The Pursuit of God.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open it to Jonah 3.

[0:04] It’s Independence Day, July the 4th. [0:07] We live in an interesting time in history where there’s a lot of contention [0:13] in the country that we live in over whether or not we’re doing things right [0:17] or whether or not we’re doing things wrong, whether we’re headed in a good direction [0:20] or whether we’re headed in a bad direction. [0:22] But I tell you, the one thing that I realized through it all is that we’re blessed.

[0:29] We’re blessed to live in a country where we can really get together and do this freely. [0:35] How we please, we can worship the way we want. [0:39] We can have our own opinions. [0:41] We can agree to disagree. [0:43] We can vote however we want. [0:45] If we’re not happy, we can get another guy in that maybe make us a little bit happier.

[0:49] If we are happy, well, we can get him back in there. [0:52] And you can’t do that everywhere. [0:54] So where that’s concerned, I’m so thankful that I do live in the United States, [1:00] that we do have the country that we live in, because quite honestly, [1:04] it gives me a lot of advantages and it gives you a lot of advantages. [1:08] So tonight while you’re watching fireworks or eating a hot dog

[1:12] or whatever it is that you’re going to do tonight, however you’re going to celebrate tonight, [1:16] just be thankful that God has put us in a land where we do have opportunity. [1:21] But don’t do it in thinking that God is an American citizen.

[1:32] We need to realize that God is the God of the whole world, like we were just saying. [1:37] He’s the God of the earth. [1:39] The same God that is the God of the United States is the God over Africa. [1:43] He’s the God over Asia. He’s the God over Europe. [1:46] He’s the God over North America as well. He’s even the God over Antarctica. [1:49] I don’t know why, but He is. There’s nobody there.

[1:55] But here’s the key, we have to get a global mindset. [1:59] And I think July the 4th serves as an opportunity for us to get a global mindset [2:03] that God’s mission is so much greater than just us. [2:09] God has put us in a place in history where we live in a place where we experience the freedoms [2:17] that other people do not experience. [2:20] And our freedoms should not be at their sacrifice,

[2:24] but rather our freedoms should be for the world’s benefit. [2:29] That we’re free to learn and grow and worship. [2:33] And because of that we can build ourselves up, we can disciple each other, [2:37] we can teach each other, we can learn, we can grow, [2:41] but we can experience the Holy Spirit freely so that we can go and help those who may not be as fortunate, [2:49] at least in our eyes, or as blessed in our eyes as we are.

[2:53] And I think that’s what makes July the 4th so cool, [2:58] is because we’re free to live the mission of Jesus in ways that others aren’t. [3:04] And so today while we’re wearing our red, white, and blue, [3:07] and we’re singing songs to old glory, let’s realize that God is God of the world. [3:14] And let’s celebrate our freedom while we pray for others who don’t necessarily have it. [3:19] Because I don’t know if you know this, but we as a body of Christ universally,

[3:24] there are missionaries in lands that are not free. [3:28] People taking the gospel that we’re going to talk about freely here this morning, [3:32] they’re in countries and places where they can’t even necessarily tell their family members where they are, [3:37] and if they got caught preaching the gospel and leading Bible studies, then they may be imprisoned. [3:44] And they’ve gone from a place of absolute freedom to places of not any freedom. [3:52] And that’s what the mission does to us.

[3:54] It takes us to a place where we’re willing to give up what is a momentary gain, [4:01] and don’t get me wrong, it is gain to me. I love it. [4:05] But they’re willing to sacrifice that for a great gain of experiencing limited freedom and sometimes no freedom, [4:13] so that others can experience what is actually eternal freedom. [4:19] And that’s the freedom to know Jesus Christ, the freedom to worship God the Father, [4:23] through the Son who took our sins onto Himself and rose again on the third day.

[4:27] That’s true freedom. [4:29] Because we know that we have eternal freedom and that we will worship God forever, unhindered by our sin, [4:36] unhindered by the things, the guilt and the baggage that life has given us, we are free from that. [4:44] And that’s what we’re going to talk about today. [4:47] So in Jonah chapter 3, we’ve been going through the book of Jonah for the past two weeks, [4:52] and this week is part three of that, and the next week we’re going to finish the book,

[4:56] and then the following week we’re going to head into the book of Titus, which is in the New Testament, [5:01] so we’re going to jump from an Old Testament book to a New Testament book, [5:03] and we’re going to finish out the summer in the book of Titus. [5:07] And what we’re going to see in the book of Titus is what does a church look like that is truly living the mission of Jesus? [5:15] What does a church look like when we are discipling each other, and how does God want His church to function, [5:24] whereas discipleship is concerned, whereas leadership is concerned,

[5:28] whereas our life and the grace of God through Jesus Christ is concerned? [5:32] What does a church look like? [5:33] In the book of Titus is a book written by the apostle Paul to a young pastor, [5:39] who’s taken over a church that Paul has planted, and Paul writes him a letter, [5:43] and says, okay, I know you have no idea what you’re doing, but here’s how you do it. [5:47] And that’s what I experience a lot, because I’m just like, okay, I have no idea what I’m doing,

[5:51] so I go and ask other people, well, how do I do it? [5:53] And that’s what Paul does for Titus, and that’s what we’re going to go through in the book of Titus. [5:56] But as we’re going through the end of the book of Jonah, understand we have started with this place [6:02] where we have this prophet Jonah, who we don’t really know a great deal about. [6:07] Jonah is chosen by God as a prophet over the northern kingdom of Israel, [6:11] and God comes to Jonah and basically says, Jonah, I want you to be a missionary.

[6:15] I want you to go from Israel, and I want you to go to a city called Nineveh, [6:20] which is in the Assyrian Empire, which is on the banks of the Tigris River, [6:24] which is a big city, much larger than the city Jonah grew up in, and they’re wicked people. [6:29] But Israel wasn’t really obedient at that time either. [6:32] It says they did that which was evil on the side of the Lord, and the king led them into sin. [6:37] It’s just that they were significant because they’re the chosen people of God,

[6:41] and Nineveh is seen as a filthy, dirty place. [6:44] And Jonah basically reveals his racism against the Assyrian Empire, [6:48] and he says, I will absolutely not go to Nineveh and preach to them. [6:53] And so what Jonah does is he says, no, God, I’m not going to Nineveh, [6:56] and Jonah goes the exact opposite direction towards a place called Tarshish, which I can barely say. [7:05] And Jonah kind of charters a boat, he jumps on a ship, and he’s headed there,

[7:09] and God refuses to allow Jonah to leave his presence, [7:13] because in chapter one it says, and Jonah leaves the presence of the Lord.

[7:22] And he thinks he goes down to Joppa, he jumps on this boat, he’s in the sea, [7:26] and God is kind of like, wait a second, Jonah, I guess you don’t comprehend that I’m everywhere, [7:32] being that I’m God. You can’t really leave my presence. [7:36] So God sends a storm onto the ship, and the ship is being torn apart. [7:41] Jonah is under the deck, he’s fast asleep, they wake Jonah up, [7:45] they say, hey Jonah, do you have any idea what’s going on here?

[7:48] Why are ships being torn apart? And he’s like, oh. [7:51] And so Jonah comes up on deck, they start throwing stuff overboard, [7:54] and then they come up with the idea, which is something they did way back then. [7:57] They cast lots, which are these pebbles that have stones, [8:00] and they’re like, okay, maybe the God who’s angry at us will show us through the casting of lots, [8:06] which they painted the stones on top, and if they turned a certain way, the lot fell on you.

[8:11] Well, God is sovereign over the lots, so they cast lots, and they’re like, oh, it landed on Jonah. [8:17] Like, okay, Jonah, what’s the deal? So Jonah copped to it, he says, I’m running from God, [8:21] I’m supposed to take his mission to the people of Nineveh, but I have run from him, [8:25] and now he’s chasing me, and he is pouring his wrath on top of me. [8:31] The only way to save yourselves is to throw me overboard. [8:36] And God is not pouring his wrath on Jonah.

[8:39] I think that’s one of the most confusing parts of the story, the most misunderstood parts of the story. [8:43] God is not sending this judgment of death and wrath. [8:47] If he had done that, he could have just said, okay, you’re dead. [8:52] Rather, God sends this calamity towards Jonah, and his mercy is in it. [8:57] Because God is refusing to allow Jonah to live a life that is apart from him.

[9:08] And so Jonah, completely misunderstanding God’s intention, which I’ll be honest with you, I may have as well. [9:15] I mean, when you’re in the middle of hurricane force winds, you don’t necessarily say, oh, thanks, thanks, God. [9:21] I’m going to drown. Fantastic. [9:24] All right. So Jonah’s just like, all right, God, you caught me. [9:28] Just throw me overboard, guys. So they pick Jonah up. [9:31] And in my mind, I’ve got this great scene where Jonah’s like on top of guys, he’s crowd surfing, and they just toss him overboard.

[9:37] I don’t know how it actually happened. He may have walked the plank, for all I know. [9:39] So they toss Jonah overboard, and Jonah is in the seat. [9:42] And last week in chapter two, we see that Jonah is writing this recollective poem to God, [9:50] where he gives us this imagery that he is sinking in the water. [9:54] The seaweed is actually wrapping around his neck, and he basically just accepts his death. [10:01] He looks to God and he says, I cannot look on your temple any longer.

[10:06] And he accepts death, and he’s sinking to it. [10:09] And he uses the term shiel, which means place of death. [10:12] But then he says, God, you redeemed me out of it, and I will look at your holy temple. [10:17] Because then, which is the most popular part of the story, a fish comes and swallows Jonah.

[10:24] And once again, we see what would not be preferable to us, [10:29] but actually being swallowed by a fish is better than drowning, if you think about it, as long as there’s air in the fish.

[10:35] And Jonah accepts death, and God says, no, I’m going to send you hope in the form of a fish that I have no idea what kind of fish it was. [10:44] We’ve never been able to figure it out. [10:45] Some think it was a whale. [10:46] We’re not sure. [10:48] The scripture doesn’t tell us. [10:50] But God, in his sovereignty, created a fish for this point in Jonah’s life to send him hope in the form of a fish that would not look very hopeful for me.

[11:04] The fish swallows Jonah. [11:06] And in that fish, we see the hope of God. [11:09] And the scriptures tell us that Jonah spent three days in that fish. [11:13] And while he is in that fish, God has a meeting with him. [11:17] And God reminds Jonah of who he is. [11:21] God, he says, Hey, remember me.

[11:24] I’m God. [11:24] I’m the one that’s bringing all this stuff for you. [11:26] I’m the one that is saving you from death. [11:31] And Jonah writes, Salvation belongs to our God. [11:37] Jonah goes through this great bit of turmoil, through a hurricane, through almost drowning. [11:43] Through spending three days in the belly of a fish, which I cannot think was probably enjoyable.

[11:51] And in the end, he says, through it all, God was sending salvation to me.

[11:59] And so what we’ve got to see through all of this is that God pursues his people.

[12:08] God does not allow his people to simply run away and be ignored.

[12:19] Oftentimes, when we are running from the life that God has set up for us, this is how we react. [12:24] As long as I ignore God, maybe he will ignore me.

[12:30] But the story of Jonah shows us that as Jonah is running, and it looks to me like Jonah is ignoring God, [12:36] he’s asleep during a hurricane, which is brought by God. [12:39] Don’t you think a prophet would notice the hand of God in a storm?

[12:45] Jonah lays below deck in complete apathy towards the hand of God that’s working at that point. [12:53] But what God is doing, Jonah ignores God, runs from God, God sends a storm. [13:01] Jonah denies God, denies his sin towards God. [13:05] God sovereignly has the lot fall on him so that the people on the ship will know it’s his sin. [13:11] Jonah accepts death as judgment of God because he still is unrepentant. [13:17] And God sends a fish bringing hope into the life of Jonah.

[13:24] So at this point, what I want you to wrap your mind around is the fact that God is in hot pursuit of Jonah. [13:33] And as far as Jonah runs, God says, no, I’m going to use you whether you like it or not. [13:39] And through throwing Jonah overboard, we see God bring repentance to the pagan sailors that were on the ship.

[13:49] Jonah’s running headlong away from God and God is still using Jonah to bring repentance to the men around him.

[13:58] David Platt, who’s a pastor in Alabama, he says about the book of Jonah, [14:02] he says the book of Jonah reveals to us that God’s people can never outrun God’s pursuit.

[14:13] See, some of you sitting in here, you know that you’re willfully choosing a life where you are running away from what God has for you. [14:23] And you think that you’re going to get away.

[14:27] Not happening.

[14:30] The scripture screams to us that it’s not possible. [14:34] Sometimes we have to go from this microscopic view of scripture, where we just pick a verse here, pick a verse there, [14:40] and we get a little bit of inspiration where we can. We make ourselves feel a little bit better if we can. [14:45] We have to go back and we have to look at the telescopic view of what scripture, the story, [14:49] that scripture is actually giving us, where man rebels against God, [14:53] and God spends the next period of history redeeming man, reminding man of himself,

[14:59] and the culmination of the redemption and the pursuit of God is found in the fact that God the Son actually becomes a human being in the form of Jesus.

[15:10] And he lives a life among us.

[15:15] And then he dies taking our sin onto the cross. [15:18] St. Corinthians 5 saying, He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God.

[15:27] And God pursues us even at the expense of His own Son.

[15:35] But we know, those of us who know God, know that He never fails, so even in His death we see victory in that He rose again.

[15:46] There is no running away from God and actually escaping Him. [15:52] Because even in the face of Him dying for the sin that we did in rebellion against Him, [15:57] He wins victory over the death that sin causes because death cannot hold Him. [16:02] So He rises from the dead so that we might become His righteousness. [16:06] And God simply through His Son says, Stop running! Give up!

[16:14] And just let me redeem you, if you’ll simply trust.

[16:20] God is in this passionate pursuit and He pursues Jonah. [16:25] And then finally, after Jonah has been through an ordeal that I really am not that interested in going through myself, [16:34] I don’t think any of you are as well, we come to chapter 3.

[16:38] Alright, so I guess now we can start.

[16:44] We come to chapter 3, look at verse 1.

[16:48] Jonah has just been spit up onto dry land, which I really, I hope maybe, I don’t know, I have some weird views of heaven. [16:55] Maybe there will be like a big screen that I can rewind history and just look at things. [16:59] I want to know what that looked like. [17:02] What does it look like when a fish spits a man out and he’s still alive? [17:06] So the fish has just spit Jonah out and Jonah lands on dry land. [17:11] And just God is, He’s just so ferocious in this book.

[17:16] Chapter 3 verse 1 says, Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time. [17:24] Alright, Jonah has been through a hurricane, he’s been thrown overboard, he almost drowned, he’s been swallowed by a fish. [17:31] He’s spent three days, which I can’t imagine smelled very good. [17:35] He’s been spit up on dry land, he might have just spit and slobber all over him. [17:40] And he’s sitting on the beach and the word picture that I have here is he’s sitting there, he’s probably exhausted, [17:46] I can’t imagine much rest in a fish, and it says, The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.

[17:52] At this point Jonah’s just got to say, God, you are persistent. [17:56] So the word comes to Jonah again, verse 2 saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.

[18:16] Jonah goes through this tumultuous experience and nothing has changed from chapter 1 verse 1 to chapter 3 verse 1.

[18:29] God does not say, Look buddy, I know you’ve had a tough time.

[18:34] I’ll start you off easy. [18:36] Spend a couple years prophesying in Israel, then I’ll try to send you to Nineveh again if I’ve got time. [18:41] No.

[18:43] God comes to Jonah, he’s redeemed Jonah, brought him back to himself. [18:49] Jonah is now in full repentance. [18:52] If you want to know about the message of repentance, go to the podcast lesson last week, I don’t have time to talk about repentance this week. [18:58] Actually we’re going to talk about repentance a little bit later, just differently.

[19:02] I’m not going to get out of it this week. [19:04] But after experiencing this great moment of repentance in his life where his eyes are open, he’s like, Okay, so the only hope I have is you God? [19:14] So I should probably listen? [19:16] Okay. [19:17] God says, Okay, the mission hasn’t changed by the way, go to Nineveh.

[19:22] Notice Jonah’s reaction this time.

[19:27] Verse 3 says, So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh.

[19:35] We go from chapter 1 verse 1 to chapter 3 verses 1 and 2. [19:42] And we see that everything has changed. [19:46] But not for God.

[19:50] See, God’s will and God’s mission has not changed one bit for Jonah. [19:55] It’s the exact same thing. [19:57] God calls Jonah to do the exact same thing he called Jonah to do when Jonah rebelled.

[20:06] His sin did not keep him from the life that God had for him.

[20:15] I want you to wrap your mind around the possibility that God has for you this morning that you think sin is keeping you from. [20:23] You say, Well, you don’t know me, Steve. I’ve done some pretty bad things. [20:26] Well, you don’t know me, whoever you are. I’ve done some pretty bad things, too.

[20:33] God’s redemption is full. [20:35] The same mission that God had for you before you disobeyed God is the same mission that God will have for you in your redemption.

[20:47] It does not change because God does not change. [20:50] His mission does not change. [20:51] So once God takes Jonah through this ringer of discipleship and mercy and hope, and he reminds Jonah just who he is. [21:01] Jonah is up on the dry land and God says, Jonah, I still have the same mission for you. [21:08] And it’s because God’s pursuit carries with it a new life. [21:17] But you see, we all look at this new life that we’re promised in God and we misunderstand what it is.

[21:25] This new life does not mean that the mission of God in your life changes. [21:31] What this new life means is now you have the opportunity, now you have the ability to actually obey God [21:39] because God has taken you out of the driver’s seat and inserted himself in it.

[21:47] Jonah does not have a hope. Jonah is not given a second chance here.

[21:56] I hear it quite often that God is a God of second chances and I understand the mentality behind it. [22:03] But I just want you to understand, we have to really understand redemption in a different way. [22:08] It’s not that God is a God of second chances because God could give me and you a second chance. [22:15] But here’s the key, we would screw that up too.

[22:20] As long as you are not giving God control of your life, as long as you are trying to do it under your own power [22:28] and under your own religion where you try to earn God’s acceptance, you are going to fail. [22:34] Because your attempt to earn anything from God is a rebellion against the very nature of God [22:41] who simply says allow me to do through you, allow me to give you hope, allow me to give you mercy, allow me to forgive you of your sins. [22:50] God wants control and as long as we say, okay God, you are going to give me a second chance, you are going to give me a third chance, you are going to give me a fourth chance. [22:57] You will never stop needing chances because you are incapable of the mission that God has for you.

[23:10] So God wants to take you out and he wants to put himself in and he wants to obey and this new life is his life.

[23:22] For Jonah, it was a fish.

[23:28] Now God, you go jump in a reservoir, God is not going to send a fish to swallow you, I don’t think. [23:34] Okay, is it possible? Sure. I don’t think it is going to happen. [23:39] Because a lot of you and a lot of people and sometimes myself, we have this mentality that because God is not doing the spectacular things that we see, [23:50] such as a fish swallowing us, because he is not doing these spectacular things where he speaks to us through a burning bush, [23:56] or we see someone risen from the dead, because God is not doing the spectacular, then he does not have a new life for you.

[24:06] But what you are not comprehending is that this story, remember when we talked about this as a precursor to the gospel, [24:13] that Jonah stands as this anti-Jesus figure where he has got this mission and rather than taking the grace and mercy of God to the people that God has called him to, [24:23] rather he goes the other way in rebellion against God, here is where the spectacular comes into play in your life.

[24:32] Rather than calling you to endure the storm of his mercy, what God has done is he put his son through the storm of his mercy.

[24:42] He put his son under the wrath that your sin deserves. [24:45] And what Jesus did is, Jesus who is the son of God, he takes this mission that we have been given and he comes and he lives it perfectly.

[24:56] And then he dies for our sins and he rises again. So that we do not have to go through that. [25:02] That is the spectacular in our lives, is the fact that Jesus has died for our sins and he has risen from the dead, [25:09] and you are begging for something more spectacular than that. [25:14] And it does not exist because it does not get more spectacular than God becoming man, than the Creator becoming a part of his creation. [25:25] It does not get more spectacular than that. And the new life that we are allowed to live is the new life in Jesus. [25:35] Galatians 2.20 screams to us where Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ, yet I live, but it is not me that is living, it is the Son who lives in me.

[25:47] And the life I now live in the flesh, I live through faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

[25:58] And then through the book of Galatians we see this amazing story where Paul is breaking it down to a saying that when Jesus died for us, [26:05] when he rose for us, he went to heaven and sent us, the Spirit who comes through our trust and belief in the finished work of Jesus, to live through us. [26:15] And now the work of God and the mission of God is not dependent on us, it is totally dependent on the work of God through us. [26:24] And he gives us this new life, and he gives Jonah this new life through redemption, but it is only through redemption that you can experience this new life. [26:35] And what does Jonah do? Jonah gets up and goes to Nineveh. Because God has granted him this great redemption.

[26:50] Let’s keep going.

[26:54] Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. [26:59] Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days journey in breadth. [27:04] In other words, if you started on one side of Nineveh and you started walking, if you started trying to make your way through, it would take you three days to get to the other side. [27:11] It’s a pretty big city. It wouldn’t take you three days to walk across Richmond, unless you stop a couple times and sleep.

[27:21] This is a big city that Jonah has been sent to.

[27:26] Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey, and he called out,

[27:35] And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least of them.

[27:48] I want you to understand, what we just saw is Jonah grabbing a hold of the new life that God had for him through the redemption that God offered him through the work of God. [28:00] So Jonah grabs a hold of this new life that God is giving him, and his new life brings him a new purpose.

[28:09] And you might say, but it didn’t look like the purpose changed from one to three. [28:14] God’s purpose didn’t change. Jonah’s did. [28:17] What was Jonah’s purpose in chapter one? [28:20] His purpose was to get as far from Nineveh as he could possibly get. [28:24] And in so doing that, he got as far from God as he thought he could get, because God wanted him in Nineveh.

[28:33] But when Jonah goes through this redemption, when Jonah experiences the hand of God working in his life, [28:40] What happens is, is that Jonah, new life, Jonah says, I also have a new purpose. [28:48] My purpose is to go to Nineveh.

[28:52] Instead of living life for his purpose, which was to hate Nineveh and get away from Nineveh,

[29:01] Jonah’s life was now wrapped up in God’s life. [29:07] And Jonah now said, I want to live for God’s purposes for my life.

[29:14] And what does God do through that? [29:17] And this is amazing. The Ninevites were part of the Assyrian Empire, as a wicked empire. [29:23] These are people that do not worship, do not know, do not follow God. [29:27] So when Jonah doesn’t want to go there, it’s because he thinks they’re wicked. [29:32] Because he hates them. And Jonah actually wants to be redeemed from them.

[29:39] But rather, God redeems Jonah for them. [29:41] And he sends Jonah in, and it says Jonah walked a day’s journey into Nineveh. [29:48] And I imagine he must have gotten to where a lot of people were, and he just began to preach. [29:53] And he began to warn them. Look at what he warns them with. He says, [29:57] Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

[30:03] So he comes, and he does not come with a really good, happy message. [30:06] He doesn’t get in the center of the square and say, [30:08] Alright, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Now believe in him. [30:14] Now Jonah gives a pretty uncomfortable message. [30:16] Hey guys, listen, I know I’m not from here, I know I’m by myself. [30:20] But guess what? The army’s gonna come in, destroy you. God’s gonna send them.

[30:26] Alright, this guy is really risking his life here.

[30:31] These people could have very easily said, Who’s this guy? Kill him. [30:36] But what does God do through Jonah’s new life and new purpose? [30:42] Alright, God redeems Jonah. Jonah proclaims against the city of Nineveh. [30:46] And guess what? God redeems Nineveh. [30:50] It says in verse 5, it says that the people believed God. [30:56] They called for a fast, put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least of them.

[31:00] So what happens here is people just start repenting. [31:05] Okay, God’s gonna judge us? There’s a God? We’re responsible? We should say we’re sorry. [31:11] And the way they did that looked much different back then. [31:15] Rather than just saying we’re sorry, they physically wanted to show their mournful pain in their sin. [31:25] So what they would do is they would put on sackcloth and they would pour ashes on their heads. [31:30] And it would just cover them and they would sit and they would cry and they would weep and they would say,

[31:34] God, we repent. Help us turn from our sin. [31:39] And they would show outwardly the pain that they saw sin showing.

[31:46] This is actually a Hebrew practice.

[31:51] So the whole city repents from the least of them to the greatest of them. [31:53] And it’s not done. In verse 6 it says, The word reached the king of Nineveh. [31:59] Here’s where it would start getting dicey for me if I was Jonah. [32:03] It’s one thing to threaten the town. [32:08] It’s another thing to threaten the king. [32:11] Alright, a little dicey.

[32:12] It says the word reached the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne. [32:17] And look at what the king does. This is the king of an entire civilization of people. [32:23] It says he removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. [32:30] And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, [32:34] By the decree of the king and his nobles, let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. [32:40] Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth.

[32:46] And let them call out mightily to God. [32:48] And let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. [32:53] Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we may not perish.

[33:02] The king does not call for Jonah’s head on a platter. The king says we are in trouble.

[33:11] And he issues a law and says, look, everybody start repenting.

[33:21] This simple prophet from Israel. [33:26] And by the biblical standards that I have where prophets are concerned, he is not even a good one. [33:32] Alright. He is a mediocre prophet at best. [33:36] I mean look at him. He is the prophet for Israel. [33:40] And there is no book in the scriptures by him where he calls out against Israel and leads a great repentance. [33:48] No. The story that we have in scripture about him is how bad he screwed up.

[33:57] This mediocre prophet who actually lives a great deal of his life in rebellion against God under a sinful and wicked king. [34:05] With a sinful and wicked era of Israel.

[34:09] Whereas his job over Israel is to call out for their repentance. [34:14] And God has to call out for his repentance.

[34:21] Yet when God brings redemption to his life, he doesn’t just go to the people of Israel and call a religious people. [34:33] He goes to people who God is completely foreign to.

[34:37] Who will eventually overthrow Israel in their wickedness.

[34:42] And he sees a city far more great than his city. [34:50] On their knees begging for God’s mercy.

[34:57] Because when you have this new purpose from God. [35:02] Which Jonah’s purpose was to tell Nineveh to repent. [35:06] New purpose brings new potential.

[35:14] I talk to a lot of people. A lot of my job is talking. [35:18] As you can see.

[35:20] And I constantly find myself talking to people about their potential.

[35:26] And whenever you talk to people about their potential, this is typically what you hear. [35:29] You either hear someone talking about their ability or their inability. [35:34] There is either this grand portrayal towards you of what a person can do. [35:41] This is what I can do. [35:43] Or they say, okay, this is what I am not comfortable with. [35:47] I am not very good at this stuff.

[35:53] Your potential is not based on your ability or your inability. [35:59] Your potential is based on the power of God.

[36:07] And Jonah’s problem was, number one, he did not believe that. [36:12] And number two, he didn’t want to see it.

[36:17] The kids agree.

[36:25] Your potential is based on the life of God. [36:31] Your purpose is based on the life of God.

[36:36] Your life is based on the life of God.

[36:41] And that is either negative or positive.

[36:45] But here is the key.

[36:48] God does not hide it. He does not keep it a secret.

[36:53] He reveals it fully. [36:56] And then says, I will do the work.

[37:02] To understand the gospel, we have to understand that God does not want anything from us.

[37:13] God wants to give us a life. [37:15] God wants to give us a purpose. [37:17] And God wants to give us a potential that is far greater than any potential that we could ever come up with on our own. [37:27] This is the grace of God. [37:30] Because in His mercy, He does not pour His wrath on us. [37:34] But in His grace, He gives us the life of His own Son.

[37:39] So that we do not have to experience His wrath. [37:44] But it is more than that. [37:45] Because when we just talk about being saved from the wrath of God, we have this future in sight where it is like, okay, good. [37:52] I don’t have to go to hell. [37:53] But grace is so much more than just being saved from the wrath of God. [37:58] Is that a good part?

[37:59] Yeah. [38:01] I am pretty thankful for that. [38:03] I am not interested in seeing His wrath. [38:05] But here is the key. [38:06] When He saves us from His wrath, when He pours it on His Son, [38:10] see we have that thing where it is like, okay, my sins are atoned for.

[38:14] They are taken from me. [38:16] But so many times we need this constant reminder where we understand that it is not just the taking away of sin. [38:26] But it is the giving of that new life. [38:30] Where Jesus, according to Scripture, gives us His righteousness. [38:34] And now we have the ability in Hebrews that says to come before the throne of God and get grace and mercy when we need it.

[38:44] And our problem is, as we hear this saying that God has a wonderful plan for our life, [38:49] and what we actually hear is, yeah, I will believe that as long as it is the wonderful plan that I like.

[38:57] As long as it is the wonderful plan that I can plan. [39:00] As long as it is the wonderful plan that gives me a lot of comfort and leisure, weekends off, [39:06] three weeks a year, good health plan. [39:09] Sounds pretty hopeful.

[39:12] See, the new life and the new potential that God has for us is all wrapped up in the Gospel.

[39:21] The message that God saves people who are far from Him and who are in rebellion against Him. [39:29] He does it through His Son.

[39:34] You have to understand this potential that you have is the potential of God’s power through the work of His salvation.

[39:47] Because in this potential, God’s purpose is always God’s mission.

[39:56] Because quite often we will spend months, sometimes years looking at this life and purpose and potential. [40:05] And we will say, but I just can’t figure out what it is that my potential is for. [40:11] What is God’s will for my life? What does God want me to do? [40:16] And when we say that, what we mean is the kind of human life that I am interested in living.

[40:24] What God is saying, no, I have been pretty specific. [40:29] Because it is the same thing He said to Jonah. [40:32] For Jonah, He said, go to Nineveh.

[40:35] To us, He says, go make disciples of all nations.

[40:41] Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. [40:45] Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. [40:48] And I will be with you always to the end of the age.

[40:53] God’s will is not a mystery.

[40:56] God’s will has been revealed.

[40:59] His will is for us to experience the redemption that He offers through the work of His Son, Jesus. [41:07] And to take that redemption to as many people as possible in our lifetime.

[41:14] Because His purpose is all wrapped up in His mission of redemption.

[41:21] See, because a lot of times we just see this negative story where God is beating up on people.

[41:30] When God’s joy is all wrapped up on the mercy. [41:33] His joy is found in the hope. [41:36] His joy is found in redeeming us at, do you understand this? [41:40] At His own expense.

[41:45] He brings redemption.

[41:53] But we all have a tough time finding our part.

[41:57] And it doesn’t look exactly the same in all of our lives.

[42:03] Most of you will never stand up here and do this. [42:07] But some of you say, well because I can’t or I don’t want to do that, I guess I just have no part. [42:13] It can be further from the truth.

[42:17] It doesn’t look the same in everybody’s life. [42:19] But what it is going to look like is you setting your life up in such a way. [42:25] Once you have experienced this redemption, once you’ve been given this new life. [42:29] It’s not that God gives you a new life and then He says, okay, earn it. [42:34] Earn your keep. [42:36] No, He says, I’ve already earned your keep, so go.

[42:39] Just live in freedom. [42:41] Live in the reality that nothing else needs to be done. [42:44] I’ve done it all. [42:45] There’s nothing else that you can do. [42:47] But live in the reality of that new life. [42:49] We have to live our life in such a way so that when people examine our life.

[42:54] Listen, trust me, it’s not me that’s going to be examining your life. [42:57] It’s everybody out there that doesn’t believe that examines your life. [43:02] So that when they do examine your life, they can look at every part that they find. [43:07] And they find this strange thing. [43:08] That you value the gospel of Jesus, that redemption that God puts in your life. [43:12] More than you value anything else, there’s no question.

[43:17] When they can see that.

[43:21] Then they see that it’s real.

[43:25] Our lives should be lived in light of the hope of the gospel. [43:29] We should not plan the work of the gospel around our lives. [43:35] Because that’s what Jonah was trying to do. [43:38] He said, okay, I’ll take it as far as I’m comfortable. [43:42] I’ll do it as much as I think I can give. [43:45] So what he’s trying to do is, he’s trying to take the mission of God.

[43:49] And plan it around his life. [43:51] And as long as it was comfortable for him, he was cool. [43:53] But when it got a little too uncomfortable, he said, alright, I’m out.

[43:58] Rather than that, we plan our lives around the gospel.

[44:06] And when you truly believe the gospel, you find yourself asking really weird questions. [44:11] Like it’s not normal in this world to say, okay, how could I live and set up my life in such a way [44:16] that the gospel will go as far as it can through my life. [44:21] That’s a very abnormal question in this world. [44:23] But people that believe the gospel tend to ask themselves that question. [44:27] Because what you believe comes out.

[44:30] And if it doesn’t come out, you don’t believe.

[44:36] This means sacrifice sometimes. [44:40] Jonah had to sacrifice. [44:42] He walked further in that point than most of us will our entire lives.

[44:48] He had to leave his city to go to a city he didn’t like. [44:52] He gave up a life to go get one that involved God. [44:58] Here’s the key with the sacrifice. [45:01] When we take that telescopic view of our life,

[45:05] if we live to the end and we’ve lived a gospel-centered life with the gospel, [45:08] and our redemption by the hand of God was the truth about us, [45:13] and we get to the end of our life and we take a telescopic view of our life, [45:16] we’ll look at all those sacrifices that we made along the way.

[45:21] And I believe and trust God that we’ll look at it and say, [45:26] what I called sacrifice back then, I now call great gain.

[45:33] What I looked at as me giving something up was actually God giving me so much more. [45:39] Because then we’ll be able to see it in hindsight and we’ll see the potential realized. [45:47] To where it stops just being potential. [45:50] And it is your life in Jesus.

[45:56] It is your life in God.

[46:00] What I want to do now is I want to give you a few moments to ponder that.

[46:11] This is the part of the sermon where we respond. [46:14] And the way we respond here in the village is we observe what Jesus told us [46:19] was his table.

[46:22] Some of us call it communion. [46:24] It’s a time where we celebrate the death of Jesus for our sins. [46:28] And it’s a strange thing to celebrate, isn’t it? [46:30] But we celebrate it in the realization that he did not stay dead, [46:33] but rather he rose from the dead. [46:35] Where we eat the bread and we drink the cup,

[46:40] which represents his body and his shed blood for our sins. [46:44] And it really is a picture of this new life that he wants to give us. [46:52] And the way it’s a picture, because his broken body and his shed blood represent his death. [46:58] And there’s no way to make that any prettier than that. [47:01] But it represents him pouring himself out. [47:05] Him pouring his life out.

[47:07] Taking our sin. [47:08] Dying for our sin. [47:09] But what it represents when we come and we proclaim that we believe it, [47:15] when we eat the bread and we drink the cup, [47:19] what happens is this beautiful picture of him giving his life to us. [47:27] Him pouring his life into us.

[47:31] This is not some dead tradition. [47:34] But rather it represents the life of Jesus taking root in our lives.

[47:41] So if you’re here today and you’re a believer, [47:44] nothing hinders you from coming up, taking part of this table. [47:48] Jesus has earned your place.

[47:51] If you’re not a believer here this morning, [47:54] you say, I don’t understand Christianity, I don’t believe it, I need to know more. [47:59] Please, don’t come up, don’t eat the bread and drink the cup.

[48:07] Spend some more time with us, learning more. [48:11] I’m not pushing you away from the table, I’m just saying you’re not ready. [48:16] It’s foolishness to you, it means nothing. [48:18] But if you’re here today and you say, [48:20] that new life, that new purpose, that new potential, that mission, I want that. [48:27] It can start today.

[48:30] You can get that new life today.

[48:34] You just have to do what Jonah did. [48:37] Realize your sin and trust God to redeem you. [48:43] And Jesus gives you that redemption.

[48:47] I’m going to be in the back while we take communion, while we sing these next songs. [48:52] If that’s you today, if you want to become a believer, [48:54] I just ask you to step back and come talk to me. [48:59] This table is wide open, this altar is wide open. [49:02] However you want to spend time right now worshiping God,

[49:08] God’s here. [49:10] And He loves you. [49:12] And redemption is for you. [49:14] Let’s pray. [49:16] Father, we just thank you so much.

[49:21] God, we live our lives in foolish rebellion against you.

[49:29] And you offer us forgiveness through your work, through your Son Jesus.

[49:35] Lord, as we reflect on His sacrifice,

[49:40] as we worship through song,

[49:44] God, may we experience that life and that purpose. [49:48] And may it not just be potential, but may it become truth. [49:53] May we live your mission. [49:56] In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.