You Can’t Escape The Presence of The LORD

Jonah chapter 1. I'm going to read the whole chapter starting from verse 1 all the way through verse 17.

Jonah 1 · chapter mention

As you hear me read this, remember, this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient word.

Once I'm done reading Jonah chapter 1, I'll say this is the word of the Lord and the church will respond, thanks be to God.

Jonah 1 · chapter mention

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.

But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish.

So he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.

Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his God.

And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them.

But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship, and had lain down, and was fast asleep.

So the captain came and said to him, What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your God.

Perhaps the God will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.

And they said to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.

So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

Then they said to him, Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us.

What is your occupation, and where do you come from?

What is your country, and of what people are you?

And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.

Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, What is this that you have done?

For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

Verse 11,

Then they said to him, What shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us?

For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

He said to them, Pick me up and hurl me into the sea.

Then the sea will quiet down for you.

For I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.

Nevertheless, the men rode harder to get back to dry land, but when they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

Therefore they called out to the Lord, O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood.

For you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.

So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.

Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.

And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

You may be seated.

Would you pray with me?

Oh God, you are a God whose word goes forth.

And with your word is the presence of God himself.

We pray, Lord, that you will speak to us by your word and by the presence of your Holy Spirit to your people today.

Amen.

Quote,

This little book of Jonah is a highly complex and artistic short story.

In order to take in the kaleidoscope of lessons found in this book,

the reader must approach the text with openness and humility,

keep a teachable attitude, listen calmly, proceed slowly, and ponder meditatively.

This is not easy for us moderns.

It is like climbing a mountain.

It takes painstaking effort and self-discipline,

but the rewards at the end are worth the effort.

That's how Brian Estelle introduces the book of Jonah.

And his PhD is in the Semitic languages and literature of this region in the ancient world.

He's a professor at Westminster.

The message I want to show for you today out of this kaleidoscope,

I want to try to draw your focus to one theme,

and it's simply this.

Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

you can't escape the presence of the Lord.

You can't escape the presence of the Lord.

Look at verse 3.

We're told in verse 3 that Jonah was fleeing from the presence of the Lord.

He was going away from the presence of the Lord.

Now look down at verse 10.

The men knew that Jonah was fleeing from the presence of the Lord,

because he told them.

That's the truth I've been praying about for you and for me today.

You can't escape the presence of the Lord.

I want to simply walk through that theme.

We're going to go verse by verse through this chapter.

First, I need to give a little bit of context,

because you see how it starts.

In verse 1,

We get a few clues here from this first verse.

This is Jonah, son of Amittai, so to not be confused.

The clue that we can then trace back,

if you look up that name Jonah, or even son of Amittai,

we can search the Bible,

and it takes us to 2 Kings 14, verse 25.

2 Kings 14:25

2 Kings 14.

And this is what 2 Kings says,

that Jeroboam II was king in Samaria.

Samaria is the northern part,

the ten tribes of the north.

And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

When the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter,

and why was that?

Well, who was the oppressor of King Jeroboam II?

It was Assyria.

It was their neighbor to the east,

taking over the land back from Egypt.

God raised up Assyria to judge Israel.

Israel was taxing them very heavily.

They had taken over several of those cities

on those major trade routes.

They were cutting off their trade.

They were cramping them economically,

and politically, and militarily.

So the Lord let that wicked king, Jeroboam II,

push back the borders of Israel.

Even though he's a wicked king

that had done evil in the eyes of the Lord,

during his reign,

the Lord let him push Assyria back a bit.

This happened, 2 Kings 14 says,

in accordance with the word of the Lord,

the God of Israel,

spoken through his servant,

listen, Jonah, son of Amittite.

That's our Jonah.

And we get a clue here.

He's the prophet from Gath Hefer.

So that situates him on the map as well.

All of this, I believe, is significant.

So bear with me.

And why did the Lord allow this wicked king

to push Assyria back?

Because the Lord promised to not blot out

the name of Israel from under heaven.

So you get the context of the book of Jonah.

In that first verse, it's Jonah, son of Amittite.

The word of the Lord comes to him.

Now the context tells us,

okay, Israel has wickedness in their land.

And we can look at the timeline.

Jonah would have come a little bit after Elijah and Elisha.

So a little bit after the great prophet Elijah.

Well, what do we know about Elijah?

This was a time of wickedness in the northern tribes,

wickedness in Israel.

They rebelled against the Lord.

Remember the prophets of Baal rising up,

trying to kill off all of the prophets of God.

Jonah comes on the heels of that.

And even though the next king, Jeroboam II,

was very, very wicked,

God still remained faithful.

He was long-suffering toward Israel.

And that's the context in which the word of the Lord

now comes to a known prophet,

Jonah, son of Amittite,

the prophet representing all those

through whom God was ministering his word

at the time of this wicked king.

So my first observation is simply that

you know the holy presence of God

through his word.

When the word of the Lord comes,

you're getting the presence of the Lord

through his word.

That's the pattern we see in all of the scriptures.

Think of Isaiah.

The word of the Lord came to Isaiah.

He knew he was in the presence of a holy God.

The word of the Lord came to Moses.

He had to take off his shoes.

He's on holy ground.

The word of the Lord came to the apostle John

in the book of Revelation,

and he saw a great vision.

So the word and the presence of the Lord

are tied together.

You know the holy presence of the Lord

by his word.

Have you ever heard the word of the Lord?

Maybe in private,

maybe with the people of God,

you've heard the word of the Lord,

and you just have that sense

that sweeps over you.

You can't explain it to someone

who's never experienced it.

The Lord is here with his people.

Have you ever experienced that?

So verse one, we're told,

the word of the Lord came to Jonah,

son of Amittai.

Well, Jonah, his name means dove,

and the root also means oppress.

This is interesting because, you know,

a dove is a very,

it's a creature that's liable to oppression,

and it can very easily become prey of others.

The prophet Hosea, Hosea 711,

he uses that picture of a dove,

the root word is oppression,

and he says this of Ephraim.

Ephraim was like a dove,

silly and without sense,

calling to Egypt,

going to Assyria.

Israel was like a dove.

Israel was liable to be oppressed

by these kingdoms of the world

that they keep chasing.

So you could say in that sense

that even the name Jonah

is making him a representative

of this rebellious, fickle,

wandering Israel.

And he's from Gath Heifer,

we're told in 2 Kings 14.

I'll place this with some points of reference

that you know,

again, I believe this is significant.

So where is Gath Heifer?

It's very close to Nazareth.

We'll start with that.

So it's north of the,

you know, northern part of Israel.

That's where the 10 rebellious tribes are.

And more specifically,

let's go all the way back

to the Mediterranean Sea.

Picture yourself on continental Europe.

You travel south.

So you're on, you know, Italy.

You travel across the Mediterranean,

past the Greek islands

until you stop.

The very eastern border

of the Mediterranean Sea,

that's Israel.

The port city there is,

today would be Tel Aviv.

From Tel Aviv, you'd cross,

you'd keep going inland,

you'd go over Mount Carmel

remember that's where Elijah stood.

You go over Mount Carmel

and then you're in this region of Gath Heifer,

not too far away from Nazareth

before the Sea of Galilee.

So that's where Jonah came from.

Now we saw back in John chapter 7, 52,

John 7 · chapter mention

remember how they mocked Jesus

that never a prophet came out of Nazareth?

Well, here we've got Elijah and Jonah

as examples to the contrary.

Now look at verse 2.

The word of the Lord came to him saying what?

saying, arise, go to Nineveh.

Nineveh.

And how is Nineveh described in your Bible?

That great city.

Even by modern terms,

Nineveh was a great city.

Where is Nineveh located?

It would be in present day Iraq,

about 200 miles north of Baghdad,

on the eastern bank of the Tigris River.

Was it a great city?

The word great is used 14 times

in these four little chapters of Jonah.

It was a great city.

Yes, it was 60 miles long.

Think how far you could drive in all directions

60 miles from right here.

That's how big the city of Nineveh was.

And it had a wall that was 100 feet high.

Kids, you know how many feet is a basketball hoop?

10 feet.

So stack up 10 basketball hoops.

That's 100 feet.

That's how tall the walls of Nineveh were.

And that wall of Nineveh

had a series of towers

that, 1,500 towers all around it

that went up 200 feet.

So twice the size of the wall.

It was so wide that three chariots

could ride on it all at once.

Nineveh was indeed a great city.

God tells Jonah,

go to Nineveh,

to that great city,

but cry out against it.

Can you imagine Jonah walking up

to these overwhelming walls

and crying out against that city,

that great city?

Why was he to do this?

Verse 3 says,

for their evil,

their disaster,

their wickedness,

nine times that word is used

in the book of Jonah,

it has come up before me.

So there's the Lord God

enthroned over all his creation.

And this great city especially

is known for the wickedness

that rises up to his holy court.

And he tells little Jonah from Israel,

go cry out against them.

What was it about Nineveh

that was so wicked?

Do we know anything about them today?

We know a lot about this Assyrian army.

The worst displays of their violence

were happening in the capital city.

I know we've got children here.

We want children here.

I'm going to use some terms

that they don't need to understand.

But some of them are inevitable.

That's the Bible, right?

So Nineveh was so wicked,

they would flay the teenagers

of those they conquered.

They would mock their victims

that they had taken over

by cutting off just one of their arms

so they could tease them

by shaking the other hand.

As you would enter Nineveh,

there were, you know,

like we have beautiful lamps

and lights that kind of mark

the main entrance.

The main entrance to Nineveh

were spikes

and they would decapitate their victims

and that's what they would display

as the trophies on their spikes

as you entered this great city of Nineveh

whose wickedness came up to the Lord.

That's why the prophet Nahum

in Nahum 3.1 said,

Woe to Nineveh, the bloody city.

It is all full of lies and robbery.

Its victim praise never departs.

If you go into Nineveh as a weakling,

you're never coming out of there alive.

A particular Baptist commentator,

John Gill said,

the measure of their idolatry,

bloodshed and oppression were full.

They were filled up.

They committed sins so openly, boldly

in the sight of the Lord

as if it were against him,

a heavy-handed sin against God, the creator.

And that's what made Nineveh now ripe

for destruction.

Now the Lord sees all,

Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount,

even a hair can fall from your head.

And, you know, look at the birds

and the lilies.

The Father knows them all.

But the evil of this city

has come up before God's holy court

in a special way.

And now God's judgment,

because he is just.

His just wrath is coming against

this wicked city of Nineveh.

Now, if you put yourself in Israel at this time,

the judgment of God against your oppressor

should be good news.

It means you're going to get salvation

through judgment.

God's judgment is coming

and through his judgment,

he brings salvation.

That's how we always see,

he always brings salvation through judgment.

But Jonah's reaction is surprising, right?

The presence, the presence,

the word of the Lord came to Jonah.

But look at verse 3.

Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish

from the presence of the Lord.

Jonah didn't want to go cry out

to the city of Nineveh.

And that's surprising to us.

Instead, when the holy presence of God

comes to this man,

he reacts the same way Adam and Eve reacted

after they had been proud

and thought they knew better than the Lord.

Listen to how similar this language is

in Genesis 3.8.

They heard the voice of the Lord God.

See, they heard the voice of the Lord God

walking in the garden.

There's this presence tied to his word

in the cool of the day.

And Adam and his wife hid themselves

from the presence of the Lord.

Isn't that what we always do

when our sin is exposed

in the presence of the holy God

by his word?

We do the same as Adam and Eve,

the same as Jonah.

But the author of this little book

goes a long way to prove to us

that you can't escape

the presence of the Lord.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Why was Jonah, in this case,

why was he fleeing,

going the opposite direction of Nineveh?

I'm going to argue that it was

because of his pride.

He wanted to see judgment for Nineveh,

not long-suffering toward Nineveh.

That's why he didn't go cry out to them.

And turn with me back a couple pages

to Jonah chapter 4.

Jonah 4 · chapter mention

I want you to see this for yourself.

Jonah chapter 4, verse 1.

Jonah 4:1

When God was long-suffering toward Nineveh,

we read in chapter 4,

this displeased Jonah exceedingly.

He became angry,

and he prayed, verse 2,

Lord, this is what I said back in my country.

So before he left to go to Tarshish,

this is exactly why he's angry.

That's why I fled to Tarshish.

I know that you're a gracious, merciful God.

I know you're slow to anger,

abundant in loving kindness,

one who relents in doing harm.

That's why Jonah's so angry.

I knew he would be long-suffering toward them.

I knew that God desires that none should perish.

Verse 3, we're told,

and now pay attention to the language here.

Jonah went,

what's the next word?

He went,

everybody say it,

down.

Oh, I'm sorry,

I'm back in chapter 1.

Let's try that again.

So turn back to chapter 1.

In his pride,

he's angry,

and he said,

back in his country,

I knew you would be long-suffering toward them.

Now chapter 1, verse 3,

Jonah then went down.

I want you to pay attention every time he says,

or creates that picture of Jonah going down,

and down,

and down,

and down.

Jonah went down to Joppa.

See, God is above and thrown,

looking out over all.

It's the court of God that this wickedness rises up to.

God is above,

and Jonah's going down,

away from the presence of the Lord.

And he found a ship going to Tarshish,

so he paid the fare thereof,

and went down into it.

There he goes further down,

into the ship now.

He's tucked in,

enclosed,

away from God's earthly kingdom,

and national Israel.

Another commentator said,

in order to be cleared of any fresh order from the Lord,

and to not have to go speak to the Ninevites,

that's why he keeps going down.

And he went with them,

to Tarshish,

away from the presence of the Lord.

It's our pride,

ultimately,

it's our pride that hates the presence of our holy creator God.

Your pride and mine,

we want to escape the presence of the Lord.

That's what we want.

But we're going to see here,

how the Lord makes his presence undeniable.

The Lord makes his presence undeniable.

Look at verse 4.

The Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea,

and there was a mighty tempest on the sea.

John Gilligan said,

God took a wind out of his treasury,

and hurled it into the languages,

into that sea.

That part of the sea where Jonah was specifically.

The winds,

the very winds are at God's command.

He raises the winds to God's pleasure,

to fulfill his will.

And the storms are the servants of God,

that obey his orders.

That's the end of Gill's quote.

God did that so that the ship threatened to break up.

See that in verse 4?

The ship threatened to break up.

Another way of translating that from the Hebrew

is to say that the ship expected itself to crack.

It's personifying the ship.

That the ship became a nervous wreck.

So here we have children

who were part of our discipleship toward baptism.

Here we have again a picture of what?

The waters of judgment.

The waters of judgment and salvation

through those waters of judgment.

Just like the flood,

just like the Red Sea

that crushed Pharaoh and his army.

Just like the disciples in the storm

with Christ on the ship.

You can't escape the presence of the Lord, Jonah.

The Lord owns the seas.

He hurls the winds

to whichever part of the sea he wants.

The Lord makes his presence undeniable.

Now, it's salvation through judgment.

God is getting Jonah's attention,

but he's long-suffering toward Jonah,

just like he's long-suffering toward Israel,

in the same way that the Lord

is long-suffering toward wicked Nineveh,

and he's long-suffering toward you and me.

So I read to you that context of Jeroboam II

and 2 Kings 14.

Just one chapter before,

gives you a little bit more insight

into what's going on in Israel at this time.

This is that chapter right before Jonah,

son of Amittai, is mentioned.

We're told this,

the Lord was gracious to them.

Yes, wicked, idle-serving Israel.

The Lord was gracious toward Israel

and had compassion on them.

And the Lord turned toward them

who were rebelling against him

because of his covenant

with Abraham, with Isaac, with Jacob.

His promise to send redemption,

a covenant of grace

through the seed of Abraham,

the seed of Jacob,

the seed of Eve.

God would not destroy Israel,

nor has he cast them out

from his presence until now.

2 Kings 13 says,

now look at verse 5,

the mariners were afraid

and each cried out to his God.

There's another theme

of the book of Jonah's fear.

Right now they're afraid.

Jonah says later,

I fear the Lord.

And they say they were exceedingly afraid.

And in the Hebrew,

the word afraid means afraid.

The word fear means fear.

He fears the Lord.

That's exactly what it means.

And they hurled their cargo

just like God had hurled a storm

at their ship.

They hurled their cargo

that was in the ship into the sea

to lighten it for them.

Listen to how Ezekiel 27, 25 describes.

He says,

the ships of Tarshish traveled for you,

Israel,

with your merchandise.

So you were filled

and heavily laden

in the heart of the seas.

Your rowers have brought you out

into the high seas.

The east wind wrecked you

in the heart of the seas.

The day of your fall.

Israel,

you want to put your hope

in these surrounding nations?

You want to put your hope

in getting wealthy through trade

and using Tarshish

to export all your goods

and bring back more

and build your own little kingdom on earth?

I will wreck your ships

going to Tarshish,

Ezekiel says,

declaring the word of the Lord.

We read that Jonah had gone down.

There it is again.

Jonah going down deeper and deeper

into the,

what part of the ship?

The inner part of the ship.

The insides.

Yeah, like the ribs.

The ribs of the ship.

He's down in there,

tucked in.

And he laid down,

went even further down.

And he was fast asleep.

This is a man who's been

in the presence of the Lord.

This is a man who has

the word of God

fast asleep.

One pastor helped point this out.

In the presence of the Lord,

the trees clap.

Isaiah 55, 12.

In the presence of the Lord,

the stones cry out.

Luke 19, 40.

Nahum 1, 5 says,

the mountains quake before him.

The hills melt.

The earth heaves before him.

The world and all who dwell in it

in the presence of the Lord tremble.

Psalm 93, 3 says,

the floods have lifted up

their roaring voice

in the presence of the Lord.

And the proud,

religious,

professional

sleeps.

Someone pointed out,

Jonah is asleep

in the midst of this storm.

He's soundly asleep.

One translation says,

he snores.

And he continues to snore

and sleep.

When he had such a guilty conscience,

how could that be?

And the conclusion

this person at least made

is that this shows

Jonah was asleep

in a spiritual sense

as well as physically.

So for those of us

who have God's word,

who have tasted

and seen that the Lord is good,

who have experienced

the presence of the Lord

by his word,

we need to be

extremely careful

to not be like Jonah,

to be like a religious,

proud person

who snores

in the presence of God

and his word.

In verse 6,

the captain came

and said to him,

what do you mean,

you sleeper?

Arise,

cry out to your God.

Perhaps God

will give a thought to us

that we may not perish.

This pagan sailor,

the captain,

is preaching

salvation through judgment

and repentance

to Jonah.

Do you see the irony?

Who is it here

that's reflecting

the heart of the creator God,

desiring that none

should perish,

but that all should repent

and respond to the Lord

and worship him as king?

The Lord is long-suffering

toward Jonah,

even in his pride,

but he makes himself

undeniable

because Jonah

cannot escape

the presence of the Lord,

even there

in the ribs of the ship.

I want to show you

where else Jonah

can't escape

the presence of the Lord.

Perceiving that the storm

was not an ordinary storm,

but a supernatural one,

look at verse 7,

they said to one another,

these are the pagan sailors,

come,

let us cast lots

that we may know

on whose account

this evil

has come upon us.

To cast lots

could have been

drawing straws,

whoever gets the shortest

straw is guilty,

you know,

any form of that,

and it shows God's providence

even using something

like that

in this ancient world.

John Gill pointed out,

in the ship,

it seems,

were men of different nations

who worshipped

different gods.

Even in the uncertainty

of pagan polytheism,

in a time of trouble,

God's image bearers

still know

the light of nature,

don't they?

Doesn't that remind you

of Romans 1?

Without the law,

they do by nature

the things contained

in the law,

showing the law

written on their hearts,

Paul wrote,

in the light of nature.

It's their conscience

who bears witness

to them

what is right,

what's the right way

to respond.

They know there is

a creator God,

but we need to pray

to the creator God

and call upon him

for help.

This was a time

where in the ancient world

they would have had

a number of different gods,

and even as God's people

through the centuries,

even as they're conquered

next by,

you know,

by, you know,

Assyria,

and then eventually

the Greeks,

and then the Romans,

this would have been

so true.

Why do you look

to all the gods

of the other nations?

Is there a God

you can call out to

who will listen to you?

For the Greeks,

would it be Poseidon?

Would it be the god

of the seas?

Would it be Zeus

who can send storms?

They're crying out

to any pagan gods

they can,

and they're inviting

Jonah to cry out,

ask God to save.

Now look at verse 8.

Then they said to him,

Tell us on whose account

this evil has come upon us.

What is your occupation?

Where do you come from?

What is your country?

Of what people are you?

Isn't it amazing how,

even though this is

in a very different setting

than we live in today,

it's so ancient,

they're out at the sea,

you know,

in the middle of a storm

in the Mediterranean.

How do you get to know someone?

It's the exact same questions.

Where do you come from?

What do you do?

Who are your people?

Tell us about you.

We get to know you,

your story.

Maybe it's something

you have done

that has caused

all of this for us.

In verse 9,

he said to them,

See, Jonah the prophet

is giving them the truth.

He's revealing to these men

in darkness

the truth of God.

It's just how we started

our service.

Our help is in the name

of the Lord

who made heavens

and earth.

Jonah tells them

of the true God

and look at their reaction.

In verse 10,

the men were then

exceedingly afraid.

So you have sinned

against the God most high?

Well, no wonder

we're all going to die here.

What is this you have done?

He said.

Well, the irony

is set up for us here.

Here's a man

who has the word of God,

who knows the presence of God,

yet his behavior

falls so far short

of what his beliefs

should produce.

And here are these pagans.

They live in darkness.

They pray to all these

false gods

with a lowercase g,

yet they're acting

and speaking

in a way that's way better,

way more righteous,

way more correct

than their beliefs

should produce.

Do you see that same thing

happening at work

in your life?

There are these people

who don't know the Lord.

They'll be the first one

to say that,

yet they seem

to be acting

in a way that's

more pleasing to God.

And I look at my own life

or, you know,

it's easy to point the finger

at fellow Christians

whose lives are so messed up,

so much worse

than their beliefs

should make them.

And we can go back

to Genesis 1, 2, and 3

and have the answer to this.

The Bible teaches

that all were made,

Adam and Eve

and all who come after them,

made in the image of God.

That's why pagan,

sinners who don't know God

still bear his image.

They still have that

common preserving grace,

that law written

on their hearts

that they respond to

because the Holy Spirit

preserves them

so they won't be nearly

as sinful or destructive

as they would be

without that preserving grace

of being made

in God's image.

So our doctrine

of Imago Dei

accounts for why

those who don't know

the Lord

can act so good

so much of the time.

And then,

once you're saved,

we still have

remaining sin.

Paul wrestles with sin,

Romans chapter 7,

Romans 7 · chapter mention

until the last breath.

All of us,

even after Christ

has made you righteous

before God,

we wrestle with

remaining sin,

which explains why

we still,

not making excuses for sin,

but that's why

it's still such a battle.

And when we do fail

in sin,

our behavior

and our words

fall short

of what our beliefs

should produce.

So Imago Dei

and remaining sin.

Those are the doctrines

the Bible gives us

that explain to us

why we see that.

Now the beautiful thing

is the response to both

is the same response

that God wants of Nineveh

and the same response

God wants of Jonah.

And that's this,

that the presence

of the Lord

demands

a right response.

When the presence,

the word of the Lord

comes to you,

it demands

the right response.

Look at verse 11.

They said to him,

what shall we do to you

that the sea

may quiet down

for us?

Clearly God

has made his presence

known even here

in the dark depths

of this scary storm.

We must respond somehow.

For the sea grew more

and more tempestuous.

Their false gods

had no power.

Their cargo

and material things

could not satisfy

the wrath

of the only true God,

the creator.

Look at verse 12.

Jonah said to the sailors,

pick me up

and hurl me

into the sea.

Well now Jonah

is about to go down

to the very roots

of the mountains.

He says,

then the sea

will quiet down

for you.

The presence

of the Lord

demands

the right response.

And sin,

the wages of sin

deserve death.

The Lord

demands

satisfaction.

Jonah says,

for I know

it is because of me

that this great tempest

has come upon you.

Verse 13,

nevertheless the men

rode hard

to get back

to dry land.

Here's the pagan sailors

again doing all

within their power

that not even

Jonah should perish.

Surely there's got

to be another way

for all of us

to survive.

But they could not

for the sea grew

more and more

tempestuous

against them.

In verse 14,

therefore they

called out to the Lord.

Listen to how

the pagan sailors

pray.

O Lord,

let us not perish

for this man's life.

Lord,

if you're the creator

of all,

you created life.

You don't want us

to die because

of this man's sin.

But listen to their

compassion as well.

Lay not on us

innocent blood

for you,

O Lord,

have done

as it pleased you.

And if it pleases you,

Lord,

that we throw Jonah

into this sea,

don't hold us

guilty for killing

this man.

We're doing this

to satisfy you,

what pleases you.

They understood

that the holy

presence of God

will be undeniable.

It requires

satisfaction

and it requires

the right response

from everyone.

Verse 15,

so they picked up

Jonah and hurled

him into the sea.

The thought here

is it's really

similar to

John chapter 11

John 11 · chapter mention

that we saw.

1150,

remember how

the high priest

prophesied

without even knowing.

He said,

it's better

that one man die

than that all

should perish.

The presence

of the Lord

demands

satisfaction.

And when they

hurled Jonah

into the sea,

the sea,

what's the next

word you see

there?

The sea

ceased.

That's the same

word used

in Genesis

Genesis 8:1

chapter 8

verse 1,

the waters

of the flood

ceased,

subsided.

It's the same

word used

in Exodus

Exodus 9:33

chapter 9

verse 33,

when the Lord

sent a storm

with thunder

and hail

as a plague

over the Egyptians,

then the Lord

made it to cease

from its raging.

Each step

that Jonah

takes going down

further and

further and

further away

from the holy

presence of the

Lord is a step

toward death.

And the wages

of sin is death.

And when Jonah

is hurled into

the sea,

the very picture

of the waters

of judgment,

the wrath of God

against sin,

the Lord

is satisfied.

Sin has been

punished.

The waters

ceased.

In verse 16,

then the men,

these pagan sailors,

what's their

reaction now?

They feared

the Lord

exceedingly.

And they

offered a sacrifice

to the Lord

and made vows.

See,

first the sailors

experienced the storm

of God's judgment,

then through God's

judgment of Jonah,

the sailors

experienced their

salvation.

See the beauty

of God's word?

Is that the end

of it for Jonah?

Well, no.

We're not going to

spend much time

on verse 17,

but I did want

to end with this.

The Lord

had appointed,

had prepared

in His providence

a great fish

to swallow Jonah.

And Jonah was

in the belly

of the fish

three days

and three nights

and he does

not die there.

Jonah experienced

the storm

of God's judgment

as well.

And then,

through God's judgment,

Jonah experienced

salvation,

which God

had providentially

prepared.

He had tried

to flee from God

by hiding

in the ribs

of the ship.

God in His providence

took him down

to the very pit,

the depths of the ocean,

and hid Jonah away

in the ribs

of a great fish

to show his

long-suffering patience.

And Jonah,

even there,

you can't hide

from the presence

of the Lord.

And the Lord

is saving you.

He is saving you

and He will use you

for His purposes.

I want to apply

this now to us

if I can.

So we saw

how the proud,

like Jonah,

like Adam,

the proud want

to escape

the presence

of the Lord.

But the Lord,

He's the one

who draws

repenting sinners

into His

holy presence.

The Bible says

that even when

you and I die,

you can't escape

the omnipresent Lord,

the Lion of Judah,

the Lamb of Heaven.

You can't escape

the holy presence

of God.

Revelation 14,

Revelation 14:9

verse 9,

those who proudly

refuse the Lord Jesus

will be tormented

with fire and sulfur.

Where?

In the presence

of the angels,

in the presence

of the Lamb.

You can't escape

the presence

of the Lord.

And the Lord

draws sinners

into His holy presence

so that you will

respond rightly to Him.

I see a powerful

connection between

Jonah in the

old covenant

and Peter

in the new covenant.

You could say

Peter is a

new covenant

Jonah.

Do you remember

even after Peter

was saved

and the Lord,

the Holy Spirit

is teaching the church

how to be the new

kingdom of God

on earth now?

And Peter

is slow

to want to

release the regulations

upon Gentiles.

Gentiles.

So you could say

even in the beginning

of his ministry

Peter was a proud

nationalist

like Jonah.

But then the

Word of God,

the presence

of the Lord,

the Spirit

with His church

transforms Peter.

Now here's a cool

connection.

Listen to this.

Remember how Jonah

traveled from

Joppa?

He was traveling

away so that

those Gentiles,

those Ninevites

would not hear

God's Word?

Listen to

Acts 10,

Acts 10:32

verse 32.

Peter travels

from Joppa

so that the Gentiles

will hear

God's Word.

Cornelius,

the Greek,

he says,

send therefore

to Joppa

and ask Peter

by the sea.

And when Peter

got there,

Cornelius says,

you have been

kind enough

to come.

Now therefore,

listen to what

he says next,

we are all here

in the presence

of God.

To hear all

that you have

been commanded

by the Lord,

give us God's Word.

We are in His

presence.

Yes,

Gentiles,

hearing from

a prophet,

a man of God,

traveled from

Joppa so we

could receive

the Word of God.

We are in the

presence of God.

Give us His Word.

That's what

Cornelius says.

So Peter says,

and this is

Acts 10,

Acts 10:34

verse 34,

truly,

I understand

that God

shows no

partiality.

But in every

nation,

anyone who

fears Him

and does what

is right

and acceptable

to Him,

that's why

we are preaching

the good news

of peace

through Jesus

Christ,

Lord of all.

If you respond

rightly,

the waters of

judgment cease.

It's Jesus Christ,

the one who God

providentially prepared,

and He would bring

salvation through

judgment.

Jesus Christ bore

the wrath of the

Holy God on the

cross,

so that all

who would be

in Him,

the one who He

provided for

your salvation,

if you respond

rightly,

you are saved.

You have peace

with God

through Jesus

Christ.

And listen to

what Peter wrote

to the churches

in 2 Peter 3,

9.

The Lord is not

slow to fulfill

His promise.

He draws

sinners into

His presence.

Peter says,

He's not slow

to fulfill

His promise.

The Lord is

long-suffering

toward you.

desiring

that you

repent,

not desiring

that any

should perish.

Peter got it.

He's a new

covenant Jonah.

When you see

God's loving

kindness

toward you,

His patience,

you repent.

You respond

to Him.

My prayer

for you all

along has

been this.

Not only

that you

would understand

that you

can't escape

the presence

of the Lord,

but that you

would not

want to

leave

the presence

of the Lord.

That you

would not

want to

escape it.

When you

have the

presence

of the Lord,

the word

of the Lord

with the

people of

God,

that you

would want

to stay

there.

Not leave

that.

Romans 13,

11 says,

You know

the hour

has come

for you

who were

asleep.

Just like

Jonah asleep,

trying to

escape God.

You who

were asleep,

the hour

has come,

for salvation

is nearer

to us

now than

when we

first believed.

You don't

want to

escape the

holy presence

of the

Lord,

because the

Lord is so

long-suffering

and patient

toward you,

desiring that

you not

perish.

He will

keep coming

after you.

He will

make himself

undeniable

in your

life.

Now listen

to this

sermon,

how Peter

preached this,

a saved

sinner,

this new

covenant,

Jonah,

who's been

transformed by

the cross and

by the Holy

Spirit.

This is how

you need to

respond.

How do you

have peace

with God?

Well,

Peter preaches

in Acts

Acts 3:19

chapter 3

verse 19,

in light of

everything you've

heard,

repent,

therefore,

turn back,

that your sins

may be blotted

out,

listen to this,

that times of

refreshing may

come from

where?

From the

presence of

the Lord,

and that he

may send

Christ who he

appointed for

you,

just like he

appointed a

fish to

save,

Jonah.

He appointed

his own

son for

you,

whom heaven

must receive

until the

time for

restoring all

things about

which God

spoke by the

mouth of his

holy prophets,

even that

proud Jonah.

Do you want

to be in the

presence of

the Lord?

Do you want

to stay there

with him and

find refreshing,

then repent,

turn back,

abide with

God through

Jesus Christ.

Peter could

now sing by

the work of

the Holy

Spirit,

Psalm 16

Psalms 16:11

verse 11,

with a

newfound joy.

The Psalm

says,

you, O

Lord, you

make known

to me the

path of

life.

In your

presence there

is fullness

of joy.

and at

your right

hand,

right there

with you

by your

side,

are pleasures

forevermore.

You don't

want to leave

the glorious

presence of

the Lord.

As a

closing prayer

and response,

I simply want

to read for us

as a prayer,

my prayer for

you, for

myself, and

I hope you'll

join me in

praying these

words as you

hear them.

Psalm 139

Psalms 139:1–12

verses 1

through 12.

O Lord,

you have

searched me

and known

me.

You know

when I sit

down and

when I rise

up.

You discern

my thoughts

from afar.

You search

out my path

and my lying

down and

are acquainted

with all

of my ways.

Even before

a word is

on my tongue,

behold, O

Lord, you

know it

altogether.

You hem

me in

behind and

before,

and you

lay your

hand upon

me.

Such knowledge

is too

wonderful for

me.

It is high.

I cannot

attain it.

Where shall

I go from

your spirit?

Or where

shall I flee

from your

presence?

If I ascend

to heaven,

you are there.

If I make

my bed in

Sheol,

you are there.

If I take

the wings of

the morning

and dwell in

the uttermost

parts of

the sea,

even there

your hand

shall lead

me,

and your

right hand

shall hold

me.

If I say

surely the

darkness shall

cover me,

and the light

about me

shall be dark,

even the

darkness is not

dark to you.

The night

is as bright

as the day,

for darkness

is as light

with you.

egen