Jonah 1:1-5

We are starting series going through the book of Jonah, if you guys want to turn there.

If you ask a group of kids to tell a story from the Bible, chances are Jonah is going to be one of those stories.

The book of Jonah is an exciting book with unbelievable characters and situations.

We have God.

We have Jonah, the horrible missionary.

We have God's mission.

We have a storm.

We've got Jonah being swallowed by a big fish.

We have the fact that Jonah lives in a big fish for three days.

We have Jonah being stewed out onto dry land.

We've got a plant that God provides for Jonah.

There are just some extreme situations to this book.

With all the unbelievable things, this book is a great story of redemption.

In fact, each chapter, four chapters, each chapter has a different story of redemption in it.

It's a great story of adventure, of God's power, a great story of God's sovereignty, a great story of the human heart, who we really are.

It's a great missionary story.

With God's mercy shown to Jonah, a Jew, to the Ninevites, Gentiles, and to sailors who are pagans.

It's a great story.

And a lot of times with great stories, we kind of dismiss it for Sunday school lesson material.

But this is a great story for all of us this morning.

So I'm going to read the entire book.

And then we'll dig into the first five verses.

Verse 1.

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying,

Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.

But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish.

So he paid the fare and went on board to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

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

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

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

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

So the captain came to him and said to him,

What do you mean, you sleeper?

Arise, call out to your God.

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

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

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

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

What is your occupation?

And where do you come from?

What is your country?

And of what people are you?

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

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

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

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

For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

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

Then the sea will quiet down for you.

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

Nevertheless, the men rode hard to get back to dry land, but they could not.

For the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

Therefore they called out to the Lord, O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life,

and lay not on us innocent blood.

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

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

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

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

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

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying,

I called out to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me.

Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.

For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me.

All your waves and your billows passed over me.

Then I said, I am driven away from your sight.

Yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.

The waters closed in over me to take my life.

The deep surrounded me.

Weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains.

I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever.

Yet you brought me up my life from the pit.

Brought up my life from the pit.

Oh Lord, my God.

When my life was fading away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you into your holy temple.

Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.

But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you what I have vowed I will pay.

Today, salvation belongs to the Lord.

And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out onto the dry land.

Then the word came to Jonah.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, Arise.

Go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.

So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.

Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city.

Three days' journey in breadth.

Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey, and he called out,

Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

And the people of Nineveh believed God.

They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

Then the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe,

covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

As he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh,

by the decree of the king and his nobles,

let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything.

Let them not feed or drink water, but let them and beasts,

covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God.

Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.

Who knows?

God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger,

so that we may not perish.

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way,

God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them,

and he did not do it.

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

And he prayed to the Lord and said,

O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country?

That this is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish?

For I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,

and relenting from disaster.

Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me,

for it is better for me to die than to live.

And the Lord said, Do you do well to be angry?

Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city

and made a booth for himself there.

He sat under it in the shade,

till he should see what would become of the city.

Now the Lord appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah,

that it might be a shade over his head to save him from his discomfort.

So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.

But when dawn came up the next day,

God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.

When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind,

and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint.

And he asked that he might die and said,

It is better for me to die than to live.

But God said to Jonah,

Do you do well to be angry for the plant?

And he said, Yes, I do.

Well, to be angry, angry enough to die.

And the Lord said,

You pity the plant for which you did not labor,

nor did you make it grow which came into being in a night

and perished in a night.

And should not I pity Nineveh,

that great city,

in which there are more than 120,000 persons

who do not know their right hand from their left,

and also much cattle.

So, a little bit of background to the book of Jonah.

The book takes place in the 8th century B.C.

Nineveh was a capital of Assyria.

They're not sure if it was the capital,

but it was definitely a capital.

There were a lot of nobles who lived in this city.

And it was a great city.

Large city.

And the Assyrians were well known by all of Israel

for their brutality and cruelty.

They were known to tear off lips and hands of their victims.

Lips and hands.

The lion's den.

Torture were regular practices for this brutal people.

Historically speaking,

Jonah is a prophet of God.

This isn't the first time that the Word of the Lord came to Jonah.

In fact, we see in 2 Kings,

where God spoke and used Jonah to speak to the people of Israel.

So, Jonah is not new to hearing the Word of the Lord.

This book is very important to us.

Not because of the story,

although that is important.

It's important because Jesus Himself

spoke about Jonah and the big fish.

Jesus Himself spoke and said that this happened.

And if Jesus said it,

and these things did not happen,

then we must discount the rest of the Scripture

and just go on our merry way

and forget about this Christianity thing.

C.S. Lewis wrote it this way.

He says,

A man who was merely a man

and said the sort of things Jesus said

would not be a great moral teacher.

He would either be a lunatic

on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg

or else he would be the devil of hell.

You must make your choice.

Either this man was and is the Son of God

or else a madman or something worse.

You can shut him up for a fool.

You can spit at him and kill him as a demon.

Or you can fall at his feet

and call him Lord and God.

The idea there is that

what Jesus speaks and has spoken

has to happen,

has to be real.

And so Jonah,

spoken from God's mouth in Matthew 12,

has to have happened.

Which makes our time studying it

all the more important.

See, in it we learn about God.

We learn about God's desires.

We learn about His characteristics.

We also learn,

as if we didn't know already,

ourselves,

the heart of man.

And it's always good to remind ourselves

who we are

or who we were.

Because,

because who we were

and who we are

always elevates who Christ is

if we're Christians,

if we're believers.

If we truly look and see who we were

and what Christ did,

then it elevates Christ.

And that makes this book

very important.

I've titled this message,

God's Mission Versus Man's Heart.

And if you know anything about the Bible,

then you know that God trumps man's heart.

God always trumps.

As Creator,

as Mercy Giver,

as Holy,

as Justice Maker,

He trumps us.

But the book of Jonah,

as we've just read,

is filled with great hope.

Great hope

for us in the world.

And that excites me.

And that should excite you as well.

There are three points

to the sermon this morning.

And each point has two parts.

So don't get confused.

We have God speaks

and Jonah hears.

We have God's message

and Jonah's reaction.

We have God's response

and Jonah's pretense.

I want to make it clear

that God's mission,

and this is going to be repeated

as we go through this book,

God's mission is completely

dependent upon God.

Not dependent upon you,

not dependent upon me,

not dependent upon Jonah.

It is dependent upon God.

What God wants to do,

what He desires,

it happens.

What He creates,

it becomes.

He gives a mission

and it happens.

So God's sovereignty

is clearly displayed

in the book of Jonah.

All right,

so the first point this morning.

God speaks

and Jonah hears.

Verse 1.

It says,

Now the word of the Lord

came to Jonah,

the son of Amittai.

We have the two characters.

We have God,

we have the Lord,

and we have Jonah.

God speaks

and Jonah hears.

As I've said already,

this is not the first time

that God spoke to Jonah.

In 2 Kings 14,

we have the only other place

where Jonah is mentioned

in all of Scripture.

And God has spoken

through Jonah

to the people of Israel.

Now in my opinion,

before studying this book,

I thought Jonah

was just a goober.

I thought he was an idiot.

That God spoke to him clearly,

however that was.

Voice, word,

picture in the sky,

who knows?

It doesn't tell us.

But God spoke to him clearly,

and he goes the opposite direction.

What a fool!

But honestly,

he's quite different than that.

Because in 2 Kings,

he was already a prophet,

and the word of the Lord

came to him.

And he spoke to an evil king,

an evil Israel.

Israel was not godly.

They were not God-fearing

at this time.

So he speaks

to the people of Israel,

and King Jeroboam

does exactly what Jonah says.

And God blesses Israel.

In fact,

the land of Israel

had grown under this king

to the size that it originally was

under King Solomon,

which was the biggest

that it had been up to that point.

So God used Jonah

to bless Israel.

There's a chance,

a great chance,

that Jonah was wealthy

and popular.

That maybe he was hero-like

to the people of Israel.

So he was familiar

with God's voice.

He knew

if God spoke to him.

As we know,

Jonah didn't really hear God,

though, right?

In Hebrew,

in Deuteronomy 6,

we have the,

it's called the Shema.

Hear, O Israel,

the Lord is one.

In Hebrew,

obedience is always connected

with hearing.

Kind of like us today.

Sometimes we say,

I listened,

but I didn't hear you.

I heard the noise,

but I didn't really hear you.

In Hebrew,

obedience

was always connected

with hearing.

So that,

if you didn't obey

what was told to you,

then clearly you didn't hear.

If you didn't do

what God had said,

then you didn't really hear.

Jonah

didn't really hear.

He listened.

He picked out

what he wanted to.

Go to Nineveh.

Oh,

I'm going to go the other way.

He didn't hear

what God had said.

And I think

it happens to us

a lot.

We read Scripture.

We read the Word of God.

We listen.

But do we really hear?

Do we really follow

what we've read

with obedience?

So God spoke.

The Word of the Lord

came to Jonah.

And Jonah

listened.

The Word of the Lord

fell on his ears,

but he did not hear.

All right,

so that's the first one.

The next two points

we're going to spend

a little more time with.

So that was

God speaks

and Jonah hears.

Verse 1

clearly tells us

the two characters

in this spot.

Next we have

God's message

and Jonah's reaction.

Verse 2

tells us

God's message.

Arise,

go to Nineveh,

that great city,

and call out against it

for their evil

has come up

before me.

Clearly,

we don't have

the exact message

of what Jonah

was supposed to say.

We see what he said

in chapter 3

where he said,

40 days

and Nineveh

shall be overthrown.

Not a real

articulate message.

Probably

a little Jonah

sided there.

We have not been,

it has not been

clearly told to us,

but what we do know

is that

Nineveh

heard the message.

They repented.

They repented

and they started

worshipping

the Lord,

Yahweh.

It was a call

to repentance,

to turn from their sin

and turn towards God.

And it's the message

that Peter preached

at Pentecost.

It's the message

that Paul preaches.

It's the message

that Jesus preached.

It is the story

of the Bible.

God's redemption

to a repentant

people.

When Martin Luther

nailed the 95 Theses

to the church

in Wittenberg,

number one

on his list,

the Christian life

is to be a life

of repentance.

Because that is

the message

of Scripture.

Scripture.

This is where we

stand.

This is the message

to us.

In this story,

this is where we

sit.

We must be a

people of repentance.

This message is not

just to Nineveh,

it is to us.

Look at verse 2

again.

Look at it.

It starts with two

commands.

Arise,

go.

Go.

To give a sense

of urgency.

Not just get up

at your leisure,

make your way

over to Nineveh.

Arise and go.

In other words,

hear your orders,

now move.

Hear your orders,

now go.

As I've talked

about the Assyrians,

and I've talked

about the people

of Nineveh,

this would be

like in 1944,

for God to tell

you to go to

Nazi Germany

and preach

against Hitler

and the people

of Germany

who are buying

into the Nazi

regime.

That's probably

pretty accurate.

We would say,

that's crazy.

What would make

it worse is if

you were Jewish

and God told you

to go do that.

That would be

even better.

God has sent

me to tell you,

Hitler,

that you are

going to hell

unless you repent.

Five seconds

maybe,

you'd be dead.

Unless God

had a plan

for the Nazi

Germany,

like he has

here for the

Ninevites.

You remember

when you were

a child and

you played

hide and seek?

You know,

if somebody

was trying to

find you and

you happened

to be just

around the

corner,

you maybe

would close

your eyes

because,

you know,

if they

couldn't see

you,

or if you

couldn't see

them,

they couldn't

see you.

You guys

relate to that?

We do it in

class and in

prayer time,

you know,

when you

don't want

to be called,

we put our

heads down.

No,

I really

don't want

to pray,

so I'm

just going

to,

I can't

see him,

he can't

see me.

We do

that.

We,

as people,

tend to take

that same

practice

and apply

it to our

theology.

We apply

it to what

we think

God is.

We think

that if we're

not looking

at God,

if our

eyes are

closed,

that he

doesn't

exist,

or that he's

not paying

attention,

or he

doesn't

care.

If we

just ignore

him,

and this

isn't just

non-Christians,

this is

believers,

too.

These are

Christians who

do this.

I do

this.

You know

the difference

between a

Christian and

a non-Christian

here?

Is that the

Christian knows

he's doing

it.

The non-Christian

has no idea.

And that's

what the

Ninevites

were doing.

They were

existing with

their eyes

closed,

so to speak.

They were

existing without

knowing God's

God existed,

without knowing

that he was

watching them.

And honestly,

this is the

reason why

Jonah didn't

want to go.

Chapter 4

tells us he

didn't want to

go because

God was going

to show mercy

on them.

But think

about where

Jonah's coming

from.

He's coming

from Israel,

who are

practicing evil

things.

Idol

worship.

their being

evil.

So,

if God

showed mercy

on the

pagans of

Nineveh,

how much

greater is

the judgment

going to be

on a people

of Israel

who knew

God existed,

who knows

that God

is there?

How much

greater is

that judgment

going to be?

And for us,

it's the same

thing.

It's scary.

If we continue

to go on,

if we are

children of

God,

and we

continue to

practice

immorality,

if we continue

to be evil

and deny

the existence

of God,

because we

do that,

guys.

We do it.

We do it.

God

will get your

attention.

He will get

my attention.

We have to

repent.

The Christian

life is a

life of

repentance

for God's

glory and

for our

good.

End of

verse 2.

It says,

Call out

against it

for their

evil has

come up

before me.

God is

the only

audience that

matters.

He is

it.

He's the

one who

judges.

He must

live,

we must

live to

an audience

of one.

Not our

mom,

not our

dad,

not our

girlfriend,

boyfriend,

wife,

husband,

boss,

pastor.

We must

live to

an audience

of one.

No one

else matters.

And here,

it doesn't

say that

their evil

has come up

against you,

Jonah,

so I'm

going to

get them.

Or their

evil has

come up

against Israel,

so I'm

going to

get them.

Because their

evil has

come up

before me.

The

actions of

the

Ninevites,

denying the

existence of

God by

their

practices,

tells us

they thought

God did

not exist.

And

verse 3

tells us

that Jonah

thinks God

is small.

Look at

verse 3.

But Jonah

rose to

flee to

Tarshish

from the

presence of

the Lord.

He went

down to

Joppa

and found

a ship

going to

Tarshish.

So he

paid the

fare and

went on

board to

go with

them to

Tarshish

away from

the presence

of the

Lord.

So that

was God's

message.

Go to

Nineveh.

Preach

to them

repentance.

Here we

have Jonah's

reaction.

Jonah

rose.

He rose.

He got

the first

commandment

right.

Remember it

says arise

go.

He rose.

But he

went,

opposite

direction.

Tarshish is

repeated here

three times.

And I

don't know if

you guys

noticed that

when I've

read it.

I mean it's

a clearly

obvious word

Tarshish.

It's three

times repeated.

And that's

to show the

severity of

Jonah's

disobedience.

The author

makes it

clear that

Jonah

disobeyed

in a

big way.

Jonah's

message was

to go to

Nineveh.

Which from

where Jonah

was we're

not exactly

sure but

was to

go northeast.

So Jonah

was to go

northeast.

And Joppa

is southwest.

Joppa is

southwest.

That's pretty

much opposite.

On top of

that Tarshish

most people

say was a

city on the

coast of

Spain.

Now he's

got to go

through the

entire

Mediterranean

Sea to

get there.

And that

was his

place he

wanted to

go.

So not

only was he

going the

opposite

direction but

he was

going 1500

plus miles

away from

where God

wanted him

to go.

Crazy.

He knew

he did not

want to go

to Nineveh.

He knew

and he went

the opposite

way.

And we say

what a fool.

What an

idiot.

And yet we

do the same

thing.

What was the

last thing that

God told you

to do?

What was the

last thing that

you know

clearly God

wanted you to

do?

Did you do

it?

Have you been

faithful in all

things?

Because poor

Jonah, this is

one situation.

We only have

two in the

Bible so he's

shooting 50%.

Now you

and I, how

many times has

God told you

to do

something?

What are we

shooting?

30%?

80%?

And we're

given this.

We're given

the revealed

Word of God.

We're given

the revealed

will of God

by His Word.

We know

what we're

supposed to do

a lot of

times.

Yet we

still

deny.

This was

Jonah's

mistake.

He thought

he could run

from God.

He thought

that if I

just go far

enough, if I

just pick a

destination, I'm

going to go to

Australia.

He just

picked a place

that was

opposite.

He thought

that he could

run from God.

from the

presence of

the Lord

is what

verse 3

says twice.

Again, the

author is

repeating

himself to

show the

ridiculousness

of Jonah

and the

utter

disobedience

of this

man.

From the

presence of

the Lord.

The author is

not telling us

that Jonah

thought he

could run

from the

presence of

the Lord.

Verse 9 of

chapter 1

tells us that

Jonah knew

who God

was.

I am a

Hebrew and I

fear the

Lord, the

God of

heaven, who

made the

sea and the

dry land.

He knew who

God was.

God was.

It's more

like Jonah

is saying, or

the author is

saying that

Jonah is no

longer standing

in God's

presence.

He's no

longer standing

with God.

He's no

longer doing

the will of

God.

Kind of like

Elijah who

said, I am

standing in the

presence of

God.

I am doing

what God has

commanded me

to do.

It's kind of

that same

language.

Jonah is

not standing

with God.

And the

funny thing

with this

story is

that Jonah

probably thought

he was doing

good.

He thought he

was doing

okay.

I take

back good.

Okay.

Because God

tells him what

to do,

wherever his

location is,

and he has

to go

southwest to

Joppa.

And a long

journey, I'm

sure.

Everybody

walked back

then.

However long

it took him,

he got to

Joppa.

And in his

head he says,

I'm going to

go to Tarshish

before he gets

to Joppa.

And there

happens to be a

ship there

who's going to

Tarshish.

So, not only

has he gotten

through the long

journey, he now

has a ship

that's going to

Tarshish.

And lo and

behold, he's got

enough money to

pay for the

ship to go to

Tarshish.

However long

this journey is,

he probably

thought, God

is surely

blessing.

Everything is

working out.

this is great.

But, we

think this

too.

We do

this as

well.

You buy a

car that

stretches the

budget, that

stresses the

finances, and

because you

haven't had a

wreck, you

say, God

wills it.

God is

blessing.

Or, you're

dating a

non-believer, and

things have been

going great.

You haven't

gone too far

physically, and

she or he

loves me, and

we have good

conversations, we

support each

other.

We haven't got

pregnant yet, so

God wills it.

God is

blessing.

Or, what

about not

really buying

into this

Christian thing?

What about

going to

church?

Going to

eat afterwards

with church

people?

Talk about

spiritual things,

but deep

down, you

know you're

not even a

Christian.

But, I

haven't lost a

loved one yet.

God hasn't

really got my

attention yet.

I'll wait.

I haven't

fallen deep

into sin,

into whatever

that may be.

God still

blesses.

Incredible!

See, Jonah

had a smooth

ride to

Joppa.

A smooth

ride to

Joppa.

Doesn't say he

had any

trouble.

He thought he

was going to

have a smooth

ride to

Tarshish.

So, there's

Jonah's

reaction.

Now, we

have God's

response and

Jonah's

pretense.

verses 4 and

5.

I call this

God's

oh yeah

moment.

You're going

to go that

way?

Oh yeah.

I'll show

you.

Verse 4.

But the

Lord hurled

a great

wind upon

the sea,

and there

was a

mighty tempest

on the

sea, so

that the

ship

threatened

to break

up.

This

verse

has become

fascinating

to me.

God's

sovereignty

is displayed

in the

obvious.

God is

in control

of the

obvious

things.

The

wind,

the sea,

but he's

also

sovereign

over the

not so

obvious,

the ship

in this

verse.

And we'll

get to

that in

just a

minute.

Jonah

disobeyed.

He

disobeyed

God.

But,

the sea,

the wind,

and even

the ship

obeyed

God.

They did

what God

commanded.

Look at

verse 4.

But the

Lord

hurled

a great

wind

upon

the

sea.

This

language

is like

a man

hurling

a spear.

Hurling

a spear

at a

target,

at an

animal,

or whatever,

an enemy,

with

strength

and

intensity.

God

hurled

this

wind

at

Jonah,

at the

ship

that

Jonah

was

in.

The

wind

obeyed.

Went

where

God

commanded.

the sea

obeyed

and

created

a storm

like

nothing

the

sailors

had

seen.

Now look,

the ship

obeyed

as well.

So that

the ship

threatened

to break

up.

The ESV

translation

is correct.

To kind

of say

it this

way,

the ship

in Hebrew

is personified.

destroyed.

So that

the ship

considered

breaking

up.

Considered

tearing

in half

because the

storm

was so

great.

So whatever

that looks

like on

the ship,

I have

no idea.

But the

storm

was so

great,

the wind

obeyed

God,

the sea

obeyed

God,

and the

ship

considered

to break

apart.

They're

God's

sovereign

hand.

And when

the Lord

gives a

mission,

when He

commands you

to do

something,

that

something

is going

to get

done.

Whatever

that is,

God will

have His

mission

complete.

Here,

the storm

that God

threw at

Jonah,

and that

they had

to endure,

was a

storm big

enough,

and great

enough,

that it

scared the

sailors,

these guys

who sailed

for a living,

these guys

who lived

on the

Mediterranean

Sea.

It scared

them.

Verse 5,

the mariners,

the mariners,

however you say

that word,

were afraid.

The sailors

were afraid.

And they

went into

survival mode.

Let's throw

this off.

Let's throw

this off.

Let's lighten

the load.

We have to

survive this

great storm.

Jonah's

pretense,

or his

assumption

was that

everything was

good,

that everything

was okay.

I made it to

Joppa.

I found a

boat.

I had enough

money.

Here I go

off to

Tarshish.

He closed

his eyes

while God

was sending

a storm.

God was

orchestrating

a great

symphony

while Jonah

had his

eyes

closed.

How many

of you guys

are doing

that?

How many

of us

are doing

that?

How many

are ignoring

the existence

of God

when in

reality,

God is

working?

God is

sovereign,

then you

know that

he does

not need

you or

me to

fulfill his

plan,

to fulfill

his mission.

But yet,

God invites us

to join him.

He invites us

into his

kingdom work.

He invited

Jonah,

Jonah,

and he

decided he

was still

going to

use Jonah,

and he

got his

attention.

Have you

fulfilled the

mission that

God has

for you?

Are you

sitting down

below while

a storm is

raging,

while your

eyes close

thinking that

God does

not exist or

care or that

even everything

is okay because

nothing severe

has happened?

No big

storms have

happened in

my life.

For some

of you,

fulfilling the

mission of

God is

receiving the

free gift of

salvation.

Right now,

for some of

you, it is

receiving this

gift of

salvation.

God's

mission for

Jonah was

to go to a

pagan Assyrian

city and

preach to

them repentance.

Your mission

might just

be to repent

right now.

Nineveh was

not a Jewish

city.

They were an

enemy of

Israel and

of people who

practiced

brutality on

the Jews.

In my

opinion,

Jonah is

warranted for

not going.

He's right on

for not wanting

to go.

But my

opinion does

not matter.

Your opinion

does not

matter.

God's

mission is

not dependent

on us.

It is

dependent upon

Him.

God desires

that His

creation,

that His

people,

that people

would know

His Son

and be His

children.

Praise God

for the book

of Jonah.

Praise God

for this

experience,

this time,

that we're

able to

read that

Jonah was

to go to

a Gentile

nation,

a pagan

nation,

a non-Jewish

nation,

and preach

repentance.

Because that's

you and me.

We are

Gentiles.

Unless you're

a Jewish,

we are Gentiles.

We are

outside the

chosen people

of God.

We are

not of

Israel.

And in

the book

of Jonah,

before

Christ,

Jonah was

to go

and to

preach

to Gentiles.

What a

great story.

What a

great mission.

Praise God

for His

mission.

Praise God

for calling

a people to

Him who

are not

Jewish.

Praise God

for calling

based on

Him alone.

Because I

guarantee if

I'm Irish,

I bet no

British person

is going to

come and

preach to

Irish people

back in the

1400s or

whatever.

Clay, you

can correct

me later.

It's not

based on

anybody but

God alone.

His

message,

Jonah didn't

like.

He didn't

like it.

Jonah

worshipped

himself and

his desires

instead of

worshipping the

Creator.

And here's

the bottom

line.

I'm going to

close in just

a minute.

But if we

truly understand

the mercy of

God, if we

truly understood

the mercy of

God, then we

would not act

like Jonah.

God, we

would act like

another prophet.

One who

went in the

presence of

God, where

his sin and

God's holiness

was revealed,

knew exactly

what he had

to do.

So,

turn to

Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

6.

We've gone

here a few

times in the

last couple

years, but it

just clearly

illustrates to

us what our

proper response

is to the

gospel.

We're going to

read just a few

verses.

Isaiah 6.

Isaiah 6.

Isaiah 6.

And the

foundations of

the threshold

shook at the

voice of him

who called,

and the house

was filled with

smoke, and I

said, woe is

me, for I am

lost, for I am

a man of unclean

lips, and I

dwell in the

midst of a

people of

unclean lips,

for my eyes

have seen the

King, the

Lord of

hosts.

Then one of

the seraphim

flew to me,

having in his

hand a burning

coal that had

taken with

tongs from

the altar, and

he touched

my mouth and

said, behold,

this has

touched your

lips, your

guilt is taken

away, and

your sin

atoned for.

The gospel.

And I

heard the

voice of the

Lord saying,

whom shall I

send, and

who will go

for us?

And Isaiah's

response is,

then I said,

here am I,

send me.

Here am I,

send me.

Jonah didn't

really understand

the mercy of

God.

He knew that

God was

merciful.

He knew that

it would

happen.

But Jonah's

Jewish.

Jonah's the

chosen people.

And he

decided that

what God was

going to do,

I don't want

anything to do

with that.

Guys, if we

truly understood

the mercy of

God, if we

truly understood

the gospel,

our response

would be,

here am I,

send me.

Wherever that

is, whatever

that looks

like.

The gospel

that puts

your sinfulness,

your depravity,

up against

God's holiness

and His

justice.

Justice that

determines we

are guilty.

That we

deserve the

wrath of

God because

of our sin.

Ephesians 2,

but God

being rich in

mercy because

of the great

love with

which He

loved us,

even when we

were dead in

our trespasses,

made us alive

together with

Christ.

For our

sake He made

Him to be

sin who knew

no sin,

that in Him

we might

become the

righteousness

of God.

Jesus died