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Introduction:

Today we are going to dive into something new. We are going to begin a series through an OT Book. A Couple of years ago I took a class on “Expository Preaching”. Taught by Pastor Brad Wicks. I have since taken on this style of preaching. So what is expository preaching.

What that means, is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible and then breaking them down from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. Our goal, to better understand not only what God’s Word says, but what it means in our lives today.

So if you are here today you are in luck because you get to jump in right at the beginning. We are going to be going through a series written by Pastor Brad Wicks. A true Classic. The Story of a Prophet named Jonah. You may remember him as the man who was swallowed by a Whale.

Most of us don’t think of Jonah too much since is characteristically aligned with David and Goliath, Daniel and the Den of Lions, Micheach, Shadrack, and Abindigo. You know the Sunday School Stories.

Since most people focus on the Whale aspect of the story it gets placed with stories like Pinocchio, as if it’s more of a Bible Fable rather than something that happened.

Shane

Not to long ago I led a guy to salvation after he told me that he couldn’t trust the Bible because of the store of Jonah and the Whale.

He told me that He knew God was real because He supernaturally saved him several times when he served in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I remember asking him if he was serious.

You mean to tell me you believe that God is powerful enough to supernaturally save you from roadside bombs, gun fire, and grenades but he isn’t powerful enough to create a fish big enough to swallow a man and sustain that man inside that fish long enough to reach shore and regurgitate him.

The man quickly realized his error in thinking and made a decision to start trusting the Bible.

I Believe

You see I believe the Story of Jonah, I also believe in the book of Genesis where it says an eternal God created the heavens and the earth, that he shaped a man out of dust, blew life into him, and he became a living creature.

In addition to that, I believe in what the book of Exodus tells us about a God who parts seas, brought water from a rocks, and fed over a million people for 40 years with bread from heaven.

Not only that, I believe the stories in the NT about a man names Jesus who had the power to heal the sick, cause the lame to walk, restore sight to the blind, and raise the dead.

My point being, the story of Jonah is like any other story in the Bible.

It’s a story that I believe took place, and so if you have trouble with the whale part of Jonah, then I’m not sure how you’re ever going to believe some of the supernatural events I just described, let alone that a man could be beaten beyond recognition, hung on a cross, have a spear jabbed into his heart, be put in a tomb, and then three days later be raised to life, and then become the savior of the world.

Are you catching my drift. Because if we believe God can do all that,

then I’m pretty sure he could sustain a man in a whale’s belly for a few days.

Proof from Jesus

And if you need definitive proof it happened, then maybe it’s best you hear it from Jesus who has this to say about Jonah:

Matthew 12:40–41 ESV

40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

You see Jesus not only verifies the story of Jonah, he uses Jonah’s story to foretell his own death and resurrection.

So let’s get this straight. If you believe Jesus died and rose again. You should have no problem believing Jonah was swallowed by a whale and lived to tell about it.

The Story of Jonah is not a children’s Story

It is not a fable or allegory.

It is a historic account that actually took place.

So why should you be excited that we are studying the book of Jonah?

I am glad you asked.

According to R.T. Kendall, who pastored West Minister Chapel in London in the late 70’s, the book of Jonah is one of the most relevant books for the present time.

I agree with this statement. In this ever changing, declining, and shifting world The Book of Jonah may be the answer we are looking for.

It is so similar to hoe J.K. Toilken puts it in his Book The Lord of the Rings. Concerning the darkness that was infringing upon middle earth as he writes:

“The world has changed.

I see it in the water.

I feel it in the Earth.

I smell it in the air.

Much that once was is lost,

For none now live who remember it. ”

Our world is changing. you can feel it, smell it, and see it.

Would you agree with me it isn’t for the better.

We as a country now face what Historians call Late Decadence.

A term that describes the consequence of the moral decay of a society, where everything ungodly is embraced and on the rise.

Where good becomes evil and evil becomes good.

And it’s not new, because in 5000 years of human history there have been 26 cycles of human history that have repeated themselves where late decadence takes place. And according to history, we as a nation are right on track for the end of a cycle. And what’s scary is that no society that enters late decadence has ever recovered from it.

A great example of late decadence would be the Roman empire that around the 240 year mark, which is where we area at, imploded. You might ask, “Why did the Roman empire implode?” It imploded because over time it became a society of extravagance, indulgence, weakness, and sexual deviance". Sound familiar?

And what’s unfortunate is, while we’d like to blame the world, our culture, LGTBQ, CNN, and maybe for some of you the, the democrats, they are not really to blame. In fact, if we want to blame somebody for where we are as a nation, society, and culture, we have to start by blaming ourselves.

The Apostle Peter puts it like this:

1 Peter 4:17 ESV

17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Peter tells us, judgement starts with us. It starts when we begin to evaluate ourselves and our part in the mess. The American Church is part of the mess.

This is where the story of Jonah comes into play.

In his exposition on the book of Jonah, R.T. Kendall explains it like this as he compares the story of Jonah to the modern day church.

He writes , “The church today is in retreat. It is not really in the battle. The church has an inferiority complex and, like Jonah, who ran toward Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, has determined to run from God and go in another direction. The church has done this; the church has been given a message to preach but is not preaching it. The church has been in rebellion to the revealed will of God and has missed her calling.The church has looked to Tarshish and not Nineveh. The church is like Jonah who paid the fare to sail on the ship going in the opposite direction from what God demanded. The church has spent its energy, its time and its money on the wrong things. The church at the present time is like Jonah, asleep in the sides of the ship while the world is tossed in unprecedented bewilderment. The world is afraid-the church is asleep. The world asks questions-the church has no answers” (R.T. Kendall, p. 11).

If we want to blame somebody we have to start with ourselves the church. In most cases the American Church has become ineffective and when the church becomes ineffective it serves no purpose. This is why so many churches are in decline.

Matthew 5:13 ESV

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

The Goal of this series is to learn from Jonah, To come alive, to regain our saltiness.

You see the Story of Jonah is a But God Story.

A Story of how God used a reluctant prophet to awaken a society in late decadence.

A story of how God doesn’t give up on people.

A story of Grace, mercy and God’s ability to awaken a lost world. To awaken his church.

I believe God is going to use this story to awake Freedom Chapel and through this Story our Story in our community, and beyond is going to be rewritten.

So today we are going to accomplish three things.

First, we are going to establish who Jonah was and where he came from.

Second, we are going to look at what God Called him to do.

Third, we are going to establish how that applies to us.

So who was Jonah.

Jonah 1:1 ESV

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

The Book gives us a key fact about this Bible Figure. He was the son of Amittai.

This gives us important context for is identity and when he lives. Jonah is only mentioned in one other book in the OT.

2 Kings 14:23–25 ESV

23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. 24 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher.

Who was Jonah

So Jonah is a Prophet. This means he was a man that God spoke through to his people.

Now Jonah is from the Northern Kingdom of Isreal and during this time period that Kingdom is ruled by ungodly kings that are doing evil in the sight of the Lord. This evil is resulting in Judgement upon Israel.

What kind of Judgment? Well, typically judgment that came as foreign armies invaded the land. Invasions that resulted in brutality, loss of life, and exile.

And in the case of Jonah’s time frame, one particular invader that Israel faced were the Assyrians. A people who were know for the excessive brutality. Brutality that they often put on display.

For example: After capturing a city, the Assyrians would cut off legs, arms, noses, tongues, ears, and testicles of survivors. Often they would gouge out the eyes of their prisoners and then send them to roam about the countryside as examples of brutality.

They also loved to impale their victims on large stakes in a way that kept the victims alive for hours before dying. Such sights instilled terror and fear into the rest of the population. For the Assyrian kings, it was a showcase of their power.

When they captured nobles they would force them to grind the bones of their ancestors. By doing so, they erased the evidence of their legitimacy to rule. This was part of psychological torture. It showed the absolute power the Assyrian kings had over the subjugated nations.

In addition to that Assyrian Soldiers would often decapitate the defeated enemies and built pyramids out of their heads. The Assyrians also decorated trees with the heads of their enemies.

And maybe worst of all, their brutality wasn’t limited to men, but extended to women in children as small children would often be burned alive.

There were a terrible people. And it’s during this time frame of brutality that Jonah is living and prophesying. A time of darkness. A time when there wasn’t a lot of hope.

Jonah’s Call

This is important because it leads us to Jonah’s Call.

To be called by God is a privilege. Not something to be taken for granted. It is to be set apart.

Jonah 1:1 ESV

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

You See God had a Purpose for Jonah.

The Word came with a purpose.

You need to understand that Jonah’s call was with purpose.

Just like God’s call on Freedom Chapel is one of Purpose.

Just like Jonah we live in wicked times. In a country that isn’t serving the Lord.

A country that glorifies sexual immorality.

A country that glorifies the killing of innocent babies.

A country that is given to greed, excess, and selfish gain.

I hate to say it, but a country like Jonah’s. A country that is doing what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.

I believe we are starting to see the reprocussions for the world we live in.

We see it in the financial realm as inflation looms.

We see in the sexual realm as transgenderism is being taught in classrooms and promoted in the media.

We see it in the mental realm as depression, anxiety, and hopelessness have overcome many.

We see it in the political realm as division spreads like a cancer through our country and the world.

And the list goes on as the effects of sin bring further decay.

Like Jonah, God is calling Christians to active duty for a special purpose. I believe right now God is calling Freedom Chapel.

That means if you are part of Freedom Chapel, God is Calling you. You have a divine purpose.

If you embrace this call you will alter the course of your life and the course of others.

God is calling Freedom Chapel to rise up in the midst of wickedness and judgement. We are Jonah.

Let’s pick up in Verse 2.

Jonah 1:1–2 ESV

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

Jonah’s call involves a place to go and a message to deliver.

That Place was a large city of 120,000 people and guess where it was.

Assaria.

God is calling Jonah a Jew to deliver a message to the enemy.

That’s like telling Casey Hainline to deliver a message to a Bronco’s fan.

Jonah 1:2 ESV

2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

God has noticed their evil and he is sending Jonah to warn them.

If they don’t change their ways Judgement was coming.

It wasn’t like God hadn’t noticed the evil before it was that now he was ready to do something about it.

You see instead of just wiping them out God decides to send Jonah to warn them as an act of Mercy and Grace.

An opportunity to escape judgement.

Why is this important?

Imagine if God didn’t do that? Imagine if God just left you in your sin. Do you know what that would mean? It would mean that you would never experience the mercy of God. It would mean that you would die in your sin without any hope.

But God loves you too much for to do that.

Hebrews tells us:

Hebrews 12:6 ESV

6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

You see God uncovers, exposes and forces us to face our sins.

This is a good thing because if God just passes over our sins we end up like Paul writes in Romans.

Romans 1:18–23 ESV

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

In this passage Paul clearly shows us what happens to those who refuse to put their hope in Jesus.

Romans 1:24–25 ESV

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

Paul tells us that because they refused God, God gave them up. Because they were determined to sin.

Romans 1:26–27 ESV

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Why does God do this. Because he knew that it wouldn’t make a difference. Even if he confronted them they would not repent.

In Fact they would dive deeper.

Romans 1:32 ESV

32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

We want God to deal with our sin.

Why because God wants to present his Mercy.

God Called Jonah to present his Mercy.

Here is how this applies to us. God has called us to Nineveh. To present the Mercy of God.

You might ask, “ Where is Nineveh”

It is right outside our doors.

You see God has called us to reach our city, our county, our region, our state, our country, and our world. God wants us to go into enemy territory. He wants us to rise up and be the church. To carry a message of mercy and power to a lost and dying world.

To people we’ve given up on.

To people we'd rather not talk too.

To people who have hurt us, made fun of us, lied to us, despised us, cussed us, laughed at us, and persecuted us. God has called us to go to them and tell them about a God who loves them.

Like Jonah, God has chosen us in dark times to bring light to a lost and dying world.

He wants us to be salt. He wants us to rise up in His power and be the church.

That’s what the story of Jonah is about. It’s about God using us to go where many Christians have refused to go.

If we are going to do our part we are going to have to put in some work.

Deon and the Word Work.

Work comes with three requirements.

1. It requires a discovery of personal sin.

Judgement starts in the house of the Lord. How can you expect to be part of what God’s doing if your not letting God do something in you. Let’s wake up and let mercy into our lives.

2. It requires an acceptance of my calling.

The fact is, if you are a Christian, God is calling you. Like it or not the word of the Lord has come to you. God is calling you, calling us, to reach people for Jesus.

3. It requires me to go to Nineveh.

God has called you to reach Nineveh. To reach the world you live in, work in, and do life in.

The fact is, God didn’t raise up the church to be a passive social club where we come to drink coffee and complain about the democrats.

He raised up the church to kick hell back to where it came from.

Jesus says to the Church

Matthew 16:18 ESV

18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Your probably thinking I have lost my ever loving mind.

But here is the truth. We can run from it like we will learn about next week or we can embrace the call.

Paul tells us.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ESV

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

like how R.T. Kendall puts it:

“You see God has a claim over every man: You are bought with a price, your life is not your own: Oh, I now what it is to be situated in a very comfortable situation and then have God interrupt that state. Do you know what I am talking about? To be comfortable; to be happy and then God interferes and you rebel. We don’t like the thought that we are not our own, but I remind you that you are not. You are bought with a price and God has a claim over your life. I don’t care who you are. So, you are not to argue. But we don’t like it when God manifests that claim over our lives. We don’t like it. The fact is, we are not our own.”

Freedom as we move into the book of Jonah, I want you to understand its

serious business. It's Kingdom business. The book of Jonah isn’t about a whale, it’s about you and I joining the divine plan of redemption.

Freedom, we’ve been called up. The Nineveh is before us. God has equipped us. And heaven is on our side.

Let’s Pray