And it's on page 927, and Harry is going to read that, so Jonah 2, he's going to perish.
Jonah chapter 2, the whole chapter.
Yeah, the whole chapter, Harry.
And don't generally get sight of the fish, right?
From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.
He said, In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.
From the depths of the grave I called for help.
And you listened to my cry.
You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me.
All your waves and breakers swept over me.
I said, I have been banished from your sight.
Yet I will look again towards your holy temple.
The engulfing waters threatened me.
The deep surrounded me.
Seaweed was wrapped around my head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down.
The earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God.
When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord.
And my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.
Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be there.
But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you.
What I have bowed I will make good.
Salvation comes from the Lord.
And the Lord commanded the fish.
And it prompted Jonah unto try not.
Thank you very much.
Keep your finger.
1, 2, 1, 0.
Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 to 6.
And then verse 11.
Thank you.
Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 to 6.
And verse 11.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
let us throw off everything that hinders,
and the sin that so easily entangles,
and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before him endured the cross,
scorning its shame,
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God,
considering him who endured such opposition from sinful men,
so that he will not grow weary and lose heart.
When you struggle against sin,
you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood,
and you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons.
My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and punishes everyone he accepts as a son.
And verse 11.
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.
Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace
for those who have been trained by it.
When I first came to Carigoline,
I met somebody who works with seaweed.
I've never met anybody before who's met with seaweed, wrong.
Is that man?
Now I've discovered that Jonah was probably the first seaweed man.
The first five seaweed was wrapped around his head.
Maybe he was the founder of cyber colloids.
I don't know.
But we're not here to think about that.
We're here to think about Jonah.
The title we've given to this morning is
Submitting to Grace,
and we're going to pray and ask for God's help
as we look at this together.
Let's do that.
Father, thank you for your grace to us.
We're people who are in need.
We need your help.
And so in your grace,
pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.
Generously fill us so that we may understand better
your word to us,
how it applies to our lives,
and how it all works out in practice.
Please encourage us through this morning, we pray.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
The Horse Whisperer.
It's a bit of a chick flick,
but it's a film starring Robert Redford,
who is highly regarded as a horse tamer.
He takes his wild and stubborn and aggressive horses,
and he gently breaks them to the control of the owner.
By gently applying pressure,
at times it can seem cruel and harsh.
He tames the stubborn will
till it submits to the will of the Master.
Now in our story of Jonah in chapter 2,
it seems that God is having to tame
a very stubborn runaway.
In chapter 1,
Jonah verse 2 was told,
Go!
But verse 3,
Jonah ran away from the Lord.
God had called him, do you remember,
to go to Nineveh
to preach against that great city.
But Jonah had other plans.
Stubbornly and disobediently,
he ran in the other direction.
The last thing that Jonah wanted
was for his enemies,
the people of Nineveh,
to experience God's grace
and forgiveness.
So God gently applies a little bit of pressure
to tame this stubborn will
so that he submits to the will of the Master.
And that pressure comes,
verse 4 of chapter 1,
that the Lord sent a great wind on the sea
and such a violent storm arose
that the ship threatened to break up.
Surely this is going to tame Jonah.
But it seems Jonah is somewhat arrogant.
Look at verse 5.
All the sailors were afraid
and they cried out to their own God
and they began to throw the cargo
into the sea to lighten the ships.
But Jonah had gone below deck
where he lay down and fell
into a deep sleep
right the way through the storm.
It seems that he is quite content
to be disobedient.
It's as if Jonah is saying,
God, you can do what you like.
You can throw storms,
but I ain't going.
But God, through the storm,
does not back down.
And eventually Jonah begins to be tamed.
Verse 11.
The sea was getting rougher and rougher.
So they asked him,
what should we do to make the sea
calm down for us?
Jonah replied,
pick me up
and throw me into the sea.
I know that it is my fault
that this great storm
has come upon you.
It seems that God,
through the storm,
has got Jonah's attention
and he's beginning
to be tamed.
Now at one level,
Jonah's request
seems a little bit like
a mad act of suicide.
Throw me into the sea!
They all knew
if he was going to be
thrown into the sea,
that would be the end of it.
But this isn't a rash decision
by Jonah.
This is a purposeful submission
to God's grace.
The request of being thrown overboard
is admitting defeat.
It's saying to God,
I surrender!
You see,
Jonah knew
who God was
and what he was like.
Look back at chapter 1,
verse 9.
He knew that he was
the God of heaven
who made the sea
and who made
the land.
We sang about it
at the beginning.
Indescribable,
uncontainable.
God is so big.
So for Jonah
to be thrown
into the sea
was in fact
to be thrown
into the hands
of God's grace.
Just to be thrown
into the sea
wasn't the end
of his life.
He was throwing himself
upon God.
And I think
that's what Jonah
is getting at
in chapter 2,
verse 8.
Where we have
this phrase,
those who cling
to worthless idols
forfeit the grace
that could be theirs.
An idol,
explains Tim Keller
in his book
Counterfeit Gods,
he says,
an idol is anything
more important
to you than God.
Anything that absorbs
your heart
and imagination
more than God.
Anything that you
seek to give you
what only God
can give.
Now for Jonah,
his idol
was autonomy.
He wanted to be
his own boss,
to rule his own life,
to be in charge
of his life,
to do what he wanted.
That was what
was most important
to him.
But as Jonah
was discovering
to push God out,
to rule
your own life,
is to forfeit
the grace
that could be yours.
I think we all
need to be tamed
just like Jonah
needed to be tamed.
Because we all
have the same
kind of idol
as Jonah.
We all want
to run our own lives,
we all want
to live our own way,
we all want
to pretend
that we're God.
We want to be
in control of everything
and we make up
the rules
for our own life.
But to fight God,
to run away from him,
to disobey,
and stubbornly
refuse to submit
to his will,
is to forfeit
the grace
and love of God
that could be ours.
So Jonah
has come to see
that the only
place to be
is in the security
of God's hands.
it's no good
running away
from him.
The only place
for him
is to be
with God.
And so
Jonah
throws himself
or he requests
that they
throw him
into the sea
because in doing
that he is
submitting himself
to God's grace.
We all need
to be tamed
and we all need
to submit
and surrender.
But how do
we do it?
Does that mean
we all have
to jump
into our cars
and drive
off down
to cross
Aden
and jump
off the pier
into the sea
and expect
a great big
fish to swallow
us up?
Now I don't
think we should
do that.
That would
be suicide.
But I think
here in chapter
two through
Jonah's prayer
we do have
a model
of how we
should submit
to God's
grace
in our life.
So first
in this prayer
submitting
to the
personal God
who listens.
Verse one
chapter two
From inside
the fish
Jonah prayed
to the Lord
his God.
He said
In my distress
I called
to the Lord
and he answered
me.
From the depths
of the grave
I called
for help
and you
listened
to my cry.
Now there's
something
that seems
not quite
right about
this prayer.
It sounds
a little bit
presumptuous
and almost
disrespectful.
Remember
Jonah has
stubbornly
and disobediently
run away
from God
but yet he
has the audacity
look at verse
one
to pray to
and he refers
to him as
the Lord
his God.
In fact
in verse six
it's even
stronger
at the very
end of verse six
he called
him
O Lord
my God.
How could
he do that
after all
his running
away?
How could
God still
be his God
my God?
Well this
is the kind
of God
that we have
that even
in the midst
of our sin
and disobedience
he is still
the personal
intimate
God.
He doesn't
block
his ears
to our
cry and
say
sorry
can't hear
you wouldn't
listen to me
Jonah
so I'm not
going to
listen to you
tit for tat.
No God's
not like that.
God is
gracious
slow to
anger
and abounding
in love
and so Jonah
can say with
confidence
that he cried
out
he answered
me
he called
for help
and you
listened
to my
cry.
Jonah had
written God
out of his
life
but for
those who
belong to
God
will never
write you
out
of his
life.
God
remains
steadfast
and loyal
so that we
can always
turn to our
personal God
confident
that he
will listen.
Sometimes
people say
to me
when they're
in a state
of running
away from
God
I can do
it myself
in my own
dialoguing
with God.
There's no
way
after what
I've done
that God
is going
to have me
back.
There's no
way after
what I've
said
that God
is going
to listen
to me.
Well we
should never
blame God
that he is
not going
to listen.
His grace
is wider
than we
could ever
imagine
and even
in the midst
of our
sin and
disobedience
even in our
running
he is still
the personal
and intimate
God who
comes close
and who
will answer
and who
will listen.
So this is
where submission
to grace
starts.
It's crying
out
independence
on a
personal
God
who will
always
listen
and answer.
But then
we discover
something else.
Submitting
to the
sovereign
Lord
who
intervenes.
If the
first part
of the
prayer
seems
somewhat
disrespectful
this next
part seems
contradictory.
look at what
Jonah says
in chapter
1 verse
12.
He said
to the
sailors
pick me
up
and throw
me into
the sea.
Then in
verse 15
of chapter
1
the sailors
took
Jonah
and they
threw him
overboard
and the
raging sea
grew calm.
man.
Now look
at chapter
2
verse 3.
Remember
he's
praying
talking to
God
and look
what he
says in
verse 3.
You
God
you hurled
me
into the
deep
into the
very heart
of the
sea
and the
current
swirled
about me
all your
waves
and breakers
swept
over me.
So my
dear Watson
who threw
Jonah
overboard?
Was it the
sailors
or was it
God?
Well the
sailors
physically
manhandled
him and
picked him
up and
threw him
into the
sea.
but I
think the
bigger one
behind it
that God
stands behind
their action.
I think
this is what
chapter 2
is telling
us.
That God
is the
one who
has ordered
these events
to take
place.
Chapter 1
verse 4
told us
that it
was the
Lord who
sent this
great storm.
He sent
the winds.
He purposed
and willed
that Jonah
would go
overboard.
Now that
tells us
that the
events and
circumstances
of our
lives
do not
happen by
chance.
There's no
such thing
as luck.
The trouble
that we
find ourselves
in,
the suffering
that comes
our way,
yes,
God
stands
behind it
all to
fulfill his
purpose in
our lives.
what?
In
protest,
we
stamp our
feet,
we say,
God could
never bring
anything bad
or unpleasant
into our
lives.
The God
that I
know is
a God
of love.
He would
never do
anything
rotten
and mean.
Well,
who are we
that created
to tell
our creator
what he
should do?
And as
much as we
may come
to struggle
and try
and work
out what's
going on,
and it
will take
a whole
other sermon
and a big
series to
explore that
idea,
in this
context,
it seems
that God
is ordering
the events
deliberately
and purposefully
in the life
of Jonah
to bring
him back
to himself.
And if
God will do
that for
Jonah,
why can't
he do
it with
us?
In fact,
Jonah has
come to
see that
what God
did,
he did
for the
purpose of
changing
his life
around.
Look at
verse 4.
He said,
I have
been banished
from your
sight.
Verse 5,
the engulfing
waters
threatened
me,
the deep
surrounded
me,
seaweed
was wrapped
around my
head,
to the
roots of
the mountains
I sank
down,
the earth
beneath
barred me
in forever.
Do you
remember back
in chapter
1,
verse 3,
it tells
us there
that Jonah
ran away
and the
translation
is literally
Jonah was
running away
from the
presence
of the
Lord.
Of course,
it's rather
silly,
isn't it?
We can't
run from
the presence
of God.
How can
we run
away from
the creator
who made
the sea
and the
land?
We can't
get away
from God
even if
we tried.
But you
know what?
God can
remove his
presence
from us.
And that's
what Jonah
was experiencing
in verse 4.
He said,
I have been
banished
from your
sight.
God
took Jonah
and he
put him
into the
storm.
He allowed
Jonah
to sink
beneath the
waves.
He allowed
him to
struggle
under the
weight of
seaweed.
He allowed
him to
fall to
the very
foundation
of the
mountains.
As if God
was saying
through it
all,
if you
want to
run away
from my
presence,
Jonah,
this is
what it's
going to be
like.
And it's
only when
Jonah
begins to
submit to
God's
sovereign
control
over his
life and
over the
world that
he made
that God
intervenes.
Look at
the end of
verse 6.
In the
midst of
all that
going down,
he can
say,
but you
brought my
life up
from the
pit.
O Lord
my God.
It's at
this point,
I imagine,
when the
great fish
was provided
that God
intervenes in
his life and
Jonah is
saved.
And no
wonder he
can finish
his prayer
at the end
of verse 9.
Salvation
comes from
the Lord.
Now I'm
not saying
that everything
bad that
happens or
every experience
of suffering
is because
you are
running away
from God.
It does not
necessarily mean
if you're in
that place
that you are
running from
God.
We mustn't
think like
that.
But what we
can say
see is that
God will
bring into
our lives
whatever it
takes.
He will
let us
experience
distress.
He will
even let us
experience the
removal of
his presence
only to
cause us to
submit to
his grace
when we are
running away
from him.
who are we
to tell the
creator
what he
should do
in our
life.
And this
is where
submission to
grace begins.
Trusting in a
sovereign God
who is in
control of
every single
detail of our
life.
A sovereign
God who
works to
intervene
to bring us
back to
himself.
But then
there is also
submitting to
the gracious
God who
restores.
Jonah's
experience inside
the fish of
the belly and
through the
storm, it
couldn't have
been easy.
There is no
pretending that
this was hard.
But God
uses all of
these experiences
to bring Jonah
back to
himself.
And thankfully
God doesn't
do things in
half measures.
Verse 8
chapter 2.
Those who
cling to
worthless idols
forfeit the
grace that
could be
theirs.
But I,
says Jonah,
with a song
of thanksgiving
will sacrifice
to you what
I have
vowed I
will make
good.
Salvation
comes from
the Lord.
In other
words, Jonah
is making a
vow, he's
making a
promise to
commit himself
to God.
In response
to God's
amazing grace
intervening into
his life on
the ship,
putting him
into the
storm,
providing this
great big
fish, Jonah
responds and
says,
you did this
for me.
In
thanksgiving
for all that
you have done,
I am going
to give my
life to
serve you.
God's
intention all
along.
God's
call to
Jonah had
never changed
as we will
see next
week in
chapter 3.
God still
comes to
Jonah and
he still
sends him
to Nineveh.
Rather than
throw Jonah
up onto the
trash heap
because he
failed, he
graciously
restores him
to the
work that
he had
originally
been called
to.
The
culture that
we live
in and
the society
that we
are used
to gives
no room
for failure
and very
often the
church family
can look
down on
those who
sin and
disobey and
just write
them off and
say, I
mean look at
them, all
their disobedience
and their
sin, out.
We need to
take time to
see how God
works with
his people
and we
need to be
gracious with
one another.
God does
not throw
us out on
the garbage
can every
time we
fail.
He
graciously
restores
us, bringing
us back to
himself.
Have a
look please
with me at
Hebrews
chapter 12.
It's on
page 1210.
When Jonah
was running
away from
God, he
had certainly
lost sight of
God's grace
God's love.
Jonah had
taken his
focus off
the God
who saves.
So for us,
chapter 12,
verse 2,
let's not
lose our
focus.
Let us,
verse 2,
fix our
eyes on
Jesus,
Jesus, the
author and
perfecter of
our faith.
He is the
one who
starts our
salvation,
and he is
the one who
will complete
our salvation.
And how does
he do it?
Well, look at
the rest of
verse 2.
who for the
joy set
before him
endured the
cross,
scorning its
shame,
and sat
down at the
right hand of
the throne of
God.
When Jesus
was on the
cross,
it was like
he was
thrown by
his father
into the
ultimate
storm,
into the
storm of
God's
wrath,
where Christ
on the
cross was
taking all
of our
sin,
and all
of our
disobedience,
and all
of our
failure on
himself,
and we're
told here
that Jesus
submitted
himself to
the cross,
he didn't
run away
from it,
because of
the joy
that was
before him.
The joy
would be
our salvation.
And when
Jesus died
on the
cross,
it was as
if he was
overcome by
the waves
of judgment,
he sank
down into
the depths
of hell
for you
and for
me,
so that we
would never
be banished
from his
presence,
so that we
would know
his grace
in our
lives each
and every
day.
God
not only
saves us,
his desire
is to
keep his
children,
and to
never lose
his children,
even if
and when
we run
away from
him.
Look at
verse 5
of Hebrews
12.
Have you
forgotten
that word
of encouragement
that addresses
you as
sons or
as children?
My child,
do not
make light
of the
Lord's
discipline.
Do not
lose heart
when he
rebukes
you.
Jonah
knew what
it was
to be
disciplined.
Verse 6,
9,
he
gently
corrects
everyone
he
accepts
as a
child.
verse 9,
we have
all had
human
fathers
who
disciplined
us,
and we
respected
them for
us.
even if
our
human
fathers
were
wrong
in the
way
they
did
it,
and
even
though
they
can
get
things
wrong,
the
comparison
is not
to say
God is
like our
fathers,
but how
much
more
should
we
submit
to the
father
of our
spirits
and
live?
Verse 11,
no
discipline
seems
pleasant
at the
time,
but
painful.
Later on,
however,
it produces
a harvest
of
righteousness
and peace
for those
who have
been trained
by it.
And we
see that
the hard
things that
we go
through in
life at
times is
all part
of God's
love,
all part
of his
grace,
that he
doesn't want
us to
wander
too far
away,
but he
wants to
bring us
back,
he wants
to tame
us,
he wants
to train
us,
he wants
us to
submit
to the
will
of the
father.
God
in his
grace sent
his son,
the Lord
Jesus,
to save
us,
and should
we ever
run away
from God,
by his
grace,
he will
discipline
us,
he will
tame
us,
he will
train
us,
he will
bring
into our
lives
whatever
he sees
fit,
so that
we stay
close to
his grace,
so that
we stay
immersed in
his love,
so that
he will
never ever
lose us.
This is
where
submission to
grace
begins,
entrusting
ourselves
to a
gracious
God
who will
restore.
Let's
pray
together.
Thank you.
And in so doing we forfeit the grace that is ours.
Lord, please that you would forgive us for the times we run our own way and cling to other things instead of you.
Please be gracious to us.
In your love, gently discipline us so that we come back to you.
Father, if we have drifted, please forgive us.
Please restore us afresh.
Fill our lives with the joy and the wonder of your amazing grace.
Please overwhelm us with your love.
And let us stay close to you as you hold on to us.
We thank you for the gracious God that you are.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
We're going to sing a, I think it's a new song.
Some of you may...