We Are Jonah.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Good morning. If this is your first time here, my name is Steve. [0:03] I’m one of the pastors here at the Village. [0:06] I’m really glad to see each and every one of y’all here this morning. [0:09] If you have your Bibles, open to the book of Jonah. [0:12] I tell you, we have a great crew here on Sunday mornings. [0:17] If you come in here and you look around,

[0:19] we have a lot of stuff that takes a lot of time to set up. [0:24] And if you came in and you saw the plethora of signs out front, [0:29] that takes a lot of work every Sunday morning. [0:32] And I’ll be honest to you, we’re in a situation right now [0:35] where we have the first people to roll up on Sunday morning, [0:40] roll up at about 6.30 in the morning,

[0:43] to start putting those signs out front. [0:46] And they work really hard and it’s really hot, [0:48] and they’ve been doing that for months. [0:50] But let me be honest, the same guys that set that up, [0:54] after they’re done with that, come in here and set all this up. [0:58] All right, so the guys and a lot of them are in the band.

[1:03] They’re here at 6.30. [1:04] They work from 6.30 to about 9.30. [1:07] And then they come up and they work all through the service. [1:10] And then the same guys are going to tear down afterwards. [1:13] All right, and I’m only a part of that. [1:15] There’s people that get here earlier than I do.

[1:17] All right, so I’m not telling you that so that you’ll applaud them. [1:21] None of them are getting paid. [1:22] They’re just here because they love Jesus. [1:24] They believe in the mission and they want people to hear the gospel. [1:27] What I’m telling you that for is for this. [1:30] If I could find four people, all right, four people,

[1:36] who would volunteer to be trained to set up the signs, [1:42] you wouldn’t have to get here till 7.30. [1:45] All right, because the guys that do it right now have to come in afterwards [1:49] and put the musical equipment and the stage and all this together. [1:54] But if we had four people that weren’t in the band to volunteer, [1:59] you wouldn’t have to get here at 6.30 because I think the sign crew,

[2:02] some of you are like, listen, I would love to put those signs up, [2:04] but there’s no way I’m getting up at 5.30 on a Sunday morning. [2:07] All right, if I get four people that aren’t in the band to volunteer, [2:12] you could get here at 7.30. [2:13] And some of you are like, that doesn’t sound much better. [2:16] All right, come on people, work with me, please.

[2:21] All right, and if I could get more than four, [2:24] we could actually put it on a rotating basis [2:26] where you’re not even having to come here every week. [2:29] You could come every other week, you could come once a month. [2:31] So my plea in my heart, and hey guys, I’ll be honest, [2:35] I’m not getting here at 6.30 to put the signs out,

[2:37] so it’s not really going to affect me one way or the other. [2:40] But I love these guys and I know they’re tired [2:44] and I know that they would prefer to smell better when they’re on stage [2:48] so they don’t have to get here and sweat it out. [2:52] So if I could just get some of you guys to volunteer, [2:57] to start helping us with the signs,

[3:00] the more people that volunteer, the less work people have to do. [3:04] Because if we had more and more people starting to volunteer, [3:08] what we could do is we could start putting people on a rotating basis [3:12] where you’re only here every other week, you’re only here once a month. [3:15] But the more people we have volunteer, the more likely that is to happen. [3:20] So just so you know, if you were to volunteer today and you’re the only one,

[3:23] I’m going to beg you to come here every week, you’re not going to have to, [3:26] but I’m going to beg you to, and I might cry a little bit, [3:30] just so that I could get out of doing some work. [3:32] No, I’m just kidding. [3:34] But seriously though, these guys love Jesus and they show it by their servanthood. [3:40] Alright, I come here every Sunday morning and I see servanthood.

[3:44] I see people serving, I see people saying, [3:47] I love the village, I love Jesus, I want to be a part of the family. [3:52] How can I serve the family? [3:55] You know, how could I do this? [3:57] How could I get involved? [3:58] And some of you might be sitting out there right now and you’re like,

[4:01] you know what, I’ve been coming, this is a great service. [4:04] I just don’t feel like I’m a part of this. [4:06] I don’t feel like I’m getting to know anybody. [4:08] You know what the best way to get to know somebody? [4:11] It’s to serve alongside them. [4:13] Because then you can really see a picture of each other’s hearts.

[4:17] And it’s a heart that sacrifices a little bit of sleep on Sunday morning [4:20] so that the gospel can go further. [4:22] And I believe God will bless you tremendously for that. [4:27] Any time that you sacrifice something for the mission of Jesus, [4:30] alright, God is worshiped and God is blessed by you. [4:34] And God blesses back.

[4:36] He’s going to put some joy into your life through that. [4:39] Some Sundays it’s harder than others, not going to lie. [4:41] Hey, I’ll be honest. [4:42] Some Sundays it’s harder to do this than other Sundays. [4:44] Like I was in New Mexico last week so this is great. [4:47] You know, but after like 20 in a row, I show up on Sunday morning,

[4:51] alright, let’s preach one more. [4:52] One more for Jesus. I’ll get a Sunday off in a couple weeks. [4:55] But if some people didn’t have to do their volunteering every Sunday, [5:00] maybe they’d smile more. [5:01] I don’t know. [5:03] After the service, Nate’s going to be out here.

[5:06] Nate’s a pretty good looking guy. [5:08] He won’t hurt you, I promise. [5:09] But he’ll be standing out at the connection table. [5:11] And if you’re interested in volunteering, and it doesn’t have to be signs, [5:15] we need greeters. [5:16] There’s really nowhere we don’t need someone.

[5:19] We need greeters. [5:20] We need, you know, child care workers, whatever we call that back there, [5:24] village kids. [5:25] We need help everywhere. [5:27] People need relief. [5:29] So wherever you would be willing to sacrifice a little bit,

[5:32] and I know it’s a sacrifice. [5:34] I’ll be honest. [5:35] I know that it’s a sacrifice for you. [5:37] But I’m asking you to make that sacrifice for the Gospel. [5:40] All right? [5:41] Good talk.

[5:43] Jonah, Chapter 1. [5:44] All right. [5:45] It’s really weird when you start a new book of the Bible, [5:47] because you can’t really jump off of what you did last week. [5:50] You have to kind of start afresh. [5:52] So we’re just starting afresh this week with the book of Jonah.

[5:56] And kind of the subtext of the book of Jonah is running from mission. [6:00] This idea that there is a mission and a purpose that we’re created for by God. [6:07] And then sometimes we have this tendency. [6:10] We have this natural inclination to run away from the purpose that God created us for. [6:16] And that’s because we’re sinful. [6:20] All right?

[6:20] We don’t sin then become a sinner. [6:24] We’re a sinner who sins. [6:26] It’s a big difference there. [6:28] You’re not born perfect and then you mess up and then you become a sinner. [6:32] No, you’re born a sinner. [6:33] So you just start sinning.

[6:34] It’s natural to you. [6:36] All right? [6:36] I don’t have to tell my son to cry. [6:38] He came out of the womb doing it. [6:41] All right? [6:41] It’s like it was the first thing he practiced and now he’s really good at it.

[6:45] All right? [6:46] Same thing with sin. [6:47] You don’t have to practice it to get good at it. [6:49] You’re just going to be boom. [6:50] It’s natural. [6:51] You’re doing it.

[6:52] So our natural inclination is to run as far from God as we possibly can. [6:57] All right? [6:57] Because that’s how we’re born. [6:59] That’s the effect of Adam’s sin on our life. [7:03] We are born into a life of sin. [7:06] All right?

[7:07] So if you are a person that struggles with sin, don’t feel alone. [7:12] I’m with you. [7:13] So is everyone else. [7:14] Even if they lie or even if they’re just really good at covering it up and they appear perfect, [7:20] they are not perfect. [7:21] There are no perfect people in this church.

[7:24] There are no perfect people in this world. [7:27] You know, like you have not met my Aunt Catherine. [7:29] I don’t care. [7:31] She’s a sinner. [7:33] And some of you probably literally have it on Catherine. [7:35] All right.

[7:35] I don’t. [7:35] So that’s why I said it. [7:38] But I’m not specifically picking on your aunt. [7:40] So don’t send me an email about that one. [7:42] All right. [7:42] Send it about something else.

[7:43] I’m going to say later that actually will offend you. [7:46] This is going to happen. [7:47] All right in Judaism, which is the religion of the Old Testament before Jesus came. [7:52] All right. [7:52] Some people still practice that because they don’t believe that Jesus is the Messiah. [7:56] Every Yom Kippur.

[7:57] All right. [7:57] If you don’t know what Yom Kippur is, it is the most holy day on the Jewish calendar. [8:02] On Yom Kippur, Jews recite the entire book of Jonah on their day of atonement. [8:09] And then at the end of the recitation, they all say in unison a few times, [8:15] we are Jonah. [8:17] We are Jonah.

[8:19] Because what they’re doing is they’re identifying themselves with the character that this book is named for. [8:27] The prophet Jonah. [8:28] They’re seeing themselves in the story. [8:31] So over the next four weeks, as we make a journey through this book, [8:36] I want to start with this attitude and with this realization that we are Jonah. [8:43] This is a story that we can really identify with, that we can find ourselves in.

[8:50] All right. [8:51] The story of Jonah is a story that takes place in the Old Testament. [8:55] It takes place during the reign of Jeroboam the second. [9:00] All right. [9:00] He was the king of Israel. [9:02] Outside of this book, we don’t know a lot about the prophet Jonah.

[9:06] In second Kings chapter 14 and verses 23 through 28, [9:10] we see that Jonah lived and he served and he prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam the second in Israel. [9:17] All right. [9:18] And you probably all know at least the beginning of the book of Jonah. [9:21] You know that Jonah is called by God to go to Nineveh and Jonah runs headlong away from that calling. [9:27] He does not want to go to Nineveh because like in the in the flannel graph when we were little kids,

[9:33] if you grew up in church or in the flannel graph, these Ninevites, [9:36] they were like monsters. [9:37] All right. [9:38] And they were going to kill Jonah if he came at him. [9:40] And so Jonah goes the other way because he’s scared of them and he runs directly to a place called Tarshish, [9:45] which if you if I had a map up here Tarshish,

[9:48] I cannot say that word is the opposite direction. [9:53] Jonah is literally physically running the opposite direction away from the place. [9:57] That God was calling him to serve in. [10:01] All right. [10:01] So when we look at this book as a whole, [10:04] we’re going to look at a person that was called to go to a place and warn them about the wrath of God and

[10:12] warn them about the judgment that is coming from God. [10:16] And he runs a headlong away from that calling. [10:19] So what we have in this story is we have a story of a man who is the antithesis. [10:26] Of Jesus Christ.

[10:30] So in that sense, in this story, Jonah is the antichrist. [10:36] All right. [10:37] Not the literal one you read about in the book of Revelation, [10:39] but in this story, he is an antichrist character. [10:43] Whereas Christ was called the Son of God. [10:46] The Father sent him to earth to a wicked people.

[10:51] He’s God perfectly holy, created the world, perfectly righteous. [10:58] It’s called to come to the world to tell them of God and to reveal God to them and to save them from their sins. [11:06] Jonah is going to be called by God to go to Nineveh to warn them of theirs that their sin has reached God. [11:13] And he is bringing judgment to them because God wants to redeem Nineveh. [11:21] All right. [11:21] You probably like read in the first few verses, he doesn’t tell Jonah that he wants to redeem them.

[11:27] In Jonah 4, 2, Jonah looks to God and says, God, I didn’t want to come here because I knew that you were a gracious God [11:40] and you were going to forgive the Ninevites. [11:44] That’s why I didn’t want to go.

[11:47] All right. [11:48] So Jonah really is an antichrist, isn’t he? [11:51] He doesn’t want to take redemption. [11:53] Whereas Jesus runs headlong in to the sinful world to bring redemption to mankind. [12:01] All right. [12:02] Because the wrath of God’s coming.

[12:03] But what does Jesus do? [12:05] Jesus takes the wrath onto himself. [12:07] All right. [12:08] The book of Jonah is also really interesting because if you’ve seen these movies like the Sixth Sense and they have like this twist at the end where you’re like, oh my goodness, he was dead. [12:18] If you haven’t seen the Sixth Sense, I just ruined it for you, by the way. [12:21] Or if you’ve seen like the usual suspects and you’re like, who is Kaiser Soze?

[12:25] And at the end you’re like, oh my goodness, he was Kaiser Soze? [12:28] That’s crazy. [12:29] You see these movies that have these twists at the end and sometimes we’ve gotten so accustomed to them that they’re just like ridiculous. [12:37] Some movies are just like ridiculous now where at the end they throw this twist in and you’re like, I don’t even, I can’t even follow anymore. [12:44] What? [12:45] Huh?

[12:46] Especially if you go to the movies with your wife. [12:48] They’re not going to be able to follow very well at all. [12:50] I don’t know. [12:50] But although I’m not trying to offend the women in here today, but it’s going to happen. [12:55] I don’t know. [12:57] But the book of Jonah is like that.

[12:59] All right. [13:00] And you’re going to see this in a couple of weeks where at the end of the book of Jonah, there’s like this twist in there. [13:04] And if you want to read ahead, just don’t do it during the service. [13:07] When you get home this afternoon, go ahead and read ahead. [13:09] There’s this twist at the end where you’re like, what? [13:13] That’s how the story ends?

[13:17] All right. [13:18] And you’re going to see in chapter four. [13:21] Oftentimes we really are Jonah. [13:23] That really is our reaction. [13:26] All right. [13:27] But let’s look at Jonah 1 today.

[13:28] All right. [13:29] Let’s start reading in verse 1.

[13:32] Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai. [13:36] All right. [13:36] This is somewhat significant in the in the fact that this is just like a literary masterpiece that God sovereignly directed. [13:45] All right. [13:45] The name of Jonah is dove. [13:47] Dove is a symbol for peace.

[13:49] All right. [13:49] The name of his father Amittai is truth.

[13:54] All right. [13:54] So God from truth brings peace and he’s taking it to Nineveh. [13:59] All right. [13:59] I’m not trying to read too much into that because scripture doesn’t emphatically say that. [14:05] But I just find that very interesting that those are the meanings of their names. [14:11] All right.

[14:13] Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying arise go to Nineveh that great city and call out against it for their evil has come up before me. [14:26] But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. [14:32] He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. [14:37] So he paid the fare and went on board to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord. [14:44] All right. [14:44] Let’s stop there.

[14:44] Let me tell you a little bit about Nineveh. [14:46] All right. [14:47] Nineveh is a great city. [14:50] That’s what the scriptures describes to us there that has kind of a couple of things. [14:53] First it says is a great city because Nineveh was huge. [14:56] Nineveh was a very large city.

[14:58] And secondly Nineveh was very important in the historical setting. [15:05] Of the world at that time Nineveh was one of the main cities of the Assyrian Empire. [15:12] All right. [15:13] And in the Assyrian Empire you had the Tigris River and Nineveh sat on the banks of the Tigris River. [15:20] So where trade is concerned and where importing and exporting is concerned Nineveh sits is kind of a cultural center of the Assyrian Empire. [15:29] And then Israel sits over here and Israel is experiencing a lot of political gain at this point in time.

[15:37] All right. [15:38] The land of the Northern Kingdom which was called Israel at that point flourished at this point in time politically. [15:46] But it also says that Jeroboam did that which was evil on the side of the Lord. [15:50] He led Israel to do that which was evil on the side of the Lord. [15:52] So we know that Israel was also a wicked place at this point but they’re not under Assyrian captivity yet. [16:00] All right.

[16:00] A couple books later some of Jonah’s contemporaries are going to prophesy that the Assyrians are coming and God is actually going to deliver Israel over into the hand of the Assyrians. [16:10] All right. [16:11] And God tells Jonah, Jonah go to Nineveh. [16:15] Tell them that their sin has basically the language there says the scent of their sin has reached my nostrils and it’s disgusting. [16:26] Go and tell them warn them.

[16:31] All right. [16:32] And Jonah’s reaction is.

[16:36] All right. [16:36] This is a prophet of God. [16:38] This is God’s mouthpiece to the people of Israel. [16:43] All right. [16:44] My feeling and my grasp of what God is actually doing here. [16:49] God is going to speak to the nation of Israel through the actions of Jonah as he goes to Nineveh.

[16:56] God is going to speak to the nation of Israel to show them because in the book of Isaiah God tells them you are to be my light to the world through you. [17:05] I’m going to draw all people to myself and I’m going to draw all people and I’m going to redeem the world so that they can worship me. [17:10] And so God is going to use Jonah as the prophet to go to Nineveh as a revelation to Jonah of what God wants. [17:17] Excuse me as a revelation to Israel what God wants them to do where the Assyrians are concerned. [17:23] God wants Israel to be a light to the Assyrians so that the Assyrians can experience redemption. [17:30] All right.

[17:30] It’s the same thing that God reveals to Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 29 when they’re in Babylonian captivity and reveals to Jeremiah. [17:37] I want you to live in this captivity. [17:39] I want you to pray for the good of the city. [17:41] I want you to buy houses. [17:43] I want you to plant garden. [17:44] I want you to have babies.

[17:44] I want you to raise them and I want you to do it all and pray for the good of this city so that they can come to me.

[17:51] All right. [17:52] And God is doing all of this because God calls his people to mission. [18:00] All right. [18:00] God did not ever destined Israel to be this city that goes up to a mountain and sits on this Mount Zion by themselves away from the rest of the world and never in just themselves be the people of God completely set apart from the rest of the world. [18:20] That was never God’s intention. [18:23] God’s intention was to use Israel to show his greatness to the world.

[18:27] He literally in Matthew 5 through Jesus tells the people of Israel because the book of Matthew is written mostly to the Jewish audience tells them you are the light of the world. [18:39] But what good are you? [18:43] If you put it under a bushel, you’re the salt of the earth. [18:47] But what good is it if the salt loses its savor? [18:51] God is speaking to Israel through these passages. [18:54] He’s saying you’re supposed to be my light.

[18:57] And then in Isaiah, he prophesies, he says, but you are a disobedient servant, but an obedient servant is coming. [19:03] Jesus is going to redeem all of mankind. [19:06] He will be my light. [19:08] All right. [19:08] So God calls his people to mission through Jonah. [19:11] God starts with the prophet, his mouthpiece to a generation and the prophet says absolutely not.

[19:18] I do not want to go to Nineveh. [19:20] Those evil and wicked people got who are going to bring us into their captivity. [19:24] I want no part of it. [19:25] So God sees me for Jonah. [19:27] He attempts to leave God. [19:30] He’s like, hey, God, by the way, good riddance.

[19:32] I’m going to Tarshish. [19:33] And it says that he fled the presence of the Lord. [19:37] So he goes down to Joppa. [19:38] He buys a ticket for a boat and he goes onto this boat and he’s sailing as far away from Tarshish from Nineveh as he can possibly get. [19:48] But notice, all right, that all the while, God pursues his people for the sake of the mission. [20:02] All right.

[20:03] Jonah attempts to escape mission. [20:06] He attends. [20:07] He tries and he goes away and he tries to escape the presence of God. [20:14] All right. [20:14] But he can’t do it.

[20:17] Jonah does everything in his power to get away from God. [20:22] And a prophet should probably be smarter than this.

[20:25] All right. [20:26] You can physically move, but you’re just moving to another place where God is, well, God. [20:35] You can’t move away from God. [20:38] But if you notice the Hebrew language used here, when it says he went down to Joppa. [20:43] All right. [20:44] And then in chapter two, it’s going to use another word for he went down into the belly of the whale.

[20:50] It’s a euphemism in Hebrew language. [20:54] For death.

[20:56] In other words, when Jonah is fleeing from the presence of the Lord, every step away from God that he takes is a step closer and closer to his own demise. [21:09] So what it’s giving us, it’s giving us this word picture of spiritual demise and the life of Jonah. [21:18] That he inside in the presence of God where his life with God is concerned, he is dying with every step away from the will of God that he takes.

[21:32] And he’s running away from the will of God. [21:36] But physically he cannot flee the presence of God. [21:39] Because even when he is out of God’s will, he is still in God’s presence one way or the other.

[21:47] Is this not the lie that we tell ourselves when we are disobedient to God? [21:53] That we can forsake God’s will, therefore God just doesn’t bother with us anymore.

[22:01] It’s not the way it goes. [22:03] Let’s look in the book of Jonah again, verse four.

[22:07] But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea so that the ship threatened to break up. [22:17] Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his God, and they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. [22:26] But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. [22:32] So the captain came and said to him, what do you mean you sleeper? Arise! Call out to your God! [22:39] Perhaps the God will give thought to us that we may not perish.

[22:46] See, Jonah cannot physically escape God, and his attempt to go away from God is completely fruitless. [22:53] Because as he’s on the ship, as he’s just going away and maybe he’s just thinking in his mind, God will forget about me. [22:59] God will call someone else, and they will go to Nineveh, and I can just go away, and I can die in peace out of God’s will, but at least I won’t have to go to Nineveh. [23:11] Because I don’t think Jonah is so dumb that he thinks he can thwart God’s will. [23:18] Where he’s like, well, if I don’t go to Nineveh, ha ha, they’re in trouble.

[23:24] Maybe he wasn’t that dense, but my inclination is to think that he wasn’t that dense. [23:29] I think he just thought someone else would have to go. [23:32] He just didn’t personally want to have to do it. [23:34] So he’s going away from God, and God calls a great wind to hit the boat, and the waves are going higher and higher, and the scripture there says the boat is literally starting to break apart so much so that all of the deckhands are starting to throw the food, throw the supplies, throw the bags that people have brought on, throw them into the sea so they can be a little lighter, so maybe they can steer their way out of this great tumultuous sea somehow, so that they can get loaded. [23:59] And they can land before they were shipwrecked.

[24:03] Because boat manufacturing back then probably wasn’t what it is today. [24:09] They didn’t have machines, they weren’t made of metal, these were just boats made of wood. [24:14] And probably not very well made at all. [24:18] And God has brought probably hurricane force winds onto this little vessel.

[24:23] And so these pagan sailors are calling out to their gods. [24:27] Saying, save us!

[24:31] And then the captain probably thinks in his mind, didn’t we have someone else on the boat with us? [24:38] See, he goes down below deck and he finds Jonah. [24:41] And what is this? [24:42] This part of the story fascinates me. [24:44] Jonah, while the ship is being hurled across the sea, back and forth, because God pretty much is keeping it in one place so they can’t advance. [24:54] Jonah is down below the deck fast asleep.

[25:01] And these ships were made in such a way that the water is probably going below deck. [25:08] He didn’t have like a cruise ship room, where he’s like on a lazy boy recliner, or in like a Serta sleeper, and like the waves just aren’t really affecting him at all. [25:18] No, water is most likely sloshing all around him. [25:21] It cannot be easy to sleep at this point of time. [25:25] And Jonah has so much peace in his heart that he is fast asleep.

[25:33] God is pursuing him for his great mission. [25:37] And he is sleeping like a baby.

[25:42] And the captain comes down and says, basically, how are you sleeping?

[25:49] Do you not see that the ship is falling apart all around you? [25:57] Because Jonah, stepping step by step away from the will of God, and the further outside of God’s will that he gets, the further away from the mission that he gets, the less and less it matters to him. [26:17] The less and less his sin bothers him. [26:22] The less and less God’s will matters to him. [26:25] The more and more he thinks, well, I’ve got all the time in the world. [26:28] Everything’s alright.

[26:30] Everything’s okay. [26:31] Even if God brings death or disease or famine onto me, oh well, what am I going to do? [26:37] God is sovereign. [26:39] It doesn’t matter. [26:40] He’ll send someone else. [26:41] My life is insignificant.

[26:43] And this mission and this story that God is writing, nothing really matters. [26:48] And he has so much peace in his life, he just drifts off to dream while everything around him is falling apart.

[27:01] We are Jonah.

[27:05] How often have you said or have you heard someone say, I know that everything’s okay in my life. [27:10] I know that I’m in the center of God’s will because I have this inner peace.

[27:16] I feel like everything’s okay. [27:19] I don’t feel like God wants any more out of me than I give.

[27:28] Read the book of Jonah.

[27:32] Jonah had great inner peace.

[27:35] Jonah thought, everything’s alright.

[27:39] I’m going to be okay. [27:41] It doesn’t matter how I live. [27:43] It doesn’t matter whether or not I know God or follow God.

[27:49] Everything’s alright. [27:51] Inner peace is not your guiding stick or your map or your compass to life.

[28:02] Inner peace should never determine what you do with your life. [28:10] My thought is that the more peace and the more at ease and the more comfortable and the more leisure [28:19] and the bigger your kingdom gets so that you can just sit and waste time and take all the naps in the world [28:25] and everything’s alright. [28:27] World’s falling down around me, but I’ve built up some good walls. [28:31] Everything’s okay.

[28:32] I’ll just take a nap. [28:33] I’ll just rest for a couple of months. [28:35] God doesn’t need me for his mission right now. [28:38] Nothing is urgent. [28:39] I don’t have to deal with the gospel and its truth and the call that God has on my life. [28:45] I’m just going to rest because I have peace that everything’s okay.

[28:50] It’s not okay. [28:52] The more peace that you have, the less urgent that you feel your life is, [28:56] the less tension that the gospel is bringing into your life where you’re seeing more and more places [29:02] where you need to sacrifice, where you see less and less places where you can have rest in your life. [29:08] It’s only in a life of tension for the gospel that you should have any security.

[29:18] If you look at your life and there are months where you can go without ever thinking about the gospel [29:24] and without ever worrying about the gospel and without ever seeing the mission in your life [29:31] and without ever doing anything for the gospel, without ever sacrificing anything for the gospel, [29:38] the more peace that you have in that type of lifestyle, [29:43] the less and less security you should have as to whether or not you even believe the gospel.

[29:52] Because if you believe the gospel, it is going to bring a great tension into your life [29:57] that pulls you into the mission of Jesus, calls you to sacrifice more for the mission of Jesus, [30:03] allows you less and less leisure away from the mission of Jesus. [30:10] Jonah’s inner peace was not a sign that everything was okay with God. [30:15] Jonah’s peace was a sign that he was further and further outside of the will of God.

[30:25] Inner peace does not show where you are with God. [30:28] God’s Word shows where you are with God.

[30:32] And it isn’t about measuring up, because we don’t. [30:39] It’s about believing the gospel.

[30:42] Because when you trust in Jesus, He comes in and does a radical work that transforms your life [30:48] that’s not based on your effort, but is totally based on His effort. [30:52] And then you can walk through life sacrificing everything [30:55] because I’ve got Jesus and that’s greater than anything else in this world.

[31:02] So you look at sacrifice, and while it’s hard, don’t get me wrong, sacrifice is hard.

[31:09] It’s so hard. [31:11] But you look at it and say, I have a greater treasure in heaven, [31:15] so I’m able to sacrifice because of what Jesus did. [31:20] Because when you sacrifice, you don’t earn anything with God. [31:23] When you sacrifice, you just show the delight and joy that God brings in your life [31:31] through what He has already done for you.

[31:36] And through Jonah’s rest, He’s showing that He could care less [31:42] what God wants to do with His life, because He’s got a better plan than God does.

[31:54] And often times when we look at a story like this, [31:57] we’re very quick to look at the sovereignty of God, [31:59] because it’s saturated in this passage. [32:02] It is saturated in the book of Jonah. [32:04] You cannot get away from the sovereignty of God in this passage. [32:07] You’ve got a guy that’s fleeing from the presence of God

[32:10] and God’s like, okay, I’m still God of the sea. [32:12] Wind!

[32:14] It’s almost this like Fantasia-like thing, [32:16] where the wizard’s standing over the water, and it’s like, whoa! [32:20] Where God is sovereign over the sea. [32:23] God is sovereign over the sailors. [32:26] God is sovereign over every aspect of the story of Jonah. [32:32] And God is looking at Jonah saying,

[32:34] Jonah, you cannot thwart My will. [32:41] You’re going to Nineveh one way or the other.

[32:45] So He brings this great storm. [32:47] And then let’s keep reading.

[32:52] Verse seven.

[32:56] And they said to one another, [32:58] come let us cast lots. [33:00] So they find Jonah. [33:02] You can’t tell me Jonah doesn’t know, [33:04] because they look at Jonah and they say, [33:06] call out to your God.

[33:09] They’re looking for a reason that God has brought this to them, [33:14] and Jonah wakes up, and he’s apparently mum. [33:17] He’s like, oh, I don’t know what’s happening right now. [33:19] I’m not out of God’s will. [33:21] I’m not a prophet or anything.

[33:24] And so they have to cast lots. [33:27] So Jonah is denying every aspect. [33:31] He reminds me of Peter when they gather in the courtyard, [33:34] and they say, Peter, aren’t you one of his followers? [33:36] And Peter’s like, absolutely not.

[33:40] The captain probably looked at Jonah and is like, [33:42] Jonah, who’s God? [33:42] And he’s like, kind of know the guy. [33:46] And so all these pagans are like, let’s cast lots. [33:49] Casting lots is a normal, everyday thing that they do. [33:53] In the Old Testament, the Israelites do it

[33:55] to find whose sin is in the camp in the story of Achan. [33:58] This is something they do. [33:59] What they’re doing is they’re taking pebbles or stones [34:02] that are coloured, right? [34:03] And they go person by person. [34:05] They throw these lots or these stones down,

[34:08] and they somehow fashion these colours on top of them. [34:11] And whatever colour shows up [34:13] shows who the winner or the loser is. [34:16] It’s a form of Old Testament gambling, OK? [34:19] But when they’re casting it to see [34:21] whose sin has brought this great storm on,

[34:25] they’re casting it, and they’re saying, [34:27] if this comes up, well, the sin’s on you. [34:29] Well, we’re going to see in a second in verse 7 [34:31] that we may know whose account this evil has come upon us. [34:35] So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

[34:40] Then Jonah said to him, [34:43] then they said to Jonah, [34:43] Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. [34:46] What is your occupation, and where do you come from? [34:48] What is your country, and what people are you? [34:50] And he said to them,

[34:51] I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, [34:53] the God of heaven, [34:54] who made the sea and the dry land. [34:56] Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, [34:59] What is this that you have done? [35:01] For the men knew that he was fleeing

[35:02] for the presence of the LORD, [35:04] because he had told them. [35:06] So finally, when they cast lots, and it falls on him, [35:08] he finally realises there’s no escaping this one. [35:11] I’m just going to tell him the truth. [35:13] So he tells them the whole story.

[35:16] And they look at him. [35:17] And pagans, people that don’t even know the God of Israel, [35:21] they don’t know the true God, [35:22] they look at him and say, [35:23] You ran from him? Are you nuts?

[35:27] So they know, [35:30] God is sovereign over this situation. [35:32] They are casting lots, and God is controlling the lots. [35:36] So we see the sovereignty of God all over this situation. [35:40] But here’s what we often do with the sovereignty of God. [35:43] We do one of two things.

[35:45] We either look at the sovereignty of God in this book, [35:47] and we say, [35:49] A. God is sovereign, and if he wants me, [35:52] he’ll bring a storm similar to what he did in Jonah into my life. [35:57] And he’ll do some kind of sensational thing [35:59] with a burning bush or something,

[36:00] and then I’ll know that I’m supposed to do something. [36:04] Alright, so that situation, [36:05] alright, do you believe the gospel? [36:08] Alright, is the cross and the resurrection of the Son of God [36:13] not a sensational enough of an event [36:16] where the Son of God rises from the dead

[36:18] and then tells us, [36:20] Go, take my mission, make disciples. [36:22] Is that not sensational enough for you to follow God on mission? [36:27] If it’s not, I’m sorry, [36:29] you probably don’t believe the gospel. [36:31] Either that or you’re confused and we need to talk.

[36:34] Or two, you do another thing with the sovereignty of God. [36:36] Second, you look at the sovereignty of God [36:38] and you say, God is sovereign. [36:40] He could use someone else, he doesn’t need me. [36:43] I’m not talented enough, [36:45] I don’t have enough time,

[36:48] life has handed me a tough role, [36:51] I don’t have the time to do the things that other people do, [36:53] I’m not a prophet, I’m not a preacher. [36:55] Have you heard people say that? [36:56] If God is sovereign, he’ll just use someone else. [36:59] Alright, I’ll just be perfectly blunt with you right now.

[37:02] So many people say this. [37:04] Alright, I’ve been guilty of saying this. [37:06] I’ve been guilty of saying something like that before. [37:08] But I’ll be honest with you, biblically, [37:09] that’s one of the most ridiculous things you could possibly say. [37:12] That’s a ridiculous thing to say.

[37:14] And you’re like, why is it not true? [37:16] If God’s sovereign, I don’t know. [37:20] It’s ridiculous because in his sovereignty, [37:23] he has determined who he wants to use. [37:27] Okay? [37:28] He stands in front of a field

[37:31] and he looks at his disciples, [37:32] Jesus Christ does this, and he looks out in the field [37:34] and it’s ripe for harvest, and he says to his disciples, [37:36] he says, the field is ripe for harvest, [37:38] but the laborers are few.

[37:42] And what he’s saying there, [37:43] he’s basically saying, look in front of the world, [37:45] look at it, [37:46] I’ve created it all, I’m bringing the harvest in, [37:49] and it’s my will to send you out to get it. [37:52] In the book of Acts, he looks at Paul

[37:54] right before Paul goes into Corinth, [37:57] and Paul is afraid [37:59] because of the legal matters that are about to hit him. [38:03] And he looks at Paul, and Paul has not taken the gospel here. [38:06] And this is so exciting. [38:07] Paul hasn’t taken the gospel here.

[38:09] And God looks at Paul and he says, Paul, [38:12] don’t be afraid. [38:13] There are people in that city [38:16] who are mine. [38:19] In other words, God’s saying, [38:20] I have gone on before you,

[38:21] I have taken redemption in there, [38:23] and I guarantee you, [38:24] people are going to come to faith in me because I’m sovereign.

[38:29] Don’t be afraid. [38:31] But we have this mentality, [38:32] we look at the sovereignty of God, [38:34] and we use it as an excuse [38:36] to run from mission. [38:39] And Jonah, undoubtedly, is probably doing the same thing.

[38:45] God’s sovereignty is not an excuse [38:47] for you to not live on mission. [38:50] God’s sovereignty is a reason [38:52] for us to run headlong into mission. [38:55] If you’re using God’s sovereignty [38:57] as an excuse

[38:58] to waste your life, [39:00] you don’t get the sovereignty of God. [39:04] You don’t get what it means biblically.

[39:09] That’s something that is, [39:10] I will not [39:12] go an inch on that one. [39:14] So if you want to come to me [39:16] and say, God doesn’t need us to do this, [39:18] or God doesn’t need us to

[39:20] come and sing, [39:21] God doesn’t need us to preach, [39:22] God doesn’t need us to go out into the world [39:25] and take his mission to people, [39:26] God doesn’t need us to draw people [39:28] into the church,

[39:30] He’ll just do it.

[39:34] You haven’t read the Bible, [39:35] or you read it the wrong way.

[39:39] God is so sovereign

[39:42] that He has determined [39:46] that I take [39:48] His mission to the world. [39:52] Because it’s not about me, [39:53] it’s about Him. [39:54] God’s sovereignty is the hope

[39:58] of our mission.

[40:01] There is no other way [40:03] to see it. [40:04] It’s never an excuse away from mission, [40:07] but rather it’s a hope [40:08] to take us headlong into [40:10] His mission.

[40:15] See, some of you, [40:16] you look at things that we do like we’re planning a mission trip to China. [40:20] You say, why are we doing all this kind of stuff? [40:22] You say, God doesn’t need us in China. [40:24] You’re right, He doesn’t. [40:26] But He wants us there.

[40:30] What a great privilege that [40:32] God gives us when He says, [40:34] come with me, I will redeem you [40:37] and I’m going to transform you [40:38] and then I’m going to [40:40] partner with you and I’m going to

[40:42] lead you into a mission [40:44] that is going to take you to the ends of the earth [40:46] because I want the nations. [40:48] I want everyone. [40:50] I want them all. [40:51] And you’re going to be the tool

[40:54] that does the work.

[41:02] I can’t look at God and say, [41:04] well God, you don’t need me. [41:06] So I’m just not going to do it.

[41:12] That’s unbiblical. [41:15] It’s unmissional. [41:16] It’s un-gospel. [41:18] And if that’s your mentality,

[41:22] you need to repent.

[41:29] Let’s keep reading.

[41:34] Verse 11,

[41:47] I know it is because of me [41:49] that the great tempest has come upon you. [41:51] Nevertheless, the men rode hard [41:53] to get back to dry land, [41:55] but they could not, [41:57] for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

[41:59] Therefore they called out to the Lord, [42:01] O Lord, look at this, [42:03] pagans are calling out [42:05] to Yahweh, the God of Israel, [42:07] the real God. [42:09] O Lord, let us not

[42:11] perish for this man’s life [42:13] and lay not on us [42:15] for the innocent blood for you, O Lord, [42:18] have done as it [42:20] pleased you. [42:22]

[42:22] Jonah’s will was not [42:24] going to thwart God’s will [42:26] and the pagans see it [42:28] more than the prophet of God sees it.

[42:33] So they picked Jonah up [42:34] and hurled him into the sea, [42:35] and the sea ceased from its raging. [42:38] Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly [42:40] and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord, [42:42] the true Lord, Yahweh.

[42:44] Whenever you see in the Old Testament [42:46] capital L, capital O, capital R, [42:48] capital D, [42:50] that is a [42:52] sign for the God of Israel. [42:56] What it means is

[42:56] in Hebrew, because the Jews did not [42:59] write the true name of God [43:00] in the Old Testament, the true name of God [43:02] is Yahweh. [43:04] So realize that anytime when you’re reading the Old Testament [43:06] and you see capital L, capital O,

[43:08] capital R, capital D, what the Hebrew [43:10] word there is actually Yahweh. [43:13] But when you see [43:14] capital L, little o, little r, little d, [43:17] it’s not. [43:18] So when they say Lord, with all

[43:20] caps, [43:22] they’re saying the name of the true [43:24] God, not just some [43:26] generic Lord.

[43:29] Then the men feared [43:30] Yahweh exceedingly [43:32] and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord [43:34] Yahweh and made [43:36] vows. [43:38] Last thing I want you to see this morning.

[43:42] Repentance brings [43:43] hope [43:45] that carries [43:47] the mission.

[43:50] Jonah is running away [43:51] from the will of God.

[43:55] Jonah is [43:56] lying about who he is, [43:58] what God has told him to do, [44:00] he’s trying to hide in [44:01] his sin. [44:03] Alright?

[44:05] But then they cast the [44:07] lots and when he realizes that God [44:09] is just [44:10] forcing him to be [44:12] transparent, to be real, be authentic, [44:14] he just says this is who I am.

[44:18] I’m a sinner. [44:20] I’ve sinned against [44:20] God.

[44:24] And then he [44:25] accepts [44:27] God’s judgment on his life.

[44:31] Alright?

[44:33] And he says just throw me [44:34] into that sea. [44:36] Because he thinks

[44:39] he’s gonna die. [44:41] He thinks God’s gonna kill him. [44:44] But I want you to notice one thing.

[44:47] God’s mercy [44:48] is often seen [44:51] in calamity.

[44:54] See sometimes when we look at our [44:55] life and we see uncomfortable things [44:57] coming into our lives. [44:59] We see judgment. [45:01] We see condemnation. [45:03] We look at God and say, God how

[45:05] dare you bring this hard thing into my life. [45:08] Your blessings are comfort, [45:09] right? Your blessings are [45:11] an easy life, right? No.

[45:14] Sometimes [45:15] they are. But not if they’re [45:17] leading you away from mission. See the piece [45:19] Jonah had?

[45:21] Do you understand this?

[45:25] God bringing that storm [45:27] and taking Jonah to the brink [45:29] of death [45:30] was the most merciful [45:32] thing he could have done [45:34] to Jonah.

[45:38] You’re saying I don’t understand it. [45:39] I mean, it doesn’t seem [45:41] merciful.

[45:45] To not show mercy [45:47] to Jonah would have [45:49] been to allow him to go to Tarshish. [45:51] To live in the [45:52] completely outside of God’s will. [45:54] See our view of God’s mercy

[45:56] is so off base because we look at mercy [45:58] and we say God gives me a comfortable life. [46:00] God looks at his mercy and says, [46:02] my mercy is whatever brings you to live [46:04] my mission.

[46:09] What if God’s wrath on your [46:10] life is to [46:12] allow you to live [46:14] totally comfortable?

[46:18] Full leisure? [46:19] Fat bank account? [46:21] Never have to worry about a thing? [46:24] Just comfortable? [46:24] Maybe not even a fat bank account. Maybe you’re broke. [46:26] But you’re just comfortable being broke.

[46:29] And you have perfect inner peace. [46:30] What if that’s actually God’s [46:32] wrath because God never [46:34] calls you to his mission? [46:36] He just gives up on you. Romans 1 says [46:38] give them up to a reprobate mind.

[46:42] What if the comfort on this earth [46:45] is actually God’s wrath [46:46] on you because it’s the only heaven you’ll ever know?

[46:52] Let me tell you. [46:55] Hebrews says God disciplines [46:56] those whom he loves. [46:58] God loved Jonah.

[47:01] So much so that he didn’t want him [47:02] to run away.

[47:06] One of two possibilities if you’re running from [47:08] mission right now. [47:10] First possibility. [47:12] And then we’re done. I promise. [47:14] First possibility.

[47:16] You’re living a life [47:18] where you’re running from mission [47:19] because you don’t want to give up on your leisure. [47:23] You don’t want to give up on your free time. [47:25] You don’t want to give up on your [47:26] career aspirations.

[47:28] And you’re seeking [47:29] every way to make [47:32] yourself happy and comfortable [47:34] that has nothing to do with God [47:36] and his mission that you [47:38] can find.

[47:39] Whether it be alcohol, [47:41] whether it be drugs, [47:43] whether it be television, [47:45] whether it be career, [47:47] whether it be you’re pouring so much [47:49] into your family you don’t look at God

[47:51] ever. You just look to your family so you can [47:53] hide your sin.

[47:57] First possibility. You just love [47:59] a life of leisure. [48:01] Second.

[48:04] You feel the storm.

[48:09] You feel it. [48:11] Life’s been tough. [48:13] Life’s been hard. [48:16] Bad things have happened to you.

[48:20] Sickness. [48:21] Broken homes. [48:23] Divorce. [48:24] Deaths that you’re struggling to deal with. [48:27] The storm is [48:29] raging in your life right now.

[48:31] And you’re looking at God and you’re saying [48:33] God how dare you.

[48:38] How dare you. [48:41] And all the while [48:44] that storm [48:46] is the mercy [48:48] of God saying [48:51] trust

[48:53] me.

[48:56] Stop trusting [48:56] everything else to free you from the pain [48:58] in this life. Trust me.

[49:03] Because I’m going to take [49:04] this storm [49:05] and I’m going to redeem it. [49:08] And you’re going to use it for the mission.

[49:13] I’m going to use that cancer [49:14] so that you can take the gospel [49:16] more effectively. I’m going to use [49:18] the death of a loved one so that you [49:20] can reach people whose loved [49:22] ones have died.

[49:24] I’m going to take this sickness. I’m going to take [49:26] this financial hardship. Whatever the [49:28] storm is, God wants to use [49:30] it for His mission. Yet you’re [49:32] looking at it and running from mission [49:34] because of it.

[49:39] Either one of those [49:40] scenarios.

[49:43] God wants to redeem you [49:44] through His Son.

[49:48] Because Jonah [49:50] was an antichrist.

[49:54] The real Christ, [49:54] Jesus Christ, ran headlong [49:56] into mission. He absorbed [49:59] God’s wrath. [50:01] He absorbed [50:02] the storm of

[50:04] God’s wrath so that you would never have to [50:06] experience it. Then He died for your sins [50:08] and He rose again so that you could [50:10] experience new life where the storms [50:12] are still going to come. But you’re going to [50:14] see them through the resurrection

[50:16] and you’re going to see them for the mission of Jesus. [50:19] Because you know that God has [50:20] promised [50:22] a place where there are no storms.

[50:25] A place where [50:26] our bank accounts [50:28] worthless. [50:30] A place where in Revelation 7, 9 [50:32] it says people of all tongues, all tribes, and all [50:34] nations gather around the throne of God

[50:36] and say our God is a [50:38] God of salvation. Salvation belongs [50:40] to our Lord.

[50:47] What we’re going to do right now [50:49] is we’re going to transition into [50:50] a time

[50:54] where we’re going to worship [50:56] God and we’re going to respond to Him.

[51:00] While the band [51:00] plays a song, [51:02] while they go through this first song [51:04] and through all the songs that they’re going to play [51:06] right now, you’re going to have a time to come [51:08] forward and you’re going to have a time

[51:09] to reflect on the cross of Jesus [51:12] who absorbed the ultimate storm, [51:14] the wrath of God.

[51:17] Who absorbed [51:17] your sin and my sin and took the judgment [51:20] for it, took the penalty of sin [51:22] onto Himself through His broken [51:24] body and His shed blood. [51:27] And if you believe,

[51:30] come forward, reflect on the cross, [51:35] reflect on the fact [51:36] that Jesus perfected [51:38] the mission [51:39] so that we could simply follow [51:41] Him into the mission

[51:44] under His power. [51:47] If you don’t believe, [51:49] you can believe today.

[51:52] You can believe right now. [51:56] Repentance brings hope [51:57] which carries us to the cross. [51:58] And that’s Jesus’ mission.

[52:00] Believe that Jesus took your sin. [52:03] Trust Him with it. [52:04] Trust Him with all those storms. [52:06] Trust Jesus [52:08] because He is [52:10] God and He is

[52:11] the Redeemer.

[52:14] Once you’ve done that, you can freely [52:15] come to this table and you can reflect [52:17] on His cross with great joy.

[52:22] I’ll be right back there if you want to talk.

[52:25] I’ll be right back there if you want me to

[52:30] Today is the day of mission. [52:35] Stop running.

[52:38] Father, we come before you right now.

[52:43] Lord,

[52:46] we ask [52:49] that You would forgive us. [52:53] Because often times, [52:54] one thing or another, [52:56] Lord, it makes us act like Jonah. [52:59] Where we run from You, or we attempt to run from You.

[53:01] As fruitless as that attempt is, [53:04] God, we run away [53:05] from You and think that we can hide [53:08] from You. When You see our hearts, [53:09] You see everything that’s taking place in our life. [53:12] But God, I praise You

[53:14] so much that I don’t [53:16] have to stand account from our running.

[53:20] Instead, You have [53:21] poured the penalty for that sin on Your Son. [53:24] And I need only to trust in Him. [53:27] And He will work in me [53:28] a new heart. He will work in me a new life. [53:31] And I can run headlong into Your mission.

[53:33] Totally secure

[53:35] in Jesus.

[53:40] Lord, we bless You through reflecting [53:42] on the cross through communion right now. [53:46] In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.