The King Who Left His Throne: Responding to God’s Surprising Mercy

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:16:15] Thank you so much choir and worship team and Trinity. Good morning. How we doing? Well, this is the day that the Lord has made.
[00:16:26] No matter what's going on in the world around us, we're still gonna rejoice and be glad in it because our King is on the throne and we're thankful for that precious promise that we are
[00:16:35] not alone.
[00:16:36] He is our strength and our shield and our refuge, a very present help in times of trouble. Are you thankful for that?
[00:16:44] Amen. I know I am this morning.
[00:16:47] welcome here. If it's your first time visiting with us, my name is Robert Zaletto, and I have an honor and privilege of serving under our wonderful lead pastor, Pastor Mark Harris, who is away on a mission trip, and this is good news for you all. I'm told that he will be here next
[00:17:02] week, so I know that you look forward to that with great anticipation. But until then, just want to welcome you in here at 221 Irvin Road. If you're joining us online, we are so thankful for that as
[00:17:12] well when we get to God's word please open it with us when we pray pray sing sing and you can even give when we give if the Lord puts it on your heart to do so and for those of you who are
[00:17:22] visiting in the room this morning we actually have a gift for you our deacons a couple of them are standing up as I speak and they've got some gift bags in their hands and as they're walking down
[00:17:32] the aisle all you have to do is slightly raise up your hand just enough for them to see it and they'll make sure you get that and in there there's a gift card if you'd be so kind as to fill that
[00:17:42] out and drop it in the offering plate we'll have an opportunity to get to know you a little bit better and we would love to do so and walk with you through your relationship of knowing King
[00:17:52] Jesus I mean that's exactly why this church is here we exist to know Jesus Christ and to make him known and we would love to equip you to do just that as well you know I know this has been
[00:18:03] a very tumultuous week in many ways for the world around us and with that being said I wanted to just remind us of a little reassuring promise that we have in the book of Psalms as we open up
[00:18:13] today with God's word and prayer. If you want to join me, you're more than welcome to do so. Psalm 33, I'm going to start in verse 10. I'm just going to read it and just let it soak over the room.
[00:18:25] Psalm 33 verse 10. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He frustrates the plans of the people. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.
[00:18:45] blessed is the nation whose god is the lord the people whom he has chosen as his heritage the lord looks down from heaven and he sees all the children of man from where he sits in thrones
[00:19:03] he looks out at all the inhabitants of the earth he who fashions the heart of them all and observes all their deeds the king is not saved by his great army a warrior is not delivered by
[00:19:21] his great strength the war horse is a false hope for salvation and by its great might it cannot rescue behold the eye of the lord is on those who fear him on those who hope in his steadfast love
[00:19:40] that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.
[00:19:49] Our soul waits for the Lord.
[00:19:52] He is our help and our shield for our heart is glad in him because we trust in his holy name.
[00:20:05] Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us even as we hope in you.
[00:20:14] Trinity Baptist Church, would you please pray with me?
[00:20:19] Holy Heavenly Father, God, we are so thankful for this precious promise that you are our strength and our shield.
[00:20:30] You are a very present help in times of trouble.
[00:20:34] Father, we don't put our trust in princes.
[00:20:37] We don't put our trust in horses.
[00:20:41] We put our trust in you.
[00:20:45] Father, we do ask that you'd have your will and your way, not just here on 221 Irvin Road, not just here in Mooresville, North Carolina, but beyond, Lord.
[00:20:53] We know that you rule and you reign.
[00:20:55] Our God is in the heavens and he does all that he pleases.
[00:20:59] Father, we know that you can turn the heart of a king like a stream of water in any direction you so choose.
[00:21:07] So, Father, our prayer is that you would turn the nation's hearts to Christ.
[00:21:13] Father, our prayer is that you would turn our heart to Christ this morning.
[00:21:18] Father, be with those who are on the front lines protecting and serving.
[00:21:23] Be with our leaders, Lord, the leaders of the nations you you tell your people to do that to pray for kings and people in power and authorities because powers and authorities are instituted by god we knew that
[00:21:35] we know that you saw sovereignly fit to put these individuals in these places for very important reason and our pastor is one of them lord so give them the wisdom of solomon give them the strength
[00:21:49] of samson father give them most importantly purity of christ thank you father for this safe haven to run to thank you for this refuge we've come to worship you this morning in spirit and in truth help us to do that this morning thank you for giving us your holy spirit thank you for
[00:22:11] giving us your word which is truth and father we turn to it and we trust in it and we treasure it today we ask this in the mighty name of jesus our messiah and all god's people said amen well if
[00:22:26] you have children with you from nursery to third grade, Mr. Terry Lyons is here to collect them.
[00:22:31] And as they're funneling that way, let's welcome one another into the Lord's house this morning.

[00:29:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:29:51] Good morning, Trinity family. This is the part of the service where we give back to God and for all that he has provided to each of us. We can do that both online at the Trinity website
[00:30:06] and in person today. As a bit of background, I guess, before the offer to prayer, which ties to that offer tarot prayer is some experience I had this week, both in my quiet time and in talking to a Trinity family member.
[00:30:25] So it struck me in Genesis 9-1, just a few sentences, and the topic really is about being blessed or blessing others.
[00:30:37] And so in Genesis 9-1, it says, in part, it says, and god blessed noah and his sons so we hear of promises of being blessed and blessings all throughout the bible it's nothing new but uh in the quiet time i had for some reason it struck
[00:30:59] me um so um going on to uh not only the lord blessing um in a discussion um i had with one of the members um they had been going through lots of treatments lots of uh medical problems
[00:31:21] and issues for probably at least six nine months maybe even a year i don't know too long i'm sure if you're in their shoes and they were as we were talking they spoke of the
[00:31:36] say the medical treatments and different things that were going on and they're struggling with and none of it was good none of it was easy and very hard and throughout all of that there was
[00:31:49] this presence and this energy that was not only thanking Trinity Church for the help that they've gotten, the prayers, the discussions, that person was asking for information so that they could, in this treatment time, which is going to go on for a few more weeks, in that treatment time,
[00:32:17] They were looking for ways to bless others.
[00:32:20] So isn't it funny how God blesses, God promises to bless us, and what's the result of that?
[00:32:28] And gives us opportunities to bless others.
[00:32:33] So as part of the Genesis 9-1, back to that, I also had a commentary book, and the way they translated God's blessing on Noah is this way.
[00:32:48] There Matthew Henry's words were, the blessing of God is the cause of our doing well. On him we depend, to him we should be thankful. So let's pray. Dear Lord, this morning we think about being
[00:33:07] blessed as we should recognize that all that we have is yours God and we continue to pray to maintain strong fellowship with you, to seek your will for each of us and have courage and obedience
[00:33:20] to do your will in every part of this day and week this morning we are blessed to be able to see and hear the word of god his word comes through pastor grant's leading of music played
[00:33:34] by the musicians the choir and the lyrics lyrics sung and uh soon uh the word of god will be spoken with a sermon by Pastor Robert.
[00:33:49] We ask that you, Lord, be with us and shape our hearts and minds, moving us forward for the morning tithes and offerings and praise that wise and discerning decisions in the use of those tithes and offerings.
[00:34:03] Also this morning, let us pray for the continued defense of Israel and the United States in the conflict with Iran.
[00:34:11] And we ask for the protection of the families in harm's way and those that are fighting for our protection.
[00:34:17] In addition, we pray for those in need of healing, comfort, life events, guidance throughout the Trinity family, our local communities, and Christians around the world.
[00:34:29] Also, we pray for the startup funding for the families in enrollment of children destined for Trinity Christian Academy.
[00:34:37] We ask for these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

[00:34:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:34:40] Thank you so much. Praise team for the beautiful song.

[00:38:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:38:43] What a beautiful message.
[00:38:45] We're thankful for the love of God this morning.
[00:38:48] No greater love than to lay down your life for your friends.
[00:38:53] We're thankful for those who have followed in Jesus' footsteps, those brave men and women who are putting their lives on the line even as we speak to do just that.
[00:39:04] Well, good morning again.
[00:39:06] This is the third time for me being up here.
[00:39:08] I just hope it's the three times a charm and not three strikes, I'm out.
[00:39:13] We'll find out at the end of this thing.
[00:39:15] But it is an honor and a privilege to do so.
[00:39:17] It's honestly a first for me.
[00:39:18] I've never preached three Sundays in a row.
[00:39:21] I'm thankful for the opportunity to do that.
[00:39:23] I'm thankful to learn and serve and grow under Pastor Mark Harris.
[00:39:27] He provides a wonderful example.
[00:39:30] Speaking of that, how many of you guys by show of hands were here at the Harvest of Hope meal back in November?
[00:39:37] If you were at the Harvest of Hope meal, just raise your hand.
[00:39:39] How many we got?
[00:39:41] Okay, that's almost, that's probably half the room, just about a good portion of the room.
[00:39:46] Well, if you were there, then perhaps you remember something he shared with us.
[00:39:50] It was a really powerful story of a revival that took place back in 1904.
[00:39:57] Do you remember that?
[00:39:58] Maybe?
[00:40:00] The Welsh revival.
[00:40:03] Well, if you weren't there, then maybe you'll hear this for the first time today.
[00:40:06] I'm kind of borrowing it from him.
[00:40:07] But that revival all began when the Spirit of God gripped the heart of a young coal miner by the name of Evan Roberts.
[00:40:17] And as he discovered that true treasure was actually found, not in the earth, but in God's Word, he soon found himself compelled to share God's Word with others.
[00:40:30] And in a matter of months, revival spread like wildfire.
[00:40:35] the entire nation of wales was transformed right before their eyes so many miners were converted that communities were changed forever the taverns were emptied the crime rates plummeted the churches were packed it was even said that the revival was so powerful that the pit ponies
[00:41:03] used in the mines to haul out the coal had to be retrained because they were so accustomed to the profanity that the workers would use when they made their commands to get them to move.
[00:41:16] I just want to think about that for a minute. A revival so powerful, so sweeping and far-reaching that animals felt the effects of human repentance. It's incredible. You know, kind of reminds me of another revival that took place 2,600 years earlier, a revival that swept across Nineveh.
[00:41:50] And just like all great revivals, I believe that they have at least this one thing in common, a royal exchange has to be made. Someone has to step down from their high and mighty throne,
[00:42:08] get down on their knees and confess that that throne rightly belongs to another someone has to turn the throne of their lives back over to god friends that's exactly what you're going to see taking place in the pages of scripture today as we study god's word and as we do i want you
[00:42:37] to consider one very important thing it's our big question that i hope to answer today with you what does it take what does it take to turn the heart of a nation back to god here's the good
[00:42:56] thing about it god doesn't leave us guessing god gives us that the question that answer to that question right here in jonah chapter 3 verse 6 all the way through 4 11 he gives to the church
[00:43:09] a step-by-step process of how to turn t-u-r-n turn the throne of your heart back to god church if you're ready to hear from god's word this morning then would you please stand out of reverence for it jonah chapter 3 verse 6 the word of the lord reached the king of nineveh
[00:43:42] and he arose from his throne he removed his robe and he covered himself with sackcloth and he sat in ashes and he issued a proclamation and published through nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles let neither man nor beast herd nor flock taste anything let them not feed or
[00:44:03] drink water but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and let them call out mightily to god let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands who knows God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we may not perish
[00:44:26] and when God saw what they did how they had turned from their evil way God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them and he did not do it but it displeased Jonah exceedingly and
[00:44:45] he was angry and he prayed to the lord and said oh lord is this not what i said when i was yet in my country that's why i made haste to flee to tarshish for i knew that you are a gracious god
[00:45:00] and merciful slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting from disaster therefore now oh lord please take my life from me for it is better for me to die than to live and the Lord said do you do well to be angry Jonah went out from the city and he sat to the east of
[00:45:31] the city and made a booth for himself there and he sat under the shade so he should see what would become of the city now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah that it might
[00:45:44] be shade over his head to save him from his discomfort so Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn had come up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant
[00:45:59] so that it withered. And when the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, it's better
[00:46:14] for me to die than to live but God said to Jonah do you do well to be angry for the plant he said yes I do well to be angry angry enough to die then God said you pity the plant for which
[00:46:38] you did not labor nor did you make it grow it came to being in a night and it perished in a night and should i not pity nineveh that great city in which there are more than 120 000 people there
[00:46:55] who do not know their right hand from their left and also much cattle this is the word of the lord thanks be to god let's pray holy heavenly father god we just ask for you to open up our eyes to
[00:47:13] behold wonderful things from your truth open up our eyes to see it our ears to hear it our hearts to receive it father i personally pray that you would let the words of my mouth and meditations
[00:47:24] of my heart be acceptable in your sight oh lord our rock and our redeemer and all god's people said amen thank you may be seated church if we were to take those nearly 500 words we just read
[00:47:43] in jonah and boil them down to a single sentence here's what i think it would be it's our big truth of the day it's my entire sermon in a single sentence you can see it on the screen if you
[00:48:01] wish to write it down because Christ left his throne to pursue unworthy sinners like me I must turn from mine to proclaim his gospel to all nations as we work through the text today I want
[00:48:28] to, I want you to put the faithfulness of that statement to the test of God's word. I want to see if there are a few Bereans in the midst of these Baptists here this morning. And if there
[00:48:39] are, I want you to turn your attention to the call we must consider in verses six through ten.
[00:48:44] How do you turn the heart of a nation back to God? Well, it all starts with a T.
[00:48:51] The first thing you have to do is to transfer your throne to God. Transfer your throne to God.
[00:49:02] now i'm not sure if you're aware of this or not but each and every single one of us has a throne and no i'm not talking about the porcelain ones in your water closet i'm talking about the one in your heart the one where whether you realize it or not you love to
[00:49:21] sit on from time to time ruling and reigning over situations and circumstances that take place in your lives? I mean, if you think about it, humans everywhere, especially here in America, we love to be treated like kings. Don't believe me? Think about it. How many royal servants do you command
[00:49:47] from time to time in your castle? What servants, you might say? I'd be willing to bet right now in this room, most of us have several servants in our home. Servants that wash your dishes.
[00:50:07] Servants that wash your clothes. Servants that cook your food. You even have servants that entertain you. How do I know that? So do I. How many of us own washing machines, dishwashers, microwaves televisions how many of us go out to eat or we get waited on from hand and foot
[00:50:33] you know there's entire industries built around capitalizing on that very desire did you know in the united states alone the service sector generates 15 trillion dollars annually that's two-thirds of all economic activity built around some form of service whether you like to admit it
[00:50:59] or not those numbers don't lie we enjoy being served we enjoy being treated like royalty but notice the call from the prophet today is to step down from that imaginary throne But not just that.
[00:51:20] Take it a step further.
[00:51:22] We must remove our royal robes.
[00:51:26] Look in verses 6 and 7 as you see the call to remove your robe.
[00:51:35] The word reached the king of Nineveh.
[00:51:37] And what did he do?
[00:51:39] He arose from his throne.
[00:51:41] He removed his robe.
[00:51:46] He covered himself with sackcloth and he sat in ashes.
[00:51:48] and he issued a proclamation and published throughout Nineveh by decree of the king that neither man nor beast herd nor flock taste anything let them not feed or drink water here you have one of the mightiest
[00:52:07] men on the planet at that time the king of one of the greatest cities in the entire Assyrian empire known for their brutal military strength and their dominance over countless territories humbled by a minor prophet from the tiny town, the tiny nation of Israel. I mean, just look at the
[00:52:32] extreme pendulum swing of power that takes place in these first two verses. This mighty king steps down from his throne and he sits in a pile of ashes. And not only that, but he calls for the
[00:52:48] entire nation to follow suit, showing us that the best forms of leadership is leadership by example.
[00:52:54] it's a proclamation that stretches far and wide even the animals are summoned to take part in it so we ask ourselves how how could that happen how could something like that take place what's the root cause of such a powerful picture of repentance what took place what took place in
[00:53:24] those moments upon that royal throne, I'll tell you what happened. A mighty king was confronted with the power of God's word. And soon after it, he felt his knees buckling beneath the weight of it. An earthly king bowed before a heavenly one. A king in command of armies of flesh and blood
[00:53:53] yielded to the commander of angel armies a man under conviction stepped down from his royal throne and he acknowledged that it rightly belonged to another to the god man jesus christ and in so doing he provided for not only the nation of the nation of nineveh but for all people throughout
[00:54:20] all times a powerful picture of what repentance is supposed to look like the king summoned for all things under his rule to push back away from the table of the world and to start looking towards
[00:54:36] heaven for the true source of what can satisfy and as he did this earthly king transferred his throne back to its rightful owner making way for the king of kings and i love how the scriptures
[00:54:58] describe it he didn't just surrender his throne he removed his royal robes and church what a powerful picture of the gospel that is don't miss this think back to genesis remember what happened when Adam and Eve tried to ascend to the throne of their lives
[00:55:21] only to find themselves plunging all of creation into a fall.
[00:55:27] In their quest for royal robes, what happened?
[00:55:33] They found themselves naked and ashamed, exposed by the guilt of their sin.
[00:55:42] And do you remember what they did soon after that?
[00:55:44] They immediately went to work, stitching together their coverings, those royal robes of self-righteousness sewing fig leaves together in an attempt to hide their sin and shame but the lord made it pretty clear that day didn't he those coverings they're not
[00:56:09] going to do so he did for them what they could not do for themselves a sacrifice was made blood was shed and he covered them that's the call of the gospel my friends we have to take off
[00:56:35] our handmade robes of self-righteousness and we have to cry out for another covering that can only come from the one true king and that's exactly what you see taking place in verses 8 through 10 it's the call for cover the king said let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and
[00:57:01] i love this let them call out mightily to the king to god let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands and who knows god may turn and relent and turn from
[00:57:19] his fierce anger that we may not perish and when god saw what they did how they turned from their evil ways, God relented of the disaster that he said he would do to them. And he did not do it.
[00:57:36] I want to ask you something. Do you know what sackcloth is made out of? And no, it's not a sack.
[00:57:46] It's animal hair. It's woven from the skin of a goat or a camel. But I love where this king tells his people to find theirs he issues a decree call out mightily to god in other words
[00:58:08] he's seeking to obtain theirs not from a camel or from a goat he points them to the lamb and it's not just an outward turning that this king is after either he's after an inward heartfelt
[00:58:22] repentance the call is clear he says let every one of us turn from our evil ways he says turn from the violence that's in our hands and church he's not kidding either I don't know if you know this or not but one of the reasons why Jonah didn't want
[00:58:42] to go to Nineveh you get a hint in that statement right there the Assyrians were brutal people after a battle they would literally decorate their towns with the bodies of their enemies to put it in modern terms they would use their blood
[00:59:00] for paint, their skin for wallpaper, their limbs for lumber. And I'm not pulling your leg. You can, if you're brave enough, you can look this up if you want to. They would literally decorate their
[00:59:15] cities with dead bodies as a form of celebration. You know, in some ways, I think Jonah probably felt the same way a Jew would who survived the Holocaust, only to hear the call, hey, take the gospel to the nazis in germany let's put it in modern day terms maybe a an israelite living
[00:59:39] today in israel probably feel the same way going into gaza to preach the gospel to hamas but here's the amazing thing while most of us myself included we would be so focused on revenge where's god's heart it's on redemption while most of our attention would be so fixated on those
[01:00:08] murders but again where's God's heart it's focused on mercy the people of Nineveh were considered to be the enemies of God they were the enemies of God's holy chosen people Israel and as a result
[01:00:30] they they honestly they didn't know what would happen if they repented they knew that they didn't deserve forgiveness but they had enough faith to ask for it anyways and here's the amazing thing about God's grace. He forgave them. He forgave them. The Bible clearly tells us when they
[01:01:01] repented, God relented. And church, I'm here to tell you today, it doesn't matter who you are, doesn't matter where you're from, doesn't matter what you've done. If you ask for forgiveness by grace through faith in the lord jesus christ you will find forgiveness in his name that's right
[01:01:29] i don't care if adolf hitler prayed a prayer of salvation before his dying breath i believe if he meant it we would see him in heaven some of y'all might be thinking how could he say something
[01:01:47] like that churches because god says something like that john 6 37 all that the father gives to me will come to me and listen to this whoever comes to me i will never cast out there's no
[01:02:07] asterisk in that there's no beside these people or this person beside that whosoever calls upon in the name of the lord will be saved and some might say that's scandalous that's ghastly i call it salvation by grace here's the thing friends we've got to come to grips with this we've got
[01:02:30] to come to grips with the fact that the you in turning we are unworthy we have to understand that we are unworthy of grace and you see that taking place in verses one through four
[01:02:43] church you know i think we're more like jonah than we care to admit you see jonah loves grace so long as it's offered to him but he hates it when it's offered to them that's why we have to
[01:03:00] remember that the grace not just that we got to remember the grace that was given to us in verses one and two there's a call to remember the grace that god has personally given to you look in verses one and two it displeased jonah exceedingly he was angry
[01:03:17] and he prayed to the Lord and said oh Lord is this not what I said when I was back in my country this is why I ran I fled to Tarshish I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful slow to anger
[01:03:33] and abounding and steadfast love and relenting from disaster church how did Jonah know what God was going to do he told us right here I ran from Nineveh and it wasn't because I was fearful of
[01:03:50] their brutality God it was because I was fearful of your kindness Jonah said for I knew that you are and I quote a gracious God a merciful God slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love
[01:04:13] now where have we heard that before got to think back to Exodus Exodus 34 verse 6 in the midst of israel's god's holy chosen people in the midst of israel's sin right after the lord had delivered
[01:04:32] them out of the hand of their oppressors working wonder after wonder after wonder to provide for his people how did his people repay god by worshiping the work of their hands by making a golden idol a golden calf and literally bowing down to it and what did god tell them
[01:04:57] on top of that big mountain did god say holy cow guys i left you alone for a few moments and this is what happens wait till i come down there i'm gonna kill all of you god didn't say that
[01:05:14] when moses asked to see the glory of the lord the lord says i'll show you the lord passed before him and he proclaimed do you want to see my glory here it is the lord the lord a god merciful and
[01:05:34] gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Let me tell you what God was essentially telling them. I'm unlike any king you have ever seen. They display their might through their brutality, but I display my glory through my goodness. I show you my majesty through my mercy.
[01:06:04] you see Jonah loved the grace of God when it was given to him and his people but he hated it when it was extended to others which is why we've got to not just remember the grace given to us
[01:06:22] church we've got to rejoice in the grace given to others and that's the call of verses three through four therefore now oh Lord Jonah says please take my life it's better for me to die
[01:06:39] than to live and the Lord said again do you do well to be angry but that's not what Jonah does is that he doesn't rejoice in the grace given no he doesn't want to rejoice Jonah wants revenge
[01:06:57] he doesn't just want to get mad he wants to get even but God God being so gracious the masterful wonderful teacher that he is, he uses his temper as a teachable moment. He asked Jonah,
[01:07:17] do you do well to be angry? And you know, I think perhaps it would be wise to ask ourselves the same question this morning. Churches, there's such a thing as righteous anger. Yes. Yes, there sure is.
[01:07:37] Does God ever get angry?
[01:07:40] Did Jesus ever get angry?
[01:07:43] Yes, he sure did.
[01:07:46] Jesus exchanged harsh words with hard-hearted people.
[01:07:49] He even drove out people in the temple who were there for the wrong reasons when zeal from his Father's house consumed him.
[01:07:57] But what's the call for us?
[01:08:00] What's the call for Christians living today?
[01:08:05] Ephesians 4.26 says, Be angry and do not sin.
[01:08:10] do not let the sun go down upon your anger well this means it's okay to be angry so long as it doesn't provoke us to sin i guess this means we can have all the anger we want so long as we don't
[01:08:26] sin with it but as we do maybe it would be a good idea to keep another verse in mind james 120 james 120 says for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of god so our anger
[01:08:44] doesn't accomplish what God is after which is his righteousness well then can we can we have anger or not I mean what's the right call here you know I think this this is a pretty good time to share a
[01:09:00] little nugget I picked up from another pastor a few years back while listening to while listening to one of Timothy Keller's sermons three years ago he said something that's that that stuck with me ever since when it comes to the issue of anger. God shows us the right path to take. See, the call
[01:09:22] isn't to have no anger. There's a time and a place for anger. But conversely, it's not blow anger either. We don't need to blow up the moment someone cuts you off in traffic as you execute a pit
[01:09:37] maneuver and try to crash them into the wall. That's not good either. God shows us the way. Church, we are called to a slow anger to be slow to anger and patient with others the same way that God is
[01:09:57] slow to anger and patient with you and me and maybe some of y'all are thinking well that's easy for a preacher to say but how how is that practically done look no further than the third
[01:10:10] step in turning your heart to Jesus the third step fruit of the spirit will flow right out of a person who's doing this the third step the r in turn is resting rightly in the gospel you've got
[01:10:26] to rest your heart in the right things you see that in verses five through nine but what's the key to that i mean in a world filled with so many false rest stops where are we going to find the
[01:10:41] rest that our souls so desperately need is it find is it found out on an island somewhere soaking up the sun with our toes in the sand is it found in the comfort of a sleep number bed or
[01:10:55] maybe a lazy boy recliner is it found on social media as we scroll our lives away in search of that mental break you know verses five and six six have a lot to say about this it tells us
[01:11:12] if you want to find true rest for your soul and let me tell you a secret right here in the scriptures don't desire entertainment don't desire entertainment verses five and six will tell you that Jonah went out of the city and he sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself
[01:11:36] and he sat under the shade till he should see what would become of the city and the Lord God appointed a plant and made it to come up over Jonah that it might be shade over his head to
[01:11:48] save him for his discomfort and Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant you know friends friends here at Trinity I want to I want to share something with you that God pressed on my heart this week I want to share with you a little illustration while I was praying for this
[01:12:09] very sermon but but in order to do this I'm gonna need some help I'm gonna need y'all to help me right here okay work with me here humor me a little bit can you do that I want you to imagine
[01:12:22] right now this entire church is transformed filled with people and all i want you to picture it as a big cruise liner out at sea again not a country club not a retirement home not a hospital i want
[01:12:41] you to picture a massive ocean liner in the middle of the atlantic have you got that picture in your mind. I hope so. But the question is, what type of vessel should she be? You know, some would say,
[01:12:58] well, you know, everyone gathers here to be fed. I mean, everybody knows Baptists can eat.
[01:13:03] Now, I'm not talking about food either. They're weekly Bible studies. You can sit back and relax and enjoy and feast on God's Word. Oh, and let's not forget about the lovely entertainment either.
[01:13:15] the production team the music team is just incredible how many churches do you know of in our area with a full orchestra and a full choir you know come to think of it that sounds
[01:13:29] a lot like a cruise ship to me we all come together we get some rest we sit back relax enjoy some fellowship some good food we even get entertained that's one way we could think of it
[01:13:44] Let's apply that understanding to the night of April 14th, 1912.
[01:13:52] The SSTBC is somewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately 400 miles south of Newfoundland.
[01:14:00] And we slowly steam across a shipwreck where nearly 2,000 people are in the water and they're fighting for their lives.
[01:14:12] They're drowning in the sea of their own sin.
[01:14:15] And what do we do? We pull a Jonah. We pop open our lawn chairs, having it made in the shade, drinking lemonade with a bucket of popcorn, and we watch as person after person after person
[01:14:35] succumbs to a watery grave. That sounds horrible, doesn't it? But that's exactly the posture Jonah is trying to take right here in the text today he's hoping to be entertained by the calamity at hand back to the boat analogy let's take it a step further let's make this even worse
[01:15:01] maybe those people in the water start to scream for help and maybe we do have a conscience and it starts to prick our heart a little so we turn our heads we don't want to we don't want to see it
[01:15:16] but even then we can still hear their screams so we ask the band play a little louder help put our minds at ease and church I hope that sounds awful to you because that's the point I'm trying to make
[01:15:35] but church we have to be careful we have to understand this because I'm telling you if we're not careful that can soon become the postures of our hearts turning on the local news watching the
[01:15:49] world go to hell in a handbasket from the comfort of our living rooms i once read about a church a christian church in germany during world war ii that was just across the street from a
[01:16:01] concentration camp and they did this very thing they asked the congregation to sing louder on sunday mornings to drown out the screams that were coming from down the street well i hope by now someone would say well let's cross that one off our list we don't want to be entertained there
[01:16:26] shouldn't be a cruise ship and with so much evil going on in the world maybe we could turn our attention towards the annihilation of that enemy instead you know if a cruise ship wasn't the
[01:16:38] answer maybe a battleship will do a destroyer of some sort where we search and destroy those who are who find themselves on the wrong side of sin and before we march in that direction let's let's
[01:16:54] read verses seven and nine because as we do i think they'll tell us we might not want to desire that either. The Bible says don't desire entertainment, but it also is going to tell us
[01:17:04] don't desire execution. Look in 7 through 9. But when the dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm and the worm attacked the plant so that it withered. And when the sun rose,
[01:17:24] God appointed a scorching east wind and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and he asked that he might die and he said it's better for me to die than to live but God
[01:17:36] said to Jonah do you do well to be angry for the plant and he said yes I do angry enough to die you know in verses seven through nine we essentially hear Jonah calling out a very
[01:17:54] familiar phrase in the hopes that God would wage a holy war against the nation of Assyria Jonah tells God, God, give me liberty from these people or give me death.
[01:18:12] But yet again, God asks Jonah that familiar question.
[01:18:18] Do you do well to be angry?
[01:18:22] Let's apply our battleship analogy to the SSTBCNC.
[01:18:29] You know, we're driven by a sense of justice and self-righteous resolve.
[01:18:33] so we call out for the annihilation of the enemy even if it means we're going to lose our very lives in the process and again think back to april 14th 1912 that's the night the titanic went down
[01:18:45] by the way and the battleship trinity steams upon the scene we've got our rifles in our hands the captain standing up he's shining a spotlight across the water in search of the enemy he cries out there's a woman caught in the sin of adultery she's made a shipwreck of her life
[01:19:09] over here here's a man stuck in a cycle of substance abuse his life is taking on water as we speak oh and over here here's someone stained by the sin of divorce surely they're not worthy to come over here in our prestigious vessel and over and over and over again muzzle
[01:19:33] flashes go off and with the loud crack of a rifle we shoot to kill those who are losing their battle with sin and you might say who would ever say a thing like that or do a thing like that i'm going
[01:19:49] to tell you this the founder of the salvation army said the church would william booth founder of the salvation army is famously known for saying the church is the only army in the world that will
[01:20:06] shoot its wounded. Again, we've got to be careful in our pursuit of justice that we don't stop there.
[01:20:20] Yes, seek justice, but also love mercy and walk humbly with your God. When confronted with the evils of the world, our flesh naturally wants to wipe those people off the map, mine included.
[01:20:41] But church, what if that's the very spot that God wants to send his people?
[01:20:48] What if that's the very spot that God's calling the church to go?
[01:20:52] What if that's the ground where he intends to deploy his life-saving aid found from that red cross we were singing about earlier?
[01:21:02] That's the last step in turning a heart to God.
[01:21:07] It's the end in turn.
[01:21:09] Church, we've got to notice our Nineveh and go.
[01:21:15] You see that in the last two verses.
[01:21:17] Jonah. God does not desire his church. He doesn't want his church to desire entertainment. God doesn't desire his church to desire execution. Church, I'm here to tell you today, he desires his church to desire discipleship and evangelism. And you see that truth hidden in these last two
[01:21:38] verses. Jonah. The Lord said, you pity the plant? You didn't labor. You didn't make it grow. It came up in a night and it was gone in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh? That great city with
[01:21:55] over 120,000 people there who don't even know their right hand from their left, not to mention the cows. And in these last two verses, I believe God gives us the answer to the question we were
[01:22:11] asking. What sort of vessel should the church be? Not a cruise ship where we entertain, not a battleship where we execute, but a vessel in the coast guard's fleet. Church, we're to do the same
[01:22:31] thing Jesus did. Jesus didn't search and destroy. He came to seek and to save that which is lost.
[01:22:42] And so should we. Yes, we are equipped with weapons and armor, but they're here for defensive purposes.
[01:22:51] we don't just guard the truth we're called to give it away extending lifelines to those who are perishing in the treacherous waters of our culture what would happen if the coast guard was there the night the titanic went down they would have done everything within their power to save
[01:23:14] all 1,517 people who lost their lives that day they would have searched high and low they would have been pleading for every last soul to hold fast because help is on the way they would have begged those in the water to grab a hold of the lifeline that is jesus christ
[01:23:38] imploring them take his hand you're not going to make it on your own there is no other way the weight of sin is too much for anyone to bear eventually it's going to pull you under
[01:23:53] your only hope is to call out for christ and he will save call upon the name of the lord and believe for everyone who calls upon the name of the lord will be saved church is just like the
[01:24:14] days of noah our hope is found in pieces of wood that have been nailed together cling to the cross it's the only hope that can save you church as we close out our time together today
[01:24:30] I want to end this series in Jonah the same way God ends the book of Jonah by asking a question but notice it's a question that Jonah never answered perhaps because God wants the answer to come from you
[01:24:54] should God pity Nineveh should God not pity those lost souls who don't know their right hand from their left Church, I can tell you for a fact that God pities Nineveh.
[01:25:20] But the real question is, do you?
[01:25:25] Will you notice your Nineveh, the Nineveh that God has called you to?
[01:25:35] Who's your Nineveh?
[01:25:37] I don't know.
[01:25:38] Who are the people that you secretly hope God never forgives?
[01:25:44] You know, we're told that Nineveh had 120,000 people in it who were lost.
[01:25:51] But do you know, in North Carolina today, there are an estimated 3.5 million people just as lost, completely separated from Christ.
[01:26:09] Did you know in the United States there's 130 million people who publicly deny Jesus Christ?
[01:26:16] did you know there's an estimated 5.7 billion people on planet earth destined for an eternity in hell at this very moment they don't know the one true king they're still sitting on the thrones of their lives in rebellion have we noticed them yet in the face of such a great need i can't help
[01:26:48] but wonder, how will our church respond?
[01:26:54] Will we be like Jonah, or will we be like Jesus?
[01:27:01] Jonah sat outside the city in anger, but Jesus wept over it.
[01:27:08] Jonah asked the judgment to fall on them, but our King Jesus, who we've gathered together to worship this very morning, asked for the judgment to fall on him.
[01:27:23] Do we care more about our possessions than God's people?
[01:27:29] Do we care more about temporary comforts than eternal souls?
[01:27:36] As we close out today, I want to share a harsh reality with you.
[01:27:40] A week-long mission trip's not going to cut it.
[01:27:45] Evangelism is not enough.
[01:27:49] It must be paired with discipleship.
[01:27:53] Notice, as soon as Nineveh turned to God, Jonah turned away from Nineveh.
[01:27:59] And years later, Both Israel and Nineveh paid the price.
[01:28:06] In 2 Kings 17, you can read about Israel's fall to the Assyrians.
[01:28:11] In the book of Nahum, you can read about Nineveh's eventual judgment that finally came.
[01:28:18] And with it, it gives us a very sobering reminder.
[01:28:23] We've got to follow through with what God has called us to do.
[01:28:28] not just evangelize but to make disciples of all nations teaching them to turn the thrones of their hearts over to the one true king the king who stepped down from his throne in order to save
[01:28:47] sinners like you and like me there are 5.7 billion people out there in the waters of sin drowning right now souls drifting souls drowning souls hoping and waiting to be rescued if you were to paddle across one of them today which ship would have arrived on the scene
[01:29:23] a cruise ship a battleship or a rescue vessel let's pray as we wait and see father in heaven God I thank you that you left your comfort that you left your throne in pursuit of unworthy sinners like me
[01:29:56] Father I'm so thankful for the cross of Christ this morning I'm so thankful Father for when they stripped you of your garment Father you used that as an opportunity to clothe me and Father if we've sat on the throne of our lives
[01:30:21] for any moment that's considered rebellion and high treason against our one true king.
[01:30:31] So Lord, in this moment, my prayer is that all of us would turn the throne of our hearts over to you.
[01:30:41] Lord, you're seated upon the throne in heaven.
[01:30:44] We pray for the same thing here on earth in our hearts.
[01:30:52] Lord, thank you for helping us to see and understand we're unworthy.
[01:30:57] Thank you for helping most of us rest rightly in the hope of the gospel.
[01:31:01] the work in some ways for our salvation is finished but not for the salvation of others who have never known who have never heard Lord we still must proclaim this great message help us to be faithful to do so
[01:31:19] by the power of your Holy Spirit and your grace help this church and those within it to notice their Nineveh's and go Lord our prayers we close out this service is that you administer to each heart and mind
[01:31:37] that you would be our wonderful counselor our great physician, our master rabbi, that you might want to ask us a few questions today.
[01:31:50] Do you do well to be angry?
[01:31:57] Father, we turn this time of invitation over to you to lead as you see fit.
[01:32:04] If there's someone who has never grabbed a hold of Christ today, I pray that today would be the day of salvation, that they would surrender the throne of their lives to you as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
[01:32:16] Father, if no one, if someone's here who's never committed to a church, Lord, I pray that you'd press upon their heart to join this church family today.
[01:32:26] Father, maybe someone just wants to get alone with you for a while.
[01:32:29] We'll provide that opportunity.
[01:32:33] Lord, your word, you give it to us for a reason.
[01:32:38] This is not about being informed.
[01:32:41] This is about being transformed.
[01:32:43] We have received it today.
[01:32:45] Help us to respond to it as you see fit.
[01:32:48] I ask this in your son's mighty name.
[01:32:51] Amen.

[01:32:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:32:51] A couple of announcements to make real quick

[01:36:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:36:43] and an exciting decision to share with you all today as well.
[01:36:48] Yeah, sorry, you may be seated.
[01:36:50] Thank you, Pastor Grant.
[01:36:54] I apologize, keep you standing for a while.
[01:36:57] A couple quick announcements to make.
[01:36:58] Obviously, we've got life groups today.
[01:37:00] You don't want to miss out on that.
[01:37:01] It's a sweet time of fellowship.
[01:37:03] If you don't have a life group, we'd love to plug you into one.
[01:37:05] If you go to TraineeBaptist.com, you can see a list of life groups, locations, and contact information.
[01:37:11] Also, this is one of the last weeks to get plugged into Upward Soccer.
[01:37:15] And that might be an opportunity for you to notice your Nineveh.
[01:37:18] There's going to be a lot of children here that are there just to play soccer that haven't come necessarily for Jesus.
[01:37:24] And it could be your opportunity to introduce them to him.
[01:37:27] Thank you, sir.
[01:37:28] And Brother Phil is out there.
[01:37:30] Oh, sorry, he's right here, actually.
[01:37:32] And he's going to be looking for volunteers to help coach or train or oversee that ministry.
[01:37:37] So it's basically one of your last weeks to get plugged in.
[01:37:40] want to make mention of that and want to share some exciting decisions with you today so this is miss christine and emily pianovich i hope i'm saying that right close all right awesome they they have um come forward to join trinity baptist church and they feel like this is where god is
[01:38:05] calling them to um take root and bear fruit and get to know jesus more and help to make him know more in the community and what's your pleasure in affirming both of their choices today to step
[01:38:16] forward as members there's a motion there and there's a second uh all in favor so raise your hand amen there's your friends there's your friends awesome thank you so much thank you thank you guys so much i'll walk you down there and we'll meet and greet people on the way out
[01:38:33] brother trevor's going to close us with the benediction thank you again and god bless

[01:38:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:38:36] powerful message and stepping in the last three weeks as pastor mark has been gone we're thankful that he'll be coming back next week but i'm super thankful how the lord has worked in and through
[01:38:48] Pastor Robert to speak to us through the book of Jonah. It's been awesome. I want to encourage you as our service comes to a close that doesn't mean the ministry does not and so if you need prayer
[01:38:57] speak to one of us pastors or somebody in your pew. We would love to pray with you. We would love to point you to Christ and as Pastor Robert said we would encourage you to join a life group. I'll
[01:39:07] be here at 1 30 in Nick Allen's life group. We're going to gather together and there's many others that meet in homes and so I want to encourage you get involved in a life group. But as Pastor
[01:39:18] Robert was preaching this morning, all I could think of is kind of Paul's words in Ephesians chapter 2, so I'm going to read that as our benediction this morning. And you were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of the world, following
[01:39:34] the prince of power of the air and the spirit that is now within the sons of disobedience, among whom you all once lived in the passions of your flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and in the mind,
[01:39:56] and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.
[01:40:02] We sound like Nineveh there.
[01:40:03] But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love of which he loved us, even when we were dead and the trespasses and sins made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved
[01:40:24] that is the message for us this morning Lord Jesus thank you for this morning thank you for this congregation thank you for the words you spoke to us through Jonah Lord let us be a congregation that goes out
[01:40:35] to the Ninevites let us go out to the nations and proclaim your grace and mercy to others and being slow to anger, but showing your love and mercy towards others. Lord, I pray and ask these things in your name. Amen.