We are starting series going through the book of Jonah, if you guys want to turn there.
If you ask a group of kids to tell a story from the Bible, chances are Jonah is going to be one of those stories.
The book of Jonah is an exciting book with unbelievable characters and situations.
We have God.
We have Jonah, the horrible missionary.
We have God's mission.
We have a storm.
We've got Jonah being swallowed by a big fish.
We have the fact that Jonah lives in a big fish for three days.
We have Jonah being stewed out onto dry land.
We've got a plant that God provides for Jonah.
There are just some extreme situations to this book.
With all the unbelievable things, this book is a great story of redemption.
In fact, each chapter, four chapters, each chapter has a different story of redemption in it.
It's a great story of adventure, of God's power, a great story of God's sovereignty, a great story of the human heart, who we really are.
It's a great missionary story.
With God's mercy shown to Jonah, a Jew, to the Ninevites, Gentiles, and to sailors who are pagans.
It's a great story.
And a lot of times with great stories, we kind of dismiss it for Sunday school lesson material.
But this is a great story for all of us this morning.
So I'm going to read the entire book.
And then we'll dig into the first five verses.
Verse 1.
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying,
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.
But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish.
So he paid the fare and went on board to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his God.
And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them.
But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship, and had lain down and was fast asleep.
So the captain came to him and said to him,
What do you mean, you sleeper?
Arise, call out to your God.
Perhaps the God will give a thought to us that we may not perish.
And they said to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.
So they cast lots, and a lot fell on Jonah.
Then they said to him, Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us.
What is your occupation?
And where do you come from?
What is your country?
And of what people are you?
And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.
Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, What is this that you have done?
For the men knew that he was fleeing for the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
Then they said to him, What shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us?
For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.
He said to them, Pick me up, and hurl me into the sea.
Then the sea will quiet down for you.
For I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.
Nevertheless, the men rode hard to get back to dry land, but they could not.
For the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.
Therefore they called out to the Lord, O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life,
and lay not on us innocent blood.
For you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.
So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.
And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying,
I called out to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me.
Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me.
All your waves and your billows passed over me.
Then I said, I am driven away from your sight.
Yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.
The waters closed in over me to take my life.
The deep surrounded me.
Weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever.
Yet you brought me up my life from the pit.
Brought up my life from the pit.
Oh Lord, my God.
When my life was fading away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you into your holy temple.
Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.
But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you what I have vowed I will pay.
Today, salvation belongs to the Lord.
And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out onto the dry land.
Then the word came to Jonah.
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, Arise.
Go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.
So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.
Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city.
Three days' journey in breadth.
Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey, and he called out,
Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
And the people of Nineveh believed God.
They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
Then the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe,
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
As he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh,
by the decree of the king and his nobles,
let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything.
Let them not feed or drink water, but let them and beasts,
covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God.
Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
Who knows?
God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger,
so that we may not perish.
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way,
God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them,
and he did not do it.
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
And he prayed to the Lord and said,
O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country?
That this is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish?
For I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,
and relenting from disaster.
Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me,
for it is better for me to die than to live.
And the Lord said, Do you do well to be angry?
Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city
and made a booth for himself there.
He sat under it in the shade,
till he should see what would become of the city.
Now the Lord appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah,
that it might be a shade over his head to save him from his discomfort.
So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.
But when dawn came up the next day,
God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.
When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind,
and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint.
And he asked that he might die and said,
It is better for me to die than to live.
But God said to Jonah,
Do you do well to be angry for the plant?
And he said, Yes, I do.
Well, to be angry, angry enough to die.
And the Lord said,
You pity the plant for which you did not labor,
nor did you make it grow which came into being in a night
and perished in a night.
And should not I pity Nineveh,
that great city,
in which there are more than 120,000 persons
who do not know their right hand from their left,
and also much cattle.
So, a little bit of background to the book of Jonah.
The book takes place in the 8th century B.C.
Nineveh was a capital of Assyria.
They're not sure if it was the capital,
but it was definitely a capital.
There were a lot of nobles who lived in this city.
And it was a great city.
Large city.
And the Assyrians were well known by all of Israel
for their brutality and cruelty.
They were known to tear off lips and hands of their victims.
Lips and hands.
The lion's den.
Torture were regular practices for this brutal people.
Historically speaking,
Jonah is a prophet of God.
This isn't the first time that the Word of the Lord came to Jonah.
In fact, we see in 2 Kings,
where God spoke and used Jonah to speak to the people of Israel.
So, Jonah is not new to hearing the Word of the Lord.
This book is very important to us.
Not because of the story,
although that is important.
It's important because Jesus Himself
spoke about Jonah and the big fish.
Jesus Himself spoke and said that this happened.
And if Jesus said it,
and these things did not happen,
then we must discount the rest of the Scripture
and just go on our merry way
and forget about this Christianity thing.
C.S. Lewis wrote it this way.
He says,
A man who was merely a man
and said the sort of things Jesus said
would not be a great moral teacher.
He would either be a lunatic
on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg
or else he would be the devil of hell.
You must make your choice.
Either this man was and is the Son of God
or else a madman or something worse.
You can shut him up for a fool.
You can spit at him and kill him as a demon.
Or you can fall at his feet
and call him Lord and God.
The idea there is that
what Jesus speaks and has spoken
has to happen,
has to be real.
And so Jonah,
spoken from God's mouth in Matthew 12,
has to have happened.
Which makes our time studying it
all the more important.
See, in it we learn about God.
We learn about God's desires.
We learn about His characteristics.
We also learn,
as if we didn't know already,
ourselves,
the heart of man.
And it's always good to remind ourselves
who we are
or who we were.
Because,
because who we were
and who we are
always elevates who Christ is
if we're Christians,
if we're believers.
If we truly look and see who we were
and what Christ did,
then it elevates Christ.
And that makes this book
very important.
I've titled this message,
God's Mission Versus Man's Heart.
And if you know anything about the Bible,
then you know that God trumps man's heart.
God always trumps.
As Creator,
as Mercy Giver,
as Holy,
as Justice Maker,
He trumps us.
But the book of Jonah,
as we've just read,
is filled with great hope.
Great hope
for us in the world.
And that excites me.
And that should excite you as well.
There are three points
to the sermon this morning.
And each point has two parts.
So don't get confused.
We have God speaks
and Jonah hears.
We have God's message
and Jonah's reaction.
We have God's response
and Jonah's pretense.
I want to make it clear
that God's mission,
and this is going to be repeated
as we go through this book,
God's mission is completely
dependent upon God.
Not dependent upon you,
not dependent upon me,
not dependent upon Jonah.
It is dependent upon God.
What God wants to do,
what He desires,
it happens.
What He creates,
it becomes.
He gives a mission
and it happens.
So God's sovereignty
is clearly displayed
in the book of Jonah.
All right,
so the first point this morning.
God speaks
and Jonah hears.
Verse 1.
It says,
Now the word of the Lord
came to Jonah,
the son of Amittai.
We have the two characters.
We have God,
we have the Lord,
and we have Jonah.
God speaks
and Jonah hears.
As I've said already,
this is not the first time
that God spoke to Jonah.
In 2 Kings 14,
we have the only other place
where Jonah is mentioned
in all of Scripture.
And God has spoken
through Jonah
to the people of Israel.
Now in my opinion,
before studying this book,
I thought Jonah
was just a goober.
I thought he was an idiot.
That God spoke to him clearly,
however that was.
Voice, word,
picture in the sky,
who knows?
It doesn't tell us.
But God spoke to him clearly,
and he goes the opposite direction.
What a fool!
But honestly,
he's quite different than that.
Because in 2 Kings,
he was already a prophet,
and the word of the Lord
came to him.
And he spoke to an evil king,
an evil Israel.
Israel was not godly.
They were not God-fearing
at this time.
So he speaks
to the people of Israel,
and King Jeroboam
does exactly what Jonah says.
And God blesses Israel.
In fact,
the land of Israel
had grown under this king
to the size that it originally was
under King Solomon,
which was the biggest
that it had been up to that point.
So God used Jonah
to bless Israel.
There's a chance,
a great chance,
that Jonah was wealthy
and popular.
That maybe he was hero-like
to the people of Israel.
So he was familiar
with God's voice.
He knew
if God spoke to him.
As we know,
Jonah didn't really hear God,
though, right?
In Hebrew,
in Deuteronomy 6,
we have the,
it's called the Shema.
Hear, O Israel,
the Lord is one.
In Hebrew,
obedience is always connected
with hearing.
Kind of like us today.
Sometimes we say,
I listened,
but I didn't hear you.
I heard the noise,
but I didn't really hear you.
In Hebrew,
obedience
was always connected
with hearing.
So that,
if you didn't obey
what was told to you,
then clearly you didn't hear.
If you didn't do
what God had said,
then you didn't really hear.
Jonah
didn't really hear.
He listened.
He picked out
what he wanted to.
Go to Nineveh.
Oh,
I'm going to go the other way.
He didn't hear
what God had said.
And I think
it happens to us
a lot.
We read Scripture.
We read the Word of God.
We listen.
But do we really hear?
Do we really follow
what we've read
with obedience?
So God spoke.
The Word of the Lord
came to Jonah.
And Jonah
listened.
The Word of the Lord
fell on his ears,
but he did not hear.
All right,
so that's the first one.
The next two points
we're going to spend
a little more time with.
So that was
God speaks
and Jonah hears.
Verse 1
clearly tells us
the two characters
in this spot.
Next we have
God's message
and Jonah's reaction.
Verse 2
tells us
God's message.
Arise,
go to Nineveh,
that great city,
and call out against it
for their evil
has come up
before me.
Clearly,
we don't have
the exact message
of what Jonah
was supposed to say.
We see what he said
in chapter 3
where he said,
40 days
and Nineveh
shall be overthrown.
Not a real
articulate message.
Probably
a little Jonah
sided there.
We have not been,
it has not been
clearly told to us,
but what we do know
is that
Nineveh
heard the message.
They repented.
They repented
and they started
worshipping
the Lord,
Yahweh.
It was a call
to repentance,
to turn from their sin
and turn towards God.
And it's the message
that Peter preached
at Pentecost.
It's the message
that Paul preaches.
It's the message
that Jesus preached.
It is the story
of the Bible.
God's redemption
to a repentant
people.
When Martin Luther
nailed the 95 Theses
to the church
in Wittenberg,
number one
on his list,
the Christian life
is to be a life
of repentance.
Because that is
the message
of Scripture.
Scripture.
This is where we
stand.
This is the message
to us.
In this story,
this is where we
sit.
We must be a
people of repentance.
This message is not
just to Nineveh,
it is to us.
Look at verse 2
again.
Look at it.
It starts with two
commands.
Arise,
go.
Go.
To give a sense
of urgency.
Not just get up
at your leisure,
make your way
over to Nineveh.
Arise and go.
In other words,
hear your orders,
now move.
Hear your orders,
now go.
As I've talked
about the Assyrians,
and I've talked
about the people
of Nineveh,
this would be
like in 1944,
for God to tell
you to go to
Nazi Germany
and preach
against Hitler
and the people
of Germany
who are buying
into the Nazi
regime.
That's probably
pretty accurate.
We would say,
that's crazy.
What would make
it worse is if
you were Jewish
and God told you
to go do that.
That would be
even better.
God has sent
me to tell you,
Hitler,
that you are
going to hell
unless you repent.
Five seconds
maybe,
you'd be dead.
Unless God
had a plan
for the Nazi
Germany,
like he has
here for the
Ninevites.
You remember
when you were
a child and
you played
hide and seek?
You know,
if somebody
was trying to
find you and
you happened
to be just
around the
corner,
you maybe
would close
your eyes
because,
you know,
if they
couldn't see
you,
or if you
couldn't see
them,
they couldn't
see you.
You guys
relate to that?
We do it in
class and in
prayer time,
you know,
when you
don't want
to be called,
we put our
heads down.
No,
I really
don't want
to pray,
so I'm
just going
to,
I can't
see him,
he can't
see me.
We do
that.
We,
as people,
tend to take
that same
practice
and apply
it to our
theology.
We apply
it to what
we think
God is.
We think
that if we're
not looking
at God,
if our
eyes are
closed,
that he
doesn't
exist,
or that he's
not paying
attention,
or he
doesn't
care.
If we
just ignore
him,
and this
isn't just
non-Christians,
this is
believers,
too.
These are
Christians who
do this.
I do
this.
You know
the difference
between a
Christian and
a non-Christian
here?
Is that the
Christian knows
he's doing
it.
The non-Christian
has no idea.
And that's
what the
Ninevites
were doing.
They were
existing with
their eyes
closed,
so to speak.
They were
existing without
knowing God's
God existed,
without knowing
that he was
watching them.
And honestly,
this is the
reason why
Jonah didn't
want to go.
Chapter 4
tells us he
didn't want to
go because
God was going
to show mercy
on them.
But think
about where
Jonah's coming
from.
He's coming
from Israel,
who are
practicing evil
things.
Idol
worship.
their being
evil.
So,
if God
showed mercy
on the
pagans of
Nineveh,
how much
greater is
the judgment
going to be
on a people
of Israel
who knew
God existed,
who knows
that God
is there?
How much
greater is
that judgment
going to be?
And for us,
it's the same
thing.
It's scary.
If we continue
to go on,
if we are
children of
God,
and we
continue to
practice
immorality,
if we continue
to be evil
and deny
the existence
of God,
because we
do that,
guys.
We do it.
God
will get your
attention.
He will get
my attention.
We have to
repent.
The Christian
life is a
life of
repentance
for God's
glory and
for our
good.
End of
verse 2.
It says,
Call out
against it
for their
evil has
come up
before me.
God is
the only
audience that
matters.
He is
it.
He's the
one who
judges.
He must
live,
we must
live to
an audience
of one.
Not our
mom,
not our
dad,
not our
girlfriend,
boyfriend,
wife,
husband,
boss,
pastor.
We must
live to
an audience
of one.
No one
else matters.
And here,
it doesn't
say that
their evil
has come up
against you,
Jonah,
so I'm
going to
get them.
Or their
evil has
come up
against Israel,
so I'm
going to
get them.
Because their
evil has
come up
before me.
The
actions of
the
Ninevites,
denying the
existence of
God by
their
practices,
tells us
they thought
God did
not exist.
And
verse 3
tells us
that Jonah
thinks God
is small.
Look at
verse 3.
But Jonah
rose to
flee to
Tarshish
from the
presence of
the Lord.
He went
down to
Joppa
and found
a ship
going to
Tarshish.
So he
paid the
fare and
went on
board to
go with
them to
Tarshish
away from
the presence
of the
Lord.
So that
was God's
message.
Go to
Nineveh.
Preach
to them
repentance.
Here we
have Jonah's
reaction.
Jonah
rose.
He rose.
He got
the first
commandment
right.
Remember it
says arise
go.
He rose.
But he
went,
opposite
direction.
Tarshish is
repeated here
three times.
And I
don't know if
you guys
noticed that
when I've
read it.
I mean it's
a clearly
obvious word
Tarshish.
It's three
times repeated.
And that's
to show the
severity of
Jonah's
disobedience.
The author
makes it
clear that
Jonah
disobeyed
in a
big way.
Jonah's
message was
to go to
Nineveh.
Which from
where Jonah
was we're
not exactly
sure but
was to
go northeast.
So Jonah
was to go
northeast.
And Joppa
is southwest.
Joppa is
southwest.
That's pretty
much opposite.
On top of
that Tarshish
most people
say was a
city on the
coast of
Spain.
Now he's
got to go
through the
entire
Mediterranean
Sea to
get there.
And that
was his
place he
wanted to
go.
So not
only was he
going the
opposite
direction but
he was
going 1500
plus miles
away from
where God
wanted him
to go.
Crazy.
He knew
he did not
want to go
to Nineveh.
He knew
and he went
the opposite
way.
And we say
what a fool.
What an
idiot.
And yet we
do the same
thing.
What was the
last thing that
God told you
to do?
What was the
last thing that
you know
clearly God
wanted you to
do?
Did you do
it?
Have you been
faithful in all
things?
Because poor
Jonah, this is
one situation.
We only have
two in the
Bible so he's
shooting 50%.
Now you
and I, how
many times has
God told you
to do
something?
What are we
shooting?
30%?
80%?
And we're
given this.
We're given
the revealed
Word of God.
We're given
the revealed
will of God
by His Word.
We know
what we're
supposed to do
a lot of
times.
Yet we
still
deny.
This was
Jonah's
mistake.
He thought
he could run
from God.
He thought
that if I
just go far
enough, if I
just pick a
destination, I'm
going to go to
Australia.
He just
picked a place
that was
opposite.
He thought
that he could
run from God.
from the
presence of
the Lord
is what
verse 3
says twice.
Again, the
author is
repeating
himself to
show the
ridiculousness
of Jonah
and the
utter
disobedience
of this
man.
From the
presence of
the Lord.
The author is
not telling us
that Jonah
thought he
could run
from the
presence of
the Lord.
Verse 9 of
chapter 1
tells us that
Jonah knew
who God
was.
I am a
Hebrew and I
fear the
Lord, the
God of
heaven, who
made the
sea and the
dry land.
He knew who
God was.
It's more
like Jonah
is saying, or
the author is
saying that
Jonah is no
longer standing
in God's
presence.
He's no
longer standing
with God.
He's no
longer doing
the will of
God.
Kind of like
Elijah who
said, I am
standing in the
presence of
God.
I am doing
what God has
commanded me
to do.
It's kind of
that same
language.
Jonah is
not standing
with God.
And the
funny thing
with this
story is
that Jonah
probably thought
he was doing
good.
He thought he
was doing
okay.
I take
back good.
Okay.
Because God
tells him what
to do,
wherever his
location is,
and he has
to go
southwest to
Joppa.
And a long
journey, I'm
sure.
Everybody
walked back
then.
However long
it took him,
he got to
Joppa.
And in his
head he says,
I'm going to
go to Tarshish
before he gets
to Joppa.
And there
happens to be a
ship there
who's going to
Tarshish.
So, not only
has he gotten
through the long
journey, he now
has a ship
that's going to
Tarshish.
And lo and
behold, he's got
enough money to
pay for the
ship to go to
Tarshish.
However long
this journey is,
he probably
thought, God
is surely
blessing.
Everything is
working out.
this is great.
But, we
think this
too.
We do
this as
well.
You buy a
car that
stretches the
budget, that
stresses the
finances, and
because you
haven't had a
wreck, you
say, God
wills it.
God is
blessing.
Or, you're
dating a
non-believer, and
things have been
going great.
You haven't
gone too far
physically, and
she or he
loves me, and
we have good
conversations, we
support each
other.
We haven't got
pregnant yet, so
God wills it.
God is
blessing.
Or, what
about not
really buying
into this
Christian thing?
What about
going to
church?
Going to
eat afterwards
with church
people?
Talk about
spiritual things,
but deep
down, you
know you're
not even a
Christian.
But, I
haven't lost a
loved one yet.
God hasn't
really got my
attention yet.
I'll wait.
I haven't
fallen deep
into sin,
into whatever
that may be.
God still
blesses.
Incredible!
See, Jonah
had a smooth
ride to
Joppa.
A smooth
ride to
Joppa.
Doesn't say he
had any
trouble.
He thought he
was going to
have a smooth
ride to
Tarshish.
So, there's
Jonah's
reaction.
Now, we
have God's
response and
Jonah's
pretense.
verses 4 and
5.
I call this
God's
oh yeah
moment.
You're going
to go that
way?
Oh yeah.
I'll show
you.
Verse 4.
But the
Lord hurled
a great
wind upon
the sea,
and there
was a
mighty tempest
on the
sea, so
that the
ship
threatened
to break
up.
This
verse
has become
fascinating
to me.
God's
sovereignty
is displayed
in the
obvious.
God is
in control
of the
obvious
things.
The
wind,
the sea,
but he's
also
sovereign
over the
not so
obvious,
the ship
in this
verse.
And we'll
get to
that in
just a
minute.
Jonah
disobeyed.
He
disobeyed
God.
But,
the sea,
the wind,
and even
the ship
obeyed
God.
They did
what God
commanded.
Look at
verse 4.
But the
Lord
hurled
a great
wind
upon
the
sea.
This
language
is like
a man
hurling
a spear.
Hurling
a spear
at a
target,
at an
animal,
or whatever,
an enemy,
with
strength
and
intensity.
God
hurled
this
wind
at
Jonah,
at the
ship
that
Jonah
was
in.
The
wind
obeyed.
Went
where
God
commanded.
the sea
obeyed
and
created
a storm
like
nothing
the
sailors
had
seen.
Now look,
the ship
obeyed
as well.
So that
the ship
threatened
to break
up.
The ESV
translation
is correct.
To kind
of say
it this
way,
the ship
in Hebrew
is personified.
destroyed.
So that
the ship
considered
breaking
up.
Considered
tearing
in half
because the
storm
was so
great.
So whatever
that looks
like on
the ship,
I have
no idea.
But the
storm
was so
great,
the wind
obeyed
God,
the sea
obeyed
God,
and the
ship
considered
to break
apart.
They're
God's
sovereign
hand.
And when
the Lord
gives a
mission,
when He
commands you
to do
something,
that
something
is going
to get
done.
Whatever
that is,
God will
have His
mission
complete.
Here,
the storm
that God
threw at
Jonah,
and that
they had
to endure,
was a
storm big
enough,
and great
enough,
that it
scared the
sailors,
these guys
who sailed
for a living,
these guys
who lived
on the
Mediterranean
Sea.
It scared
them.
Verse 5,
the mariners,
however you say
that word,
were afraid.
The sailors
were afraid.
And they
went into
survival mode.
Let's throw
this off.
Let's throw
this off.
Let's lighten
the load.
We have to
survive this
great storm.
Jonah's
pretense,
or his
assumption
was that
everything was
good,
that everything
was okay.
I made it to
Joppa.
I found a
boat.
I had enough
money.
Here I go
off to
Tarshish.
He closed
his eyes
while God
was sending
a storm.
God was
orchestrating
a great
symphony
while Jonah
had his
eyes
closed.
How many
of you guys
are doing
that?
How many
of us
are doing
that?
How many
are ignoring
the existence
of God
when in
reality,
God is
working?
God is
sovereign,
then you
know that
he does
not need
you or
me to
fulfill his
plan,
to fulfill
his mission.
But yet,
God invites us
to join him.
He invites us
into his
kingdom work.
He invited
Jonah,
and he
decided he
was still
going to
use Jonah,
and he
got his
attention.
Have you
fulfilled the
mission that
God has
for you?
Are you
sitting down
below while
a storm is
raging,
while your
eyes close
thinking that
God does
not exist or
care or that
even everything
is okay because
nothing severe
has happened?
No big
storms have
happened in
my life.
For some
of you,
fulfilling the
mission of
God is
receiving the
free gift of
salvation.
Right now,
for some of
you, it is
receiving this
gift of
salvation.
God's
mission for
Jonah was
to go to a
pagan Assyrian
city and
preach to
them repentance.
Your mission
might just
be to repent
right now.
Nineveh was
not a Jewish
city.
They were an
enemy of
Israel and
of people who
practiced
brutality on
the Jews.
In my
opinion,
Jonah is
warranted for
not going.
He's right on
for not wanting
to go.
But my
opinion does
not matter.
Your opinion
does not
matter.
God's
mission is
not dependent
on us.
It is
dependent upon
Him.
God desires
that His
creation,
that His
people,
that people
would know
His Son
and be His
children.
Praise God
for the book
of Jonah.
Praise God
for this
experience,
this time,
that we're
able to
read that
Jonah was
to go to
a Gentile
nation,
a pagan
nation,
a non-Jewish
nation,
and preach
repentance.
Because that's
you and me.
We are
Gentiles.
Unless you're
a Jewish,
we are Gentiles.
We are
outside the
chosen people
of God.
We are
not of
Israel.
And in
the book
of Jonah,
before
Christ,
Jonah was
to go
and to
preach
to Gentiles.
What a
great story.
What a
great mission.
Praise God
for His
mission.
Praise God
for calling
a people to
Him who
are not
Jewish.
Praise God
for calling
based on
Him alone.
Because I
guarantee if
I'm Irish,
I bet no
British person
is going to
come and
preach to
Irish people
back in the
1400s or
whatever.
Clay, you
can correct
me later.
It's not
based on
anybody but
God alone.
His
message,
Jonah didn't
like.
He didn't
like it.
Jonah
worshipped
himself and
his desires
instead of
worshipping the
Creator.
And here's
the bottom
line.
I'm going to
close in just
a minute.
But if we
truly understand
the mercy of
God, if we
truly understood
the mercy of
God, then we
would not act
like Jonah.
God, we
would act like
another prophet.
One who
went in the
presence of
God, where
his sin and
God's holiness
was revealed,
knew exactly
what he had
to do.
So,
turn to
Isaiah chapter
6.
We've gone
here a few
times in the
last couple
years, but it
just clearly
illustrates to
us what our
proper response
is to the
gospel.
We're going to
read just a few
verses.
Isaiah 6.
And the
foundations of
the threshold
shook at the
voice of him
who called,
and the house
was filled with
smoke, and I
said, woe is
me, for I am
lost, for I am
a man of unclean
lips, and I
dwell in the
midst of a
people of
unclean lips,
for my eyes
have seen the
King, the
Lord of
hosts.
Then one of
the seraphim
flew to me,
having in his
hand a burning
coal that had
taken with
tongs from
the altar, and
he touched
my mouth and
said, behold,
this has
touched your
lips, your
guilt is taken
away, and
your sin
atoned for.
The gospel.
And I
heard the
voice of the
Lord saying,
whom shall I
send, and
who will go
for us?
And Isaiah's
response is,
then I said,
here am I,
send me.
Here am I,
send me.
Jonah didn't
really understand
the mercy of
God.
He knew that
God was
merciful.
He knew that
it would
happen.
But Jonah's
Jewish.
Jonah's the
chosen people.
And he
decided that
what God was
going to do,
I don't want
anything to do
with that.
Guys, if we
truly understood
the mercy of
God, if we
truly understood
the gospel,
our response
would be,
here am I,
send me.
Wherever that
is, whatever
that looks
like.
The gospel
that puts
your sinfulness,
your depravity,
up against
God's holiness
and His
justice.
Justice that
determines we
are guilty.
That we
deserve the
wrath of
God because
of our sin.
Ephesians 2,
but God
being rich in
mercy because
of the great
love with
which He
loved us,
even when we
were dead in
our trespasses,
made us alive
together with
Christ.
For our
sake He made
Him to be
sin who knew
no sin,
that in Him
we might
become the
righteousness
of God.
Jesus died
and rose from
the grave for
you and for
me so that
we, if we
repent, if we
do as the
Ninevites did,
that He will
show us mercy
and that we
will be, as
the Logos
questioned,
we will be
righteous in
Christ.
We will be
made right
because of what
Christ has
done.
Christ will
be mediating
on our
behalf.
He is
mine.
I pay for
Him.
He is
right.
God is
merciful and
He alone is
worthy of all
praise.
Let's pray.
God is