Jonah 1 - Three lessons from Jonah 1

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.

Jonah 1 · chapter mention

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.

2 Kings 14:24–25

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,

John 10 · chapter mention

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,

1 Timothy 2:4

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,

Psalms 139:7

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

Romans 13:11

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

Galatians 3:16

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.

Amen.

Amen.