Just before Andrew comes and speaks to us, we're going to look at the reading from Jonah chapter 1 and it's on page 928.
So if you've got the church Bible please turn to that.
Verse 1.
The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai.
Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.
But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish.
He went down to Joppa where he found a ship bound for the port.
After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.
All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own God.
And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
But Jonah had gone below deck where he laid down and fell into a deep sleep.
The captain went down to him and said,
How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God.
Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.
Then the sailors said to each other,
Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.
They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
So they asked him,
Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us?
What kind of work do you do?
Where do you come from?
What is your country?
From what people are you?
He answered,
I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.
This terrified them and they asked,
What have you done?
They knew he was running away from the Lord because he had already told them so.
The sea was getting rougher and rougher.
So they asked him,
What should we do to make the sea calm down for us?
Pick me up and throw me into the sea, he replied, and it will become calm.
I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.
Instead, the men did their best to row back to land, but they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.
Then they cried out to the Lord,
Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man's life.
Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.
Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.
At this, the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Amen.
Thanks, Jennifer.
For those who don't know me, my name is Andrew.
I'm one of the leadership team here at West Kilburn Baptist Church.
And this morning, I'll be sharing from Jonah 1.
Jonah 1 is a series that we'll be looking at over the coming next probably three weeks.
So I'll be starting in chapter one, and then Steve will continue, and Nathan will finish in chapter four.
Now, a little bit of content.
Just kind of imagine, Phil.
I just want your memories to kind of pitch on a few things, right?
So just imagine in society, right?
Imagine a rampant society, right?
Imagine headlines with scandals, female victims, child exploits, another murder hunt taking place.
You read it in the papers or social media.
Harsh dictatorships oppressing the nations.
Care home under special measures because of inadequate inspection.
Wars, terrorism, attacks.
The world seems to be filled and overflowing with violence, hatred and corruption.
Reading and hearing, and perhaps even experience some of these tragedies,
we begin to understand the necessities of God's judgment in a world like one we live in.
We may even find ourselves waiting for vengeance by any means upon the violent perpetrators.
Some of us might think, surely, they are beyond redemption for the crimes and things that they do.
But suppose that while thinking such thoughts, God told you to take his word to the worst of these offenders.
How would you respond?
Well, Jonah was given such a task.
Assyria, Nineveh, a great city, it was an evil empire.
One of Israel's most dreaded enemies.
The Assyrians flaunted their powers before God and the world through numerous acts of heartless cruelty.
So when Jonah heard God tell him to go to Nineveh and announce God's judgment to the people unless they repent,
he ran in the opposite direction as we've just heard.
The purpose of this book that we will be looking at is to show the extent of God's grace
and the message of salvation to all people, not just some people.
Its audience would have been the Jewish nation of Israel and God's people everywhere.
That's you and that's me.
I see the book as a reflection, a foreshadow of Christ's messianic kingdom,
where he sends out his disciples to all the nations.
Tim Keller might say that the book teaches about race, grace and God's mission.
Jonah was a prophet in the days of Jeroboam II.
We read about that in 2 Kings chapter 14, verse 24 to 25.
It tells us, it reads there,
He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat,
which he had caused Israel to commit.
He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Leboth Hamoth to the Dead Sea
in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel,
spoken through his servant Jonah, son of Amittai, the prophet.
So we see while Israel was still in sin, God still showed his grace and mercy to them.
And God has given Jonah a purpose here, to preach or call out to the great Assyrian city of Nineveh.
It seems Jonah didn't care about for Nineveh, so we responded in disobedience and indifference.
Jonah had yet to embrace and show God's love to the Ninevites.
Maybe through Jonah, God reminded Israel, the book's audience, of their mission and their purpose also.
We must not limit our focus to our own people.
God wants his people to proclaim his justice, judgment and love in words and actions to the nations.
God calls us to be about his mission wherever we are, which he sends us wherever he sends us.
So we live out all we are called to be as a witness to Christ.
And as an example of that, I just want to share many of you know that as a missionary,
I work with churches in communities in London, particularly Camden and Islington.
And I just want to share quickly is, you know, a mission we was doing once.
We went and we knocked someone's door.
We met a young male.
No, sorry, it's an adult male, an elderly male who was really in a bad way in terms of his vision,
his eyesight was so limited, his health was limited as well.
He probably wouldn't walk further than 60 metres without stopping and panting for breath.
And meeting him, we got to know him and engage with him.
Going into his house would probably something that, you know, you need to really show appreciation for God's creation
because his house was full of flies because of the stale air in there and the way his house was kept.
He was someone who had a carer that comes into his house once a week.
So, yeah, it was not really a place where you're going to rush and run and go to.
But it is somebody who we know God loves and we know God cares for.
So we had the opportunity to engage him and journey with him and share the gospel with him
and see him receptively engage with us to hear God's word, allow us to pray with him.
He came to the church building a few times, but he had the physical church in his premises on numerous times
where we could get to share the gospel with him.
But the point I'm trying to make to you all is eventually, you know, with his poor health, he died.
Maybe after we journeyed with him for 11 or 12 months.
And, you know, where he died, we didn't get to see him probably maybe two weeks before he died.
But and the thing is, really, the bigger story is that's God demonstrating his loving kindness
and his grace and mercy to someone who would not go church of his own accord.
But the Lord allowed the church to go to him to share the gospel with him.
Because we as Christians know he will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account one day.
That is for certain.
And for me, that just displays God's greatness and God's love to his creation.
So before I go into this text now, I just want to stop and pause a moment.
And I'm just going to pray that the Lord will help me to minister his word,
that it would be speaking to us in an applicational way.
Father God, we come before you this morning and I pray, Lord, that all that you've put upon my heart,
all that you've shown me in this text, Lord, I pray that you will help me to minister your word faithfully
in a way, Lord, that it would be applicationally heard and it would be received, Father,
so that we would see who you are and we would hear how you are speaking to us through this text.
So Lord, for your name's sake, we pray that you would be glorified this morning through your word in Jonah chapter one.
I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
So God's word, it encourages us, it challenges us and it also exhorts us.
And in saying that, I do want to just share and hopefully I want to try and draw out of this chapter.
I want to draw out how God speaks to us, how God's word comes to us and how it speaks to us.
I also want to challenge us in terms of being awake and not being asleep like Jonah in the bottom of the boat.
And then also, thirdly, I just want to share how God is continually merciful and gracious to us,
even when we get things wrong, as we see he provided a fish for Jonah, despite Jonah's disobedience.
So verse one to four, we see the word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai.
Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because its wickedness has come up to me.
So we see God speaks to those that he has a confidential relationship with.
He sent his word to Jonah.
The word of the Lord came to Jonah.
God speaks to us.
And him speaking to us is so that God's word can be spoken to others as Jonah was meant to go to Nineveh.
We see with God's word being sent to Jonah, Jonah clearly went in an opposite direction.
But we see a glimpse of when God's word is spoken.
We see in verse nine, though Jonah was disobedient, he spoke.
We see him testifying he's a Hebrew, like we would testify with Christians.
He says he worshiped the Lord.
We declare we worship the Lord.
We worship Jesus.
And we declare he's a God of heaven who made the sea and the dry lands.
And we see in verse 10, the sailors, they took note of that because it tells us they knew he was running away because he already told them so.
But the thing is, I want to ask us is when we hear God's word, how do you respond when you hear God's word?
Do you respond in obedience or disobedience?
Do you second guess God's word?
Or do you not respond at all?
Now, verse one to four, as Jonah is commanded to go to Nineveh, a little bit more insight into what Nineveh looks like.
In Nahum chapter three, verse one to three, it's going to give us a glimpse what this city looks like.
It tells us the city was a place of blood, full of lies, never without victims, many casualties, piles of dead, body without number, people stumbling over the corpse.
Jonah was aware of his distant neighbors, the Assyrians, and probably knew about their atrocities.
This is where Jonah had to go and call out against it or preach.
Warning the city of God's judgment and declared they could receive mercy and forgiveness if they repented of their wicked ways.
Jonah's attitude and behavior could be viewed by the audience reading it.
As potentially a reflection or representation of Israel's reluctance to share God's compassion, love and mercy with other nations,
even though this was God's given mission for them.
Instead of accepting his call, it looks like he considered them enemies,
not wanting to see them obtain God's favor like they had, as we read in Two Kings with the wicked king, Jeroboam.
We can say he knew Yahweh, that's clear because you'll see that in chapter 4 verse 2.
So we did know Yahweh, but to what extent we may ask.
And this very question resonates with the audience, to you and to me.
Jeremiah will give us a glimpse what it is to know Yahweh, or the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jeremiah 9.24 tells you,
But let the one who boasts, boast about this, that they have the understanding to know me,
to know the living God, to know who he is, to know his nature, his ways,
how he relates with us, and his call for us to relate with others.
That I am the Lord, there is no other.
God's word comes to us, and it is to be sent and heard from us to others.
We know the narrative the gospel tells us in John chapter 10, 3b to 4b,
it tells us,
My sheep listen to my voice.
Jesus' sheep follow him because they know his voice.
These first verses help us to see God's love not only extends to us,
but beyond us to the nations around us.
The nations' self-seeking ways and sinful behaviours are ever before God.
They too deserve the opportunity to hear and know God is not pleased with their selfish, sinful ways.
His word needs to be heard and spoken before them.
God shows concern for the great city of Nineveh,
because of their wickedness in verse 2,
come up to him.
And this applies to our great city here of London.
Just as Nona was sent to call out against it in the hope they would turn and repent,
I believe the Lord would have us to do the same in this great city.
God wants people to hear his word.
He wants people to take heed, to be aware of their sinful ways.
God loves his creation.
1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 4 tells us,
God, in the ESV it says,
God desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
That is God's desire.
If it was his will, it would happen without our assistance.
But that's his desire and we have a role to play
as we see him speaking to Jonah to conduct and carry out his missional purposes.
We cannot hide from God as Jonah tries to do.
That's just crazy.
I'm sure a lot of us already knows Psalms 139 verse 7 tells us,
where can I flee from your presence?
You know, if I go down to the depths of the sea, you're there.
Wherever we go, God is there.
It's just crazy.
Whatever God wants to accomplish through us will come to pass,
as we will see that throughout this book.
These verses I like to ask, just like Jonah,
are selfish desires and self-will to do what we consider is right in our own eyes.
Rather than doing what is right in God's eyes in respect to our neighbours,
hearing the truth of God's word.
And if you are someone who's here today and you have not heard the call to look to Jesus as your Lord
and as your saviour, I want to encourage you, God is wanting you to hear his word.
You cannot trust in all your own ways and your shortcomings.
God loves you and has made a way for you to be right and in right relationship with him through Jesus.
Through your acknowledging all your imperfections and your flaws, which the Bible says is our sin.
God is perfect in all of his ways.
And you will stand before him one day to give an account for your life.
And that is a sure thing.
Just as the Ninevites wickedness, their evil and bad ways have come up before God, so does ours.
Romans 3.23 tells us,
We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
We all have this defect within us.
But we are encouraged through Romans 6.23 that tells us,
The wages of our sin is death.
And we know that we die, people die.
But death is eternal separation from God in utter darkness,
which anyone would probably wish no one that we ever knew would ever be in that place,
totally separated from God.
But God is gracious and declares in that chapter, in that verse,
But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
So all your ways, all our ways are before God.
And there's an eternal cost of living life without Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
We will one day stand before God and must give an account for the way we lived our life.
Living a life without the one who created us is not good at all.
We will finally spend eternity one day in heaven,
in a place where there's no more sickness, crying, weeping,
no more of this suffering that we experience in this world here.
Or we will live and spend eternity in utter darkness, separated from God.
And the words that I proclaim is God's word in his Bible.
And I will say until God cannot lie.
So these are words that we should take to heart.
We have a choice to make.
If we do not find forgiveness in God through Jesus,
who took all our wrongdoing, our sins upon himself,
so we can have peace with God,
we will enter judgment, which will lead to eternal separation from God,
who loves you dearly.
God demonstrates his kindness in sending Jonah
to make this truth known to the Ninevites.
And today in your hearing,
his word is sent and proclaimed to you,
so you can respond in acceptance to his kindness,
which he desires to show towards you.
God is sovereign over all things.
And even an evil nation like Nineveh
causes him to have concern about them having the opportunity
to know what the consequences will be for them
should they continue to live in such a way
without repenting and trusting in him,
which is where we are today with this nation.
So remember, God speaks to us.
His word comes to us so it can be sent through us
to our neighbours and the nations near and far.
And we know in this church,
we are a gospel-centred preaching church.
We have members from this church
which has gone off on an assignment to do beach mission
where they are going out
to see how the Lord would want to use them
to engage with people who come to the coast this summer
to have holiday.
They are seeking opportunities
because they're hearing God's voice.
We have a monthly outreach
where we go out and do a book table,
we go and do door knocking
to meet people in this very community,
to serve our community that God loves dearly
and we also love them dearly.
God speaks to us
and sends us with his word to speak to others
that they would hear
that there is a day of reckoning
because everything is exposed before God.
And even as God speaks to us,
I'm speaking in a missional term,
in a missional sense,
but God even speaks to us as spouses.
He speaks to the husband in how to speak to his wife.
He speaks to the wife in how to speak to her husband.
He speaks to the parents in how to speak to their children.
He speaks to the children in how to relate to their parents.
He speaks to one another in how we interact
and engage with one another.
So the point is,
God speaks to us.
We should not neglect his word and take it for granted.
His word comes to us
so it can be sent to our neighbours and those around us
that what we speak is the counsel
that God gives us through his word.
So we should respond in obedience when God speaks to us.
If he says go,
we should go.
Speak to that person
or give more time to him
or put this down that is occupying our time
or spend more time with him.
Whatever he says,
let's seek not to second guess what we heard
and figure,
did he really said that?
Let's step out in faith
and trust that he is speaking to us
and train ourselves
to be more sensitive to his voice.
What nation is there
that their God speaks directly to them?
There is none.
There's none where we have many people
on a spiritual journey
believing in a creator,
believing God
but do not know their God,
cannot define their God.
There is no other nation or people
like God's people
who put their trust in Jesus Christ
who has a God
who speaks to them personally
as well as he speaks to them corporately
as he's doing right now.
Our God speaks to us.
Second point we're going to look at now.
So we see
in verse 5,
All the sailors were afraid
and cried out
to his own God
and they threw the cargo
into the ship.
But Jonah
had gone down
below deck
and he laid down
and fell deep
into a deep sleep.
So Jonah lays down
and fell into a deep sleep.
Get up and call
on your God
they say to him.
So church,
this is a challenge to us
as people of God.
Awake.
Awake
to all that God
is speaking unto his people,
speaking unto his church.
Let us awake
out of sleep and slumber.
Romans chapter 13
verse 11
tells us
and do this
understand
the present time,
the hour
has already come
for you to wake up
from your slumber
because our salvation
is nearer now
than when we first believed.
These urgent calls
to spiritual action
appear throughout
both the Old
and the New Testament.
The Bible
frequently uses
wake up
from sleep
and slumber
as a metaphor
for shaking
of spiritual
sluggishness
and turning
away from sin.
It is a direct
call to be
alert,
watchful
and active
in our faith.
As Jonah
travels in the
opposite direction
to Nineveh,
the sailors
were also
traveling their
life's journey
in the opposite
direction
to God.
we see that
in verse 5
they're calling
out to an
unknown God
who cannot
hear,
cannot see,
cannot respond
to them.
The author
lets us know
they knew
Jonah was running
away as I said
in verse 10
because
he already
told them
and I think
it's as if
the author
is alerting
readers
to the
responsibility
that they
too might
be involved
in a similar
flight.
Could this
be true
for someone
here today?
Instead of
running to
God,
you're running
away and
experiencing
metaphorical
storms.
I want to
encourage you
to take,
I want to
encourage you
to wake up
and trust
in God's
word and
his faithfulness
to see you
through any
situation you
may be
encountering
because he
is sovereign
and Lord
over all
things,
even your
life.
It's
possible,
it's probably
right,
it's possible
probably should
have been
naturally for
the sailors
to throw
Jonah overboard.
We see
they've come
to the
conclusion as
Nathan just
brought us
in the
family slot
the solution
to this
storm
was,
you know,
after Jonah
testified,
what was
the solution?
They said,
pick,
Jonah said,
pick me up
and throw
me into
the sea.
Now,
that may
consider to
me,
where was
Jonah at?
You know,
Jonah was
not even
calling out
to God
and so
far he's
not even
showing any
signs of
repentance.
It shows
as he goes
down deck
into the
boat and
he sleeps.
That's a
glimpse to
me of
showing that
when we're
disobedient,
when we
numb ourselves
to God's
word,
to responding
to what
God calls
us to
do,
we are
often
getting in
a position
of a
decline and
this is
where Jonah
seems to
be at.
You would
think,
I would
think,
being in
a storm
on a
ship at
sea,
I would
think,
you know,
it's something
where you can
turn around
and call
out to
God,
but instead
he says
throw me
overboard.
So that
would be
the solution.
But we
see the
sailors
seem more
honourable
than Jonah
because they're
concerned about
life.
We see
in verse
13,
instead
the men
did their
best to
roll back
to land,
but they
could not
for the
sea grew
even wilder
than before.
So that
could not
happen.
the storm
in this
situation
would speak
loudly to
the audience
hopefully.
This is
God's plan
that people
would come
to realise
their best
efforts
are useless.
We are
not fully
in control
of everything.
Our
health,
our
relationships
we have,
our plans
often
change
due to
unexpected
circumstances
or events,
our careers,
our job
opportunities,
finances,
accommodation,
we can
go on
and on.
We are
not fully
in control
of all
things.
God is.
These
storms
experience
should lead
us to do
what Jonah
didn't do
but what
the sailors
did.
So in
our
metaphorical
storms,
sometimes
because of
our
disobedience,
sometimes
because of
we choose
to follow
a path
of our
own
doing
and
sometimes
just
naturally
because
living in
a fallen
broken
world,
we will
encounter
storms.
But we
saw
what Jonah
didn't do
is what
the sailors
did.
They woke
up,
verse 14,
and it
shows,
then they
cried out
to the
Lord,
please
Lord,
do not
let us
die for
taking
this
man's
life.
They
acknowledge
Jonah's
God
because
Jonah
testified
who he
is.
He's
the
God
of
heaven,
made
the sea
and the
dry land
in verse
9,
and he
also
told
them
that
God
brought
about
this
situation.
So they
have
turned
and they
call out
to this
God
and they
wake
up to
him
and
call
out
to
the
Lord.
The
Lord
expresses
his
will
through
the
ferocity
of the
storm
and
through
the
casting
of
the
lots.
Lots,
we probably
heard about
lots again
in the
book of
Acts
when they
were
looking
for
the
twelve
disciples
and
lots
of
sometime
use.
But
both
of these
the
crews
accept
as good
and right
when the
lot
fell
and they
followed
this
direction.
Jonah
remained
spiritually
asleep,
prayerless,
easing in
the face
of
eternity.
And while
the sailors
uninstructed
in God's
word
engaged in
earnest
prayer and
faith,
they called
out and
prayed to
Jonah's
God by
the special
covenant
name
Yahweh
given to
Israel,
having
accepted
Jonah's
testimony.
They
believed
that he
is the
covenant
that they
believed
that he
is the
God
and that
he will
hear
and answer
their
prayer.
The
sailors
showed
themselves
more
honorable.
So the
Gentiles,
the sailors
now acknowledge
and come
to believe
in the
true
living
God
Yahweh.
And
this
picture,
the sailors
as well
as Jonah
being
sent to
Nineveh,
these events
point towards
the coming
messianic
kingdom of
Christ our
Lord Jesus
as we
know now,
where the
nations will
be blessed
through the
promise
offspring of
Abraham
Christ.
Abraham,
which would
be Christ,
that told
you in
Galatians
chapter 3
verse 16.
God's
word was
to be
spoken by
Jonah to
Nineveh,
but in
Jonah's
disobedience,
he testified
about God
to the
sailors.
As I said
again,
he told
them who
he was
and he
told them
who he
fears,
which that
didn't
demonstrate,
he did
fear God.
But God
demonstrates
his missional
plan to
see salvation
extended to
the sailors
and all
the nations
and that
rings true
for us
today.
So let
us be
alert,
let us
awake,
be watchful
and active
in our
faith,
awaiting
God-given
opportunities.
And I
want to
give a
bit of
insight into
this.
Before I
came to
be who
Christ has
called me
to be,
I too
lived a
life in
South East
London where
my wickedness
came up to
God without
my knowing
as many
other people
in society
without their
knowing,
walking in
their own
ignorance.
I used to
participate and
live a life of
crime,
drug dealing
and many
other savoury
things that
was wickedness
that came up
to God.
But when
you're in a
place in a
state of
blindness and
darkness,
you probably
do not see
that because
you consider
what is
right in
your own
eyes as
many people
do outside.
But it
was granted
to the
faithful church
those who
knew Jesus
who have
the word
of Christ
that is
preached to
them week
in,
week out.
They hear
what the
Bible has
to say
about the
saints and
the sinners.
And they
took that
word out to
the street
because they
heard it
from God's
word.
And they
preached that
and they
had the
opportunity
to see
me,
to stop
me,
share God's
word with
me.
I heard
God's
word,
didn't really
understood it,
but I heard
God's word.
And that was
God in his
kindness and
his goodness
to me,
to allow me
to hear his
word.
And in the
appropriate
time,
God revealed
his truth
to me and
I'm standing
here before
you.
Because this
same message
that I read
here is the
same message
that he
communicates
to his
church.
And I
want to
touch on
also again
Josiah.
Josiah's
mother,
Josiah's
just got
married,
our brother,
Josiah's
mother,
I saw
on a
podcast,
his mother
was sharing
that she
said to
a friend,
can we
read the
Bible
together?
I'd like
to read
the Bible
with you.
The friend
rejected at
the time
thought,
no,
I don't
want to
read the
Bible.
But then
weeks later
or maybe
even months
after,
they said,
yeah,
I'd like
to take
you up
on that
offer and
read the
Bible.
They sat
down,
they read
the Bible
for a
while,
I'm not
sure how
long,
but eventually
that person
came to
faith in
Jesus Christ.
And that
is what
God is
saying.
Whether
they receive
Jesus as
Lord and
Saviour or
reject him,
they are
going to be
accountable and
they will
still stand
before the
judgment seat
of Christ.
So it's
important as
a church
that we
seek how
God would
want to
lead us
and use
us to
proclaim and
share his
word.
The
Ninevites,
again,
they were
a barbaric
people with
atrocities and
there's many
people like that
in this society.
But we
have the
words that
bring eternal
life.
We have
news about
a loving
God who
loves his
creation.
So as
God's
word comes
to us,
he sends
us to
bring his
word to
others.
So let us
be encouraged
and I pray
that God
would help
us as we
do mission
in this
community.
The third
and final
point now
I just want
to touch
on,
verse 17.
So we
see in
Jonah's
disobedience,
in Jonah's
running away,
going in the
opposite direction,
verse 3 will
tell us that
he ran from
the Lord and
he's heading
to Tarshish.
The ESV
other version
will say
Tarshish three
times and
that's just
really to
highlight Tarshish
is more
Mediterranean
Europe side.
It's not
going back
into the
Middle East
where
Nineveh is.
He's going
in a different
direction and
that's just
highlighting his
disobedience.
Now with
all of his
disobedience,
look at our
wonderful,
gracious God.
look what
God does
in verse
17.
Jonah is
outright
disrespectful
saying he
fears God
which his
actions does
not show
that he
fears God.
Some of
us,
we can
resonate with
that.
Sometimes
our action
testifies
contrary to
what we say
we are and
how we live
before God.
but look
what God
does.
He provides
a huge
fish for
Jonah so
he doesn't
drown.
And that's
how God
is.
God is a
merciful God.
He's a
gracious God.
He's a
loving and
he's a
kind God.
Often we
all know
how we
get it
wrong.
We know
how we
let God
down.
We often
at times
do not
do exactly
what we
know is
speaking and
directing us
to do.
But he
still shows
his grace,
his mercy,
his love and
his kindness
to us.
And this
is something
that the
nations could
do with
hearing and
knowing.
So that's
God in
this picture
really.
He speaks
to us
church,
he encourages
us,
he challenges
us,
wake up,
wake up.
Do we not
acknowledge and
aware that
our God is
right here
with us?
And also
let us
continue to
receive his
grace and
his mercy.
There's no
need to be
condemned.
Romans told
us there's
no condemnation
for those
who are in
Christ Jesus.
So for
time I'm
just going
to bring
us to a
close and
summarize
the
conclusion.
God's
sovereignty.
Although
Jonah tried
to run
away from
God,
God was
always in
control.
And that's
the same
with our
life.
He's
always in
control,
no matter
the
metaphorical
storm,
whatever's
going on.
By
controlling
the stormy
seas and
providing a
fish,
God displays
his absolute
yet loving
guidance.
Rather than
running from
God,
trusting him
with your
past,
your present
and your
future.
Being
disobedient
and continuing
in sin
leads to
disasters
and a
stormy
life.
And that's
exactly what's
happening in
the world.
The world
rejects our
God.
So there's
disasters and
storms,
metaphorically,
as well as
real-time
storms.
And that's
because we
live in a
rebellious
world that
wants nothing
to do with
God.
Saying yes
to God
brings new
understanding of
God and his
purpose and
plans for
your life
and this
world.
human or
Jonah's
rebellion
evil brings
pain and
disaster.
God's
message of
love and
forgiveness is
not just for
us alone.
God loves
people of
the world
who he
created in
his image.
The Syrians,
the Ninevites,
they didn't
deserve it in
our eyes.
But God
was willing to
spare them
so they
should repent.
It's exactly
the same for
those
who we
might find
it hard
to love
like or
like because
of their
appearance,
their behaviour,
their values,
their culture
or their
belief systems.
In his
mercy, God
did not
reject Jonah
for seeking
to run
from his
assigned
mission.
God has
great love,
patience and
forgiveness.
God loves
each of us
even when
we fail him.
But he
also loves
other people
people,
including
those not
of our
group,
our
background,
our race
or denomination.
When we
accept his
love,
we must
also learn
to accept
all those
whom he
loves.
We will
find it
much easier
to love
others when
we embrace
and accept
the love
of God
unconditionally.
this kind
of love
comes from
surrendering
our lives
to Jesus
as our
Lord and
our
Saviour.
This
invitation
awaits
you today.
All our
ways are
laid before
God.
Our
self-seeking
selfish and
sin is
right before
God.
Today's
word is
declared
right before
you in
your very
ears.
Let us
respond by
calling upon
God in
repentance and
faith in
Jesus Christ
who forgives
us and
show us
forgiveness,
kindness,
mercy and
grace.
So the
application,
take away
what will
take away
hopefully.
Know that
God loves
you dearly.
I cannot
even express
that enough
in words.
God loves
you dearly.
He chooses
to speak to
us through
his word by
his Holy
Spirit.
He knows
everybody's
language.
He knows
how to speak
to you to
get your
attention,
to speak
right to
your heart.
He speaks
your language.
Let us
respond in
obedience to
what we
hear so
we grow
in truth
and knowledge
and know
God more
intimately.
Continue
hearing from
God through
reading his
word and
studying his
word or
even listening
to his
word.
And wake
up, let's
wake up out
of sleep.
Let us be
attentive,
alert,
watchful and
active in
our faith.
Knowing God
neither sleeps
nor slumber
but is
willing and
ready to
use us
for his
glorious
good.
Act upon
the word
of God
that you
hear and
try not to
second guess
what you
hear from
him.
And finally,
take heart
and be
comforted.
God is
merciful and
provides a
way for us
when we
trust in
him.
he always
does.
God will
complete what
he started
in you
despite the
setbacks,
the shortcomings
and wrong
turns we
can often
take.
God is
still invested
in you
and mean
good for you
and for your
life.
Be encouraged.
Your God is
the creator of
all things
and will
never forsake
you.
He continues
to have a
perfect plan
for your
life and
you can
trust him
in your
life.
Don't run
from him,
run to
him.
Let me
pray.
Father God,
we thank
you for your
word that
we have just
heard in
the book
of Jonah.
And Lord,
we do want
to just ask
for your
forgiveness
when we
have second
guessed
you,
when we
have
been
disobedient
and not
carried out
what you
have spoken
unto our
hearts.
Lord,
we thank
you despite
our
shortcomings
and wrongdoings,
you continually
provide a way
for us,
Lord,
to draw us
closer to
you.
Father,
I pray that
those who you
may put upon
our hearts
and those in
this community,
Lord,
give us the
courage and
the boldness,
however,
however you
want to send
us,
however you
may want us
to testify,
and share
your good
news with
others.
Help us
to do
this,
Lord,
for we
know we
cannot do
that of
our own
doing.
And Lord,
we thank
you for
what we've
seen in
the last
months,
Lord,
with those
who have
testified
that your
word was
sent to
them,
they heard
your words
and they
came to
know you
and were
baptized.
So Lord,
for all
that we've
just heard
today,
we thank
you,
all praise
and honour
and glory
belongs
unto you
and you
alone.
So Lord,
I pray
that you
would just
help us
to listen,
respond when
we hear your
voice,
help us
that we
will be
alert,
attentive
and awake.
And Lord,
I thank you
for your grace,
your mercy,
your loving
kindness and
steadfast love
that endures
towards us
forever.
Bless your
people today,
I pray in
Jesus' name.
Amen.