God’s Pursuit and the Clarity of Grace

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:15:57] Shout joyfully to the Rock of our Salvation.
[00:16:02] Psalms 95.1

[00:17:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:17:32] Getting us prepared for worship.
[00:17:34] Let's go ahead and begin with our opening hymn, Send the Light.

[00:17:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:17:37] Let's stand together as we sing.

[00:19:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:19:48] Morning, Trinity Baptist Church.
[00:19:49] How we doing?
[00:19:51] Morning, morning.
[00:19:52] This is the day that the Lord has made, and we're gonna rejoice and be glad in it.
[00:19:56] I'm thankful for the rain.
[00:19:57] I don't know about you.
[00:19:57] We're in a little bit of a drought.
[00:20:00] Well, I'm thankful that it's rain and not snow or ice or sleet this Sunday morning, personally.
[00:20:05] And you know what? We're going to be reading through a storm in Jonah 1, you know, and we're in a storm.
[00:20:10] We're going through a storm. I just hope I can preach up a storm this morning, personally.
[00:20:15] But with that being said, you know, welcome to Trinity Baptist Church.
[00:20:18] My name is Robert Leto, and I have the distinct honor and privilege of serving under our esteemed and honorable Pastor Mark Harris, who is with his sweetheart. You know, this is Valentine's weekend.
[00:20:28] He's on a little much well-deserved getaway with he and his beautiful bride, and we just hope that they enjoy that.
[00:20:33] And we just want you to know, Pastor Mark, that you're in our hearts and minds and, Beth, and we're going to be praying for you to be refreshed and recharged and ready to relaunch with whatever the Lord sends your way.
[00:20:43] But with that being said, again, if you're a first-time guest, again, welcome.
[00:20:47] This is a little bit of a different Sunday.
[00:20:49] We've had different Sundays the last several Sundays with guest speakers and remote services.
[00:20:54] And for the next three, this one including, the next three services will be a little bit different.
[00:20:59] But if you are visiting, we have a gift for you.
[00:21:01] our deacons actually have a little bag and in this bag you'll see that there's a card in it if you'd be so kind as to fill that out and simply drop it in the offering plate we'd so appreciate the
[00:21:12] opportunity to get to know you a little bit and as they're walking down the aisles all you have to do is just raise your hand a little bit we're not going to embarrass you or call you out just
[00:21:19] get you that gift and if you're visiting with us online this morning welcome into the sanctuary we are located at 221 urban road here in mooresville north carolina and again we just invite you to
[00:21:29] worship with us. When we pray, pray. When we sing, sing. We dive into the word, dive into the word with us. So again, welcome into the sanctuary. Church, also let's just go to the Lord in prayer
[00:21:41] this morning, if we could. Let's start this service off in the right way, calling for the Lord to bless it. Holy Heavenly Father, God, we want to thank you. Lord, you are sovereign. You rule and you reign. And God, we're going to see that sovereignty on display this morning all
[00:22:02] throughout the verses of Jonah chapter one.
[00:22:06] And Father, you have a desire to speak with us.
[00:22:07] This is Valentine's weekend and the world puts such an emphasis on a temporal form of love.
[00:22:16] But Father, we're thankful for the eternal form of love that you've displayed on the cross.
[00:22:20] Father, you told us that greater love has no one than this and they would lay down their life for their friends.
[00:22:26] Thank you for Jesus.
[00:22:28] Thank you for the cross.
[00:22:29] Thank you that he stretched out his arms on it And he said, I love the world this much.
[00:22:35] Father, help us to receive that love today.
[00:22:38] Help us to respond to it, God.
[00:22:40] I pray that this service would be pleasing in your sight, God.
[00:22:43] I pray that we would bring you honor, glory, and praise in all that we think, say, and do, and sing.
[00:22:49] And Father, I pray this morning that we would worship you in spirit and in truth.
[00:22:54] Please have your way this morning as the wonderful counselor, as the great physician.
[00:22:59] Father, work however you see fit.
[00:23:03] We look to you to lead us.
[00:23:04] You are the shepherd and overseer of our soul.
[00:23:07] You are King Eternal.
[00:23:08] And one day you'll come back for your bride.
[00:23:12] We want to be found waiting for you with our affection not placed on another, but solely on you.
[00:23:19] We ask this in the mighty name of Jesus, our King.
[00:23:22] Amen.
[00:23:24] I want to make mention, if you do have little ones with you today, we have child care available.
[00:23:28] It's, I believe, third grade all the way to the nursery.
[00:23:32] and Ms. Terry Lyons will be over here to receive them.
[00:23:34] But for now, let's just stand and greet one another.
[00:23:36] Welcome into the house of the Lord.

[00:32:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:32:53] We advertise and offer offerings to the storehouse and we do it with grateful and cheerful hearts and those that prefer to give online can do it at trinitybaptist.com or there's a box in the hallway.
[00:33:04] But let's pray.
[00:33:06] Father in heaven, we give thanks for the many blessings that you just continue to pour out upon us.
[00:33:11] We thank you for this day that you've given us together with fellow believers to praise and to worship you And Lord, we just thank you for the rain and the seasons we enjoy here in this part of the country.
[00:33:22] We continue with our worship by bringing our tithes and our offerings to the storehouse, as you've commanded us to do.
[00:33:28] And you've blessed us so much, both individually and as a church family.
[00:33:33] And I just pray that we'll be found faithful in spreading that gospel message to others and be good stewards of what you've entrusted us to.
[00:33:41] we're mindful that to those of us to whom much has been given much is required you place us here in this mission field in mooresville and we also pray for those out on the mission field serving with
[00:33:53] the international mission board the north american mission board which we support with our upcoming annie armstrong offering and our lottie moon offerings we just pray for their safety and boldness in proclaiming the gospel we ask that you bless and multiply our tithes and offerings
[00:34:08] for the expanding of your kingdom and bringing others to the saving grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
[00:34:14] Lord, we do pray for opportunities to share our faith with others as we go about our daily routines.
[00:34:21] I just pray that we'll be found faithful as those opportunities arise.
[00:34:26] Speak to us and let us feel your presence in the remainder of the service as Pastor Robert brings the message with boldness and clarity and confidence.
[00:34:33] Let's just draw closer to you and be better prepared to be your witnesses and to share that good news with those who we come in contact with.
[00:34:42] And it's in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that we offer these prayers.
[00:34:45] Amen.

[00:34:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:34:46] My goodness, thank you so much, Pastor Grant and Chase and Miss Lindsay and choir.

[00:41:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:41:20] And thank you, congregation, for joining in the singing.
[00:41:22] And most importantly, thank you, Jesus, for giving us something to sing about today.
[00:41:27] Amen.
[00:41:32] Well, as we're getting settled in here this morning, I just want to say good morning again.
[00:41:37] Welcome in.
[00:41:38] I'm so incredibly thankful for this opportunity to proclaim God's word this morning.
[00:41:43] And please know, church, I really don't take it lightly.
[00:41:47] It's an honor and a privilege to stand in and to declare thus saith the Lord, especially in the place of the man of God who's up here usually most every Sunday morning.
[00:41:56] So very thankful for Pastor Mark and very thankful for him allowing me this opportunity to preach.
[00:42:01] And thank you for your opportunity to allow me to preach.
[00:42:04] I'm really thankful for that.
[00:42:05] But I want to start out this morning by asking a really important question.
[00:42:10] And maybe you don't feel comfortable answering it right now, but I would love to hear you answer it someday.
[00:42:16] So maybe find me next couple of weeks or so and tell me this answer.
[00:42:22] But I want to know, when was the last time that you, every single individual in this room, when was the last time that you clearly heard the voice of God speaking to you?
[00:42:36] want to know can you remember a time in your life at any point at all when you distinctly sensed his voice calling you to do something I mean even if you thought that you did heard God how can you be certain it's God how can you be
[00:42:58] sure it's not just some faint figment of your imagination and if it really is God really is God speaking directly to you what should be your response to it friends I want to make a pledge to you this morning we're gonna wrestle with
[00:43:16] those questions today but not only that I want to make a promise this morning I'll make a promise that you are going to hear from God today and why do I say that how can I say that because it's Sunday morning and just like any other
[00:43:40] Sunday morning we're moments away from opening up the Bible and hearing and speak whenever the Bible speaks God speaks but just as the book of Jonah is going to show us as is so often the case in our lives the problem isn't that
[00:44:00] God's not speaking he's he's speaking to us God's not silent we're just not listening all too often we're focused on our own desires that we ignore his altogether so I want to say if you if you truly want to hear from God this
[00:44:21] morning, I want to invite you to do something. I want to invite you to open up your Bible to Jonah chapter 1. And as we read from his word, I want you to listen very carefully to it. Because if you do,
[00:44:33] I promise you this, you will hear the sovereign speak. Would you please stand out of the reading of God's word? Jonah chapter 1 verses 1 through 17. Behold the word of the Lord. Now the word of
[00:44:54] Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying arise go to Nineveh that great city and call out against it for their evil has come up before me but Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from away from the presence of the Lord he went down to
[00:45:15] Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish so he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord hurled a great
[00:45:30] wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each one cried out to his God, and they hurled cargo that
[00:45:44] was in the ship into the sea to lighten the load for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had laid down and was fast asleep so the captain came and
[00:45:56] said to him what do you mean you sleeper arise call out to your God perhaps the God will give a thought to us that we may that we may not perish and they said to one another come let us cost let us cast lots that we may know on whose
[00:46:15] account this evil has come upon us so they cast the lots and the lot fell on Jonah and they said to him tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us what is your occupation where do you come from what is your country and of
[00:46:34] what people are you and he said to them I am a Hebrew and I fear the Lord the God of heaven who made the sea and dry land and then the men were exceedingly afraid and they said to him what is this you have done for the men knew that he
[00:46:53] was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. They said to him, what shall we do to you that the sea might quiet down for us? For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. And he
[00:47:05] said to them, pick me up and hurl me into the sea and then the sea will quiet down for you. For I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you. Nevertheless, the men rode hard
[00:47:22] to get back to dry land but they couldn't for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them therefore they called out to the lord oh lord let us not perish for this man's life
[00:47:37] and lay not on us innocent blood for you oh lord have done as it pleased you so they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. And then the men feared
[00:47:56] the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of that fish for three days and three
[00:48:14] nights. Would you pray with me? Holy Heavenly Father, God, I ask that you would add a blessing to the proclamation of your word.
[00:48:24] I pray that you would open up our eyes to behold wonderful things from your truth.
[00:48:30] I pray that you would open up our ears to hear it and our hearts to receive it.
[00:48:34] Father, I pray that you would let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing and acceptable in your sight.
[00:48:42] Oh Lord, our rock and our redeemer.
[00:48:45] We ask this in your mighty name.
[00:48:46] And all God's people said, amen.
[00:48:48] Thank you, you may be seated.
[00:48:56] Well, ladies and gentlemen, we've just read 17 verses or so.
[00:48:59] and if we're gonna condense those 17 verses or so into 17 words, this is my sermon in a sentence.
[00:49:05] If you leave here with anything today, I hope you leave here with at least this one statement.
[00:49:10] It's what I believe is Jonah chapter one condensed into one statement.
[00:49:17] The relentless love of God prepares rebellious hearts to receive his sovereign voice through his word and our circumstances.
[00:49:29] again the relentless love of God prepares rebellious hearts to receive his sovereign voice through his word in our circumstance so as as only fitting in the book of Jonah right let's jump right on in if you want to take one truth with you I know I've said this before but
[00:49:52] this is also a maybe the second most important truth you would take today this is very very important it's the first for a reason the first and really only surefire way you can ever know
[00:50:03] without a shadow of a doubt that God is speaking personally to you is this truth number one God speaks through the word God speaks through his word and I've got some incredible news for you this morning you don't got to go too far to find it look in the first verse and you'll see
[00:50:27] that God's word actually pursues you. Look at its pursuit of Jonah. Jonah 1.1, the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai. You know what? Here's the wonderful thing about God.
[00:50:44] He's a loving father. He loves his children. He doesn't want them out wandering all alone in the darkness. God doesn't sit back hopelessly hoping and waiting for them to stumble their way to him.
[00:50:58] I don't believe that. God pursues them. Some of you know what I'm talking about this morning.
[00:51:09] Think back to the first time you ever heard about God. When was the first time or the first way that God's word came to you? How many of us have this one thing in common? Somebody had to share this
[00:51:23] good news with you. Somebody invited you to church. Somebody gave you a gospel track. Somebody preached this book to you. Somebody opened it up and taught it to you. However the message was delivered, the motivation behind it was the same. God's sovereign grace pursued you. How do I know
[00:51:46] that? Because the Bible says so. Consider Romans chapter 3 verse 11. No one seeks God and no one means not even one no one understands no one seeks for god well if no one's seeking after god
[00:52:05] how on earth can they come to know him god seeks after them and as we're going to see in the story today god does it in several ways you know i like to think of the bible as an amazing love letter
[00:52:22] i think it's one penned by god himself and he is deeply committed to delivering it that's why god went through such great lengths to not only ride it but to protect it and to proclaim it he sent
[00:52:38] messenger after messenger after messenger to make sure that one day it would get into your hands that's what he tells us in second chronicles second chronicles 36 15 it says the lord the god of their fathers listen to this sent persistently to them by his messengers why did
[00:53:02] god do that because he had compassion on his people he loved him god had a passion for his people but he also had a purpose for his people and you see that purpose in verse number two on
[00:53:18] display god said arise go to nineveh that great city and i want you to call out against it because their evil has come up before me. I want to share something with you this morning. Did you know that
[00:53:30] every single word in the Bible matters? Do you believe that? Take for instance Jonah's name.
[00:53:39] Do you know what Jonah's name actually means in the original language? It translates directly into dove or pigeon. And his father's name, Amittai, that translates directly into faithful or true. Now why is that significant? Well in the Bible God uses doves in a number of ways doesn't
[00:54:01] he? He compared Israel to a silly dove flying back and forth between nations. He used doves to communicate important messages. Think back to Noah in the ark. Think back to the baptism of Jesus.
[00:54:16] But here God calls Jonah to be his faithful dove. To be his faithful messenger carrying his word strayed into the heart of what Jonah thought to be enemy territory.
[00:54:30] Now, church, you've got to understand, this was before the internet, before email.
[00:54:34] I mean, God didn't have Twitter.
[00:54:36] He didn't have X.
[00:54:38] So you've got to think about Jonah as God's carrier pigeon, so to speak.
[00:54:43] He sent to deliver a message all the way to Nineveh.
[00:54:47] And that was no small task.
[00:54:50] Nineveh was hated by the Israelites.
[00:54:53] And for good reason.
[00:54:55] It was the capital of Assyria.
[00:54:57] their enemy it's modern day Iraq and to put that into perspective imagine God today asking an Israelite to walk over to Gaza to go over and share his message of love with Hamas I don't know
[00:55:16] we're in North Carolina maybe this one will hit a little bit more closer to home what if God told a die-hard Duke fan to witness on Franklin Street right after last week's big game some of you say
[00:55:29] Not me, God, anybody but me.
[00:55:33] But I don't want you to miss out on one of the most important aspects of God's word coming to us this morning.
[00:55:37] And that's this.
[00:55:39] God's word pursues you for a purpose.
[00:55:42] That's true.
[00:55:43] But don't miss this.
[00:55:46] Rejecting it always comes at a price.
[00:55:51] I want you to count the cost for yourself in verse number three.
[00:55:53] Look at its price.
[00:55:56] But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
[00:55:59] He went down to Joppa.
[00:56:01] He found a ship going to Tarshish.
[00:56:03] so he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish away from what he would hope to be the presence of the Lord you see Jonah's just like us he heard the word just fine
[00:56:22] the problem's not with his ears is it it's with his heart he rebelled against the word of the Lord and in so doing he showed us that rebellion always comes with a cost instead of embracing his call to serve as God's faithful messenger he sought out to get as far
[00:56:42] away from the presence of the Lord as he could he picked a spot on the map called Tarshish and that was no accident because from where Jonah was standing right then in Israel Nineveh was to the
[00:56:53] east but Tarshish on the other hand was in the complete opposite direction three thousand miles in the opposite direction it was the furthest known place on the in the world at the time and it was a city known for its great witches which not witches riches comforts and wealth
[00:57:15] i want you to get a glimpse of this a lot of people don't know this they don't know much about tarshish in the book of chronicles king solomon gathered a lot of his treasure from the city
[00:57:28] check out this verse chapter 9 verse 21 for the king's ships went to tarshish with his servants once every three years why did he do that those ships would come back from Tarshish carrying gold and silver and ivory and apes and peacocks I don't know what anyone's doing with
[00:57:48] apes and peacocks but I got the first part and although Jonah I believe Jonah set out to gain by running away from the presence of the Lord I want to tell you this this morning he was on a
[00:58:04] crash course to losing it all, starting with the fare that he paid to get there. It was a small cost, but it was the beginning of his great downward spiral away from what he thought would
[00:58:19] be the presence of the Lord. I don't think it's a coincidence the Bible describes Jonah's journey away from his presence as a steady descent. Over and over and over again, the Bible tells us he
[00:58:29] went down down to joppa down to the ship he went down into its hole and that my friends was only the beginning anytime anytime you find yourself rebelling against the lord i can promise you this
[00:58:47] you will find yourself in a very similar situation you're going to be headed for a deeper and darker pit but i also want to say this with you this morning share this incredible good news you ready
[00:59:01] for some good news today in those deep and dark places that's where God's grace really shines even when we reject his word when we rebel against his call God's not done with us yet God doesn't give up on his children that easy you know I believe running away from the presence of
[00:59:24] the Lord is about as easy from running from your shadow on a sunny afternoon you know oftentimes if we refuse to listen to God's word I believe he's just going to speak into your life in other
[00:59:37] ways if you're not willing to hear God's word that's when you're really going to start to feel it look in verses four through six God doesn't just speak through the word God speaks through the wind God speaks through the wind he speaks through the storms in our lives and I believe
[00:59:57] He does this for three main reasons.
[01:00:00] The first being this, it shakes us.
[01:00:04] Those storms shake us.
[01:00:06] The Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea and there was a mighty tempest on the sea so that the ship threatened to break up.
[01:00:14] You know, church, this is no random storm.
[01:00:17] The Bible tells us that God himself sent it.
[01:00:21] He sent it to shake those men, to shake those sailors down to their souls, down to their very core.
[01:00:29] He started to break up the things that they were trusting in for their safety and security.
[01:00:35] You know, I think all too often in life, we're the same way.
[01:00:39] We have a tendency to trust in temporal things, things like ships and soldiers and skills and strength.
[01:00:50] But I wonder what happens when those things start to shake out right from underneath your feet.
[01:00:55] I'll tell you this much, they won't just shake you.
[01:00:58] If you're leaning on those things too heavily, they'll also break you.
[01:01:05] Verse five tells us that God sent the storm to not only shake those men, but break them.
[01:01:11] Then the mariners were afraid and each one of them cried out to his God.
[01:01:14] And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten up the load for them.
[01:01:19] But Jonah had gone down into the innermost part of the ship.
[01:01:23] He had laid down and he was fast asleep.
[01:01:29] Church, I can tell you this this morning.
[01:01:31] If you're trusting in the wrong things today, it's not a matter of if.
[01:01:36] but when the winds of life hit you hard enough one day you will finally reach your breaking point one day you'll perhaps be at that moment of desperation you'll finally be willing to call out
[01:01:50] to another higher power for help you know the word the world affirms this truth it's the third step in every alcoholics anonymous program for a reason but it's usually the very first step for every
[01:02:05] believer. You have to make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we know him. That reminds me of another famous quote. It comes from a World War II army chaplain,
[01:02:24] William Cummings. You might have heard this one before. See if you can finish it. There are no atheists in foxholes. That's right. Church, when you're in a fight for your life, when the bullets are flying through the air and bombs are exploding all around you, I can promise you this, everybody
[01:02:43] is praying to something. When people face death and desperation, they cannot help but to instinctively cry out to God. And for those mariners in the story, I'm not talking about a baseball team in Seattle. For these veteran sailors, they lived their entire lives out on the sea. They had seen
[01:03:04] their fair share of storms but this one this one was different that ocean was a battleground and they knew that they were in the fight for their lives they were willing look in the bible they
[01:03:20] were willing to say anything or do anything to make it all stop they were throwing important possessions into the sea but where's Jonah where's Jonah in all that chaos poor old Jonah he sank down even lower to the very bottom of the ship and he was found fast asleep
[01:03:45] what's the Bible telling us here what's the Bible trying to say to us this morning if you are living a life outside of God's will I can tell you this not only are you in grave danger but listen carefully Satan wants you to be as
[01:04:11] comfortable as possible Kate Satan wants you to be as comfortable as you can possibly be why is that see Satan wants you undisturbed so long as you remain unrepentant Satan would rock you to sleep all the way into the very gates of
[01:04:32] hell if he could that's why for many of you who are not living right you've been as comfortable as you have been for so long Satan saying don't wake him up I've I've got them right where I want them.
[01:04:51] They're passively rebelling against the will of God for their lives.
[01:04:54] Maybe you've heard that voice, shh.
[01:04:59] Don't go to Wednesday night Bible study.
[01:05:03] You know if you get out there on 150, you're gonna have to fight all that traffic.
[01:05:07] Just stay at home, be comfortable.
[01:05:12] Shh, don't wake up early.
[01:05:15] Don't have that personal quiet time with the Lord.
[01:05:18] You know you'll lose an extra hour of sleep.
[01:05:22] Or how about this one, shh, just forget about Sunday school.
[01:05:27] You know if you try to get those little ones out the door, you're gonna have to fight them the whole way.
[01:05:33] Don't think, I don't know, that's why some of y'all prayed for snow those last couple Sundays.
[01:05:39] So you can watch the service in your pajamas.
[01:05:43] I've got good news though for us today.
[01:05:47] I do believe Satan would rock you to sleep all the way into hell if he could.
[01:05:53] Like a family with no smoke alarms, sound asleep in a midnight fire.
[01:05:59] But God won't stand for that.
[01:06:04] God won't stand for that.
[01:06:07] He is relentless.
[01:06:09] His relentless love shouts out to us in the midst of life's most fiercest storms.
[01:06:18] You see, the storm is not God's punishment, church.
[01:06:21] Don't miss this.
[01:06:22] The storm is God's pursuit.
[01:06:26] Big difference.
[01:06:28] the wind and the waves were God's instrument used to sound the alarm not just to shake us and to break us but as verse 6 says he sent it to wake us up to wake us the captain came and he said to him what do you mean you sleeper
[01:06:43] arise wake up call out to your God perhaps God will give a thought to us and save us did you catch that God used a pagan sailor to wake up a sleeping pastor and call him to repentance I know that's a hard truth but it's an
[01:07:03] important truth sometimes God uses unbelievers to rebuke believers have you ever seen that I know I have let me tell you about a personal experience I have I can recall a time in my life almost a decade ago I was doing some prison
[01:07:22] ministry visits it was a season in my life when I lot I lacked personal intimate consistent time with the Lord I met this young man in prison and I gave him a bible just the week before and i came to visit him the very next week you know this young
[01:07:38] man was 18 years old but he was already facing prison for the rest of his life for what turned out to be a triple homicide he brought up the question on our visit he asked me about the lord's
[01:07:50] prayer a particular line in it he said why does it say give us this day our daily bread what does that mean after a short explanation of the importance of a daily prayer time with god
[01:08:03] requesting from him not only of just bread but all of our needs I found myself maybe like some of some of us doing here I looked at my watch and I started to get a little hungry wondering when
[01:08:14] when lunch was going to roll around and that's when I was shocked by one of the most convicting statements I've ever heard he said oh it's kind of like grandmama used to say isn't it
[01:08:26] the reason we have not is because we ask not a clothed mouth won't get fed God used a teenage boy that day being tried for a triple murder to convict a full-grown pastor for his lack of prayer
[01:08:44] i just want to tell you church god can draw straight lines with crooked sticks and if you don't believe me consider the third truth today god can speak to you even in a wager we serve a
[01:08:58] god who is in the details i believe that you know god knows when a little bird falls down to the ground god knows when a single hair leaves your head and because of this i'm personally convinced
[01:09:10] that i don't really believe in coincidence i believe in providence verse 7 shows us that that lot was providential they said to one another come let's cast lots so that we may know on whose
[01:09:25] account the evil has come upon us so they all cast lots and where did the lot fall fell on jonah you know the bible has lots to say about lots there's about 30 places in the bible you could
[01:09:40] look and see lots being used for something. But because of our time today, I just want to give you one verse, one passage, Proverbs 16, 33. It tells us that the lot is cast into the lap,
[01:09:54] but it's every decision is from the Lord. What is that telling us? It tells us that God is sovereignly ruling and reigning over everyone and everything. Even the dust flying around in the cosmos right now is under his command as the late great rc sproll used to say there are no
[01:10:18] maverick molecules in the universe but with that being said i also wanted you to keep this in mind it's important to maintain some perspective here descriptive in the bible is not always prescriptive right narrative is not always the normative just because they did that then doesn't necessarily
[01:10:38] mean that we should do that now what do i mean by that well the next time we need to elect some deacons, I don't think we're going to play a game of Yahtzee to figure out who it is. Hopefully not
[01:10:47] anytime soon. But I also want you to see that it was a personal wager. In verse 8, it says that God used that lot to place a spotlight directly on Jonah, and there was no denying it. As soon
[01:11:02] as God put that spotlight on Jonah, the investigation soon went underway. They asked them the same, they ask them some of the same questions we do when we meet somebody. Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do for a living? They're trying to get to the bottom of
[01:11:21] what's so special about Jonah. That's when God used that providential conversation into an opportunity for proclamation. And you see that in verses 9 through 10. Jonah says, I'm a Hebrew and I feared the Lord, the God of heaven. He made the sea and dry land. And the men were exceedingly
[01:11:40] afraid and they said to him, what is this that you have done? The men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he told them. God used this as a divine appointment, as an
[01:11:54] opportunity to remind Jonah of not just who he was, but whose he was. Jonah had set out to find treasure in a land filled with precious metals, but he found himself in a season of refinement
[01:12:11] when God was starting to turn up the heat in his own life in order to create something precious inside of him.
[01:12:19] God wasn't done with Jonah yet.
[01:12:22] And in so many ways, he was only beginning.
[01:12:26] I want you to notice Jonah answered two out of three of their questions.
[01:12:30] He told him who he was.
[01:12:31] He told him where he was from.
[01:12:32] He said, I'm a Hebrew, implying he's from Israel.
[01:12:35] He even said, I'm a real one at that.
[01:12:38] I fear the Lord.
[01:12:39] I fear God, the maker of heaven and earth.
[01:12:41] But I want you to notice this.
[01:12:43] he failed to answer one very important question which question did he leave out what is your occupation you know a better and more biblical word for occupation vocation it's vocation and it comes to us from the latin word meaning vocare or to call it's a calling you see jonah knew who
[01:13:12] he was he knew who God was but somewhere along life's way he forgot one so very important thing he forgot who God was calling him to be he turned his back on God's call in his life
[01:13:27] and I don't know about you but I can't help but wonder this morning are there any other Jonas in the room have you ever found yourself in a similar situation have you ever turned away from God's
[01:13:41] word? Have you ever found yourself in a storm wondering why God was so silent amidst all the wind and the waves? But I want you to consider something this morning. What if you failed to
[01:13:58] realize that God was the source of them all? What if God spoke those winds and those waves into being and the very presence of them is proof of God's relentless love for your life? I want to encourage
[01:14:18] you this morning dear friend when a child runs away from God I want to tell you this he doesn't just throw up his hands and say oh well it's not what God does he brings his hands up here
[01:14:29] and he calls out oh well that's what God does he brings in the calvary he brings in reinforcements look in verses 11 through 17 this is perhaps one of the most compelling parts of the story
[01:14:45] verses 11 through 13 it says they said to him what are we going to do to you Jonah what should we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us and the sea grew more and more too tempestuous
[01:14:56] and he said to them pick me up and hurl me in then it will quiet down for you I know it's because of me that this tempest has come upon you and nevertheless the men they rode hard to get back
[01:15:09] to dry land but they couldn't because the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them church the relentless love of God began compelling Jonah towards his call he cried out to the men aboard just just throw me into the sea throw me into the
[01:15:30] water that's the only way it's gonna quiet down for you it's my fault we're in this mess and don't miss this those pagan sailors showed more concern for for one life than Jonah did for the entire nation of Nineveh.
[01:15:48] But it was a misplaced concern.
[01:15:50] They misunderstood God's plan and they were driven by fear and because of that, they refused to let him go.
[01:16:00] Now, we're almost done and I don't want you to miss this.
[01:16:03] This is so critically important.
[01:16:05] Please lock it in.
[01:16:06] Don't miss this.
[01:16:09] The last place you ever want to find yourself is opposing god's will you never want to hold god's man back from god's plan don't ever try to get in the way of what god is so clearly doing in someone else's life verse 12 says that the
[01:16:39] sailors rode hard to go back to dry land, but they couldn't. Why? Because God was calling them forward to him. The original language here, the Hebrew is, the men dug in. They turned their oars
[01:16:59] into shovels, and they dug a trench in their warfare against the sovereign God. And if they would have persisted in that, they would have been digging their own watery graves. But thankfully, the goodness of god his grace wouldn't allow it their efforts were futile it soon became evident
[01:17:22] that god wasn't about to let them go anywhere anytime soon outside of his will you see god was not only compelling them but propelling them towards his desired destination and you see that in verses 4 through 16 they called out to the lord these pagan sailors called out to god let us not
[01:17:42] perish for this man's life lay not on us this innocent blood they picked up Joan and they threw him into the water and as soon as he hit the water the sea ceased from its raging the men were
[01:17:54] astonished and they feared God exceedingly and they offered sacrifices to the Lord and they made vows church I want to tell you this morning the only way you will ever find victory in a fight against
[01:18:11] God's will is through surrender. The only way you will ever find victory in your struggle with God's will is through surrender. It was only when these men were finally surrendered to God's will for their lives, it was only when these men were finally willing to let go of Jonah,
[01:18:37] that's when they were able to take hold of him, to grab a hold of God. You know, church, I believe sometimes the reason we're out there stuck rowing as hard as we are out in the ocean,
[01:18:50] not making any progress, is because we're clinging to the wrong person.
[01:18:55] We're clinging to the wrong person for a false sense of security.
[01:18:59] Meanwhile, God's calling you to let him go so you can take hold of him.
[01:19:08] God used the waves to wash the names of those false gods right out of those sailors' mouths.
[01:19:12] And those little G gods that we saw in verse five turned into an all caps lock, L-O-R-D.
[01:19:20] Five times in just three verses, you see the personal, faithful, covenantal name of God on display, Jehovah, Yahweh, Lord.
[01:19:33] The Bible even goes so far as to say they called upon his name, but they worshiped him.
[01:19:38] They offered up vows and sacrifices.
[01:19:40] And you know what this tells me?
[01:19:42] It tells me that these pagan idolaters called upon the name of the Lord and they were saved that day.
[01:19:49] It tells me that God's sovereign grace redeemed his prophet's rebellion and that runaway missionary brought people to faith in Christ whether he was gonna like it or not that day.
[01:19:59] It tells me that the promise of Romans 8, 28 is true.
[01:20:04] God works together all things for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.
[01:20:10] What a beautiful promise.
[01:20:11] But I don't want you to miss this.
[01:20:13] that promise of God working all things out together for your good and his glory it's only made possible by this one last thing and maybe it's the part that you've all been waiting for it's the famous fish in verse 17 you know many of you've been familiar with this story even from
[01:20:33] childhood you've heard about it but how many of you really know what it's actually supposed to point to as we close out our time together today I want you to pay close attention to the final verse
[01:20:44] it's verse 17 because if you do i believe you're going to see that it's actually foretelling it's trying to tell you something in verse 17 it says that the lord appointed a great fish to swallow
[01:20:58] up jonah and jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights you know here's where so many people miss it here's where so many people miss the entire point of this story
[01:21:12] they get so wrapped up in this massive miracle that they forget about god's message of mercy Yes, it's incredible that the Lord sends a fish to swallow Jonah.
[01:21:26] And some people believe this is a reason to deny the infallibility of Scripture.
[01:21:31] They want to say it's scientifically impossible for that to occur.
[01:21:35] You know, it kind of reminds me of a little girl's argument she had with her science teacher.
[01:21:39] Little Susie was telling the science class the Bible story of Jonah and the whale.
[01:21:43] Told them that he was in the belly of the fish for three days.
[01:21:46] All of a sudden, her teacher interrupted her.
[01:21:50] Little Susie, we're going to stick to the facts in this class.
[01:21:54] It's scientifically impossible for anyone to survive so long in any specimen, let alone three days. There's simply too much carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen. There's too much acid inside the stomach of any creature. It's impossible. Little Susie just hung her head and she said,
[01:22:14] well, I don't know how it happened, but I know this much. When I get to heaven, I'll just go ask him. The teacher said, what if he's not in heaven? Susie said, then you can ask him. Now,
[01:22:32] I know that's a really sharp reply, but it's also a really good plug.
[01:22:36] That's why you need to send your kids to TCA, amen?
[01:22:39] Amen.
[01:22:42] But church, on a serious note, in my humble opinion, it's not hard to believe.
[01:22:46] I mean, I was a science teacher for seven years.
[01:22:49] I think I'm decently qualified to say this.
[01:22:52] God has fish swimming around right now that we couldn't even fit into this room.
[01:23:01] God has fish swimming around that could swallow up an entire football team at once.
[01:23:08] Did you know a blue whale's tongue weighs more than an elephant?
[01:23:12] Did you know that a blue whale's heart is bigger than a full-grown grizzly bear?
[01:23:18] Did you know that there are arteries inside of that fish big enough for a full-grown man to swim through as it's pumping blood?
[01:23:28] And while yes, the fish is huge and amazing and it's awesome, don't get so caught up in the whale that you miss out on what God is trying to tell you.
[01:23:38] glorify the one who spoke it into being glorify the one who commands that whale to go to swallow to serve and to send and i want you to listen to me carefully dear friend in these last two minutes
[01:23:55] if jonah is in heaven today i want you to be able to ask him how it took place i want you to walk right up to him and ask him how it all went down but if you're going to have that opportunity it
[01:24:11] will only be because of the one to whom Jonah ultimately points to. Let me ask you this, church.
[01:24:21] Have you ever heard of a dove being used to embark someone on a great missionary journey?
[01:24:28] Have you ever heard of someone else asleep in the stern of a ship amidst a tempestuous storm at sea?
[01:24:35] Have you ever heard of someone else having lots cast over them? Have you ever heard of someone else being sacrificed to save the many who else was thrown into the sea of God's wrath who else
[01:24:48] was the only one who could quiet the storm and set the sinners free who else spent three days and three nights in the belly of a beast only to rise out of that grave with the message of hope not
[01:25:01] just for Nineveh but to the nations do you know the glorious name of who I'm speaking about today church Matthew 12 40 through 41 just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the
[01:25:14] great fish, so will the Son of Man be. Three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
[01:25:23] The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it. They repented at the preaching of Jonah. But church, something greater than Jonah is here. His name is Jesus.
[01:25:37] His name is Jesus. He's the true and greater Jonah. He's always faithful. He never rebels against God's call. And while there's a lot of similarities between Jonah and Jesus, I'm preaching so hard I'm knocking over a water bottle. There's a lot of similarities between Jonah and Jesus, but
[01:25:57] don't you miss one massively important thing. Look back in verse 14. They called out to the Lord, Lord, let us not perish for this man's life. Lay not on us innocent blood. If you or a loved one
[01:26:19] is lost out at sea you've only got one hope and it's to cry out and say oh lord let us not perish for our sin lay on us that innocent blood lay it on me may your blood pour over and wash over me
[01:26:37] i want to plead with you this morning whatever you're holding on to inside of your little ship as you're going through storms if it's not jesus throw it into the sea i want to plead to you this
[01:26:53] morning, cast it aside, cast it aside and cling to Christ today. And if you're willing to do that, I want to ask you to pray with me. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you
[01:27:10] for your sovereign voice and how it calls out to us today. And Father, my prayer is that we would respond to it. God, that we wouldn't be like Jonah and rebel against your call, but that we would
[01:27:24] heed your call, Lord, and respond. God, I've heard it once said that everyone in life is either heading into a storm or in a storm or coming out of a storm and well Lord my prayer this morning
[01:27:38] is that you would use those winds and those waves father to speak into hearts and minds God you've given us this book your word but God so often we often ignore it we leave it on a shelf
[01:27:55] we don't turn to it and God you're gracious enough to not stop there you keep pursuing relentlessly you send waves and winds you use seemingly insignificant small events in our lives like a casting of a lot or a wager to speak into it and
[01:28:15] father if we're not gonna pay attention to the small things you'll send us something as massive as a whale father I'm reminded that you tell us in your word that you spoke to our fathers in many different ways but in these last
[01:28:32] days you've spoken to us through your son thank you for your son the word that became flesh and dwelt among us help us to heed his voice today and respond however you see fit father you might be calling someone out there today we just preached on fostering and adoption
[01:28:51] yesterday and then the next sunday we're saying running from your call maybe someone's running from that father maybe you're calling someone into the ministry calling someone to do something to serve to send to share to go help them to be obedient father maybe there's some junk in the
[01:29:08] boat weighing us down, causing us to sink. Help us to cast it aside, to repent of our sins this morning. Maybe someone needs to cling to Christ for the first time in their life today. Father,
[01:29:22] whatever the response, I pray that you would just, you would lead it. You would speak as only you could speak. You would move and do as only you can move and do. Empower us, Lord, to be obedient
[01:29:32] through your spirit and your grace. I ask this in your son's name. Amen.