WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.899 We do turn to God's Word now, and we continue 00:00:03.899 --> 00:00:08.300 in our sermon series through the book of Jonah. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:14.039 And so would you turn to chapter two of this 00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:17.839 book. Again, this is found within the minor prophets. 00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:21.960 If you start running into Micah, you've gone 00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:24.800 a little bit too far. It's in the middle of the 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:27.800 minor prophets, so there we go. Can you hear 00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:34.320 me now? But before we read I'm gonna turn that 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:41.719 off before Can you hear me Okay, before we read 00:00:41.719 --> 00:00:44.000 I wanted to just make some brief remarks about 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:46.140 what we have already seen because we were not 00:00:46.140 --> 00:00:51.460 in Jonah last Sunday and so just a recap what 00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:55.700 we saw was Jonah running from the very presence 00:00:55.700 --> 00:00:59.820 of God running from what God asked him told him 00:00:59.899 --> 00:01:02.759 to do to go to Nineveh and preach repentance 00:01:02.759 --> 00:01:05.480 he doesn't want to do that and so he goes to 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:07.859 Joppa and he's trying to flee to Tarshish and 00:01:07.859 --> 00:01:13.019 he gets on this boat right and he sleeps the 00:01:13.019 --> 00:01:17.040 crew is terrified because a horrific storm comes 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:22.760 about and they wake him and say pray Jonah but 00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:25.439 the thing about Jonah that we've seen so far 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:30.579 in chapter 1 is that Jonah doesn't pray does 00:01:30.579 --> 00:01:36.500 he we also remark that this in chapter 2 this 00:01:36.500 --> 00:01:39.939 this belly of the fish saga this is the thing 00:01:39.939 --> 00:01:43.379 that we all know from Sunday school right but 00:01:43.379 --> 00:01:47.640 sometimes we get so fixated upon the fish we 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:50.459 want to know what kind of fish was it was it 00:01:50.459 --> 00:01:53.900 a whale how big was it could it really swallow 00:01:53.900 --> 00:01:57.099 a human being we asked all of these questions 00:01:58.599 --> 00:02:01.579 I want to give you a quote from another pastor, 00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:07.840 Thomas John Carlyle said, I was so obsessed with 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:11.900 what was going on inside the whale that I missed 00:02:11.900 --> 00:02:17.000 seeing the drama inside Jonah. Today we're going 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:20.919 to see the drama inside of Jonah. And we're going 00:02:20.919 --> 00:02:24.319 to see the thing that he should have been doing 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:33.530 all along. Let's read Jonah chapter 2 Then Jonah 00:02:33.530 --> 00:02:37.469 prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of 00:02:37.469 --> 00:02:41.389 the fish saying I called out to the Lord out 00:02:41.389 --> 00:02:45.930 of my distress and he answered me out of the 00:02:45.930 --> 00:02:50.009 belly of Sheol I cried and you heard my voice 00:02:50.009 --> 00:02:53.319 for you cast me into the deep into the heart 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:56.259 of the seas, and the floods surrounded me. All 00:02:56.259 --> 00:02:59.759 your waves and your billows passed over me. And 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:03.099 then I said, I am driven away from your sight, 00:03:03.460 --> 00:03:06.319 yet I shall again look upon your holy temple. 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:10.979 And the waters closed in over me to take my life. 00:03:12.060 --> 00:03:15.719 The deep surrounded me. Weeds were wrapped around 00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:18.240 my head at the root of the mountains. I went 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:21.879 down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever. 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:25.360 Yet you brought me up up my life from the pit 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:28.900 Oh Lord my God when my life was fainting away 00:03:28.900 --> 00:03:33.099 I remembered the Lord and my prayer came to you 00:03:33.099 --> 00:03:36.479 into your holy temple those who pay regard to 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:40.680 vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:45.379 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice 00:03:45.379 --> 00:03:49.379 to you what I have vowed I will pay salvation 00:03:49.379 --> 00:03:53.759 belongs to the Lord And the Lord spoke to the 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:58.819 fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:05.539 This is God's word. Let's pray. Father, we do 00:04:05.539 --> 00:04:08.379 thank you for this word. And we thank you for 00:04:08.379 --> 00:04:11.280 all of your words. We thank you that all of scripture 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:15.159 is breathed out by your Holy Spirit. But Lord, 00:04:15.159 --> 00:04:18.170 as we come to this, we have questions. We don't 00:04:18.170 --> 00:04:20.709 always understand, and so we ask that you would 00:04:20.709 --> 00:04:24.230 grant us understanding now and a right application 00:04:24.230 --> 00:04:28.329 of the text. This we ask in Christ's name. Amen. 00:04:32.670 --> 00:04:38.689 Have you ever had a season in your life of fervent, 00:04:39.329 --> 00:04:43.569 desperate, zealous prayer? Can you remember a 00:04:43.569 --> 00:04:46.430 time when you knew there was nothing else you 00:04:46.430 --> 00:04:49.730 could do but pray. Have you had a situation like 00:04:49.730 --> 00:04:54.129 that? A time when you were constantly approaching 00:04:54.129 --> 00:04:59.870 the throne of grace in prayer? Jesus shows us 00:04:59.870 --> 00:05:03.009 time and time again that Christians are to be 00:05:03.009 --> 00:05:06.970 praying people. Christians are to pray at all 00:05:06.970 --> 00:05:10.449 times. But what we see from Jonah and what we 00:05:10.449 --> 00:05:16.329 see from Jesus is desperate prayer. Do you remember 00:05:16.329 --> 00:05:19.310 in Luke 22, it's in the other gospels as well, 00:05:19.870 --> 00:05:24.490 but specifically in Luke 22, Jesus took his disciples 00:05:24.490 --> 00:05:28.930 to pray before his arrest. And he tells them 00:05:28.930 --> 00:05:32.889 to pray that they would not fall into temptation. 00:05:34.209 --> 00:05:38.699 What do they do? They fall asleep. But Jesus 00:05:38.699 --> 00:05:42.379 does not fall asleep instead Jesus does what 00:05:42.379 --> 00:05:46.139 he told them to do Jesus in the garden before 00:05:46.139 --> 00:05:51.100 his arrest he prays He prays he says father if 00:05:51.100 --> 00:05:54.699 you're willing remove this cup from me Nevertheless, 00:05:55.040 --> 00:06:02.259 not my will but yours be done Jesus prays To 00:06:02.259 --> 00:06:04.839 the extent there in the garden that he begins 00:06:04.839 --> 00:06:09.920 to sweat And not just normal perspiration, but 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:15.339 Luke 22 says that Jesus sweats drops of blood. 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:20.319 Jesus, before he went to the cross, he was in 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:24.259 anguish, but he shows us what the Christian is 00:06:24.259 --> 00:06:27.740 to do when our backs are against the wall, when 00:06:27.740 --> 00:06:33.620 we've hit rock bottom. We are to pray. Jesus 00:06:33.620 --> 00:06:40.540 shows us this. Jonah finally does too. Chapter 00:06:40.540 --> 00:06:43.699 two of Jonah should have been chapter one and 00:06:43.699 --> 00:06:47.220 what I mean by that is that Jonah in chapter 00:06:47.220 --> 00:06:49.579 two is doing what he should have been doing in 00:06:49.579 --> 00:06:53.519 chapter one. He is praying. Think about all the 00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:55.819 times in the first chapter that Jonah should 00:06:55.819 --> 00:06:58.980 have prayed and he did not. When the Lord told 00:06:58.980 --> 00:07:02.500 him to go to Nineveh to preach repentance there, 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:06.370 Jonah doesn't pray about his response. He just 00:07:06.370 --> 00:07:10.589 high -tails it the other way. And then when Jonah 00:07:10.589 --> 00:07:14.670 is on the ship and he's sleeping and the captain 00:07:14.670 --> 00:07:17.430 comes to him and wakes him up and says, call 00:07:17.430 --> 00:07:20.990 out to your God, we don't see Jonah doing that, 00:07:20.990 --> 00:07:26.810 do we? And when Jonah lets those sailors in on 00:07:26.810 --> 00:07:30.230 who he is and more importantly, who he serves, 00:07:31.910 --> 00:07:34.579 and they say, well, what? What are we to do about 00:07:34.579 --> 00:07:37.199 this terrible storm that's threatening to break 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:42.819 the boat in half? We do not see Jonah pray. Instead, 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:49.160 we see him say, throw me overboard. But in chapter 00:07:49.160 --> 00:07:54.100 two, we see what is prescriptive for us, his 00:07:54.100 --> 00:07:59.240 response when he couldn't get any lower. And 00:07:59.240 --> 00:08:01.769 this is what we need to consider too. What do 00:08:01.769 --> 00:08:05.189 we do when we cannot get any lower? What do we 00:08:05.189 --> 00:08:07.970 do when the situation couldn't be worse? What 00:08:07.970 --> 00:08:10.110 do we do when we're drowning under the weight 00:08:10.110 --> 00:08:13.069 of sorrow, when we're overwhelmed by the miseries 00:08:13.069 --> 00:08:15.990 of this life? What do you do when you face that 00:08:15.990 --> 00:08:20.689 horrific diagnosis? What do you do when nothing 00:08:20.689 --> 00:08:29.399 is going right? What do you do? That's... where 00:08:29.399 --> 00:08:33.740 Chapter 2 comes in. It's so incredibly helpful 00:08:33.740 --> 00:08:39.659 for us. What do you do? You pray. But Jonah's 00:08:39.659 --> 00:08:44.919 prayer here, this song in Chapter 2, it also 00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:49.700 sounds like some other places in Scripture. I 00:08:49.700 --> 00:08:53.600 want to take you to a psalm that this reminds 00:08:53.600 --> 00:09:00.620 me of. If you will, turn to Psalm 88. Psalm 88, 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:07.919 as some of you know, is brutally honest. It's 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:13.200 bleak. It's dark. It's probably the darkest Psalm 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:18.039 in the Psalter. It's nearly hopeless, and yet 00:09:18.039 --> 00:09:21.659 it's also instructive for us. So as I read the 00:09:21.659 --> 00:09:25.840 first seven verses of Psalm 88, I want you to 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:30.990 listen for two things. One, In what ways does 00:09:30.990 --> 00:09:35.850 Psalm 88 sound like Jonah 2? And then secondly, 00:09:37.870 --> 00:09:41.929 think what does the psalmist do right? Listen 00:09:41.929 --> 00:09:47.990 to this from Psalm 88 1 through 7. Oh Lord, God 00:09:47.990 --> 00:09:51.950 of my salvation, I cry out day and night before 00:09:51.950 --> 00:09:56.669 you. Let my prayer come before you. Incline your 00:09:56.669 --> 00:10:01.320 ear to my cry for my soul. is full of troubles, 00:10:01.899 --> 00:10:05.580 and my life draws near to Sheol. I am counted 00:10:05.580 --> 00:10:08.960 among those who go down to the pit. I am a man 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:12.879 who has no strength, like one set loose among 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:16.379 the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, 00:10:16.700 --> 00:10:19.500 like those whom you remember no more, for they 00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:23.440 are cut off from your hand. You have put me in 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:26.940 the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and 00:10:26.940 --> 00:10:31.480 deep. Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:35.220 overwhelm me with all of your waves. Christian, 00:10:35.340 --> 00:10:38.519 what is it that the psalmist gets right in Psalm 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:47.820 88? He prays. When we are at the bottom, when 00:10:47.820 --> 00:10:51.840 we are weak, when we are anxious, when we are 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:55.679 depressed, when we feel like all hope is lost, 00:10:56.440 --> 00:10:59.600 we must pray. This is what the psalmist does, 00:10:59.740 --> 00:11:02.299 and this is what Jonah finally does. Perhaps 00:11:02.299 --> 00:11:06.220 you remember the words of James 5 .13. Is anyone 00:11:06.220 --> 00:11:12.759 among you suffering? He should pray. Christian, 00:11:12.820 --> 00:11:17.500 do not put off prayer. Don't put it off. Prayer 00:11:17.500 --> 00:11:21.059 is the medicine you need. Prayer is the remedy 00:11:21.059 --> 00:11:25.000 for a downcast soul. In prayer, you commune with 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:28.639 the only one who can truly help you. And so here 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:31.960 is Jonah. He's in the fish and there's only one 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:35.100 thing he can do. There's actually only one thing 00:11:35.100 --> 00:11:40.440 recorded that he does. He prays, finally. In 00:11:40.440 --> 00:11:45.639 chapter one, we see Jonah talking about the Lord, 00:11:45.779 --> 00:11:48.759 but it's not until chapter two that he actually 00:11:48.759 --> 00:11:55.120 talks to the Lord. Look in verse two. I called 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:59.570 out to the Lord. out of my distress and he answered 00:11:59.570 --> 00:12:04.629 me. Jonah finally now prays and the Lord answers 00:12:04.629 --> 00:12:10.090 him. This is remarkable. Jonah is in the deep, 00:12:10.450 --> 00:12:13.830 he's in the water, and then he's in the fish, 00:12:13.850 --> 00:12:18.250 but those things cannot prevent his prayer from 00:12:18.250 --> 00:12:23.470 getting to the ears of God. Those things cannot 00:12:23.470 --> 00:12:28.190 stifle prayer. I like to think of it like a cell 00:12:28.190 --> 00:12:32.769 phone signal. Sometimes if you go back into our 00:12:32.769 --> 00:12:35.629 woods back here, if you try and talk on the phone 00:12:35.629 --> 00:12:37.850 back there, or even sometimes in the Family Life 00:12:37.850 --> 00:12:40.649 Center, you'll find that you don't have a very 00:12:40.649 --> 00:12:44.909 strong cell phone signal. But Christian, when 00:12:44.909 --> 00:12:48.889 you pray in the name of Jesus, the signal is 00:12:48.889 --> 00:12:54.850 always strong. Your God loves to hear from you. 00:12:55.240 --> 00:13:00.139 and He knows your voice. He does. He knows your 00:13:00.139 --> 00:13:03.559 voice when you're in good cheer, and He knows 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:07.179 your voice when you're upset. He knows your voice 00:13:07.179 --> 00:13:10.500 in your finest moments, and He knows your voice 00:13:10.500 --> 00:13:15.440 in your moments of regret. Think about all those 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:18.120 times that Jonah should have prayed, but when 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:22.200 he does, it's like the Lord hears him immediately. 00:13:23.149 --> 00:13:28.690 And so why would we ever neglect prayer? Jonah 00:13:28.690 --> 00:13:32.409 could not be lower. He says that he's in the 00:13:32.409 --> 00:13:35.389 belly of sheol. And there's a couple of, there's 00:13:35.389 --> 00:13:37.669 a few different ways of understanding that word 00:13:37.669 --> 00:13:40.970 sheol. It could refer to just death. Sometimes 00:13:40.970 --> 00:13:44.149 the word sheol refers to the grave. Sometimes 00:13:44.149 --> 00:13:47.789 it refers to the place of torment. And so I like 00:13:47.789 --> 00:13:51.429 how Rick Phillips at Second Pres says this, Jonah, 00:13:51.740 --> 00:13:55.480 is in a hellish grave. Look at the description 00:13:55.480 --> 00:14:00.059 of where he is in verse three. He's in the deep. 00:14:00.860 --> 00:14:04.220 He's in the heart of the seas. The flood surrounds 00:14:04.220 --> 00:14:07.059 him. And that word for flood is actually the 00:14:07.059 --> 00:14:10.940 word for river. It's almost as though Jonah is 00:14:10.940 --> 00:14:14.620 in the water, but in a river that's pushing him 00:14:14.620 --> 00:14:20.600 down. The flood surrounds him, the waves, the 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:24.360 billows, they pass over him. Things cannot really 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:27.779 get much worse. You see at one point he's got 00:14:27.779 --> 00:14:30.440 seaweed wrapped around his head. Verse seven, 00:14:30.779 --> 00:14:33.539 he shares that he feels like he's in prison, 00:14:33.860 --> 00:14:38.179 that he's behind bars. It is like Jonah is buried 00:14:38.179 --> 00:14:45.360 alive. But even as he is, verse four shows hope. 00:14:45.870 --> 00:14:49.649 Verse 6 shows hope. Verse 6 might be the turning 00:14:49.649 --> 00:14:53.049 point of this prayer, this song, the moment when 00:14:53.049 --> 00:14:58.590 Jonah realizes the fish is not his prison, but 00:14:58.590 --> 00:15:04.570 the fish is his life preserver. And so he says 00:15:04.570 --> 00:15:08.190 that he's brought up from the pit. You can see 00:15:08.190 --> 00:15:11.529 Jonah is being brutally honest within his prayer, 00:15:11.549 --> 00:15:13.850 and that's how you should be too, Christian. 00:15:14.110 --> 00:15:17.950 You can be honest within your prayers. For Jonah, 00:15:18.169 --> 00:15:21.529 within this prayer, he understands something 00:15:21.529 --> 00:15:26.009 about God. That God is sovereign over everything 00:15:26.009 --> 00:15:30.610 that happens. He says that it's the Lord is the 00:15:30.610 --> 00:15:33.450 one who throws him into the deep. Jonah knows 00:15:33.450 --> 00:15:35.710 who threw him into the deep. He knows it was 00:15:35.710 --> 00:15:39.649 the sailors, but who is behind every action. 00:15:40.889 --> 00:15:47.029 It's the Lord God. And so Jonah acknowledges 00:15:47.029 --> 00:15:50.070 this, the sovereignty of God, and yet it's the 00:15:50.070 --> 00:15:54.629 Lord also who brings him up to safety. And so 00:15:54.629 --> 00:15:57.389 what the Lord does here is he brings Jonah to 00:15:57.389 --> 00:16:00.610 his senses. Within the belly of the fish, the 00:16:00.610 --> 00:16:03.909 Lord is doing something. It's very similar, I 00:16:03.909 --> 00:16:06.149 think, to the prodigal son. You remember that 00:16:06.149 --> 00:16:10.769 story, right? You remember how the son takes 00:16:10.769 --> 00:16:14.870 his inheritance? And he flees. He goes away to 00:16:14.870 --> 00:16:17.870 a faraway land. He leaves his father. And what 00:16:17.870 --> 00:16:20.289 does he do with that inheritance? He squanders 00:16:20.289 --> 00:16:23.250 it all, right? And pretty soon the prodigal son 00:16:23.250 --> 00:16:27.230 is eating pig food. He's at the bottom, rock 00:16:27.230 --> 00:16:32.269 bottom. But then in Luke 15 it says that he came 00:16:32.269 --> 00:16:36.049 to himself. The prodigal son said, no more of 00:16:36.049 --> 00:16:39.909 this. I will go back to my father. I will confess 00:16:39.909 --> 00:16:43.470 my sin. I will be a hired hand for him. This 00:16:43.470 --> 00:16:49.009 is Jonah. Jonah comes to himself. Verse seven, 00:16:49.570 --> 00:16:55.509 he remembers the Lord. Jonah remembers the Lord. 00:16:56.269 --> 00:16:58.070 And so what does he do when he remembers the 00:16:58.070 --> 00:17:01.990 Lord? We'll go to verse one. Then Jonah prayed 00:17:01.990 --> 00:17:08.569 to the Lord his God from the belly. Did you see 00:17:08.569 --> 00:17:13.529 how it says the Lord his God? Jonah remembers 00:17:13.529 --> 00:17:18.029 God. Jonah still belongs to God. Jonah hasn't 00:17:18.029 --> 00:17:21.250 really forgotten God. He just forgot what God 00:17:21.250 --> 00:17:25.650 was like, what he is like, that God is merciful. 00:17:25.950 --> 00:17:28.950 This whole story is one of Jonah trying to forget 00:17:28.950 --> 00:17:33.009 God, but God doesn't forget Jonah. And friends, 00:17:33.049 --> 00:17:37.509 this is remarkable. because if you have you ever 00:17:37.509 --> 00:17:43.309 sinned to the extent where you thought God doesn't 00:17:43.309 --> 00:17:46.630 want to know me anymore God doesn't want to hear 00:17:46.630 --> 00:17:51.490 from me anymore God doesn't doesn't love me anymore 00:17:51.490 --> 00:17:53.849 have you ever felt like that we might have thought 00:17:53.849 --> 00:17:57.789 that Jonah being a prophet who's running away 00:17:57.789 --> 00:18:01.349 from God being expelled into the bottom of the 00:18:01.349 --> 00:18:04.630 sea might think you know what there's no point 00:18:04.890 --> 00:18:07.890 There is no point in praying to God. He doesn't 00:18:07.890 --> 00:18:09.869 want to hear from me. But that's not what he 00:18:09.869 --> 00:18:14.910 does. That's not what he does. Because the Lord 00:18:14.910 --> 00:18:20.210 is still his God. Jonah is a believer. And he 00:18:20.210 --> 00:18:22.890 might think that he has lost everything in his 00:18:22.890 --> 00:18:25.589 life. He might think, I am losing my life right 00:18:25.589 --> 00:18:31.690 now. But he doesn't lose his sonship. The adoption 00:18:31.690 --> 00:18:35.740 papers for Jonah are not lost. He still belongs 00:18:35.740 --> 00:18:39.839 to God and so he cries out to him. He doesn't 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:42.839 turn to another God, does he? He mentions those 00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:46.259 who are worshiping vain idols. He doesn't turn 00:18:46.259 --> 00:18:49.779 to them either. He finally stops turning inward 00:18:49.779 --> 00:18:55.019 and Jonah looks upward. We remarked two weeks 00:18:55.019 --> 00:18:57.839 ago about what God was doing with Jonah in the 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:01.819 belly of the fish. That this was a time of correction. 00:19:02.190 --> 00:19:05.289 And sometimes as Christians, we need that time 00:19:05.289 --> 00:19:09.390 of correction, don't we? We might be going through 00:19:09.390 --> 00:19:13.910 the most painful thing, but the Lord is refining 00:19:13.910 --> 00:19:17.869 us. The Lord is sanctifying us, right? In the 00:19:17.869 --> 00:19:21.410 belly of the fish, Jonah realizes that God has 00:19:21.410 --> 00:19:25.029 saved him. God was really doing something there 00:19:25.029 --> 00:19:28.390 in the fish, and he was really doing something 00:19:28.390 --> 00:19:34.170 in Jonah. We remember what Jonah did We remember 00:19:34.170 --> 00:19:37.150 how Jonah fled and we said two weeks ago that 00:19:37.150 --> 00:19:39.670 Jonah got what he wanted He tried to flee from 00:19:39.670 --> 00:19:42.690 the presence of God and said so God said okay 00:19:42.690 --> 00:19:49.329 You can have it He fled from his mission He neglected 00:19:49.329 --> 00:19:52.930 prayer on the boat He was thrown into the sea 00:19:52.930 --> 00:19:55.769 and so he gets what he wants, but when he gets 00:19:55.769 --> 00:19:59.829 it suddenly he realizes This is not what I want 00:20:00.329 --> 00:20:04.109 This is not what I need. This is the worst thing 00:20:04.109 --> 00:20:07.609 I could possibly experience. Christian, separation 00:20:07.609 --> 00:20:10.829 from the blessed presence of God is the worst 00:20:10.829 --> 00:20:15.170 thing you can experience. It's not what you want. 00:20:17.150 --> 00:20:19.829 We said that Jonah seems to realize that God 00:20:19.829 --> 00:20:22.589 is sovereign over everything, and so it's not 00:20:22.589 --> 00:20:24.970 so much that Jonah has been trying to escape 00:20:24.970 --> 00:20:32.250 God, who is omnipresent. Trying to get away from 00:20:32.250 --> 00:20:36.509 God and his blessed presence his favor, but when 00:20:36.509 --> 00:20:41.529 he gets that he realizes nope This is not what 00:20:41.529 --> 00:20:46.250 I want He cannot stand it for a second and friends. 00:20:46.250 --> 00:20:52.470 This is how sin works Sin can be enticing Sin 00:20:52.470 --> 00:20:57.509 can be exciting sin can be scintillating But 00:20:57.509 --> 00:21:01.829 you know this sin does not satisfy It doesn't 00:21:01.829 --> 00:21:05.769 sin destroys us and so we must be destroying 00:21:05.769 --> 00:21:10.309 sin before it destroys us All that sin is is 00:21:10.309 --> 00:21:14.789 just simply rebellion Against God where we act 00:21:14.789 --> 00:21:18.609 like God doesn't know like God doesn't see us 00:21:18.609 --> 00:21:24.980 but friends Your sin will find you out Your sin 00:21:24.980 --> 00:21:28.059 will find you out. And so when we are in rebellion 00:21:28.059 --> 00:21:30.960 against God, what should we do? Should we keep 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:33.819 running? Should we keep trying to hide? Should 00:21:33.819 --> 00:21:37.880 we trying to escape the everywhereness of God? 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:45.220 No. No. For it doesn't work. And even if it did, 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:50.019 you would absolutely hate it. Do not try and 00:21:50.019 --> 00:21:54.380 escape from God. God... coming after you he sent 00:21:54.380 --> 00:21:58.339 his son for this very purpose to reclaim sinners 00:21:58.339 --> 00:22:03.680 and so do not run from God but instead pray to 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:09.220 him as he says as this text says that God is 00:22:09.220 --> 00:22:12.099 still his God we might ask this question for 00:22:12.099 --> 00:22:15.220 those who don't know Jesus how can Jonah's God 00:22:15.220 --> 00:22:21.349 be my God how can he be your God Only through 00:22:21.349 --> 00:22:24.650 Jesus Christ. Friends, you don't have to face 00:22:24.650 --> 00:22:28.009 the hellish grave. You can have eternal life 00:22:28.009 --> 00:22:32.130 with all of God's blessings. This story here 00:22:32.130 --> 00:22:34.849 of Jonah shows us that it's not too late, is 00:22:34.849 --> 00:22:40.329 it? It's not too late. As Jonah's life was fainting 00:22:40.329 --> 00:22:44.089 away, he remembers the Lord and he exclaims, 00:22:44.109 --> 00:22:48.910 salvation belongs to the Lord. Friends, the story 00:22:48.910 --> 00:22:55.279 of Jonah. It's our story The story of Jonah is 00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:59.099 our story for we were in rebellion against God 00:22:59.099 --> 00:23:02.900 But because of God's mercy we are saved and that 00:23:02.900 --> 00:23:09.779 mercy has a name And his name is Jesus And what 00:23:09.779 --> 00:23:15.220 is so Remarkable about Jesus amongst a thousand 00:23:15.220 --> 00:23:21.859 things Is that Jonah As Jonas says that he's 00:23:21.859 --> 00:23:25.619 driven away from God, Jesus knows what that's 00:23:25.619 --> 00:23:29.619 like. Jesus knows what it's like for the Father 00:23:29.619 --> 00:23:34.079 to turn his face away. Jesus, who on the cross 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:37.880 exclaimed, my God, my God, why have you forsaken 00:23:37.880 --> 00:23:44.200 me? Jesus knows what it's like, for he received 00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:50.089 the fullness of the punishment for our sin. Second 00:23:50.089 --> 00:23:53.829 Corinthians chapter 5 says that he became a sin 00:23:53.829 --> 00:23:58.009 Jesus endured the fullness the shame of it all 00:23:58.009 --> 00:24:04.329 So that you don't have to face the wrath of God 00:24:04.329 --> 00:24:07.750 So that you don't have to face separation from 00:24:07.750 --> 00:24:11.309 the benevolence of God know today that Christ 00:24:11.309 --> 00:24:17.529 went through it for you He did it for you. I 00:24:17.529 --> 00:24:22.160 Really like How Isaiah 43 puts this, just verse 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:27.200 two. The prophet says here as God speaks through 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:31.980 him, when you pass through the waters, I will 00:24:31.980 --> 00:24:35.940 be with you. And through the rivers, they shall 00:24:35.940 --> 00:24:39.240 not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, 00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:43.319 you shall not be burned and the flame shall not 00:24:43.319 --> 00:24:47.930 consume you. Christian. Jesus has gone through 00:24:47.930 --> 00:24:52.009 the flood. He's gone through the flame. And anything 00:24:52.009 --> 00:24:55.369 you go through right now, if you are united to 00:24:55.369 --> 00:24:59.690 Christ in faith, He is always with you by His 00:24:59.690 --> 00:25:03.730 Spirit. Jesus did this for us. And so today, 00:25:03.769 --> 00:25:06.970 if you are running from God, if you are in rebellion 00:25:06.970 --> 00:25:10.049 against God, if you are denying the Gospel, do 00:25:10.049 --> 00:25:13.349 not wait another instant before doing the very 00:25:13.349 --> 00:25:16.880 thing. that Jonah should have been doing all 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:24.960 along. Pray. Pray and say salvation belongs to 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:28.400 the Lord. Now today you might say, well, I'm 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:30.619 not in rebellion against God. I'm not running 00:25:30.619 --> 00:25:33.240 from God. I've been a member of this church for 00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:36.180 years, decades, maybe my whole life. What's the 00:25:36.180 --> 00:25:39.180 application for me? What's the application for 00:25:39.180 --> 00:25:42.099 the Christian who is walking closely with Jesus? 00:25:43.619 --> 00:25:48.339 Well remember, Jonah was a believer, too. Jonah 00:25:48.339 --> 00:25:54.619 was a prophet of God. And so prayer is not just 00:25:54.619 --> 00:25:58.660 to be done from the belly of Sheol. Prayer is 00:25:58.660 --> 00:26:02.480 not just a Hail Mary. The Christian life is a 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:05.779 life of prayer. Even Jonah shows this, this, 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:08.859 because yes, there is lamentation within his 00:26:08.859 --> 00:26:11.579 song, within his prayer. There's also thanksgiving, 00:26:11.700 --> 00:26:14.900 isn't there? There's also Thanksgiving, but I 00:26:14.900 --> 00:26:17.099 with the voice of Thanksgiving He says in verse 00:26:17.099 --> 00:26:20.779 9 will sacrifice to you what I have vowed I will 00:26:20.779 --> 00:26:25.400 pay and so the Christian life is a life of thankful 00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:30.599 prayer And so cultivate Christian cultivate your 00:26:30.599 --> 00:26:37.480 prayer life Praying in adoration Praying in confession 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:41.059 Praying in Thanksgiving and praying in supplication 00:26:41.059 --> 00:26:45.230 pray daily and pray throughout the day. But you 00:26:45.230 --> 00:26:49.589 might say, well, I don't really know how. How 00:26:49.589 --> 00:26:54.630 do I pray like Jonah does here? Do Jonah's words 00:26:54.630 --> 00:26:58.569 sound familiar at all? When I read Psalm 88, 00:26:58.710 --> 00:27:03.230 did that sound familiar at all to you? It should. 00:27:04.069 --> 00:27:07.349 Jonah's prayer sounds like it was lifted straight 00:27:07.349 --> 00:27:12.700 from the Psalter. And here's why. because Jonah, 00:27:13.259 --> 00:27:17.039 even as a runaway prophet, he knew the word. 00:27:17.900 --> 00:27:21.440 He knew some of the word. That's the reason why 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:26.299 this chapter 2 sounds so much like Psalm 9, or 00:27:26.299 --> 00:27:31.500 Psalm 42, or Psalm 69, or Psalm 88. It's because 00:27:31.500 --> 00:27:35.170 Jonah is praying scripture back to God. And so 00:27:35.170 --> 00:27:38.410 when you are in desperation, when you have hit 00:27:38.410 --> 00:27:40.829 rock bottom, oh friends, I hope that you have 00:27:40.829 --> 00:27:44.410 stored up a whole wealth of God's word within 00:27:44.410 --> 00:27:51.009 your heart. I like how one other pastor put it. 00:27:51.789 --> 00:27:53.789 That Jonah in the belly of the fish, I bet it 00:27:53.789 --> 00:27:57.329 was pretty dark in there. Probably pretty hard 00:27:57.329 --> 00:28:00.910 to get his Bible out, right? And so how can we 00:28:00.910 --> 00:28:06.299 be ready for the storms of life? We must hide 00:28:06.299 --> 00:28:10.039 God's Word in our hearts. That's what I believe 00:28:10.039 --> 00:28:13.339 that Jonah did. That's why he's able to pray 00:28:13.339 --> 00:28:16.720 this way. And so, when you are in crisis mode, 00:28:16.759 --> 00:28:20.039 when something happens, and you don't know what 00:28:20.039 --> 00:28:24.359 to do, what scripture would you go to? What psalm 00:28:24.359 --> 00:28:26.839 or any part of scripture would you cry out back 00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:29.980 to God? Maybe you would just go to Jonah 2 -9 00:28:29.980 --> 00:28:35.259 and say, Lord, salvation belongs to you. We must 00:28:35.259 --> 00:28:38.819 hide God's Word in our hearts. Because salvation 00:28:38.819 --> 00:28:41.619 does belong to the Lord. There is salvation in 00:28:41.619 --> 00:28:45.059 no other name. God is in control of your life 00:28:45.059 --> 00:28:48.500 and mine. God is sovereign over every square 00:28:48.500 --> 00:28:52.339 inch of creation. This is evidenced by verse 00:28:52.339 --> 00:28:56.440 10. Look there as I begin to conclude. And the 00:28:56.440 --> 00:29:00.799 Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah out 00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:05.779 upon the dry land. Here we see yet another example 00:29:05.779 --> 00:29:10.319 how everything in the book of Jonah responds 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:14.000 to God. Everything in the book of Jonah responds 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:19.180 to God except for the prophet until now. Until 00:29:19.180 --> 00:29:24.839 now. And so you see this fish spit Jonah out 00:29:24.839 --> 00:29:29.920 onto dry land. Why does the fish do that? Why 00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:33.789 does God command the fish to do this? Because 00:29:33.789 --> 00:29:37.230 God is merciful. Because God is not finished 00:29:37.230 --> 00:29:40.250 with Jonah yet. Because God's not yet through 00:29:40.250 --> 00:29:43.430 with the prophet announcing repentance in Nineveh. 00:29:43.470 --> 00:29:47.750 Because even though we may be stubborn, even 00:29:47.750 --> 00:29:51.289 though we may be rebellious, even though we may 00:29:51.289 --> 00:29:54.549 be prodigals, even though we may be runaways, 00:29:54.650 --> 00:29:59.170 God is not finished with us yet. And God will 00:29:59.170 --> 00:30:04.299 accomplish His purposes. showing mercy. Let's 00:30:04.299 --> 00:30:04.519 pray.