get up and go out in this last slide. 00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:24.400 We should go and make disciples as Christ has commanded us to do. 00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:28.400 We should share the good news of the gospel. 00:32:28.400 --> 00:32:31.400 We should baptize believers. 00:32:31.400 --> 00:32:38.400 And on that last point, we should love God and love others. 00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:43.400 It's interesting, we're talking about the Old Testament when 00:32:43.400 --> 00:32:46.400 getting up and going as a certain meaning. 00:32:46.400 --> 00:32:51.400 Is there a New Testament passage that urges us to go very similarly? 00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:53.400 And the answer is yes. 00:32:53.400 --> 00:32:58.400 Many of you know, in the Great Commission, 00:32:58.400 --> 00:33:05.400 Jesus Christ is urging His disciples to go and to baptize people to teach them 00:33:05.400 --> 00:33:12.400 in the same way God commands us to go and make disciples to teach them. 00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:15.400 And let us be sure that God is with us. 00:33:15.400 --> 00:33:17.400 God is with us. 00:33:17.400 --> 00:33:22.400 The God who made us, the God who knew us before we were born, 00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:29.400 the God that called Jonah to get up and go calls us to do the same. 00:33:29.400 --> 00:33:34.400 My prayer and my hope for this church for Ontario 00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:39.400 is that we become a congregation that studies God's Word, 00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:46.400 that is on fire for Christ, that leads people through example to follow Him and to live for Him. 00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:53.400 But first and foremost, how the relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, 00:33:53.400 --> 00:33:58.400 may we exhibit Christ's love for others. 00:33:58.400 --> 00:34:03.400 I think of that song that my mom used to play a tape. 00:34:03.400 --> 00:34:08.400 They will know that we are Christians by our love, by our love. 00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:14.400 Yes, they will know we are Christians by our love. 00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:17.400 May we love God and love others. 00:34:17.400 --> 00:34:21.400 May we pursue a relationship with Christ. 00:34:21.400 --> 00:34:26.400 And may we respond to God's call for our lives. 00:34:26.400 --> 00:34:30.400 May we stand as a beacon of hope, 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:37.400 in light of the darkness, doing everything in excellence in the name that is above all names. 00:34:37.400 --> 00:34:40.400 Jesus Christ, let's pray. 00:34:40.400 --> 00:35:02.400 Father God, we thank you for this time and this opportunity to begin our study in the book of Jonah. 00:35:02.400 --> 00:35:12.400 Lord, there's a lot to unpack here, a lot for us to learn. May we realize that you call each and every one of us, 00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:19.400 and get up and go. May our hearts be open to you, may we respond to your Word, 00:35:19.400 --> 00:35:23.400 may we love you, and may we love others. 00:35:23.400 --> 00:35:27.400 May we pursue that relationship with your Son Jesus Christ, 00:35:27.400 --> 00:35:35.400 and may we respond to the calling that you have given to us. 00:35:35.400 --> 00:35:39.400 Lord, we thank you for everything that you've done for us. 00:35:39.400 --> 00:35:42.400 We can't do it on our own. 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:45.400 You sent your Son. 00:35:45.400 --> 00:35:48.400 Jesus, pay the help. 00:35:48.400 --> 00:35:51.400 We thank you. 00:35:51.400 --> 00:35:57.400 We say this in Jesus' name.