WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.679 We're reading tonight, again from Jonah chapter one, we're working our way through the book 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:07.640 of Jonah these next few weeks. 00:00:07.640 --> 00:00:11.040 Simon will be leading us in those. 00:00:11.040 --> 00:00:22.920 So Jonah chapter one, page 774 in the church Bibles, and we will read the first 17 verses. 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:28.600 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amitya, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:33.679 that great city, and call out against it, for the evil has come up before me. 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:37.600 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:41.920 He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish, so he paid the fare and went 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:46.960 down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:51.560 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:55.120 sea so that the ship threatened to break up. 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:59.519 Then the mariners were afraid and each cried out to his God, and they hurled the cargo 00:00:59.519 --> 00:01:03.239 that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. 00:01:03.239 --> 00:01:07.400 But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had laid down and was fast 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:08.640 asleep. 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:12.159 So the captain came and said to him, what do you mean you sleeper? 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:14.719 Arise, call out to your God. 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:20.599 Perhaps the God will give a thought to us that we may not perish. 00:01:20.599 --> 00:01:24.920 And they said to one another, come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:27.000 this evil has come upon us. 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:30.240 So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 00:01:30.240 --> 00:01:34.480 Then they said to him, tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:37.120 What is your occupation and where do you come from? 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:40.200 What is your country and of what people are you? 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:45.000 And he said to them, I am a Hebrew and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven who made the sea 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:47.040 and the dry land. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:52.079 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, what is this that you have done? 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:55.599 And the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:57.200 them. 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:01.679 Then they said to him, what shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us? 00:02:01.679 --> 00:02:04.239 For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:08.079 He said to them, pick me up and hurl me into the sea. 00:02:08.079 --> 00:02:10.120 Then the sea will quiet down for you. 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:14.840 For I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you. 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:19.520 Nevertheless the men rode hard to get back to dry land, but they could not. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:23.760 For the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 00:02:23.760 --> 00:02:28.600 Therefore they called out to the Lord, O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life. 00:02:28.600 --> 00:02:33.600 And lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you. 00:02:33.600 --> 00:02:39.200 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from his raging. 00:02:39.200 --> 00:02:43.480 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and 00:02:43.480 --> 00:02:44.480 made vows. 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:50.000 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:53.159 fish three days and three nights. 00:02:53.159 --> 00:02:56.879 This is God's word. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:57.879 Thank you, Lewis. 00:02:57.879 --> 00:02:59.519 That was great. 00:02:59.519 --> 00:03:01.919 It's really good to be here with you again tonight. 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:04.519 It's the second sermon of this sermon series. 00:03:04.519 --> 00:03:12.599 We go through the book of Jonah, and we have talked about Jonah last week already. 00:03:12.599 --> 00:03:16.840 Last week was all about Jonah running away, and if last week was about Jonah running away, 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:21.199 then this week is about God chasing after Jonah. 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:26.039 So last week we said that, like Jonah, we all run from God, and deep down in your heart, 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:27.039 you know this. 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:28.400 You know this is true. 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:32.959 And this week we have read the rest of the story that we didn't go to last week. 00:03:32.959 --> 00:03:36.000 And now we see that God is chasing after Jonah. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:38.439 Sin means running away from God. 00:03:38.439 --> 00:03:41.280 Grace means God running after you. 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:47.080 So I've got a few things I want to point out today in this text, so we'll dive right in. 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:52.080 And the first thing I want to show you is that God chases Jonah even and is descend 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:54.400 into death and chaos. 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:55.599 Wow. 00:03:55.599 --> 00:03:56.920 What do I mean by that? 00:03:56.920 --> 00:04:01.520 So Jonah is running into death and chaos. 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:04.719 And what I mean by that is simply this. 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:10.039 The point of the text in this chapter is to say that Jonah is descending into death. 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:11.479 Why do I say this? 00:04:11.479 --> 00:04:14.479 The language, the original Hebrew hints at this. 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:15.479 Okay. 00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:18.439 Jonah flees from the presence of the Lord. 00:04:18.439 --> 00:04:22.599 Now we learn in the Bible that the Lord is the God of life. 00:04:22.599 --> 00:04:23.599 He gives life. 00:04:23.599 --> 00:04:24.959 He is life himself. 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:31.079 So fleeing from the presence of the Lord is already a really bad sign. 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:33.240 Right? 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:35.000 That is hinting at death. 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:36.639 So where does Jonah flee? 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:43.759 He flees down to Joppa, and this word down comes up a few times in these verses. 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:48.959 He flees down to Joppa, and then he goes down into a boat to Tarshish. 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:49.959 And that's the next thing. 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:54.719 In the Old Testament, we read about ships to Tarshish or the ships off Tarshish two 00:04:54.719 --> 00:04:56.120 other times. 00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:57.919 In both times, the ships get wrecked. 00:04:57.919 --> 00:04:59.919 So that's not a good sign. 00:04:59.919 --> 00:05:03.279 That hints at death as well. 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:09.559 So this is all language of chaos, destruction, and it doesn't stop there. 00:05:09.559 --> 00:05:15.479 If you know your Bible well, you know that the sea is never a great sign. 00:05:15.479 --> 00:05:23.000 The sea in Jewish literature, in the Bible, the sea is always a synonym for chaos, for 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:24.000 sin. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:29.799 So Jonah goes down into the boat on the sea. 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:37.160 And the reason why the sea is a sign for sin, death, and chaos is, I mean, we can see it 00:05:37.160 --> 00:05:38.160 now as well. 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:39.160 Right? 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:42.000 We look at the ocean, we see water, we see big waves. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:47.319 We remember maybe the tsunami in Fukushima in 2011. 00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:49.040 There's destructive power in water. 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:51.120 It's uncontrollable. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:53.319 It's the antithesis to creation. 00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:55.280 It uncreates things. 00:05:55.279 --> 00:06:01.839 And so in the Bible, in the Old Testament, this theme is picked up and it makes the point 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:03.359 that the sea is bad. 00:06:03.359 --> 00:06:04.359 It's the unknown. 00:06:04.359 --> 00:06:05.359 It's dark. 00:06:05.359 --> 00:06:06.359 It's deep. 00:06:06.359 --> 00:06:10.879 We don't know what's there, right? 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:13.519 And then Jonah continues to go even further down. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:16.159 He goes into the belly of the ship. 00:06:16.159 --> 00:06:18.159 The Hebrew word for that is interesting. 00:06:18.159 --> 00:06:22.519 The Hebrew word that describes the inner part of the ship, it's actually a word that can 00:06:22.519 --> 00:06:24.759 mean a lot of things. 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:29.879 It just describes the extremity of any given space, so a mountain range. 00:06:29.879 --> 00:06:36.719 Or for example, the far north or the far south or something really big, like the whole earth 00:06:36.719 --> 00:06:41.560 or the innermost, like in this verse. 00:06:41.560 --> 00:06:47.240 And this word is used in two other places in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 32. 00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:52.199 And there it comes up in connection with Sheol. 00:06:52.199 --> 00:06:57.319 And Sheol is a bit of a complicated thing that I can't really explain tonight because 00:06:57.319 --> 00:07:01.360 we don't have time, so if you're interested, ask Cori. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:02.360 I'll just say this. 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:06.519 It means something like the realms of death and darkness. 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:10.759 So it's not a fast stretch to say that in this context, it's also revoking images of 00:07:10.759 --> 00:07:12.039 the underworld. 00:07:12.039 --> 00:07:16.000 So throughout this chapter, we have a motive of descent. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:21.240 Jonah goes down to Joppa, down into the boat, down into the inside of the boat, away from 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:27.960 the presence of the Lord, on the sea, below deck, and there he falls asleep. 00:07:27.960 --> 00:07:32.480 And the word for falling asleep in this verse, I know we look at a lot of Hebrew here, but 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:38.519 this word is also unusual because it's not the normal word for sleep that is used elsewhere. 00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:44.480 This is a kind of sleep that is induced by God, usually when God reveals himself to someone. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:50.920 Or again, it comes up in the context of death and destruction. 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:54.400 So all of this is pointing towards something. 00:07:54.400 --> 00:08:02.840 All of this is to say Jonah is fleeing from the presence of the Lord into death, the underworld, 00:08:02.840 --> 00:08:04.560 chaos, sin. 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:09.840 In other words, it shows the consequences of Jonah's action of fleeing. 00:08:09.840 --> 00:08:13.720 And yet, God is chasing after him. 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:16.560 God is chasing Jonah to the end. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:17.560 How? 00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:22.560 And in the verse this last week, God is sending a great storm, which in the Bible is a sign 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:24.680 of divine wrath. 00:08:24.680 --> 00:08:29.360 We read about this in the Psalms, in Amos, in Jeremiah. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:35.639 And in Jeremiah, there's a very interesting passage, Jeremiah chapter 23, where God rebukes 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:41.159 false prophets who refuse to warn sinners of impending judgment. 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:43.159 Now, does that ring a bell? 00:08:43.159 --> 00:08:47.639 A prophet who refuses to warn sinners of impending judgment? 00:08:47.639 --> 00:08:51.879 Let me read a few verses from Jeremiah 23. 00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:56.159 It says this, For who among them has stood in the counsel of the Lord to see and to 00:08:56.159 --> 00:08:57.279 hear his word? 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:00.600 Or who has paid attention to his word and listened? 00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:04.719 Behold, and now this is interesting, the storm of the Lord. 00:09:04.719 --> 00:09:09.319 Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest, it will burst upon the head of the wicked. 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:13.800 The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intense 00:09:13.800 --> 00:09:14.879 of his heart. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:17.680 In the latter days, you will understand it clearly. 00:09:17.680 --> 00:09:20.640 I did not send the prophets, yet they ran. 00:09:20.640 --> 00:09:25.560 I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. 00:09:25.560 --> 00:09:32.480 Jeremiah 23 here is aimed at false prophets who haven't received the word of God, and 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:34.200 yet they ran to preach it. 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:36.800 Now, in Jonah's case, it's the other way around. 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:43.159 Jonah has received the word, and then he ran, so he wouldn't preach it. 00:09:43.159 --> 00:09:47.000 Yet it is at the core the same thing. 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:50.399 It's a prophet not doing his duty. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:56.959 So in this chapter, we read that a judgment has fallen on Jonah. 00:09:56.959 --> 00:10:04.719 Yet one of the things we learn in Jonah is that judgment and salvation, they are part 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:07.519 of the same thing. 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:11.720 Without judgment, there is nothing to be saved from. 00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:14.920 So this is what we see here in Jonah. 00:10:14.920 --> 00:10:20.360 And we see God saving through the storm, through judgment. 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:26.960 We see God saving through the use of creation, through his sovereignty, because there's an 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:30.040 irony going on in this chapter. 00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:35.159 Jonah is trying to get away from God, but everything he's using to try to get away from 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:37.120 God turns against him. 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:41.399 So the boat is being thrown around by the wind and waves. 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:48.959 The sea, the wind, even the people on the boat are used by God to bring Jonah back to 00:10:48.959 --> 00:10:54.000 the land, to his mission, and ultimately to Nineveh. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:59.519 And we can just press pause on this for a moment, because I thought this is interesting. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:05.879 Do you ever feel like God is speaking to you through nature, through a Bible verse, through 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:08.000 other people? 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:13.639 This is just a quick moment to say God communicates to you through his word, through the word 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:19.000 preached, but also through conversations, through people in your life, and through the 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:20.399 beauty of nature. 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:27.019 Okay, God is chasing after Jonah in this chapter. 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:32.360 So even when Jonah decides to get as far away from God as he possibly could, God runs 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:34.120 after him. 00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:39.240 And the beautiful thing in this chapter is that there's another group of people that 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:42.600 God is saving at the same time. 00:11:42.600 --> 00:11:44.519 So let's look at the sailors. 00:11:44.519 --> 00:11:47.000 This is the second point. 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:48.199 True fear of the Lord. 00:11:48.199 --> 00:11:51.159 What does it mean to truly fear the Lord? 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:54.559 The sailors, they're a man who don't know God. 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:58.639 Yet in this chapter, there are more pious than Jonah himself. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:11:59.639 What do I mean? 00:11:59.639 --> 00:12:02.479 In the beginning of the story, they're afraid of the storm. 00:12:02.479 --> 00:12:07.079 They fear the waves, they fear the storm, they think they'll die in verse five, and 00:12:07.079 --> 00:12:10.399 they each cry out to their own God. 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:12.679 Jonah at the same time, what does he do? 00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:14.519 He's asleep. 00:12:14.519 --> 00:12:18.839 They continue to struggle to fight for their lives. 00:12:18.839 --> 00:12:21.459 They continue to throw cargo overboard. 00:12:21.459 --> 00:12:23.199 What is Jonah doing? 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:24.680 He's asleep. 00:12:24.680 --> 00:12:28.040 In other words, the sailors are fighting to stay alive. 00:12:28.040 --> 00:12:32.320 Well it seems like Jonah has given himself over to death. 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:38.320 And it's probably when the captain goes down into the belly of the ship, into the downstairs 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:44.320 room in the ship, to find more cargo to throw overboard, that he sees Jonah lying down between 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:52.520 all this stuff, and he wakes him up and he says, arise, cry out, which is another really 00:12:52.519 --> 00:12:59.120 interesting thing, because these exact two words are the words that God uses to tell 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:02.840 Jonah to arise and cry out against Nineveh. 00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:07.439 So Jonah must have felt that and would have been reminded of that. 00:13:07.439 --> 00:13:09.759 And the captain says, pray to your God, Jonah. 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:11.879 That's what we all do. 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:14.399 Does Jonah pray to his God? 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:16.559 No, Jonah doesn't. 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:19.120 Does Jonah tell them why there is a storm? 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:21.199 No, Jonah doesn't. 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:23.800 Jonah is extremely unhelpful at this point. 00:13:23.800 --> 00:13:28.520 He's disobedient, he's stubborn, and he's actually okay with them just struggling for 00:13:28.520 --> 00:13:30.840 their lives in the storm. 00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:36.680 And it's only when they cast lots that Jonah actually starts talking. 00:13:36.680 --> 00:13:41.280 And casting lots, if you didn't know, is a very typical thing for Israelites in the Old 00:13:41.280 --> 00:13:45.400 Testament to get a revelation of God's will. 00:13:45.400 --> 00:13:50.120 So again, we are reminded, the sailors, they are trying to stay alive. 00:13:50.120 --> 00:13:55.560 They are trying to find out what is going on while Jonah is doing nothing and is disobedient 00:13:55.560 --> 00:13:57.600 and reluctant. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:01.279 And then Jonah tells them, finally, he's a Hebrew. 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:06.600 He fears the Lord, and he admits that he is fleeing from this God who made the heavens, 00:14:06.600 --> 00:14:09.080 the sea, and the dry land. 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:11.679 And that that's the reason for the storm. 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:15.360 And the sailors, they can't believe it. 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.480 I have a good friend, a really dear friend here in Edinburgh. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:20.240 Very strong Christian. 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:26.279 And he shared his testimony with me from the time before he was a Christian. 00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:28.320 And he told me, he was up to all sorts. 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:30.360 I remember he told me his testimony. 00:14:30.360 --> 00:14:32.940 He recalled his non-Christian friends. 00:14:32.940 --> 00:14:38.279 They were shocked at the stuff he did as a supposedly Christian man. 00:14:38.279 --> 00:14:42.480 He was stealing, cheating, gossiping more than all of the other guys. 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:47.440 And in my mind, I can just see him telling them about what he had done, and they go, 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:50.920 you've done what? 00:14:50.920 --> 00:14:51.920 They're shocked. 00:14:51.920 --> 00:14:54.680 They say, you've done what have you done? 00:14:54.680 --> 00:14:59.200 You claim to believe in God, the Lord of the sea and earth, and you're saying that you 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:01.280 ran away from this God? 00:15:01.280 --> 00:15:03.280 Are you out of your mind, Jonah? 00:15:03.280 --> 00:15:06.720 Do you see what's going on in this chapter? 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:11.000 Jonah says he fears the Lord, but he doesn't really fear the Lord. 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:13.080 He doesn't really act like it. 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:15.680 The sailors, they don't know God. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:19.719 They fear the storm because they don't know why the storm is there. 00:15:19.719 --> 00:15:26.759 But as soon as they find out that it's because Yahweh sent it, they fear the storm even more. 00:15:26.759 --> 00:15:30.359 In verse 10, it actually literally says they feared with great fear. 00:15:30.359 --> 00:15:33.199 But then in verse 16, it has changed. 00:15:33.199 --> 00:15:36.759 It says they feared the Lord with great fear. 00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:42.000 There is an irony here because the sailors are actually much more pious than Jonah in 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:43.279 this chapter. 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:49.279 The fear of them, it shifts from terror of the unknown to awestruck fear of Yahweh, the 00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:52.519 God of the land and the sea. 00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:55.439 And that's the appropriate reaction. 00:15:55.439 --> 00:15:57.039 What is Jonah doing? 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:02.120 He says he fears the Lord, yet he runs away, he hides. 00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:03.240 He falls asleep. 00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:07.199 He does not reveal to the others that it's him who is the culprit. 00:16:07.199 --> 00:16:11.360 And after the captain tells him to pray, he doesn't pray. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:15.000 Jonah is persistently disobedient. 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.919 While the sailors seek for revelation, Jonah is running away from revelation. 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:25.360 When he says he fears God, it should make you laugh because it's ridiculous. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:26.680 Because he doesn't. 00:16:26.680 --> 00:16:28.320 That's the problem at heart here. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:31.360 It's a lack of fear of the Lord. 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:34.759 And you might be sitting here and you don't really understand what it means to fear the 00:16:34.759 --> 00:16:39.279 Lord and that's okay because we could fill hours trying to understand what it ultimately 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:45.839 really means, but in this story we can see an aspect of it in the sailors. 00:16:45.839 --> 00:16:47.519 One person defined it like this. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:53.759 One person said, a true fear of the Lord realizes that you can't run from God and the only option 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:55.639 is to run to him. 00:16:55.639 --> 00:17:00.279 When you do, you find the embracing arms of a loving father. 00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:06.319 And I thought that was so helpful, this quote, because it fits our Jonah language so well. 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:12.720 It's when you realize you can't run from God, the only option is to run to God. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:18.319 And when you do, you find the embracing arms of a loving father. 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:23.039 You see, fearing the Lord does not mean being scared of God in a way of seeing him as an 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:28.519 abusive, evil, judging God who can't wait to destroy you and enjoys your suffering. 00:17:28.519 --> 00:17:34.439 No, fearing the Lord means fearing the Almighty God. 00:17:34.440 --> 00:17:40.799 It's understanding that he is who he says he is and that he has come to save you. 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:46.320 To fear God means to realize that you can't and you shouldn't run away from him because 00:17:46.320 --> 00:17:51.039 in him you do find everything you've been searching for. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:57.680 In this passage, as I said, we see the sailors fear shifting from the unknown, from the storm 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:02.160 to Yahweh, the God who has revealed himself to them. 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:08.800 The sailors, they're actually fearing God and they obey him and they pray to him. 00:18:08.800 --> 00:18:13.160 And at every point, they outshine Jonah. 00:18:13.160 --> 00:18:19.600 So there's a contrast here between the sailors visible fear of God and the sailors, sorry, 00:18:19.600 --> 00:18:25.200 the sailors visible fear of God and Jonah's confessional fear of God. 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:28.480 He's just using empty words. 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:30.920 So this is a question for us tonight, for you tonight. 00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:36.000 Do you merely confess your faith but you don't really live like it? 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:42.720 You don't really behave like you believe what you're saying? 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:47.759 Have you ever maybe felt like Jonah that when you were asked about your faith, you said 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:52.400 the right things and you knew you said the right things, but in your heart you weren't 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:57.480 feeling it and in your life it wasn't visible? 00:18:57.480 --> 00:19:03.440 Do you miss maybe perhaps you're like Jonah and you were a Christian at some point, you 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:09.000 became a Christian and it felt so real and you felt what you believed but now it's not 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:10.000 there anymore? 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:15.880 Do you miss these times when you were a fresh Christian and you felt everything you believed 00:19:15.880 --> 00:19:17.160 so much more? 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:20.920 Has your spiritual life perhaps dried up? 00:19:20.920 --> 00:19:26.360 Is it maybe time to rethink your schedule and to set aside special time for spiritual 00:19:26.359 --> 00:19:27.639 disciplines? 00:19:27.639 --> 00:19:35.679 Do you pray, do you ask God for a heart of flesh when times are not as nice, when you're 00:19:35.679 --> 00:19:40.159 struggling, when it's a difficult season in your life? 00:19:40.159 --> 00:19:44.759 Do you have Christian friends who inspire you, who challenge you? 00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:46.159 That's really, really helpful. 00:19:46.159 --> 00:19:51.879 I usually try to have two Christian friends who are alive, deep Christian friends and 00:19:51.879 --> 00:19:53.399 two who are not alive anymore. 00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:57.440 What I mean by that is I'm good friends with Charles Spurgeon and Tim Keller. 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:01.519 Now they don't really, I mean they tell me a lot but I can't communicate with them as 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:06.960 well and I have another couple of really good Christian friends in my life who inspire and 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:14.160 challenge me and who ask hard questions because people can tell if you mean what you say you 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:16.000 believe or not. 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:22.680 So we have a responsibility to reflect God and Jesus and to live in a way that shows 00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:29.080 that we take Him seriously and that is to say that we do have a fear of the Lord. 00:20:29.080 --> 00:20:35.480 We want to be doers of the word, not simply hear us. 00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:37.160 But let's see how the story ends. 00:20:37.160 --> 00:20:43.480 Thirdly, I've called this a reluctant savior and I stole this from another preacher but 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:45.160 that's fine. 00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:50.600 After realizing that it's Jonah's fault and that he's running from God, they ask Jonah 00:20:50.600 --> 00:20:52.400 what they should do. 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:57.320 And judging from the character of Jonah you would think he would just, I don't know, not 00:20:57.320 --> 00:21:00.200 lie but he wouldn't really cooperate. 00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:02.360 But he says something unexpected. 00:21:02.360 --> 00:21:09.640 He tells them to hurl him, Jonah, overboard because he knows that the storm is there because 00:21:09.640 --> 00:21:11.320 of him. 00:21:11.320 --> 00:21:15.519 But because the men in the boat, they're not keen on becoming murderers, they're decent 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:18.800 men, they just try to row harder. 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:23.639 And as the storm grows stronger and stronger, they understand, they realize they don't stand 00:21:23.639 --> 00:21:24.639 a chance. 00:21:24.639 --> 00:21:29.720 So they take Jonah and like the cargo before they fling him overboard. 00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:35.279 And again in the Hebrew, this verb comes up three times in this chapter, God flings the 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:43.519 wind on them, they fling the cargo overboard and now they fling Jonah overboard because 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:49.039 Jonah is a reluctant prophet and he's become useless. 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:55.279 He's just extra weight that is of no other help. 00:21:55.279 --> 00:22:03.319 Now praise be to God that God can even use a reluctant prophet, someone who is useless, 00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:06.960 like Jonah in this case, because what is happening here? 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:09.359 Is Jonah okay to die for the sailors? 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:12.039 Does he change his minds? 00:22:12.039 --> 00:22:17.480 Is Jonah all of a sudden had just a revelation and knows it's the right thing to do? 00:22:17.480 --> 00:22:19.480 Is he a good guy all of a sudden? 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:21.799 Or is he maybe trying to manipulate God? 00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:28.399 Is he saying, okay, if I die, if they throw me in, then I don't have to go to Nineveh, 00:22:28.399 --> 00:22:29.399 right? 00:22:29.399 --> 00:22:35.680 And that God won't save those guys and then, well, I'm happy to die rather than go to Nineveh. 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:36.680 Might be, perhaps. 00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:43.279 But we don't know, maybe somewhere in between is the truth, we don't know if he tried to 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:48.519 manipulate God's judgment or salvation. 00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:50.400 It could be. 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:56.120 The point is this, point of the whole book is this, neither God's judgment nor God's 00:22:56.120 --> 00:22:59.240 salvation is subject to human manipulation. 00:22:59.240 --> 00:23:03.039 In other words, we can't change what God has decided to do. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:09.119 So Jonah, whatever his motives are, he gets thrown overboard and the storm seizes. 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:17.200 Jonah has saved the sailors reluctantly, just as disobedient and with the same attitude 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:21.279 as always, but he has saved them. 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:29.519 Or maybe you should say God has saved them through Jonah, physically, spiritually, and 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:38.359 ironically, God has saved Jonah because whatever Jonah expected to happen, I bet he didn't expect 00:23:38.359 --> 00:23:43.480 a fish swallowing him up. 00:23:43.480 --> 00:23:46.039 But that is what happened next. 00:23:46.039 --> 00:23:54.599 Jonah has become a reluctant savior and ironically against his will, he has also reluctantly 00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:56.319 been saved. 00:23:56.319 --> 00:24:01.240 And some of you here tonight might have experienced what it feels like to be saved against your 00:24:01.240 --> 00:24:03.679 will. 00:24:03.679 --> 00:24:07.319 But looking back, you're filled with joy and gratitude. 00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:09.240 Let me just tell you, you're not in bad company. 00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:11.240 There was another man called C.S. 00:24:11.240 --> 00:24:16.720 Lewis who writes about his conversion in a little book called, Surprised by Joy. 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:21.039 And I'd just like to read from it a few sentences. 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:22.039 He writes this. 00:24:22.039 --> 00:24:29.200 You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalene, night after night, feeling whenever 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:34.319 my mind lifted even for a second from work, the steady, unrelenting approach of him whom 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:37.079 I so earnestly desired not to meet. 00:24:37.079 --> 00:24:40.359 That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. 00:24:40.359 --> 00:24:47.759 In the Trinity term of 1929, I gave in and admitted that God was God and knelt and prayed. 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:54.000 Perhaps that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England. 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:59.200 I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing, the divine humility which 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:02.480 will accept the convert even on such terms. 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:06.240 The prodigal son at least walked home in his own feet. 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:12.640 But who can Julie adore that love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is broad 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:19.040 in kicking, struggling, resentful and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of 00:25:19.040 --> 00:25:20.360 escape. 00:25:20.360 --> 00:25:25.040 The words compel them to come in have been so abused by wicked men that we should shudder 00:25:25.040 --> 00:25:30.480 at them, but properly understood, they plumb the depth of the divine mercy. 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:38.720 The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of man, and his compulsion is our liberation. 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:39.720 That's what C.S. 00:25:39.720 --> 00:25:41.920 Lewis writes about his own conversion. 00:25:41.920 --> 00:25:48.720 He describes himself as a prodigal, broad in kicking, struggling, reluctant against 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:49.720 his will. 00:25:49.720 --> 00:25:56.600 And looking back, he says, the hardness of God is kinder than the softness of man, and 00:25:56.600 --> 00:26:00.200 his compulsion is our liberation. 00:26:00.200 --> 00:26:01.200 And like C.S. 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:06.680 Lewis, like Jonah, there are a lot of prodigals here in this room who have come to faith kicking, 00:26:06.680 --> 00:26:08.440 struggling, resentful. 00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:11.039 And yet God opened his door for you. 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:16.639 The only way that you will stop being reluctant is by admitting that you are in need of change, 00:26:16.639 --> 00:26:20.599 in need of prayer, in need of a Savior. 00:26:20.599 --> 00:26:22.480 And that's to close with this. 00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:25.279 This is the good news tonight. 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:27.960 There was a willing Savior. 00:26:27.960 --> 00:26:32.519 In the Gospel of Mark, we read a very similar account to this one here in Jonah. 00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:39.039 A few men are on a boat chatting, rowing, laughing, when suddenly a great storm comes 00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:44.599 upon them, and because they're experienced sailors, they try rowing, and they try to 00:26:44.599 --> 00:26:46.480 get the water out of their boat. 00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:49.599 But when the storm grows stronger, they start to panic. 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:53.960 So one of them goes down into the inner part of the boat, and he awakens up the other friend 00:26:53.960 --> 00:27:00.799 who is asleep down there, and he says, Jesus, do you not care that we are perishing? 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:04.639 And Jesus gets up and he says, peace, be still. 00:27:04.639 --> 00:27:08.879 And then we read that the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:12.200 You see the story of Jesus and the disciples in the boat. 00:27:12.200 --> 00:27:18.880 It's so similar to the one we read in Jonah, and it's yet very different. 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:22.760 Like in the story of Jonah, the storm has come by God. 00:27:22.760 --> 00:27:27.920 Like in the story of Jonah, the disciples are struck by fear of the divine powers of 00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:28.920 Jesus. 00:27:28.920 --> 00:27:33.600 Yet the difference, of course, is Jesus was not thrown overboard. 00:27:33.600 --> 00:27:34.600 Why not? 00:27:34.600 --> 00:27:38.520 Well, because he is the Son of God. 00:27:38.519 --> 00:27:41.639 Because he's God himself as part of the Trinity. 00:27:41.639 --> 00:27:47.119 Because he was there when earth and the sea were created and separated. 00:27:47.119 --> 00:27:52.599 And because one word of his mouth is enough to calm the sea. 00:27:52.599 --> 00:27:57.720 The response of the disciples here is the same as the sailors on the ship, fear of the 00:27:57.720 --> 00:27:59.240 Lord. 00:27:59.240 --> 00:28:02.920 You see, Jesus is the greater than Jonah prophet. 00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:07.240 Jesus did not have to be thrown overboard because Jesus never ran away. 00:28:07.240 --> 00:28:11.240 Jesus is God chasing after you in person. 00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:13.599 His name means God saves. 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:19.519 So in a much more real sense and a much bigger picture, in a cosmic sense, Jesus was willing 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:23.099 to be thrown into the sea. 00:28:23.099 --> 00:28:27.880 Not in this story, but later when he hangs on that cross, he was willingly plunged into 00:28:27.880 --> 00:28:34.039 the sea of sin and darkness into sheol to defeat death. 00:28:34.039 --> 00:28:38.960 Not because he ran away, but because he ran after you. 00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:48.759 And finally, after Jonah is thrown into the sea, we read that the raging sea grew calm. 00:28:48.759 --> 00:28:51.759 And this is our last thought. 00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:56.960 The storm in the story of Jonah was judgment for him running away from God. 00:28:56.960 --> 00:29:02.059 It was a true expression of God's anger at his disobedient prophet. 00:29:02.059 --> 00:29:07.559 But really, it also was a wake-up call in the most literal sense so that he would come 00:29:07.559 --> 00:29:08.559 back to God. 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:14.440 And that's what the fish symbolizes too, a sign of mercy of God towards Jonah. 00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:19.079 The Bible makes it clear divine justice has to be exercised without justice. 00:29:19.079 --> 00:29:21.200 What is the point? 00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:26.480 And I can understand that you might think that God is ill-tempered and vengeful. 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:32.039 And you might think that if you read the story of Jonah isolated or this chapter in isolation, 00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:38.039 but if you look at the bigger picture, you will see that God is a God who substitutes 00:29:38.039 --> 00:29:42.920 himself for us and suffers so that we may go free. 00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:47.039 And that is a God you can trust. 00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:50.799 God has not decided to just forget the judgment. 00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:54.920 He hasn't given Jonah the judgment he had deserved. 00:29:54.920 --> 00:30:00.759 He woke Jonah up to call him back to himself. 00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:05.200 You can't just forget his justice because he is perfectly just unlike you and me. 00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:08.640 Instead he's taken it upon himself in Jesus. 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:15.200 So if you believe in him, you're free to go and to follow his commission, to follow him. 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:21.400 So if you feel like there are storms in your life tonight, the doors of the boat are open, 00:30:21.400 --> 00:30:28.200 he's on there, just wake him up and he will speak peace into your life. 00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:31.480 Let us pray. 00:30:31.480 --> 00:30:37.880 Father we thank you tonight for the story of Jonah, the runaway prophet, and for your 00:30:37.880 --> 00:30:41.880 mercy and for your love for running after him. 00:30:41.880 --> 00:30:48.559 As you run after us, Father I pray that whoever is here tonight will have ears to hear and 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:50.519 an open heart to receive that message. 00:30:50.519 --> 00:30:55.519 I ask that your Holy Spirit would apply these words to us. 00:30:55.519 --> 00:30:57.039 Father wake us up. 00:30:57.039 --> 00:30:59.960 Call us back home. 00:30:59.960 --> 00:31:01.799 Forgive us all our sins in Jesus' name. 00:31:01.799 --> 00:31:27.279 Amen.