God’s Commitment to the Message | Jonah 2:10-3:3b

This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.

For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandProquay.org.

Amen.

Let's pray together, Church.

Lord Jesus, this is our understanding and it is our privilege that we've left the broad path that leads to destruction.

Because you're a God of love and you would never instruct us in a way of life and a way of being, a way of thinking, a way of relating to people that ends in destruction.

But you said that narrows the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it.

And so we've come today to increase our understanding of what that means, what it looks like with our life wrapped around it.

That's why we open up your word.

Every time we open up your word, we're saying, You, not me.

We're saying yes, not no.

So, Lord, before we ever read your word today, our answer is yes.

We lay our lives down before you as a blank check, and we just say, Lord, you fill it in.

You tell us where we go, how we do how we live, what we say, what we spend, what we save, what we give away.

Lord, we just yield ourselves before you.

Because the life that we find down this narrow road is so much bigger and broader, deeper, and juicier than anything we've known before.

This is why we love you when we submit to you.

So we say, Holy Spirit, speak.

Your servants are listening today.

Speak to us from your word and by your spirit.

We pray in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

You can have a seat.

You can have a seat.

If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it.

Open up to Jonah chapter two.

And if you're our guest today, we're preaching through the book of Jonah.

We've preached the books of the Bible.

We do a New Testament book, Old Testament, New Testament, Old Testament.

We're in the Old Testament book of Jonah.

I'll start reading in chapter two, verse 10.

I want to talk to you today about God's commitment to the message.

God's commitment to the message.

Now, unless you understand what I mean by God's commitment to the message, that you will not understand all that God makes Jonah go through or that Jonah chooses to go through to kind of escape his role and in the part God's called him to play in getting the message to these people in a city called Nineveh.

Nineveh is a city uh that it's in Assyria.

Uh, and right now it's it's big, uh, I mean, geographically, but it's not that important.

But later, Nineveh becomes the capital of the uh the nation of Assyria.

And in 722 BC, God uses Assyria to discipline his people Israel.

This is why God is saying, see, God's playing chess and Jonah's playing checkers.

Jonah's thinking about the next 30 minutes, God's thinking about the next 3,000 years.

And this is why Isaiah 55 says of God, God says, My ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts are bigger than your thoughts.

And so God is recklessly and joyously committed to getting his message to his people.

And so I just want to start reading Jonah chapter 2, uh, verse 10.

Jonah 2 · chapter mention

And I'll just read down about four or five verses.

My own wife came to me yesterday after I sent the email and said, So I read the passage for tomorrow.

Pause, which is wife talk for what are you gonna say out of that?

It's kind of short.

I said, Yeah, Jared, it's only like four or five verses.

And she's like, Yeah.

And I said, Oh, so full of goodness.

And she looked at me like, we'll see.

Uh no, she's like, Hey, I'm praying.

I can't wait to see what hear what God has to say.

So let's just read God's word.

Let me give you context.

If you're visiting today, the book of Jonah is only four chapters.

We'll be in it seven weeks because we're not gonna hurry.

We want to get everything God has for us out of this.

God basically spoke the word of the Lord, comes to a guy named Jonah.

And then when you say the word of the Lord, it's not like the Gideons handed him a Bible.

God revealed and pressed upon him, hey, this is what I want you to go and do.

I want you to say this, these people, Nineveh, go tell them to get their act together, because if not, their whole nation is gonna be destroyed.

It's gonna collapse down around them.

Jonah said, I don't like those people.

They don't vote the way I vote, they don't look like I look, I just don't care for them, okay?

And so instead of going this way, Jonah goes that way.

Now, if you've ever heard God say go this way and you went that way, say amen.

That was tepid people.

Let's try that again.

If you've ever heard God say go this way and you went that way, say amen.

Yes, yes, God said, Hey, put that down, stop doing that.

You don't need that in your life.

Oh, yeah, God, I'm never, ever, ever.

You should relate to Jonah.

Jonah's not some historical book, and then the reason a lot of a lot of details are left out in the book of Jonah is so that it could have universal application.

So we're not here to study some man way back in the in the past.

Uh, we're here to to yes to study Jonah in his historical context, but also to take Jonah and apply it to ourselves as we sit here in this room today.

Jonah chapter 2, verse 10.

Jonah 2:10

The Bible says this.

Now, now Jonah ran and God said, Where are you going, bro?

I own the earth, okay?

So God sends a storm, the ship gets tossed to and fro.

They threw Gilligan off the island.

Uh now they cast lots and they said, So they got bad juju on them, and they're messing with our trip, and they cast lots, they fell on Jonah.

Then he said, What do we do with you?

And they said, He Jonah said, Throw me overboard.

So he threw him overboard.

God sends a great fish, swallows up Jonah.

We looked at last week how I don't know that Jonah lived three days in the belly of a whale.

Probably if you read the biblical text, he dies and is resurrected because he cries out from Sheol, which is the place of the dead.

That's last week.

Pick up today, chapter 2, verse 10.

The Bible says, This And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah up on the dry land.

And 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 he went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord.

That was so short and sweet, let's read it again.

Amen.

Look at verse 10.

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

And 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.

I want to say three things for the text this morning.

Number one, God speaks to anyone who will listen.

God speaks to anyone who listens.

It's verse 10.

I don't want to hurry, but you there's things you read in the Bible, and you just, if you're not careful, you just kind of sleepwalk right through it, like verse 10.

And the Lord spoke to the fish.

Hello.

And the Lord spoke to the fish.

That should shock your sensibilities.

You should be like, okay, what about me?

What's the fish got on me?

Because I continually meet people who are like, well, you know, I want God to speak to me, but I don't believe God speaks.

Now, by the way, there's two schools of thought when it comes to the Lord speaking.

We're not talking an audible voice, we're talking more about an internal revelation or an internal impression.

But there's two schools of thought.

And you learn some big words, just not in the outline.

There's people that think God doesn't speak anymore.

The Bible's closed canon.

If you want anything, read it in the Bible.

Those are called cessationists, okay?

They're over-educated, very joyless people, but they love education, okay?

And they don't believe God doesn't heal, He doesn't speak, He doesn't reveal anything.

It's just boom.

Great people who love Jesus, okay, are in that that camp.

And then there's the cessationists, and then there's what's called the continuationist.

A continuationist is someone that believes that God still heals, God still speaks.

He does never speaks in violation or of his word or contrary to his word, but God has got left the Holy Spirit here on earth to continue the ministry of Jesus, okay?

And so people say, Well, I, you know, I wish God would speak to me, and I just say, hey, look, but I don't think he does that anymore.

And I say, look in the Bible and see who God spoke to and what God spoke to.

And if you do that, what you'll see is that God spoke to people, he spoke to animals, he spoke through animals.

There's a guy named Balaam beating a donkey, and the donkey starts talking to him.

At that point, I get off the donkey and walk.

I'm like, think about bad juju.

I don't want a part of this.

See, God is a speaking God, is what I want you to understand today, okay?

Our God is a speaking God.

He speaks to animals, he spoke through animals, he spoke to individuals, he spoke to families, he spoke to nations, which is what he's doing right here in the book of Jonah, talking to Nineveh.

He spoke to the wind, he spoke to the waves.

You cannot read the Bible and walk away and say, Oh, I think God spoke past his, but he doesn't speak anymore.

You say, Well, I don't get what you mean.

One of the components of God speaking is God preparing.

God preparing what he means.

And so far, what you see in the book of Jonah is that God's preparing Jonah to get to the place where he has ears to hear what God is saying.

Look at me, and the heart to submit to it.

So some of you, you like God's not not speaking to me.

Maybe God's not speaking, and God, because you got to be prepared where you can hear, have ears to hear what God is saying, and then the heart to submit to it, okay?

Our God is a speaking God, and I just want to tick off four or five ways that God speaks, okay?

One of the first ways that God speaks is through creation.

Through creation.

When creation communicates, it's not about creation so that you worship and serve creation, and you're Greta Thornburg, climate activist, who's now on her way to Gaza, sailing on a freedom flotilla uh in Italy, sponsored by millionaires.

I'm like, could y'all stop, please?

You please stop using this girl for every cause.

I mean, Greta Thornburg, uh, are you a climate activist?

Are you a Gaza activist?

What are you?

Just make up your mind, okay?

But see, when God speaks through creation, it's not so that we worship creation, it's so that we worship the creator.

The Bible says it like this in Psalm 19: the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech, nor their words whose voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out through all the earth and the words to the end of the world.

I remember years ago being in a camp in a youth camp, I spoke at in Alabama, and then why not instead of preaching?

Because Alabama, I mean, Christianity, or excuse me, religion is like the sweet tea.

It's part of the culture, it's not necessarily part of everyone's experience.

And so these kids were jaded and cynical and know it all.

I like I'm like, goodness.

And one day I was praying, and the Lord just said, Let me have Adam.

You shut up so I can speak.

Wait a minute, what?

And so we got up there, we had worship, and I said, Okay, for the next 30 minutes, I want you to go outside, find a place to sit all alone, sit by yourself, and just look around and listen for what God has to say.

Kid went down to the lake and watched the sun go down, came back and said, I want to know the God that created that sun.

And his youth pastor said, What do I do?

And I said, What do you mean?

What do you do?

He goes, Well, I mean, I I he didn't pray the prayer.

Oh, sweet Jesus.

Ah, here's another way the Bible says that God speaks.

It's in Romans chapter 1, verse 18.

Romans 1:18

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Here's this part.

Remember, I said creation, God speaks?

Verse 19 for what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them.

For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made.

Here are those last two phrases.

Ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made.

Translation, creation builds a case against humanity.

No one can say, Well, no one's no one ever spoke.

This is the famous which everybody in America is obsessed about.

The man in Africa who's never heard the gospel, doesn't, I mean, he's a good person.

Why can't he go to heaven?

He can't go to heaven because God has revealed himself in creation, and creation builds a case against humanity.

No one's gonna stand before God and say, I never heard the gospel.

Missionaries didn't come to my village, or I didn't hear a preacher, and so I get a hall pass.

No, why?

Because creation builds a case against humanity.

Why?

What do you mean?

It says right here, it says that his divert, his eternal power, his divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world.

So before there were people, I mean, there's just Adam and Eve, and God creates the world.

There's been no excuse for humanity.

Everyone that came after that cannot say, I had no idea there was a God.

Yes, you had an idea there was a God.

He revealed himself in nature.

Look at me.

You just didn't like him being God.

You wanted to be God.

So that's our human nature.

We don't want to be rolled over.

We don't want someone to tell us what to do, who to love.

Okay?

So God speaks through creation.

Secondly, he speaks in his word through his word.

The loudest expression of God's will is God's word.

Let me say that again.

The loudest expression of God's will is God's word.

Why do I say that?

Because I continue to this day to see countless people who are trying to discern God's will for their lives, and they live in complete violation of God's word.

And you may be sitting here today, like, that's me, bro.

I'm living, I know it's wrong, I'm doing it anyway.

Look, I ain't mad at you.

I'm just saying you can pray your heart out, okay?

Your mom and dad can pray for your students.

But if you're living in violation of God's word, why would God reveal his will to you?

I mean, you're smart people.

Think about that.

It's like your son wrecks your car, okay?

Excuse me.

Men, your son borrows your wife's car and he goes out with his buddies drinking, underage drinking, gets in a wreck, gets a DUI, totals a car, and the next day he comes to you with beer on his breath and says, Dad, kind of get your truck keys.

You should be like, Yo ignorant self needs to be slapped.

What'd you just ask me?

You would never do that.

And yet, look at me, that's exactly what we expect God to do.

We live in such a world where I just saw the app this.

I've seen the commercial many times before.

Chris Pratt and all these people, hey, Mark, uh, Mark Wahlberg, hey, would you pray with me just for a minute?

Blah blah blah blah blah blah.

There's a lot of spirituality that's running rampant in America that's not connected to a relationship with God.

Just be sober, people, be discerning, all right?

And so God speaks through his word.

Uh, you say, well, I don't know what you mean.

Uh uh now that we're thinking about God speaking through his word, and it's one of the loudest, let me ask a practical question.

What would life look like if it was actually lived according to the word?

What would your life and my life, if you just said, Hey, I'm just gonna live according to the word?

I'm just gonna say, I want to do this, I want to understand this.

I think I've been coming to church and y'all kind of teach the Bible.

I'm kind of beginning to make sense to me.

What would that look like?

Okay?

The Bible answers the question in Psalm 1 with these words Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of the sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord.

Her delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, on God's law, he meditates day and night.

Here's what he describes what it's like.

He's like a tree planted by streams of living water.

Uh-oh.

That yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither.

And all that he does, he prospers.

Here are those last two sentences again.

He is like that person is like a tree planted by streams of living water because it can draw up nourishment and water from the roots from the stream it's planted close to.

It doesn't depend on atmospheric conditions, okay?

It doesn't depend on being popular in the eighth grade and more popular in the tenth grade, and then the most popular in the 12th grade.

No, no, no.

It doesn't depend on getting rained on and sun and all these external conditions.

It depends on one thing.

Where did I plant myself?

It's like a tree planted by streams of living water.

It yields its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

Now, let me just say this.

I don't want to preach a supplemental text, but I want to point to something in this supplemental text, and it's this there's this progression of how we end up in friendships and relationships we should never be in.

Sooners, have you ever noticed when you first meet somebody or you bring up a person's name that you're hanging out with, or a boy you're crushing on, or a girl that you're interested in, your mom and dad kind of their spidey senses go up and they start asking you a question Who is this Devin guy?

You're like, Oh, he's just a guy at school.

That is not enough for your nosy mother.

She's like, What do you mean?

Your mom is stalking him on socials, your mom is calling another mom.

Hey, do you know this guy?

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da.

Oh, blah, blah, blah.

And if she finds you texting him, oh, sitting in the corner, who you texting?

Oh, just Devin?

Oh, you'd gone DEF CON 5 at that point.

She is like calling the CIA.

I need a full workup, I need a blood and urine sample on Devon.

We need more than that.

That's all I got.

I don't know a last name or anything, but I tell you what, I'm my car is idling in the driveway and I'm ready to launch.

Why?

Here's why.

Okay?

It's very simple.

It's right here in Psalm 1.

Look at me.

Your mom and dad know that you're you may be walking right now, but if you get curious about things you shouldn't be interested in, you will stop walking and you'll stand.

And if you stand there long enough, you'll move over and then you will sit in the presence of people and things you should have nothing to do with.

There's a progression to disobedience.

It starts with walking, and then it piques your attention, and you stop and you stand, and then you sit among.

This is why your mom is not content when you go, Oh, Devin's just a guy I met at school.

It's Devin.

No, because she knows, hey, I know that there's a good chance you could be sitting among this person, and I want to know more than just this person's name.

I want to know what they're like.

I want to know what they've planted their life.

That's a great question you should ask people.

Uh, hey, by the way, tell me what you've planted your life next to.

Because what you plant yourself next to, you will eventually become.

You just will.

There's a third way God speaks.

God speaks through prayer.

Prayer.

Prayer is a conversation, so make sure you're listening as much as you're talking.

And let me just say this in prayer, and I confess that what really ministered to me in prayer.

When it comes to prayer, be interested.

Don't try to be interesting.

Be interested in God and what God is saying.

Don't try to be interesting.

Too many people try to be interesting when they prayer, and they use big words.

Oh Lord, we beseech you.

Like the mighty river that flows to the heart of all mankind, eternal source of nectared goodness, sweet honey Jesus.

You're trying to be interesting.

And by the way, when your eyes are closed, everyone else's eyes are open, are looking at each other, going, get a load of this guy.

Be interested, okay?

You say, What do you mean, be interested?

I have a friend, uh, but he's marked an acquaintance.

I hadn't seen him in forever, but when I first got around him, uh, he was kind of spooky uh and kind of kooky to me.

Uh we I would host a gathering.

When I was traveling, I hosted a gathering of people, the itinerant speakers and worship leaders, and and we would all get together.

And one time I just looked at him and said, Hey man, why don't you pray for us?

And he prayed, and we all bowed our heads, and that brother just burst it out, Jesus, you're the one I'm thinking of.

What are you doing?

What are you thinking?

I'd like to know.

And I had my head bowed and my eyes closed, like a good Baptist.

And I was like, Is he singing?

And then I just kind of did this, like I was peeking over the fence.

And I looked up, my favorite was the guy across the table, he was doing this.

And we all had our eyes open.

There was like 18 of us in the room, 17 of us were doing this.

And this one cat was like, spread out, because he said, and then he didn't stop.

It wasn't like a bar to Zahad, I'm after your heart, I'm after you.

I was like, can somebody put on some Marvin Gaye music while he makes that with Jesus?

It was awkward.

And then we went to dinner after that session, and people were trying to sit next to get now.

Also, this cat would not order food at a restaurant.

It's another thing.

Cookie.

He would ask the waiter for a plate, and he would just come around.

There was 18 of us, so 17 of us ordered.

He would come around the plate and say, Hey, you don't need all that.

Give me some of that.

Oh, yeah.

He would compose his plate off everybody else's plate.

And he said to me, Hey, did you get into Lotus Verdes?

I said, Yeah.

He goes, Can I have half of one?

Oh, you're walking on the fighting side of me now.

And he sat back down.

He had the most food of everybody.

And I remember I said, Hey man, uh, what what was that?

And people were like, whoa, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And then he dropped this bomb on us.

He just looked at all of us with his googly eyes and he said, Hey, listen, uh, I don't want my intimacy to make you uncomfortable because your lack of intimacy doesn't make me uncomfortable.

I'm gonna eat my enchiladas now.

Yeah.

Now here's the thing: when you pray, are you talking to God or are you thinking more about the people in the room hearing you?

Because he just looked at all us and said, Ah, no offense, brothers, but I don't think about any of y'all.

Somebody asked him to pray at dinner and he said, Oh, okay.

I'll pray.

I mean, like you're talking about.

Yeah.

And he started his prayer with this.

Not that I was critiquing or anything.

He just rubbing his hands over his borrowed food.

And he said, Oh, sweet, sufficient Jesus.

And look at me.

When I first heard him, got around him, I was like, the more I was around him, I was like, some of you are leaning away from people you should lean into.

Okay?

Another way God speaks is through spiritual authority.

Be a part of a church that makes you think.

Because that's one of the ways God speaks to you.

People who increase your understanding of God and his word, not just the church's programming.

Some people get converted to church and they never meet Jesus, never need Jesus.

The church is so slick and slack at promoting herself nowadays.

You should have some stretch marks on your head, your heart, and your hands, because good teaching involves affirmation.

They affirm what you already believe.

We affirmed our faith with the Nicene Creed, but also aspiration.

I gotta get up on my tippy toes and think about that.

Yes.

Spiritual authority, lastly, circumstances.

Oftentimes these are what God uses to confirm what He's saying.

He's not He speaks in every circumstance.

Sometimes it is He's speaking there.

Sometimes the circumstance is confirming what God's already spoken to you.

But you gotta be careful that every circumstance doesn't become the voice of God, okay?

Just be careful.

You say, What do you mean?

We have friends, Mark and I we have dinner at their house one time, and we they they had a beautiful home, big nice home.

And the and the door to the uh excuse me, the front door just, I guess it wasn't latched cut, and it just kind of opened up.

And the lady went, Oh, I think the Holy Spirit just walked in.

Don't be kooky.

Like, did you yeah?

I was like, Yeah, no, but I don't think we close the door properly.

No, that's never happened.

I think the Holy Spirit just entered there.

No, the Holy Spirit's like God, he's omnipresent, okay?

He didn't like well, you're gonna shut the door and lock him out.

That's a very flawed pneumatology there.

And then I made it awkward.

I'm just like, oh, gee, whis.

See, this is this is how ridiculous you become if you're like everything is a sign from God.

I'm just saying circumstances.

So how can you tell if God is speaking through circumstances?

Real simple, you should get good tone like Maverick.

Remember Top Gun?

Not Top Gun Maverick.

See, boys and girls, before Top Gun Maverick, there was a Top Gun, okay?

1986.

Ask your mom, because she was crushing on Tom Cruise.

If your mom was even born back then.

Yes.

And remember they would uh Maverick and Goose would get in a dog fight that had a targeting system at two circles, and they go, that means you got target locked.

And Maverick would say, I got good tone, I got good tone, I'm firing.

And then uh somebody would play in the back, you know, Kenny Loggins, danger zone or whatever in the background.

You're like, I'm gonna join the Navy.

Yes, look at me.

Internally, you got this inner circle, externally, you got this external circle.

You should not do anything until those two things lock up and you get good tone.

You're just like, ooh, I got good tone.

Absolutely, absolutely.

Wow, this is confirms the circumstance.

So God spoke to the fish.

Let me just point to this.

I ain't got time to go into it.

The Bible says right here, and the Lord spoke to the fish.

Our God is a speaking God, He speaks to anyone that will listen.

Now, listen, you may be sitting here, and it's okay.

I don't try to, you're not bad people or you're not good people.

If you're a cessationist or a continuationist, that's between you and the Holy Spirit, okay?

I'm not here to get into religious discussions.

I'm just here to say this: God never speaks in violation of his word.

The Spirit of God never tells the people of God to do anything that violates the word of God.

This is the standard for all things, okay?

Now don't miss this.

He spoke to the fish, and the fish vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

This is the way my cookie mind works, okay?

What did God say to the fish to let him know it was time to vomit this man out?

Did it come on the PA?

Reverse gears.

He vomited, by the way.

I ain't time, this is what I don't have the time to go into, but but but things getting vomited out happens all through the Bible.

Don't turn there, but in Leviticus 18, about verse 24 and 25, it says the land vomits out those who are disobedient.

If you went to the last book of the New Testament, book of Revelation, chapter 3, about verse 14, 15, 16, somewhere in there, God says to the church at Laodicea, hey, because you're neat, you're not hot or cold, but you're lukewarm, I will vomit you out of my mouth.

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

Things are getting vomited out all through the Bible.

Because, hey, he vomits him out because everything and all creation was created to listen to God.

So, number one, what I want you to see, this is God's commitment to the message, that God speaks to anyone who will listen.

Secondly, God repeats himself.

He repeats himself.

Chapter 3, verse 1, 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 I will tell you will tell you.

What do you mean?

God repeats himself.

Have you ever had a sense that God is speaking to you about something, but you just can't quite get clarity on it?

If you need to act on it, is this really God?

Blah, blah, blah.

God repeats himself as a demonstration of his mercy.

He's done this in the Bible for other people, not just Jonah.

Uh, matter of fact, there is a lot of parallels between Jonah and Peter.

Remember Peter in the New Testament?

The dude that was always eager to help Jesus out, like Jesus didn't know what he's doing.

Takes a sword and cuts a guy's ear off one time.

Jesus is like, stand down, bro.

I got this, okay?

You don't think I can handle my business?

And so God repeats himself.

It's like a good parent.

God repeats himself because he wants you to remember hey, I'm unchanging.

I'm never going to change.

I'm not changing my mind about the message that I want to get.

And here's the thing: I'm not changing my mind about the person I want the message to get delivered through.

Some of you in this room are trying to disqualify yourself, either consciously or unconsciously, with your behavior from what you know God's called you to do.

I say to people all the time in council, I don't care what I owe about your behavior.

There's nothing you could tell me that's going to change my mind about you.

Your behavior is a reflection of your beliefs and your fears.

That's all it is.

It's not a, well, see, God, this is why you can't use me because I do this or I did this, or back in my 2020, I did this.

Your behavior, am I saying that sin doesn't matter?

Not at all.

I'm saying your behavior doesn't change the nature of God.

God is so consistently consistent that he repeats himself.

You're not afraid of that.

Paul does the same thing in Philippians chapter 3.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

He said, I write the same thing to you, and it's no trouble for me.

Why?

Because it kind of reinforces you in what you need to know.

Now, when I say that that he repeats himself to him, it's also like he did to Peter.

Matter of fact, there's a lot of parallels between Peter and Jonah.

Uh, don't turn there, but in Matthew chapter 16.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

Uh, now, when you're smarter than everybody in the room, sometimes you come off as sarcastic.

Does that make sense?

Sometimes, and Jesus was smarter than everybody ever in the room.

And so Jesus was not as direct as we want him to be.

Jesus sometimes would kind of go over here, and you had to be like, oh, let me follow you.

Like in Matthew 16, uh it's the Caesarea Philippi incident.

Jesus says, Who do people say that I am?

Oh, some say Moses, some say Elijah, some say one of the prophets.

And then Jesus sharpens the focus and says, Who do you say that I am?

And Peter knocks it out of the park.

He said, You're Jesus the Christ, the son of the living God.

And Jesus says, here's where Jesus is kind of winking at us.

He says, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Bar Jonah.

His dad's name was John, not Jonah.

Blessed are you, Simon, son of Bar Jonah?

Bar Jonah is son of Simon Bar-Jonah?

Wow, flesh and blood did not reveal this to you.

You say, Well, what do you mean?

Let me just give you three parallels between the lives of Peter and Jonah.

Number one, Peter ran from his calling just like Jonah, and Peter got a second chance to submit to God.

This is after the resurrection.

Uh, Jesus says to the women, Go tell my disciples and Peter.

Go tell my disciples and Peter.

The message is unchangeable.

And so he's going to just keep sending the message over and over and over.

Peter is humiliated, he denied Christ, just like Jesus said he would.

Can you just stop trying to exclude yourself from something God is inviting you to?

He's like, see how unworthy I am?

This is why Jesus raises from the dead and says, Go tell my disciples and Peter.

Here's a second similarity.

Peter is similar to Jonah in that he was the first person, the first of the apostles to cross the Jew Gentile boundary with the gospel.

He was the first person because the Jews thought, oh, this is just for us.

And Peter said, No, this is the promise is for you and for those who are far off.

The promise is for you and it's for those who are far off.

Now look at me.

Some of you want the promise just to be for you and your friends that really get it.

You want deep Bible study.

Man, this isn't scratching where I'm mission.

I want deep Bible study.

Let me love you enough to say, stop being spiritually arrogant and understand that the promise is for you and it's for those who are far off.

Where, what Bible study class do those who are far off go to get a sniff of the king in the kingdom if you and all your friends are getting around getting into really deep Bible study?

I'd be right down front afterwards.

I want to hear.

Because you're not being godly, you're being selfish.

The promise is for you, you Jews, you experts on the truth and dropouts on the way.

And it's for the chain smoker who's on his third marriage and it's about to implode, who's sleeping off right now what he did last night.

The promise of God is just as much for him as it is for you.

And maybe instead of gathering with other people and deepening your knowledge, you should go out there and broaden your experience.

It would make you a more tolerable person.

Thirdly, Peter received this vision about the animals being clean at the house of Simon the Tanner in the city of Joppa.

Remember that?

He's up on the roof because Peter's like, I ain't anything unclean.

He has this vision.

The sheet comes down, it's full of all these uh ceremonially or Old Testament law unclean animals.

And this and the voice says, Rise and eat, oh Lord, never meet.

It's all clean.

He gets that vision in a city called Joppah.

When Jonah got ready to run from God, he went to catch a ship in a city called Joppa.

See, sometimes the Bible just winks at you.

And sometimes it raises right here in Matthew 16 when Jesus says, Oh, blessed are you, Simon, son of Barjonh.

He's like, You remind me of somebody.

Yeah.

Here's the last thing the text says to us today.

God speaks through his prophets.

God speaks to his prophets.

This is what Jonah, verse 2, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I will tell you.

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

When I say God speaks to his prophets, uh, let me let me be very clear, okay?

I do not believe that prophets exist today like they did in the Old Testament.

Anytime someone gets up and calls himself a prophet, you should be scary.

You should be cautious.

Excuse me, not scared.

You should be cautious.

Because a lot of times people go, I'm a prophet.

That means everybody's gonna listen to me.

That's not biblical.

The office of prophet does not exist anymore.

The spiritual gift of prophecy does.

Those are two different things.

Why is that a big thing?

Because if the prophets spoke the very oracles of God, and if we really had a prophet, a modern-day prophet, like the Bible talks about that, we'd have to reopen the closed canon of scripture and add in what they're saying.

We don't have to do that because there's not the office of prophet.

But I do believe that the spiritual gift of prophecy still still is in play today for people.

So when I say God speaks to his prophets, I love what A.W.

Tozier said.

He said this: He said, We are not diplomats, but prophets.

And our message is not a compromise, but an ultimatum.

Hey, we are not diplomats.

We're not politicians.

We don't vote on bills.

No, no, we are not diplomats.

We are prophets.

And our message is not a compromise, but an ultimatum.

This is the way Jonah, who was a prophet of God, heard the word of the Lord.

It's an ultimatum.

I'm not saying, hey man, if you're not too busy and you got some time, can you open up your phone, check your iCAL and see if you can squeeze this in?

God's like, hey, listen, I'm gonna do whatever I gotta do because I'm ruthlessly committed to my message getting out through the messengers that I call.

And so he says, I love this part, the latter part of verse two.

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

Translation, he ain't told the message yet.

Now, this is one of the things that happens.

Go back to Abraham and Abram, excuse me, Genesis 12, the Old Testament.

God says, Leave the land of your forefathers and go to a land that I will show you.

Prophets in the Bible were people that they obeyed God at a level that made everyone around them uncomfortable.

It was just like, hey man, where are you going?

I don't know.

We're just packing up.

What did you sell your house?

Nah, I ain't got time.

I gotta go.

Why?

The word of the Lord came to us.

We gotta get out of here.

Where are you going?

I don't know.

I'm gonna gas up and just head in the direction of obedience and see what happens.

People don't want to be around that person.

Why?

Because it's convict.

Remember, you lean back before you lean in.

Now, what will here's some evidences of a prophet.

Number one, they live in the unseen.

Jonah obeys without knowing all the details.

Well, he knows best is God.

And when God says, arise, go to Nineveh and call out against it, the message that I tell you, that's enough for him.

That's enough for him.

He's like, hey, oh, okay, we've received the message.

He goes and he believes the message is gonna come.

Many people never get to where they're supposed to be.

You know why?

Because they want it all before they leave town.

And God, tell me how this is gonna end and what schools my kid is gonna go to, and what this and that, and meet, yeep, yeep.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I used to be this way with money, by the way.

Let me confess my sin.

Because I grew up in abject poverty.

Uh, and so I just thought, boy, if you got more money, that protects your childhood coming back into your adulthood.

And then Marcy and I walked into First Baptist Houston, or Houston's first, excuse me.

Uh, let me get it right.

Uh, one Sunday night, because I just want to hear somebody else preach.

I think a friend of ours was preaching.

And I walk in, and one of my googly-eyed friends named Bassom Nasser uh was there.

And Bassam got a big old black fro, curly black hair.

I was like, can I just touch that?

Uh he's just kind of standing there, rubbing the back of a seat.

And I said, Bassom Nasser, what are you doing?

Well, I'm leaving tomorrow for Spain to go on a 40-day salary treat in a cave with a monk as my mentor, and I'm a thousand dollars short, and I'm just waiting for the Lord to bring somebody by here that can give me a thousand dollars.

Well, I'm gonna pray that person comes.

As he's talking, because I'm tight-fisted my money back then, and I just think a lot of things.

I I I'm I'm gonna poo-poo that idea right out of the box.

Well, I wish I had time to go to Spain and live in a cave for 30 days.

That must be nice.

Oh, yeah.

I know God never do that.

That's just me.

Get a job, bro.

This is America.

Got to my seat about two songs in, the Holy Spirit just sidled up to me and said, Guess where he's gonna get that thousand dollars.

Jesus, you're the one I'm thinking of.

What are you thinking?

What are you doing?

Because this ain't it.

I leaned over to my wife and she said, absolutely.

Hey man, be careful.

You don't worship your wife so much that you put God's word in her mouth when God's word has already been revealed to your heart.

It sounds like this happy wife, happy life.

That's cowardly.

Your wife may enjoy it in the moment, but she'd rather have a spiritual man that leads spiritually.

Am I lying, ladies?

I'm not lying.

A freak I'm married to said, Oh, absolutely, that's the Lord.

Okay.

Yeah, they live in the unseen.

Yeah.

They move to the unforced rhythms of grace.

Here's another thing: they speak for God.

They don't give TED talks or speeches.

He opened his mouth, and the message God wanted to to a specific people that came out, okay?

I I say it like this prophets speak intimacy, not information.

You get a lot of good information from a prophet, but they really speak intimacy.

And here's the last one they move according to the word of the Lord.

Verse 3.

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

He's not his own, he doesn't decide, he simply obeys.

Now, why do I tell you about that?

You just said the office of prophet doesn't exist.

Here's why I said that.

Because most of us in this room, you have what I would call a prophetic friend.

A friend that's a truth teller.

I'm not saying they're a prophet, or they necessarily have the gift of prophecy, although some may, but you have a prophetic friend.

It is a friend that is not impressed with you or intimidated by you, and they always tell you the truth.

Does that make sense?

Say amen.

And you know when you want to hear from them, and you know when you do not want to hear from them.

Yes, you will marginalize that person on certain like if you're having a big party and you're gonna have certain people there, you don't invite your prophetic friend because she's gonna be like, right, right, right, right, right.

Yes.

Absolutely.

You say, well, what why is that such a big deal?

Let me say this.

For some, you're the prophetic friend, especially you students.

You're like, I've never had language for this.

Yeah, you're the person that's kind of like, hey, I don't think this is right.

And your friends are like, girl, come on, what are you doing?

What are you doing?

And let me just say this to you it's not you, it's the truth that you bring.

And they will reject that in you.

See, here's what we don't tell you in student ministry loneliness now is the price you pay for satisfaction later.

Yes, you're the prophetic friend.

You all love Jesus in the fifth grade in the bridge, but now you're in the tenth grade and you got a car, and your parents can't know everything, and the prophetic person is going to be left out.

Hear me now and believe me later.

Some of you are like, I'm just not popular, my family doesn't have enough money, I don't go to the right school.

No, no, your friends don't want to hear the truth.

And by the way, it doesn't stop in high school, does it, adults?

No, it doesn't.

No.

Like somebody was talking recently about how they had some people over and they were telling me about it, and then they were like, Oh, I'm so sorry, we probably should have invited y'all.

I said, No, it doesn't sound like something I would enjoy.

And the lady said, What do you mean you would enjoy that?

What he just described, I'd rather be beaten with a pipe than spend three hours doing that.

So thank you for not inviting me.

I'm not a rude person, I'm just like, I know what I enjoy.

What you just described, I would rather.

Oh, I got books at home I'd rather read.

Now that's just me.

That's not bad.

If you're like if you're if you're gift is hospitality, you like parties and stuff.

I go to grad parties, I eat a little bit, I say a few words to the graduate.

I went to a baby shower yesterday.

I yelled out these words yesterday.

My water broke.

I'm a team player, everybody.

It's a great game.

They gave you a cup of an ice cube with a frozen baby in it.

My wife, the rule keeper, swirling hers around.

I put it by mouth because when you melted the baby out, you're supposed to say, My water broke.

I bit the thing in half, said, My water broke.

And I got a push-pop for a prize.

I was excited.

Yeah.

They moved to the word of the Lord.

You're just kind of like, mmm, yeah.

Now, why do I call them prophetic friends?

Because they always tell the truth.

They live out this proverb, and we'll be done this morning.

You still with me?

They live out this proverb, faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.

You just need one prophetic friendship in your life, and it will change the trajectory of your life.

I had an old friend, he died in 1997, his name was Dave Busby.

We used to say we used to travel and preach all the country, and Dave and I would get together, and my wife was like, it was like you were a voice crying in the wilderness, you heard another voice, and y'all found each other.

Yeah.

Yeah, pretty much.

Yeah.

It was just a kindred spirit relationship.

He said to me one time at dinner, he grabbed the edge of the table and he said, Hey, I feel like you hold back on me because he had 65 brothers.

He was dying.

They don't have that, they they come up with a drug since then that allows people just to live a long, fruitful life, but not back then.

And he goes, I feel like you hold back on me because I'm dying.

I want you to give me some fateful wounds.

You got any faithful wounds in you for me?

Yeah, I do.

And I would speak one.

He'd go, Oh, oh, that's a fateful wound.

Keep going.

And I'd go, okay, here's another one.

Oh, oh, it was so awkward.

Our waitress came over and said, Sir, can I ask?

Is everything okay?

And he said, with tears streaming down his face, Yeah, he loves me.

We're good.

Back off.

You know what I know?

Everyone in this room wishes to God you had someone that loved you that much.

They loved you so much you could trust what they said.

You'd run home and go, hey, you won't believe what he said.

Listen, I just say it like this, and I'm done.

Look for understanding harder than you look for offense.

Otherwise, you'll be the same person most of your life.

And then I, Dave and I walked into the parking lot.

He goes, Come here.

If you know me, you know how weird this was for me.

He said, Come here.

And I turned and he just full body grabbed me and hugged me.

Wrapped his arms around me, put his little head right there, and was weeping down my neck.

Thank you for being my friend.

These were faithful wounds, Dale, and I accept them from Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus, for this man.

Oh, let him keep speaking truth to me because people pity me and I don't want pity.

I want love.

My hands were pinned to my side.

I couldn't even push him off with my alligator arms.

And he knew me.

He turned loose and he said, That was good for me.

Was that good for you?

Don't you ever press your body against mine like that ever again?

I don't want any of that.

My prayer for you is that you'd have a prophetic friend before you die.

It's like Forgiving.

It's like, and when they're gone, you miss it.

But I want you to hear from the book of Jonah a little four or five verses, not much in there.

God speaks to his prophets, he speaks to prophetic people.

He repeats himself because he's a God of mercy.

He's not mad, he's just right.

And he speaks to anyone who will listen.

Let's just spend a few moments listening before we dismiss this one.

Let's pray together.

That you say everything you want to say and you say it in a language we can understand.

Well, we don't want to waste our lives in these theological treaties and theological arguments about whatever and what famous preachers said.

What does the word of God say?

Let that be enough for us.

Let's stop hiding behind people we don't even know.

We just appreciate.

Our priesthood will never grow in the shadow of another man's priesthood.

Let us get out into the solitude, in the sunshine of solitude, and let our priesthood and our understanding grow.

Just you and me, God, just the Holy Spirit in me that you said would listen to all truth.

Is that not enough?

Listening, Lord.

We're not singing, we're just listening.

Speak, Lord.

Lord, we understand today that from your word that you're recklessly committed to the message, getting out.

You're also committed to the messengers being involved.

And I pray for anybody in this room who's trying to exclude themselves from what they were created for, from that which you're trying to include them in.

They would just submit and surrender.

We just say, like to like like Samuel was taught by Eli, speak, Lord.

Your servants are listening.

We're listening people, and you're speaking God.

That's not kooky and extra natural or super.

That's just that's really highly relational language.

And we're humbled by it today.

And we thank you for it in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

If you're a guest, let me say thank you for being here.

Uh, you're always welcome.

I know and finding the right church for your family is important.

So if you have any questions about anything you saw or heard, some of our pastors be available down front.

As soon as you're dismissed here in a minute, we'd love to process with you.

All we ask of you today is if you just text the word welcome.

That number on the screen behind me gives us a record of your visit.

We'll shoot you back a text.

We just want to help you, okay?

We're not gonna smother you.

We just want to help you, all right?

We got things going on in the life of our church.

We'll make you aware of those by way of our video announcements.

So check out the screens to see what's coming up.

Here's what's happening at Grand Park Way Baptist Church.

Our next men's breakfast is Tuesday, June 3rd in the student building.

Plan to join us for a hearty breakfast and meaningful connection.

Our speaker will be Chuck Adair.

After hitting rock bottom, Chuck personally experienced God's incredible grace and mercy.

Today, he passionately shares that life-changing goodness, serving as a teaching pastor and discipling others transitioning from prison to community.

You're invited to be part of Grand Parkway's Adult Bible Studies.

These classes are a meaningful way to grow in your faith as you explore God's Word alongside others in a similar life stage.

Each group begins by connecting in community, then dives into the story of Scripture together.

Our classes are designed to walk through the Bible from a Christ-centered perspective.

Through discussion and shared insight, we encourage one another and become better equipped to live on mission wherever God has placed us.

Our classes meet Sunday mornings in the Adult Building.

Our next men's night out will be Wednesday, June 25th at Rudy's Barbecue.

Plan to join us for a relaxed evening.

Come enjoy Great Barbecue, meet new people, and connect with other men from the church through meaningful conversations and fellowship.

The event is from 6 to 8 p.m.

and the cost is$10 per person.

To get this special meal price, you must register online by June 22nd.

For more information or to register for these events, please visit our website at grandparkway.org.

If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors or elders at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

Some happen at this hour, right now, and some are fixing the start in there.

They're in that build sanctuary building, the building right there with the green roof.

The person over that is Julian Solis, he's our spiritual formation pastor.

Julian, would you stand up?

Are you still over there?

That's Julian right there.

Do you have any questions?

He'll be down here available for a little.

You can clap if you want.

That's good.

Hey, remember this.

Everybody needs a little affirmation every here and again, okay?

Someone said to me, Anytime you say this to me, well, I don't want to give you the big head, I say the same thing every time.

Why not?

And then it's creepy and awkward, and you're like, eh, eh, eh.

And here's what I'm saying: you should want people to walk away from a conversation with you and feel better about themselves.

That's not giving people the big head.

That's just being a blessing instead of a curse.

You're welcome.

Julian will be available if you have any questions about Bible studies, okay?

Uh, one last thing about a slide, it's not part of the uh of the announcement of a slide.

We have a college community group that is happening this summer.

It's gonna happen in the home of Ian Weber.

You can get information about where that's located.

It starts on June 15th.

Those are the dates it meets.

So if you got anybody that's in college that that's 18 to like 22 in that range, if you're 30, don't show up.

It's not for you.

Uh if you're not in college, it's not for you.

It's just people for this unique age and stage in life.

All are welcome, okay?

Ian and Annie, uh, our student minister staff are going to be leading that.

Uh, and so we'd love for you to plan to be a part of that.

It starts June 15th, those are the dates.

We'll be pushing out more information to you as it gets closer, okay?

All right, stand your feet.

We'd like to include our service with a spoken blessing.

Oh, yes.

We got prayer cards for our men's North Carolina mission trip.

I want you to come get one, stick it on the dashboard of your car.

Don't put it on your kitchen table, it'll get pushed off by your disobedient children.

Put it somewhere, tape it to your mirror or your seat.

It's got a picture and all the names of the men going on the trip.

Come grab one if you would.

All right?

Hold your hands out.

The message gets out through messengers.

God so believes in you, He's entrusted you to be a vehicle of the good news.

With your life and with your word.

Be a messenger of the good news.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

I'm gonna bless you.