← ArchiveJonahSunday, January 14, 2018DateJanuary 14, 2018Speaker—TextJonah 1Passages in this sermonJonah 1:71:38Jonah 16:54Hebrews 1211:09Colossians 1:2120:18TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00*Sounds of the game*0:30*Sounds of the game*1:00*Sounds of the game*1:30Well, in case you weren't paying attention, welcome back to Jonah today, the book of Jonah. We will begin in Jonah 1:7. Now, there are many who would say and argue that Jonah is only story. It is pure fiction, and I just want to debunk that. I don't see anything in the text, anything in the Hebrew, that would suggest that this is a literary creation only.1:57I believe everything that we read today is completely historically true. And I know what you're going to say. I know some of you are thinking, "So, Pastor, you believe a giant fish swallowed a prophet." I don't see anything in the text that says the fish is fishy, okay? We need to understand that we live by faith, and we must understand that the message of the cross itself is unbelievable.2:22Think about what we say to the world. Think about what we believe if you believe. So, God loved his enemies so much that he would let his son die for his enemies. I wouldn't do that. And he sent his son into the world, and when God came to the world, the world said, "We don't have any room in the inn for you." Not only that, we're not going to believe your message,2:50and we're going to kill your son. And the death of one man was for the entire world. That God sent his only son to take place of sinners such as I. And Jesus Christ, who is fully God, born of a virgin, in three days rose again. And that if you believe in this story, if you believe that Jesus is everything that he says he is,3:14then every sin that you have ever committed, every sin that you will commit, will be forgiven because this is the grace of Jesus Christ. And this same God who rose again was seen by hundreds of people after he rose. And now Jesus Christ sits on the right hand of his heavenly Father. If you believe that, Jonah is nothing.3:42Think about how unbelievable the story of Christ is. We take it for granted that this even makes sense. And so I echo what Paul says. If this is not true, then we are most pitied among all people. But I'm standing here before you saying I believe it is all true. I believe that God took my place because he loves me. And I believe that if you cry out to God right now that you will have redemption and mercy in your time of need.4:08So let's get back to Jonah now. Often God uses storms in our life to sear our memory and change our perspective. I remember growing up my dad would speak of Hurricane Betsy. 1965. My dad grew up on the coast of Mississippi. And for whatever reason that storm was so large in scope that it completely changed his memory of his childhood.4:34Anyone remember Betsy? Okay, was it as bad as he? Sometimes storms grow with age, I've learned. I remember in 1992 seeing the pictures and the devastating effects of Hurricane Andrew upon Florida. I lived through 2005. Hurricane Katrina. I moved to New Orleans two weeks before that storm came through. And luckily I was in Baton Rouge, which was bad in itself.5:02And seeing the devastating effects that that storm and the flood has even in New Orleans to this day. I remember in 1989 watching the news and seeing the earthquake in San Francisco, seeing the World Series stop. And I remember, and I'm scared even to this day to drive under overpasses because I remember the overpass fell and they were trapped in that car for weeks. So if I ever get pulled over speeding through an underpass, I'm like, you know, I don't want the earthquake to get me.5:30I remember in 1994 in Mississippi going through an ice storm where we were out of school for two weeks and had electricity. I think two days in that two week span. Thankfully, one of my neighbors owned a seafood company. And so his son was acquired these wax line boxes. And we were able to sled down the hill at like 80 miles an hour and run into trees at 60 miles an hour.5:56But I remember that. Some of you remember in 1993, the snowpocalypse here in Birmingham area. Some of you remember or were stranded in 2014 on the interstate because of the second snowpocalypse. These are things that will stay with us. These are storms that are are seared into our memories. And I believe we're going to see a great storm today that God uses these storms in our life to get our attention.6:25And to ask us look through the storm and look at the great Savior. No matter how great your storm is, the Savior is so much greater. So much more beautiful and so much more powerful. So with with that, let's look at this great storm. Jonah 1 verse 7.6:54I'm reading from the Christian Standard Bible, which begins this way in verse 7 of Jonah 1. "Come on!" The sailors said to each other, "Let's cast lots. Then we will know who is to blame for this trouble we are in." So they cast lots and the lot singled out Jonah. Then they said to him, "Tell us, who is to blame for this trouble we're in?7:18What is your business and where are you from? What is your country and what people are you from?" So the prophet answered them, "I am a Hebrew. I worship the Lord, the God of heavens, who made the sea in the dry land." The men were seized by a great fear and they said to him, "What is this that you have done?"7:43The men knew that he was fleeing from the Lord's presence because he had told them. So they said to Jonah, "What should we do so that the sea will calm down for us?" For the sea was getting worse and worse. Jonah answered them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea so that it will calm down for you. For I know that I am to blame for this great storm that is against you."8:08Nevertheless, the men rode hard to get back to dry land. But they could not because the sea was raging against them more and more. So they called out to the Lord, "Please, Lord, do not let us perish because of this one man's life. And do not charge us with innocent blood. For you, Lord, have done just as you pleased."8:34Then they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. The men were seized by a great fear of the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. We will stop right there because this in the Hebrew text is the end of chapter one. So we will end with the Hebrew text and pick up next week on verse one, which would be our English chapter 17. Let's pray.9:03Let's pray. Lord, we have come here today to worship you. Lord, many are in a storm right now. Lord, I ask that you would remind them that the Savior is greater than any storm. Lord, there are people here today that are running from you. Lord, remind us that we cannot run from your presence. Lord, there are many today that are in need of your grace. Lord, remind us that none of us are beyond the grace of Jesus Christ.9:29Lord, let us see you face to face, our rock and our redeemer. And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. The title of today's message is this, "A Great Storm and a Greater Savior." A Great Storm and a Greater Savior. Let's begin looking at verse seven again. Several truths here in this text that impact our life.9:55The first is this, God wants your attention. Did you catch that? God wants your attention. Look at verse seven. The sailor said, "Come on, come on." If you back up, the captain tells Jonah, "Wake up." What are you doing in verse six? Sound asleep. God is trying to get our attention.10:23He wants your worship. He desires your attention and he demands our affection. So whatever is going on in your life, if you come in here, you celebrate. You're like, "This is the greatest day I've ever had in my whole life." God is giving you those celebrations to say, "Look at me. Watch me. Seek me." And maybe you're here and you are going through a storm.10:50And the sails of your ship are tattered. And you are rowing hard trying to get back to dry land. God is saying, "Wake up. Look at Him. Give Him your attention. Give Him your focus." Hebrews 12 reminds us of this. Hebrews says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us."11:11And verse 2 says this, "Fixing our eyes on Jesus." Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. God is calling us to fix our eyes on Him.11:40Why? Because He is the King of Kings. He is the Lord of Lords. He, more than anything else in our life, demands and deserves our attention. God wants that. And I love in two weeks we are going to have a football star and chaplain from the University of Alabama. And He is going to stand before a church in a community that is fixated on football.12:07And He is going to tell them this, "Don't look at football. Look at the Savior." And we are going to, in one accord, say, "Lord, You alone are worthy." Right now, God wants you to fix your eyes upon you. So I ask, "What is the Lord doing right now in your life that He is drawing your attention?" There is nothing that is not happening in your life that God is not using to get your attention.12:36I know that is three negatives. But I remember waking up this morning and turning on the TV to cartoons and seeing our five-year-old boy and our almost three-year-old girl snuggled up on the couch together, sucking their thumbs in the same blanket, watching cartoons. And I just remember thinking, "Lord, that doesn't happen unless You are involved." "Lord, they are normally fighting."13:05And I just remember God stopping me in His spirit and saying, "Josh, why aren't you more thankful for that?" And I was saying, "Lord, You are right. That is a You moment. Lord, thank You for fixing my gaze, not upon what I see here, but what I need there." And the reality is this: God often uses storms to get our attention. Why is that? Because when we are walking in the valley, it forces us to look up.13:32But often when I'm walking on the mountain top, I have a tendency to look down at what's coming next. And so when God puts storms in our life, we should say, "Lord, let me look at You. God, let this pain bring my gaze into the one who is all deserving." What's the purpose of fasting and prayer? The purpose of fasting as a spiritual discipline is, "Lord, every time I'm hungry, I'm going to think about You, the provider and the friend that I need."13:56You know what happens when you fast? You get hungry a lot. You know what happens when you're hungry a lot? You pray a lot. And you use that to say, "Lord, every time I feel this pain, every time I feel this storm, Lord, I want to think about You. God, You deserve my attention."14:23And we live in a world where everything is competing for my affections. We have bills that say, "Look at me." We have kids that say, "Mom, I need you. Dad, Dad, Dad." I can't help you right now so I'm not doing this. Dad, Dad, Dad, pay this bill, this pain, this struggle. The world is crying out for our attention. And Jesus is saying this, "Look at me. Look at me. Look to the heavens.14:49Jonah, look through the storm. Sailors, look at me and look what God does for the sailors." Think about this. God uses these salty individuals, men who have seen storms. God uses a storm to get their attention. I love the beauty of God's Word. And over and over again, God uses our heart language to get our attentions.15:17When David had sinned, David was a shepherd. God sent a prophet and said, "David, let me tell you this story." There was a man who owned a lot of sheep. By the way, David was a shepherd. And this man was rich. He had a lot of sheep. And there was one man that was poor. He only had one sheep. And this rich shepherd went and stole this one sheep from this poor man and killed it and fed these traveling companions.15:46And you know what David did? David said, "That man deserves to die." And God said, "Now that you're paying attention, David, that man is you." Sailors, there's your storm. There's your storm. You know what Jesus did to fishermen who couldn't catch anything? Andrew and Simon, he said, "Boys, let me tell you how to fish. You see that net? I know it's not going to make sense,16:14but you throw it on the other side of the boat." And they did. And you know what happened? They called their friends and said, "Look, we need help. We're about to sink. There's too many fish." And the Lord said to these fishermen, "Now that I have your attention, let me show you what I'm going to do in your life." And I believe it's still the same. God will use your heart language and your strengths to get your attention. And it might take a storm, but God is saying, "Look through this storm."16:40So I ask you this morning, what are you holding on to? I can't help but think of the old song, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus." "Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of this world will grow strangely dim." Why that word strangely? The storms of this world will go strangely, grow strangely quiet in the light of His glory and grace.17:05Does God have your attention? Lean in, listen closely, look more intently this morning. Not only do we see that God wants our attention, but look what He also asks. Look what He says to us. He says in verse 7, "Come on." And it wasn't said that way, that this is a storm.17:34So they were saying, "Come on, Jonah, let us cast lots. We will see who is to blame for this sin we're in." That's not a great translation by the way. The ESV nails it. They actually say this, "We will see who is to blame for this evil." We are in. Now, why that word evil, ra'ah? Well, you see in verse 2, the Lord tells the prophet something very powerful about Nineveh.17:58In verse 2, the Lord tells Jonah this, "Jonah, you prophet, go to that great city of Nineveh and preach against it." Why? Because of their evil. So the prophet does not preach against the evil, and now he's on this ship with these pagan sailors, and these sailors come to Jonah the prophet and say, "Jonah, you tell us, why is there evil on our boat?"18:16You know what that tells me? God will never ignore your and my sin. God does not ignore our sin. Look at what he does to Nineveh. Nineveh is not part of the community of faith. Nineveh is not in the promised land.18:44Does God ignore their sin? No. Verse 2, "Jonah, go, go to them." And then we have this prophet. What is he? He's a prophet. He's a prophet. None of us are prophets. None of us are Jonahs like this. And this prophet has an external submission, but internally he is running from God. So God does not only require external submission, he requires a humble heart.19:09And God speaks to this prophet, and he says what? In verse 7, "Jonah, tell us why we are in this evil." And then in verse 8 again, they said to him, "Tell us who is to blame for this trouble." The Hebrew is again, "ra'ah, tell us who is to blame for this evil." God is very clearly and powerfully reminding us, "He will not ignore your sin."19:33Pagan, atheist, running from God, "He will not ignore my sin." Prophet, Southern Baptist, deacon, "He will not ignore our sin." The Bible says that it is accounted for a man once to die and then judgment. And this is the beauty of the gospel.20:00I thank God that he does not ignore my sin. I thank God that he does not look past my sin and say, "You know what? You get a pass, Jonah." I know Nineveh is a scary place. Because this is what Colossians says about our sin. Colossians 1:21, "You were once alienated and hostile in your minds." That's me, right? My sin is hostility towards God.20:28It alienates me and it's expressed in evil actions. So you want to know what God thinks of your sin? You are hostile, you are alien, and you are evil in your actions. Can God be more clear about our sin? But because he does not ignore sin, listen to this, verse 22, "But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death to present you holy and faultless and blameless before his throne."20:50I am so thankful that God does not ignore my sin. Because he presents us in Christ as faultless, blameless, and holy. I am not holy, and yet Christ has made me holy. I am not blameless, and Christ has made us blameless.21:16We are not worthy, but Christ has made us worthy. This is the beauty of God. He does not ignore our sin. And for those living in sin, that should terrify us to our core. And Christ says to us, "I will not ignore your sin, but I will die because of it." Trust me, lean into me. And so I ask, will you run into God's grace today? Will you run into God's grace?21:44He does not ignore our sin. Church, thank God he does not ignore our sin. Look at verse 9. So Jonah answers them and says this, "Hey, dudes, I am a Hebrew, and I worship, I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." So Jonah is now giving them, wait, this is who I am.22:12This is what I do. Now, it's interesting that Jonah says he worships the one true God. I would say, Jonah, you don't worship the one true God. Why? Where is Jonah? He is on the ship, and where is he going? Not to Nineveh. He is running from God. Is he worshiping God? No. Jonah actually uses the word fear. He tells his sailors, "I fear the Lord, your God." Hey, sailors who are in fear, I fear the Lord, your God. What is the Lord doing here?22:41The Lord is reminding Jonah that storms are often the test of true faith. That storms are often the test of true faith. For Jonah, it took a storm for him to answer this question. Who are you? He said, I'm a Hebrew. I'm a God fearer. And we would say, no, no, no, no, no. Are you really? I mean, Jonah, how can you say that you fear?23:07How can you say with a straight face that you fear God? How can you with a straight face say you're staying on your diet and you're eating chicken fingers and french fries? Jonah, how can you do this? Well, because God is using this storm to test his faith. And God uses that in our life. C.S. Lewis, in 1960, wrote a book, really a series of reflections on the passing of his wife, Joy.23:34The book's called A Grief Observed. And this is what Lewis says. I want you to hear this. It's what the Puritans call severe mercies. God, I've gone through a difficult thing and I realize on the other side it's merciful. Lewis says that God has not been trying an experience or experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality.23:56God is not experimenting with me to find out the quality of my faith. He knows it already. And Lewis says, has this profound thought? He said, it was I who did not know it. It was I who did not know it. In this trial, he makes us occupy the dock, the witness box and the bench all at once.24:20He always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realize it was to knock it down. What a profound, insightful thought by Lewis. Lewis, on the other side of the storm, the death of his wife, says God has used this to knock down my house of cards and to test my faith. And this storm for Jonah was the point where he had to answer the question, do I believe or do I not?24:48Do I believe or do I not? And so what are you going through today where God is testing your faith? Those tests are not easy and they are not for God. God is not testing my faith to say, I wonder if he believes or not. No, the tests are for our sakes that we may know that God is real, that he is true. And oftentimes it's the storms of life that bring out the true test of our faith.25:17The question was, Jonah, who are you? And his answer was, I am a God fearer. We'll come back to that. Look at verse 12. This is the answer. So he says, if you want the storm to calm down, pick me up and throw me into the sea so that it will calm down for you. For I know that I am to blame for this great storm and that is against you.25:43Now, let's pause right here. Jonah is a prophet of the Lord, right? He says he worships the Lord. And what is he not doing right now? He is not obeying. He is not worshiping the Lord, which tells me religious people can be externally religious and internally rotten. How do I know that? Because I'm a religious person. I've experienced that personally. That we can say, I worship the God and our hearts would cry out, I do not serve him.26:12And what Jonah is now telling us in the sailors is, hey, you just throw me overboard. Now, if I'm a sailor, I'm thinking, okay, you're already running from the one that you worship. How do we know you are correct? And so when they ask God, God, don't hold us in contempt for this guy's blood. They might be saying, we don't know if he's telling the truth. He might just want to die. But what does this have to do with our lives?26:38I believe the Lord is telling us that there are storms in our lives that we cannot fix. There are storms in your life that you cannot fundamentally fix. And the guys in this room are kind of rearing up because you're thinking, well, I can fix it. How do I know? Look what the sailors do. They go in full out man mode, right? Okay. So they have the directions.27:07The directions are, if you want the sea to calm down, pick me up and throw me into the sea. Look at verse 13, men, right? They have the directions. If you want to put this Christmas toy together, this is how you do it. And in verse 13, nevertheless, I tell my wife all the time, those directions aren't for me. Those are for people who need them. Of course I don't. So the remedy for the storm is what? Throw Jonah into the sea.27:36The sailors, verse 13, the men rode hard to get back to Jerusalem. Dry land. Man mode. That's our human nature. The Lord gives us the remedy for our illnesses. And we say, well, let's try harder. Look, there are things in our life that the only answer is Jesus Christ. There are struggles you're having right now that the only hope you have is Jesus. And you cannot try harder and make it better.28:05We cannot do that. This is the storm of Jonah. Listen to Jonah. The answer to sin to an unquenchable storm in a desperate spiritual situation is not to try harder. And I have been in some storms this year. I have been at funerals of infants, and there's no word that I can give to the parents to fix it.28:25There's nothing that I can say to tell them that your child is coming back. I have been at the funerals of teenagers through illnesses and killed in tragic car accidents. And I wish I could stand up there and give them words and say, look, if we just do this, it will fix this tragedy.28:49And there are no words to fix that. And I've been at the surgeries of people who are facing death and cancers and illnesses. And there are no words to fix that and fix death. But I can look at them and say, I want to tell you about Jesus. Who died a death that we deserve. And that will give us eternal life.29:18And I tell them that God has already made a way. That if you believe there is hope in this storm, we can't fix it on our own. But the fix is Jesus Christ. He is the rescuer. And look what happens here in this storm. At verse 15. In verse 14. They called out to the Lord. Please, Lord, do not let us perish because of this man's life.29:46And do not charge us with an innocent blood. They're really saying, Lord, you know this dude is running from you. We don't know if he's a true prophet. If he is a prophet, he's a really bad one right now. For you, Lord, have done just as you please. Now, I want you to catch this. Who are they calling out to? Who are they calling?30:15Listen, who are they calling out to? The Lord. Why are they calling out to the Lord? This is Yahweh. This is the word that only those who have a covenant relationship with the one true God are now calling out to. Look at what happens in verse 6 and verse 4 and 5. They're already calling out to any God that would listen to them. In verse 5, the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his God. So these sailors, these who are not Yahweh fearers, have now come to the point because of this storm that they are calling out to the one true God.30:44Their faith has now been from sight and hearing to now, Lord, we believe. We believe that you are the God of the heavens and the God of the sea and the God of dry land. In verse 15, they pick up Jonah and they threw him into the raging sea and the sea stopped its raging.31:10Now, I think it's very specific language there. I believe the sea was angry because the people of God were disobedient. I believe the sea was yelling at Jonah, Jonah, I'm obeying God. Why aren't you? I believe right now that creation is groaning and angry at us because sometimes we are living in disobedience. And the trees are looking at us saying, look, we are honoring God with everything we do.31:38Every fruit I produce is honoring God. What is your problem? I believe the rocks are right now trying to hold themselves back, thinking, if you guys aren't going to praise God, we are. The rocks are warming up their voices right now. I believe creation is enraged because we are living in disobedience. And God is here's the answer. God is saying in the storm, grace is never too far away.32:07Grace is never too far away. The men, verse 16, were seized by a great fear of the Lord. I don't want you to miss this. When they asked Jonah who you are, he says, I am a Hebrew. I fear the Lord. And we would say, no, you don't. And now coming full circle because they have seen the deliverance of Christ. These men were seized by a great fear of the Lord and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.32:37Oh, how desperate our situation. It took Jonah taking the blame to find salvation. But you see, admitting our guilt is not the only step. The Bible is very clear about our sin. We are guilty whether we admit it or not. God doesn't need me to admit my guilt for him to judge me.33:04I will be judged on every sin I have ever committed. And for those of you who know me well, there's a lot. I've given God a lot of material. He does not need me to admit my sin because he is holy and he is righteous. But I want you to know that admitting your sin, admitting blame is the first step to repentance. And it's one of the first steps to salvation. Are you willing to admit your sin today? We live in a world where it is much easier to place blame than to accept blame.33:34We live in a world where it's not my fault. It's my parents who didn't raise me right. Or if I just had this money, then I wouldn't have this struggle. Or if I would have had this flu shot, I wouldn't have the flu. Or if you know what, if I just went to this church, then I would be different. Or if I just read my Bible more, then I would do this.34:02Or if I just prayed more, then God would accept me. Or if I just joined the church, was baptized, then I wouldn't be going through this. And God is saying this, you can't row harder. That's not the answer to the storm. The answer is trusting in the one who in the storm has already made a way. And his name is Jesus Christ. Are you willing to accept responsibility for your sin? And maybe you're saying, you know what, I've had sin modeled to me and my family.34:30And this is the third generation. Well, even though sin was modeled and described, it wasn't prescribed. You are accountable for your sin. And without taking blame for that, there will never be repentance. And without repentance, you can't call upon the name of the Lord your God. But here's the beauty of the story of Jonah. Grace is never too far away. As soon as Jonah said, I am to blame, throw me overboard.34:58And they did. What happened? The sea went calm. Do you trust in Christ enough today to say, Lord, I want to take a step in obedience. And I'm today for the first time, I'm going to admit my guilt because I'm going through some storms that have no answer. And one day I know I will die and I'll be held a count by you, Lord. Will you admit your sin today?35:25And when you do, here is the beautiful promise of God's word. That whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Will you run to him today? Say, Lord, I need you. There are seas and they are my fault. I am Jonah. And God, this storm, this anger is at me because of my sin. And God, today for the first day, I am listening and I will turn to you.35:53I believe Christ took my place on the cross. That is salvation. But I don't want to lead you astray. Some of you are going through storms and it has nothing to do with you. What was the sailors fault in this storm? They went to work that morning. What was the sailors fault? They let Jonah on the boat. There are often times there are storms in my life because of other people's sin.36:20And before we place blame, whether you're Jonah, whether you're the sailor or whether you're a stowaway, you're still in the storm. It doesn't matter how we get there. But God's promise is the same that he will provide a way if we trust him. So if you are going through a storm, I know we have people right now that you are facing uncertainty because you are fighting cancer.36:44Or you have a child and your child is sick in there and the doctors have no answers for you. And it's difficult. And this is a storm that seems to have no fix. Or there's a tragedy. You've lost someone that you've loved and you say, God, make this stop. I want you to hear the words of Habakkuk, a prophet who looked at the world and said, Lord, I don't understand why there's all this hurt.37:10And he cries out to God and after the Lord responds to him, this is what Habakkuk says. Habakkuk in verse 3:17 says, "Though the fig does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines. Though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food.37:36Though the flocks disappear from the pen and there are no herds in the stalls." This is someone in modern day saying, Lord, there's nothing in the pantry. And I'm diagnosed with cancer and it's terminal. And God, I'm all alone. And God, there is nothing left for me. This is how the prophet in verse 18 ends. He says, "Yet I will celebrate in the Lord.38:04I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." If you are going through a storm. I want you to know that God is greater than any storm that we encounter. And if we turn our eyes upon him. And look into his wonderful face. The storms of this world will grow strangely dim. In the light of his glory and grace.38:34Will you take a step towards Christ today? He is the answer. He is the hope. And he is the truth. Let's pray.Next in Jonah →Sunday, February 4, 2018More sermons on Jonah →
