When God's Messenger Runs

Okay, let's turn our thoughts then to Jonah, particularly verse 1 to 3, and we will be referencing

! Chapter 4, verse 2 as well.

! When you come to a book like Jonah, I think it's one of the most important things

in terms of starting off looking at Jonah is that you see yourself in the message,

or you see a little bit of Jonah's heart in ourselves. I think the shocking reality for

us that when we do and look at Jonah, the shocking reality is we're more like him than we think.

And that's the challenge I hope that we are willing to face up to. So, when we hear the hard call of God,

in his case, to go to Nineveh to a people that he despised and hated because of what they did,

and they were an enemy of Israel. But we might find it difficult with some neighbors,

difficult people around us, and we might actually be a little bit more like Jonah than we realize.

And the challenge, of course, is to realize that God is sovereign, God is all-powerful,

God is gracious, and so on. And he will empower us as we live our lives for the glory of Jesus,

even with the most difficult people around us. Because our calling is to be like Jesus,

not just as we gather and sit beside each other in church, but to those that we are called to go out

to. Because that is what God called, Jesus called his disciples to do, to go to all the ends of the

earth, to all the people groups in his name and his power and his authority to make disciples of all

nations. And here God calls Jonah. And immediately you see the struggle that he faces. Now, we don't know

a great deal about Jonah other than some words that are mentioned for us in 2 Kings 14. And the words

that are recorded for us from Jonah there are that he confirmed in the time of Jeroboam that the Lord was

building the boundaries or rebuilding the boundaries of Israel. That's all we know. But why is that

important? Well, if you go back to the previous verses that what the Lord revealed to Israel and to Jonah

and to everybody around them was this, that during the time of Jeroboam II, it says that he did evil in

the eyes of the Lord which had caused Israel, which he had caused Israel to commit. And this is the

challenge I think that we always face as Christians. When we have a culture and we see things moving and

changing in our culture and the impact it has on the Christian church, on the gathering or mission,

the fear that we might have, that we might get a mouthful from whomever we have, in a sense,

we might also have a disparaging view of the mission field that you're called to go to.

And that is what is exposed here. The hypocrisy of Jonah is this,

that he knew the repeated mercy of God in the life of Israel. The ups, the downs, the ups,

the downs. You cannot read the Old Testament without seeing it for yourself.

Times of great, you know, terrible events and terrible lifestyles, etc., in there by,

led by kings and Jeroboam in this case, his sin came up before the Lord. And it is easy to forget that,

to forget even our own sin from what we have been saved from, and see others and their lives as much

worse and much more terrible than what God had to deal with with you and me.

And it's a dangerous move from the church. And it's an easy thing to fall into, an easy pattern.

And it is so easy to forget what the Lord saved you and me from. Now, granted, most of you were

probably not like me back in the day. And all the mistakes and the wrongs, etc., I'm very much an unlikely

candidate. But God, but God stepped in. But God saved. God saves the unexpected, the rascals,

the people of Nineveh. He showed, he called Jonah to go to these people that he despised,

forgetting the very sins that the Lord had repeatedly forgiven and restored Israel time

and time again. So, it is easy to fall into that pattern. And that's the challenge I think we face as

we look at Jonah, as we think about the first three verses and also his own confession regarding God's

character when it comes to dealing with the sins of people. Now, one writer said this. He says,

challenging us about our Christian lifestyles, our mission, etc. He said, your Christianity is not defined

by Sunday morning when you're throwing your head back and singing praise to God.

He says, that's the easy call of God.

That doesn't define your Christianity alone. Our call is to be Christ-like in every day

and in submission to Him and in worship every single day of our lives. Now, that includes the very clear

command of Scripture, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love

your neighbor as yourself. And as we all know, sometimes they can be the most difficult of people.

Sometimes God calls us to hard things, to hard places. It's not easy, but we are never going on our own strength.

And so, you can understand in one sense Jonah's unwillingness to go,

but he had known God's redeeming grace repeatedly in the life of Israel.

And it's something that he didn't want to share with the people of Nineveh.

So, when God is calling you to tough places, what's your response?

How do you respond to Him?

We could say, and I think I've probably done this myself,

Lord, lead me anywhere you want me to go.

Except, and except, or in Jonah's case, Nineveh.

In fact, his effort was to try and reach as far away from Nineveh as possible and go to Tarshish,

the end of the then known world would be Europe to most commentators.

So, what do I hope that we do this evening as we look at these words, and as we think about the

tough call of God on your life? What if He's calling you to ministry,

and you feel there are so many hurdles in your way? What if He's calling you to

minister in some way or other to people at work, or whatever it may be? And sometimes you just simply

resist and don't fulfill that calling because it's too tough for you and for me.

Well, here we find out that God is truly sovereign and all-powerful.

And that is what we need to take on board in the tough calls that He gives us,

the people that He seeks you to minister to, because He goes with you and before you,

and it is through Him that people come to know Him. So, what is the first thing then about Jonah that we

should take consideration of? It's his heart. His heart.

You know, you read these words, the first three verses there, and there is clearly something about

the prophet. He does a runner. He just runs. How do we know his heart? It comes from his confession

in chapter 4. He says,

O Lord, and he prayed to the Lord and said, O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country?

That is why I made haste to flee to Tarsus. For I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting from disaster.

There is the revelation of what he knew about God in this moment.

He knew the character of God in every aspect of his life, and what he said about the character of God,

what God displayed even through the message of judgment in the time of Israel,

was a God who was compassionate and slow to anger and rich in mercy, and who relented when the people

prayed in repentance. What an incredible testimony to the majesty and the grace and the wonder of God.

God, but it exposes his heart. It shows you how he was so disturbed at the thought that these terrible people

might discover, feel, receive that compassion,

that love,

that slow to anger and rich in mercy, God in heaven, who relents from disaster.

There is the exposure of his heart and what he is truly thinking,

and that he is willing to be a roadblock to these people ever responding to God.

It is really difficult to try and understand how someone could get to that place.

Very difficult.

How someone refused, or he was, yes, he refused till later,

but he refused to go to Nineveh,

wanted to go to Tarshish because he didn't want

to proclaim the gracious judgment of God.

Now, one or two of you might be saying,

did he just say gracious judgment?

Yes, that's exactly what I said.

God's gracious judgment.

Now, if you're a non-Christian and you're hearing the word judgment,

it's probably the case that you really don't like

that word,

and very often

we don't do a great job

when we're talking about the gracious judgment of God.

A lot of us have probably never put the two words together.

But I call it gracious judgment for a reason.

You can call it gracious revelation.

God knew the heart of the people of Nineveh.

Their sin had come up before him.

It also had come up before Jonah,

and Jonah's response was,

really, in a sense,

Lord, just bring rain down judgment upon them.

But when the Lord reveals judgment in this way,

in this gracious judgment way,

what He is doing is,

is He exposes the heart of people.

And if you're a non-Christian this evening,

when He reveals your heart,

the point of it is to bring you to a place

where you are no longer on the throne of your life,

but that He is on the throne,

and He is the one who is supreme Lord and sovereign King.

He is the one who judges.

But He is also the gracious one

who will relent when you turn to Him.

He is the one who provided the means

for you and me to turn away from this judgment

because He gave His only begotten Son,

and judgment was poured upon Him

for the sin of the world.

And that's the incredible truth in front of you,

that this prophet of God,

God spoke to him.

God called him to a hard calling

to get up and go,

and not just simply lob grenade bombs

of judgment on the people of Nineveh.

Pick yourself up,

go to Nineveh,

and proclaim what I have told you to proclaim,

that their sin has come up before me,

and judgment is coming.

Why does the Lord do that?

So that you can turn.

So that you can turn from it,

from its outcome.

When you want to be Lord of your own life,

but there is only one Lord,

and it is Him who offers you

mercy and love and compassion

and salvation and transformation

and the new birth and eternal life.

That's why I call it His gracious judgment.

Now, of course, we know the outcome

when He goes to Nineveh and preaches it,

and you read that in chapter 3.

The whole city, everybody turns to Him.

And I just want to point this out to you.

There are different responses in the Bible

to God's gracious judgment.

God's gracious judgment came to Nineveh.

The whole place, every person,

and even sackcloth and ashes on animals.

It was incredible.

What a glorious moment it could have been

for Jonah to be remembered as the prophet

to have seen 100 plus thousand people

come to the Lord.

But He despised them.

I want to give you another example

about God's gracious judgment

that wasn't received.

Go back to the time of Noah,

when their sin had come up before the Lord,

and there was 120 years,

and only some were saved.

And judgment reigned.

The point is this,

that when God speaks judgment,

He wants you to come to Him

because it is Him who can heal you,

save you, change you,

and make you His child

and part of His family.

That is the God that Jonah confesses.

I knew that you were gracious,

a gracious God,

merciful and slow to anger,

abounding in steadfast love

and relenting from disaster.

That's the call that I have for you tonight

if you're a non-Christian.

For us as Christians, then,

what an incredible challenge it is.

You know, if the statistics are right,

and I cannot confirm the statistics are right,

but I have heard many a preacher

and many a person say

that if we in this nation

only have about 2% of evangelical,

2% of the nation

engaging in evangelical Christianity,

things are rough.

Times are tough.

But God hasn't changed.

It is the same God

who is slow to anger

and rich in mercy.

The same God.

Why has the church diminished so?

We can give loads of different reasons,

but I want us to really think that through.

When you hear what Jonah confesses

in light of what took place in Nineveh,

that God relented,

God poured out His grace,

God brought these people to life,

He hasn't changed.

And our calling is to go

in His name,

His authority,

even to the tough people

in this town.

And many a person

who lambasted a Christian

eventually came to know

the King of Kings,

the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so,

His heart is exposed

to the reality of who God is.

And we, the church,

need to take confidence,

if I can put,

it's a weak word,

I suppose,

but it's,

you get the idea.

And who we are

redeemed by,

saved by,

whom we worship in song,

whom we worship in life,

whom we seek to give glory

in our lives,

it is the same Lord

who provided His

only begotten Son,

the same Lord

who raised Him

from the dead,

defeating sin and death,

the same Lord

that raised us to life.

don't be a Jonah

and run away

from the hard call of God.

Jonah did something

he knew he couldn't do.

When we were singing

our first praise,

again,

I hope that most ministers

try and pick something

relating to the text

and not just our favorite

bits of Scripture,

you hear the words

of the psalmist,

which I'm pretty sure

he would have known.

O Lord,

you have searched me

and you know me,

you know when I sit

and when I rise,

you perceive my thoughts

from afar,

you discern my going out

and my lying down,

you are familiar

with all my ways

before a word

is on my tongue,

you know it completely,

you hem me in

behind before,

you have laid

your hand upon me,

such knowledge

is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me

to attain.

Where can I go

from your Spirit?

Where can I flee

from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens,

you are there.

If I make my bed

in the depths,

you are there.

If I rise

on the wings of dawn,

if I settle

on the far side

of the sea,

his Tarshish,

even there,

your hand will guide me,

your right hand

will hold me.

He was delusional

and we are delusional

ourselves

or lacking

in understanding

that this God

is our God

and his almighty power,

he uses his church

as a vessel of grace

to the world

that is broken.

And that is

our call

to go.

It is on his name,

his authority,

on his provision

and on his message

that reveals

the heart

of people

and exposes it

to his living word.

And some will say,

no can do.

I don't want to know.

Some of us said that

a few times.

But I praise God

that he continued

to this day

even in my stubbornness

when I finally

heard him say,

come,

follow me.

Three things

I want to say then

before we conclude.

And this is the challenge

I hope that we will take

regarding what we see

here with Jonah.

The first thing is this

and listen carefully.

Jonah ran from God

because he did not have

God's sensitivity

to sin.

Just pause and think

of what I'm trying to say.

You see,

many of us

have preached judgment

and we let people

know the full force

of the word

in that moment.

what I mean

about the sensitivity

is that God knows

their predicament.

God knows

their situation.

And we go

with that sensitivity

knowing

that the outcome

is dreadful.

But we go

with a sensitivity

in that God

will relent.

That God will relent

when a person

repents

and turns to the Lord.

That is the message

that we're called

to go with.

it is a sensitivity

to reignite

in us

a sensitivity

to the fallenness

of man,

to the broken world

around us,

that the testimony

of the church

to the majesty

of Jesus

is getting

lower

and lower

and dimmer

and dimmer.

it is time

for us

to have

that sensitivity

to be driven

by the character

of God

to a people

that are lost.

And even if it's

just one

or two

or five hundred

the call

is to go.

We need

that sensitivity.

and it is

driven

by our own

life

and knowledge.

Amazing grace

that saved

a wretch

like me.

That's the first thing.

The second thing

is this.

It is clear

that Jonah

resisted

the plan

of God.

The plan

was simple

but hard.

Go to Nineveh

and speak.

the message

of judgment

against it.

That I have

seen their sin.

The plan

of God.

We know

the plan

of God.

It is preached.

I've listened

to Calum

and others

preaching.

I know

that the plan

of God

has been spoken

about repeatedly

in this place

and in other churches.

Praise be to God.

But we need

to not only

listen

and hear

the words

but put

them in action.

Put the plan

of God

in action.

Jesus

said it

to his disciples

and I repeat

go

therefore

go

therefore

into all

the earth

and your town.

Now I am

very grateful

for the opportunity

of speaking

about Mission

International.

It is my delight

to be able

to do that

and to raise

the profile

of Christians

in different

places.

But I marvel

at the fact

that these people

speaking in tough

situations

or preaching

in tough situations.

Myanmar

with a military junta

bombing

just because

they can

because they want

to.

They bomb churches

and everything

so that people

aren't meeting

together.

And yet

every month

I get a report

that the

pastors

and the evangelists

are going to

different places

throughout Myanmar.

And sometimes

they say

we spoke

to 60 people.

Nobody

professed

faith in Jesus.

And other times

they tell

the story

of many people

reached

20 interested

10 baptized.

The Lord

is working

in the tough

places.

What I fear

is that we've

got comfortable

with church

being our

safe place.

It should be

a safe place.

Absolutely.

But it's a

commissioning place,

an equipping place

for us to be

prepared to do

the works of

good service

and proclamation

of the gospel,

the message,

to fulfill

the plan of God

through the

New Testament church

to the world

around us.

That's what

we're called to.

Thirdly,

Jonah

did not

have a

commitment

to the

grace of God

and the

outworking

of that

grace

through the

message of

his word.

That is

such a

challenge.

It really

is.

There are

times when

the Lord

confronts me

about my

own heart,

about my

lethargy

at times,

whatever it

may be.

He speaks

and confronts

through his

word,

through preachers,

but through the

reading of his

word,

through reading

books.

Just,

he does it

and I freely

admit it.

Grace

to us

and we know

it full well.

And this is the

challenge,

whether it's to

people who have

wronged us

or offended us

or the people

that we are

called to on

mission or

people within

the church

that we don't

get on with.

We may be

able to sing

out loud,

amazing grace

that saved

a wretch like

me.

Amazing grace,

how sweet

the sound

that saved

a wretch like

me.

But we're

becoming

resistant

to sharing

that grace

to someone

who may

offend us,

to the

culture

around us

that is

anti-Christian.

That's

where we

were.

Some of us

didn't grow up

in church,

but that's

where we

were.

Ever so

thankful that

someone stopped

one day to

just give me a

tract and start

the discussion.

Didn't go down

too well in

some ways,

but you get

the gist.

Someone did

it.

Someone heard.

Someone

was a

practitioner

of the

grace of

God to

go to

rebels,

and they

picked six

or seven

of us

in our

ranger

scars.

He's

joyful this

weekend.

It'll not

last long.

But there

we are.

They came to

people that

they wouldn't

probably normally

speak to,

but they

did.

And eventually,

as God

opens doors

and whatever

he did to

bring me to

a place

where I

professed faith

in him,

I'm ever so

grateful for

that moment.

We have to

have a

commitment to

the grace of

God, to

the plan of

God, and

understand God's

compassion for

the broken world

that we're called

to go to.

We need to be

equipped,

encouraged,

discipled,

prepared for

action.

But it's

driven by

grace.

It's driven

by the grace

of God for

a broken

world that

he knows

full well

that he gave

his son

for.

And it

is him

who not

only took

judgment

upon himself

and the

judgment of

my sin

and your

sin upon

himself,

but that

same one

who exchanged

that judgment

for his

righteousness

and my

standing and

your standing

as a believer

completely altered

and changed

because of the

grace of God,

the saving grace

of God.

but we also

live by

that grace.

That's the

challenge.

Are we

channels

of

his

grace?

Are we

throttling

that grace

for whatever

reason?

Are we

listening

to the

hard call

of God

and depending

on him

in humility

because he

strengthens

us if we

come with

humble hearts

saying,

I can't

do this

by myself.

And that

is a

delight to

God

because God

resists the

proud.

And maybe

churches in

this country

have demonstrated

more pride

than humility

when God

resists

pride.

But he

will work

with the

humble,

restore,

empower us

to fulfill

this commission

of grace

to a broken

world.

So we

have that

challenge in

front of us

as we

kind of

close our

time together.

Do you

have God's

sensitivity

to sin?

Do you

understand the

plan of God

for you as a

Christian and

as a church?

do you have

God's commitment

to this

incredible

grace,

this gracious

God who

blessed us

with His

grace when

we were

lost?

Well,

He wants

us to

do to

others what

others did

for you when

they were

channels of

God's grace.

God saves.

But He

uses the

vehicle of

the church

and His

people to

proclaim the

message and

not be afraid

in a time

when the

culture is

difficult and

resistant.

He is

still sovereign

over all

nations.

He is

still ruler

and power

over all.

He is on

His throne

and He

wants to

use every

single gift

He has

bestowed upon

you, His

people, you

this church,

His people,

to use every

gift for the

glory of His

name, for

the blessing

of the people

of Stornoway

or if you

include Plasterfield

and different

places like that

in Stornoway

these days, I

think you do,

but in all the

places that you

belong to.

And I

believe that God

will do great

things when

we're a

humble

church that

comes with an

open heart

knowing we

cannot do it

ourselves, but

He will do it

through us for

the glory of

His name.

We pray all

things.

Let's pray.

Lord God,

our Heavenly

Father, Lord,

we just pray

that you will

continue speaking

to us and

challenging us,

checking our

hearts this

evening, Lord,

searching us.

May Your

Word be like a

mirror to us,

exposing the

weaknesses of

our character,

the flaws in

us that feel

anxious about

our time,

but this is not

our home,

Lord.

This is,

grace, we

know that we

are in the

in-between time,

and it is still

the time of

grace until

You return.

And I pray

then that we

would have that

sense of

urgency,

be prayerful,

be willing

to share the

grace of God

with people,

in the hope

that they too

may come and

join us at

Your feet.

Lord God,

our Heavenly

Father and

Savior,

we thank You.

Lord, I pray

that You will

move us as a

people and we

commit ourselves

to You.

I pray in a

new way to

see You do

great things in

this town and

further afield.

for the glory

of Your

name we

pray.

Amen.

Okay, we're

going to sing

our final

praise this

evening from

Psalm 130,

and that's

in the

Psalter,

page 421,

actually.

Lord,

from the

depths I

cried.

My voice,

Lord, do

Thou hear,

unto my

supplications

voice,

give an

attentive

ear.

We'll sing

the whole of

that psalm

to God's

praise.

For from the dead to thee I cry, my voice for dear thou dear,

Until thy son in nature's heart, in heaven at every year.

Lord, who shall stand in power, O Lord, to spark iniquity?

But yet will thee forgive, that if thou hast me,

I wait for God, my soul of me, My hope is in His word.

For from the dead to thee I cry, my soul of me, My hope is in His word.

I say, Lord God, may I to watch, The Lord be not to see.

Let Israel open the door, For with Him bless His King.

And when Jesus redeemed for His name,

And from all His name, He will be, He is blessed and redeemed.

And now may the grace and the mercy and peace and joy and the love of God

that we find in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God,

may these blessings rest upon you and dwell in your lives now

and until you meet them face to face.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

Amen.