The Prayer of Terror

What a great morning because we have a great God.

We are studying the book of Jonah on Sunday mornings.

For I begin.

If you would like an outline you didn't get one, feel free to raise your hand and the rest of us would be happy to give you one.

Or if you would like to borrow one of our Bibles, you are welcome to do that.

When God called Jonah to leave his home and ministry in Israel and go to the pagan Assyrian city of Nineveh, who are the sworn enemies of Israel and preach against it, jonah, as you remember, took off in a ship going the opposite direction.

Now let's see what happened next by review, and we'll look at Jonah, chapter 1, verses 4-16, today If you want to follow along.

Jonah 1:4–16

Jonah 1, beginning, verse 4,.

The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea, so that the ship was about to break up.

Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his God and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them.

But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship and laid down and fallen asleep.

So the captain approached him and said how is it that you're sleeping?

Get up, call on your God, perhaps your God will be concerned about us and we will not perish.

Each man said to his mate come, let's cast lots and learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.

So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

They said to him tell us now, on whose account has this calamity struck us?

What is your occupation?

Where do you come from?

What's your country?

From what people are you?

He said to them I'm a Hebrew.

I fear the Lord, god of heaven, who made the sea in the dry land.

Well then the men became extremely frightened and said to him how could you do this?

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

They said to him what shall we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?

For the sea was becoming increasingly stormy.

He said to them pick me up, throw me into the sea, then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that, on account of me, this great storm has come upon you.

However, nevertheless, the men rode desperately to return to land, but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them.

Then they called on the Lord and said we earnlessly pray, o Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us.

For you, o Lord, have done as you have pleased.

So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea and the sea stopped its raging.

Then the men feared the Lord greatly and offered sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

So we talked about.

Last week the storm brought together Jonah and these unbelieving pagan Gentiles whom he despised.

Jonah, up to this point, still has not said one word to God, not prayed at all.

He's hiding from God.

But this unusual storm brought the pagan Gentile sailors to their knees in a prayer to their gods and they rebuked Jonah for not praying and calling on his God for them.

Today we're going to look at the religion of the sailors and the repentance of Jonah in their search for salvation and we're going to contrast Jonah's worldview with the sailor's worldview, hopefully pick up a few things that can help us In the process.

We may see ourselves in the story Better understand the people we're trying to reach with the gospel.

First we'll look at the religion of the sailors, then we'll look at the repentance of Jonah, the first thing that the religion of the sailors teaches us is that everyone is a worshiper.

When the storm came, every man cried to his God.

Jonah 1.5,.

The sailors became afraid and every man cried to his God.

They weren't asked to, they instinctively knew to do it.

Everyone worships something.

This passage is just confirming what the apostle Paul said in Romans 1.

Let me read it that which is known about God, the Creator, in other words, is evident within them, for God made it evident to them since the creation of the world.

His invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature had been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made.

So they're without excuse, for even though they knew God, they didn't honor him as God or give thanks.

They became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened.

Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and a bird's, four-footed animal's notice.

They didn't stop believing in God, they just changed God's.

That's all.

It's the same truth.

Today, everyone, whether they admit it or not, has a deep spiritual longing within God.

Put it there we all have some sort of overarching religious goal or purpose that gives us meaning in life.

We're not like animals who just get up every day and do what's there, even though some of you may feel like it.

We have to have something bigger than us to live for, whatever that something is, that is the object we worship.

So I'm going to get maybe a little convicting today for all of us, myself included.

If we do not believe in the or worship the true God, the living God, our Creator, we will, we will we can't help it We'll end up worshiping other things, we'll give our life to other things, things that are part of creation, but not the creator.

Every human being this, I'm telling you, you see it here in Jonah, you see it in the New Testament every human being is deeply religious, regardless of what they may think or claim.

But according to Romans 1, you know what happened Our religion and our worship is distorted in our natural, unbelieving state.

We will worship, or, in other words, serve or give our life to created things instead of our Creator.

For example, some people may walk around and say my life's in ruins and it's because so and so didn't love me, or so and so betrayed me, or so and so hurt me.

My life's in ruins.

That is a religious statement.

What are they saying?

They're saying I've lost my meaning and purpose.

If I can't have that, I got no purpose.

That's worship.

That's religion, the object I need I have.

I long for that or I won't be happy, I won't be fulfilled.

Some people's religion is their work or their career.

They strive to serve the God of success because that's going to make them feel great and fulfilled.

Success gives them meaning.

And I could list a whole host of other gods in our culture.

In Jonah's boat, every man cried to his God.

They all had a God.

Everybody has a religion.

We all look to something, something apart from us, to give us purpose and meaning in life.

Be careful If that's not the Creator, we're in trouble, will worship something, even though it's bad.

We can't help it.

We're designed that way.

He put it within us to worship.

Now, when you look at the sailors' religion, it's very doubtful that the sailors were all the same, all equally religious in their devotion, the beliefs and practice.

Very unlikely.

They didn't serve different gods, maybe they probably didn't regularly serve any God, but now they are.

You see, in extreme conditions they all got very religious.

We do the same thing.

Jonah 1.5.

Every man cried to his God, every single one of them.

I call this the prayer of terror.

In extreme conditions, our deeply buried religious nature will come out.

It's there We'll cry out to, whatever God we've got or we think will hear us in our desperate, extreme situation.

Now we need God, but if you want to understand an unbeliever's worldview and their religion, all you got to do is look at the sailors.

All religions apart from Jesus Christ and unless the Holy Spirit enters a person's heart, all religions are religions of fear.

These sailors are terrified and that's the reason they cry out to their gods.

What do they have to do to make this God happy, or make their gods happy?

The sailors panic and pray foxhole prayers to their gods.

If you look at the sailors, at the beginning of the chapter they're crying out to their gods, but at the end of the chapter they're crying out to Yahweh alone, jonah's God, the true God.

And yet verse 14, they're still scared out of their minds.

Fear.

Then they called on Yahweh.

That's literally what it said.

We translate it to the Lord, but it's Yahweh.

They called on Yahweh and said we earnestly pray.

Oh Yahweh, do not let us perish on account of this man's life.

Don't put innocent blood on us.

For you, o Lord, have done it, you pleased.

The sailors wonder if Yahweh's gonna get them for what they're gonna do.

They're living in fear of all gods.

The sailors are not speaking to Yahweh as a God they trust.

They're not speaking to Yahweh as their heavenly Father.

They have no confidence that the gods they serve love them at all.

Their whole life is designed to appease and please the gods, so the God doesn't do them harm and trouble.

Tell us what you want from us.

We'll offer all kinds of sacrifices.

That's because the natural bent of the human heart knows there is a God but is unwilling to trust him as far as we can throw him.

That's our natural bent.

The prayer of terror is a sign that you or a person has not experienced God's grace in your heart.

It's a sign I'm not really sure whether God loves you or you can trust him.

The prayer of terror reflects our natural religiosity.

When we begin to bargain with God, that's what the pagan cultures would do.

We're going to bargain.

What do you want?

I'll give it to you.

Please protect us.

That's a pagan religion.

Fear, fear-based.

I'll do whatever you want, god, wherever you are.

If you get me out of this mess.

I'll be a pagan.

Becoming religious is many people's bargaining chip with God.

Here's what I'm going to do I'm going to become very religious.

I'm going to start going to church more.

I'm going to start reading my Bible more.

I'm going to start praying more.

If only you'll do this for me.

Bargain.

That's how you treat a boss or landlord, not your heavenly father, not your heavenly father.

You see, the irony of the prayer of terror is that we say, lord, I'm in trouble, I'll do anything you want if you help me.

The only thing, the one thing that God asks, like the rich, young ruler, come to him unconditionally, completely surrender to him is the one thing we won't give him.

We're keeping that.

Give me something else I can do for you.

This teaches us, by the way, that everyone needs Jesus Christ.

It's because of fear that the sailors and all religions apart from Christ are working.

To make sure that they're working, to make sure that they're working for Christ are works based religions.

We do these works, then God will be pleased with me.

You can't do enough works to please a holy, pure, eternal God creator.

You can't, you can't do it.

We had our chance in the garden.

We missed it.

We told the sailors what they needed to do Trust in his message, what he's telling them, and then do it.

Throw Jonah in the storm of the sea.

But if you look at the text, look at how the sailors responded after hearing here's God's message to them through Jonah.

Yep, we hear it, but their fear-based mentality of how to worship God interrupts the next word.

Well, jonah 1, 12 and 13,.

He said Pick me up, throw me into the sea.

The sea will become calm for you, for I know, on account of me, this great storm has come upon you.

The next word market.

Nevertheless, the men rode desperately to return to land.

We're going to save you, jonah.

We'll save ourselves.

Everybody.

Grab an oar.

You heard what he said his message from Yahweh.

Throw him in.

No, we don't want to be beholden to Yahweh for that.

Grab your oar, my friend.

We're going to go, so remember this.

Nevertheless, I know what God said to do the truth of his word.

Nevertheless, I'm going to do this.

I'm going to stride myself, I'm going to try to get myself out of this.

Okay, now, what's in it?

I think this is actually you got to see a little bit of humor in this, because Nevertheless, or however.

They rode desperately.

Then they said Lord, please, please, please, don't hold this against us.

And they started rowing and the storm just became stormier.

They weren't going to be able to do it.

You can't do it.

You know what they're doing, trusting their own efforts and abilities to save them, get them out of the jam.

They heard Yahweh's message.

They heard exactly what to do, but nevertheless, I'm going to keep doing what I want to do to save myself.

God showed me you can't save yourself.

We cling to fear.

People cling to fear because we can never please a false God, never, ever.

There's always more.

So let me challenge you today.

We kind of all have our own personal or.

What are you doing?

Or have you grabbed that you've decided?

Well, I don't want God to.

I don't know, I could hack this out myself.

Okay, see, if you don't believe in Jesus as your substitute, as Jonah was for the sailors, that means we've grabbed a metaphorical or and think we're good enough, religious enough, powerful enough to save ourselves.

And I'm not just talking eternal salvation, I'm talking about any salvation.

Now, in contrast to the sailors worldview, let's look at Jonah's worldview.

I want you to notice Jonah did not bargain with God.

He put everything in his hands.

I know what God wants me to go in that sea.

He surrendered, he repented.

He said it's because of me.

I'm the one who messed up, so I'm surrendering myself to God.

Would you just I got to put myself in his hands, just throw me in the sea?

Jonah's in Jonah's worldview, he, he not only knew that the true God existed, he knew the true God, what he was like, as we'll see later.

In chapter four he recites the character of Yahweh Loving, compassionate.

He knew that.

He knew his God Was no stranger to him.

This is God's will.

This is what he said Throw me in, no bargains.

I'm not going to try to say anything that's going to change this.

I'm just going to surrender.

You know, take a lesson.

I think we can take a lesson from Jonah here.

If you're a believer in Jesus, one of God's sons and daughters, and you're in a storm, you don't have to bargain with God.

You can, but you don't have to.

He's your Heavenly Father.

You don't have to prove yourself worthy.

You don't have to become more religious, just love Him.

That's it.

Love Him back.

If we follow John as an example.

He humbled himself, he admitted his sin, he repented and surrendered himself to God and a situation to God.

Do, yahweh, just follow it.

Trust God to do what is right and good for you.

And here's, put yourself in Jonas, even if it means you have to die to yourself.

Even Jonah knew this was the death penalty.

There's no physical way he's going to survive.

He had to surrender enough to God that he's given his life to him.

Will you, no matter what happens, you trust him that much.

That's what's at stake.

That's the difference between the British and the sailors and Jonas and Jonas, he knew his God, trusted him completely.

The scriptures tell us, and it really does for every one of us who is a believer in Jesus.

I've noticed I've been probably close to 50 years a Christian and, believe me, it takes a lifetime to know your God.

Who can convince you that he's trustworthy, he loves you See, we start out in our natural state kind of thinking.

It's still with us.

I don't know if I trust him.

Trust him with everything, suppose he takes it.

So what?

He's God?

And the scriptures say we learn this.

He teaches us patiently, teaches us over time throughout our life.

He's a good God.

He gives good gifts to his children.

He hears us when we pray, but he knows the end from the beginning and knows what is best for us in any situation, no matter how hard it is.

No matter how hard it is.

Do you have that confidence?

Well, that's what you've got to aim at.

He will only give us what is in our best interest because, more than any other God or created thing, he loves us infinitely through Jesus Christ, and his love is not dependence on our performance but on Christ's performance.

His love will never cease and he will never fail you.

That's who he is.

How great is our God?

Do you think you reflect more the religion of the sailors, or Yahweh of Jonah?

Are you grabbing for an ore?

Or are you trusting your life in the hands of Almighty God, who sent his son to die in your place so you could have life eternally?

When our fear-based religious tendencies start to come up and they will, they will there's something in us that doesn't want to trust God as far as we can throw him just like sailors, and we forget the truth, we lose our confidence, we begin responding in fear.

We need to repent of that.

Recognize it and repent of it.

Say, dear Lord, I'm a mess.

Help me to trust you and put my confidence in you, not in this situation.

A hospital chaplain I know out on the east in the east Pennsylvania was once called to visit a patient who wanted to talk to a chaplain about God.

But interestingly, when he got to the patient's room, the man started to apologize oh I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, I don't need to talk to you.

They mixed up my x-rays.

They told me my x-rays showed I have terminal cancer.

When they told him I had terminal cancer, I told him I was not a religious person but I still wanted to talk to somebody about God.

But then turned out the x-rays were for somebody else.

True story.

When he saw that he was going to be okay, he was sorry that he bothered the chaplain and he didn't really want to talk about God.

Now he's going to be okay.

In essence, this patient was admitting they only wanted to deal with God when he had to, when his life is not going the way he wanted it to.

Oh, I need to deal with God.

Some of you, you see, have hit a storm and are in trouble.

Are you bargaining with God or laying down your life and trusting Him?

Proverbs 3, 5, and 6.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, don't lean on your own understanding, and all your ways acknowledge Him.

He will make straight your paths.

Here's a question for you how do you know that you're moving forward and trusting God and not in a manipulative way, trying to bargain with God and living in fear?

All you got to do is look what you do when you're out of trouble.

Look what happens when you're not in trouble.

Will you still pray regularly?

Will you still read your Bible regularly?

Will you still come to church regularly?

Are you just using those as bargaining chips?

Hopefully you've got to look with favor on you.

That's how you tell.

Do you fall back into being religious when it's convenient or your best interest, somehow to appease God?

Look on you differently.

When the sailors finally believed and trusted Jonah's words that the sea would be calm if they threw him in.

They threw him in realizing they were sending him to his death.

They had no other evidence to suggest otherwise.

This was a death sentence.

He rebelled against his God.

As soon as they threw him in, the sea stopped cold.

Jonah 1.15,.

They picked him up and threw him in the sea.

The sea stopped it's raging Through Jonah's sacrifice for them.

They believed and were saved.

They feared Yahweh and worshiped him alone.

Jonah 1.16,.

The men feared the Lord greatly.

They offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and made vows.

I think Jonah and Jesus have this in common Just as Jonah gave his life to save the sailors, so Jesus gave his life to save us.

Don't grab an oar, by the way.

Speaking of the Jewish people, the apostle Paul says in Romans 10.3,.

For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

The truth is, everyone is trying to establish their own righteousness of their own, to prove we're not as bad as that person, we're superior to somebody.

The more people we feel better than, the better we feel about ourselves.

That's called self-righteousness.

But our righteousness, the Scripture tells us, always falls short of God and his righteousness.

Realize only Jesus Christ lived a perfect life and was righteous before God when the sinless Christ submitted substitute himself for us by dying on the cross for our sins.

God gives Jesus perfect righteousness to everyone who believes in Him.

We don't have to prove ourselves worthy anymore.

You know why?

Because Jesus is worthy on our behalf.

2 Corinthians 5.21,.

God made Jesus, him who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God and him.

As Jonah figured out and may take us a while to figure out, there is no refuge from God, none, zero.

There is only refuge in God, in him, through faith in his Son.

Just like what Jonah was for the sailors, jesus is for us, our substitute, thrown into the storm of God's wrath for us.

You know what, after he did that and every person who believes in him, the storm of God's wrath for us, our sin, quiets down to nothing.

No condemnation whatsoever.

Is God great?

I'm telling you Jesus what he did for us.

We should never doubt our Heavenly Father, who welcomes us into His family and intimacy with Him through the Holy Spirit.

Jonah was assigned to go to the Ninevites.

Jesus was assigned to go to His generation, and you know what he said to them.

You know what.

Behold, a greater than Jonah is here.

Believe in him for salvation.

Let's pray, father, thank you for the message of the gospel of Christ, which you promised to give forgiveness of sins and eternal life to all who believe in Jesus as their Savior, and we thank you for Jesus, who became our substitute, enduring your wrath for our sins.

The death penalty was on us and he went in to save us.

Would you please help us to lay down our oars trusting in our own efforts to save ourselves or to gain your approval through all the good things we do.

Help us to trust only in Jesus, his righteousness, and in your kindness, your faithfulness, by faith.

I pray in Jesus' name, amen.