Big Fish… Bigger God (Part 2)

Introduction

One of the more wellknown stories in the Bible is the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. Some of you have heard a sermon or two or twelve on this story. Even if you haven’t been in church, you probably know parts of this story either through someone telling you about it, or by seeing it lived out in your own life. A father had 2 sons and the younger son asked for his inheritance while his father was still alive - a disrespectful thing to do! The father gives his son wealth, livestock, and possessions and the son goes to another country and lives it up for a season, until he wastes all of his inheritance. In order to make ends meet, the son works for a pig farmer and because he has nothing, he wants to eat the food that he feeds the pigs! The son realizes in this moment that he has hit rock bottom.

If you’ve ever been there: What did you do whenever you hit rock bottom? If you’ve not been there yet, and you will, what do you plan to do?

The young son “came to his senses” and left back for home… he doesn’t know if he will even be able to come and work as a servant, much less a son… but he comes back home - and if you know the story, you know that the father not only welcomes the son back, but he throws a party because his son that was dead is now alive, he was lost and now is found. Whenever the son hit rock bottom, he came home to the Father and received mercy that he didn’t deserve.

Can I give you some good news this morning, friend? Whenever you hit rock bottom, you are never too low to look up and come on home. This morning as we continue in the book of Jonah, we’ll see yet another example of someone who hit rock bottom - in the belly of the fish - and who looked up and received mercy that he didn’t deserve, but mercy freely given from our good God. Let’s read about God’s provision and Jonah’s prayer in Jonah 2.

Jonah 2 CSB

1 Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish: 2 I called to the Lord in my distress, and he answered me. I cried out for help from deep inside Sheol; you heard my voice. 3 When you threw me into the depths, into the heart of the seas, and the current overcame me. All your breakers and your billows swept over me. 4 And I said, “I have been banished from your sight, yet I will look once more toward your holy temple. 5 The water engulfed me up to the neck; the watery depths overcame me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 I sank to the foundations of the mountains, the earth’s gates shut behind me forever! Then you raised my life from the Pit, Lord my God! 7 As my life was fading away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, to your holy temple. 8 Those who cherish worthless idols abandon their faithful love, 9 but as for me, I will sacrifice to you with a voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation belongs to the Lord. 10 Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Whenever Jonah was at rock bottom, he prays to the Lord. So often we look to our problems and situations and feelings and forget that wherever we are, whatever we’ve been through, however we feel, we can always go to our God and know that He hears us. He loves us. He has a plan for us. Let’s go to Him in prayer this morning

God Hears Those Who Cry Out to Him (1-2)

We left off with Jonah in chapter 1 as he was in quite a predicament. God called him to go to Nineveh and Jonah sinned against God as he disobeyed God’s command. He rented a ship and hired a crew to sail as far west as west can go, Tarshish, or modern day Spain as many believe, thinking that he could escape God’s presence. Sin makes us do silly things, sometimes. Jonah quickly found out what he already knew, God is omnipresent. You can’t hide from Him! Jonah says that he is in Sheol, a place of divine punishment. How did he get there? Well, God sends a storm, and then a fish to get Jonah back on the path that he should’ve been walking on. Have you ever been in a situation like that? You know what you’re supposed to do, but you go the opposite direction and it’s like one thing after another after another is working against you and you finally, months or even years later, course correct and pursue the path that God initially had for you? Maybe that hasn’t been your past, maybe you’ve always done exactly what God calls you to do… maybe you can’t relate here, but we all can relate at another point in this situation: We all know what it’s like to feel stuck - don’t we?

Jonah is at rock bottom and quite literally, he is stuck. Sometimes we feel stuck, like we can’t do anything or move anywhere… Jonah literally can’t move. If we assume that he is in a fish, there wouldn’t have been anywhere for him to move. If this is a whale, there might have been some room to move, but he is stuck inside the belly of this whale with all the awful smells and digestive acids and darkness surrounding him. This isn’t a good place to be and there is no way out. He is stuck. We know what it’s like to be stuck too! Have you ever tried driving somewhere in Springfield at say, 5pm on Friday? How does that work for you? Sometimes we get stuck in rush hour traffic and we literally can’t move. Sometimes there are situations in life where we mentally get stuck trying to figure a situation out and we don’t know what the right decision to make is. We know what this is like! What do we do in those situation? Some people yell. Some people fight. Some people shut down. What does Jonah do? Prays.

Jonah understands that he is utterly hopeless unless God intervenes. Have you been there? In a situation? In a relationship? With a job? Can I give you some good news? God hears those who cry out to Him. Jonah says that he called out to the Lord and the Lord answered him. Now, how did Jonah get in this situation in the first place? It’s because of his sinful disobedience. Why do we get stuck between a rock and a hard place sometimes? Often it’s because of our sin. Have you ever seen someone do something that genuinely surprised you? Someone who seemed to have it all figured out and then they had some sort of a fall? Sadly, we see this a lot with pastors these days, but we see it with all types of Christians. In this book, we see it from a prophet!

So often we point at others and say, “How could they fall?” “I would never do that!” HB Charles shares that the response of a mature believer is different: “Thank you Jesus for keeping me from that so I don’t have to find out how weak I really am!” It’s easy to point the finger at Jonah and ridicule him because he refused to go to Nineveh and ends up in the belly of the fish… but isn’t this us? Many Christians, myself included, are really good at following God 99% of the time.

We’re comfortable following God until He calls us to do something that challenges and convicts us.

Some will obey God in every area, but not when it comes to romantic relationships. I will love whoever I want to. I will do whatever I want to with this person. I’ll follow God in every area, but not here.

Some will obey God in every area, but not in their marriage. A husband who refuses to lead and love like Jesus. A wife who refuses to humbly submit to her husbands leading. I’ll follow God in every area, but not here.

Some will obey God in every area, but not when it comes to money. I will gladly save up for luxuries and expenditures, but I will not tithe and I will not be generous with my money because this is MINE. I’ll follow God in every area, but not here.

Some will obey God in every area, but not when it comes to our kids. We have grand plans for them… but we refuse to truly entrust them to their heavenly Father’s care. We’ll follow God in every area, but not here.

So often we obey until a point that obedience convicts us or challenges something in our lives. Our security. Our control. Our identity. Then we say, “Absolutely not!”

99%… just not Nineveh. CS Lewis once shared this all-time quote, “Jesus is either Lord of all or He’s not Lord at all.” Jonah discovered that God demands 100%. Brothers and sisters, Jesus deserves 100% and He demands it. He isn’t interested in being second string on your depth chart. He isn’t interested in being your mascot. He is our Savior and Sustainer… and whenever we come to realize this, we realize what Jonah did whenever he hit rock bottom, whenever Jesus is all you have, you have all you could ever need because whenever you cry out in your time of need, He is there.

God Holds Those Who Know They Can’t Stand (3-6)

Not only does God hear us, but He holds us. I detest the fact that many churches, Christians, and especially songs turn Jesus into a boyfriend type figure. Have you heard some of those songs? Genuinely, if you take away the name Jesus, you can’t tell if they’re written to someone’s boyfriend or not. As sad as this development is, there is another development that is equally as frustrating and that is the side that is devoid of emotion completely. What a blessing it is to know that once we belong to Jesus by placing our faith in Him, He holds us fast. Whatever we go through, wherever we are at, He has us safe and secure. This doesn’t mean that we don’t go through trials and suffering and difficulty! The book of James and the book of Job are clear about these things - we will go through them, and we can even have joy during them!

Charles Spurgeon once shared, “Whenever God means to make a man great, He always breaks him in pieces first.” Some don’t like that language, but it’s the language we see in Scripture. Look in verse 3 - what does Jonah say about the waves? He says, “When YOU threw me into the depths…” Who threw Jonah into the sea? It was the sailors! Yet it happened because this was the Lord’s will. Do you see this? The men did the action, yet this was God’s plan. This is what Peter says about the cross in Acts 2

Acts 2:23 CSB

23 Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him.

Who was guilty for crucifying Jesus? The Jewish leaders for giving Him over and the Roman soldiers. They are called lawless people… but was this God’s determined plan? You’d better believe it. This was the way it was always going to be… yet, people are still responsible for choosing to sin. God is sovereign, and we are responsible. Here Jonah states that this is God’s plan. God threw him in the sea. He doesn’t say the breakers and billows, he says “YOUR” breakers and billows swept over me. Jonah realizes that he is being punished for his sin. He is experiencing God’s punishment and wrath. Yet, what does Jonah do? He prays. Not because he deserves deliverance, he deserves destruction… He prays not because he is faithful, he has been faithless. He knows in his bones that his God is the covenant-keeping God. If he turns to Him, He will be saved.

Friends, whenever you can’t stand because of a situation, you can still trust in Jesus. You can still go to Him in prayer. You can still seek His face. This gives us hope, He holds us even in seasons of doubt, despair, worry, anxiety, depression. Spurgeon, nicknamed the Prince of Preachers, struggled with depression, deeply. He was bruised and backstabbed numerous times by church members and men who he had trained for ministry. He knew his Bible. He was a faithful preacher. He was a genuine pastor - you know there’s a difference between preaching and pastoring, don’t you? He married thousands. He knew the right answers… yet he struggled with sadness, defeat, and depression. If this is you today or if this has been you in the past, I pray this encourages you, “I’ve learned to kiss the waves that throw me upon the rock of ages.” So often we blame other people for our problems: Spouse. Kids. Boss. Dog. Satan. What can we do instead? We can kiss those waves. We can rejoice while we suffer because whenever we can’t stand, whenever we are weak, whenever we don’t know how things will end up working out, we can trust in the ONE who does! God holds us even when things seem out of control.

This is Jonah. In the belly of the fish. Notice the downward trajectory here: Engulfed up to the neck. Overcame by the water. Seaweed wrapped around his head. Sank to the foundations of the mountains. The earths gates shut behind me. He is in the PIT. Do you see how God allowed Jonah to sink a little bit before the fish got him? I love me some VeggieTales but the VeggieTales version of Jonah doesn’t include this part. He went down into the water and then he kept going down. He hit rock bottom.

Have you been there? Nancy Guthrie wrote one of the best books I’ve ever read on Suffering called, “God Does His Best Work With Empty.” She opens the book up by talking about the emptiness that we all experience - how we can accomplish our dream, and wake up the next day feeling empty. How we can be in a room full of people and feel lonely. Ultimately, she experienced rock bottom after losing 2 children. Can’t imagine - don’t want to even go there. Yet, in her book she explains that what we often view as our greatest problem, God often uses for our greatest opportunity as we are emptied of ourself and filled with His Spirit. Whenever we hit rock bottom, our only hope is the Lord. What seems impossible for us is not in fact too hard for our all-powerful, all-kind, all-loving, Sovereign God.

Why does God bring Jonah out of the pit? God’s goal is not to kill Jonah but to call Jonah back to Himself and his mission to go to Nineveh! God’s purpose in sending storms in our lives is to show us how powerless we are and how in need of Him we are! If you are saved, it’s not because of how strong you are, how smart you are, how successful you are. It’s because God raised your life from the Pit. The Bible reminds us of this over and over, church. Before Jesus, we were hopeless. Walking in darkness. Dead in sins and trespasses. Like Jonah, we were drowning in the water - death was our present and our future. We might think that we’re really not that bad compared to other people… but our standard isn’t other people, our standard is God Himself and He is perfectly holy… and we all have sinned. We all fall short.

Psalm 24:3–4 CSB

3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not appealed to what is false, and who has not sworn deceitfully.

None of us can stand before God on our own. But, like Jonah, we can be raised to stand by God Himself. Maybe you’re here this morning and you think that there is no hope for you. You are too far gone. You have sinned too much. You have dropped the ball left and right. Let me encourage you this morning: Jesus is better at saving than you are at sinning!

You have to realize this, though… like Jonah you have no hope left to yourself. You’re drowning in the water of your sin. You and I don’t deserve God’s saving… yet, this is exactly what He does. He hears us. He holds us fast. He rescues us. He redeems us. There is no one too far gone for the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.

God Helps Those Who Can’t Help Themselves (7-10)

82% of Americans believe that “God Helps Those Who Help Themselves” is a Bible verse. As humans, we love to take credit for things. We love a good pat on the back. We love the warm and fuzzy feelings whenever we “deserve” something through our hard work… sadly, many people believe that this carries over into salvation. Hard work is a good thing. It is good to do good things for other people. However, there is grave danger in thinking that we deserve salvation or that we do our part first and if we do good enough then God will do His job. The book of Mormon argues for this worldview as it says this in the book of 2nd Nephi, “For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” In other words, God will save you, after you do all that you can do. God will help you, if you just help yourself first. There is a growing mentality in our world that says: I am strong, independent, successful, I don’t need any help! That’s as unbiblical a mentality as it gets.

You can’t be a strong and independent person AND be a Christian. Those who are saved are those who realize they don’t deserve God’s grace and that they desperately need God’s grace. In other words, those who realize that they cannot save themselves.

Have you come to this realization in your life? Like Jonah, have you come to the realization that you are completely helpless apart from God’s saving power? How do we get God’s help? Not by doing and doing, not by climbing and climbing… instead it’s by getting low enough. John 3:30

John 3:30 CSB

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Whenever you and I decrease, God increases. Whenever we get lower, He gets bigger. Whenever you are weak, He is strong! Now, we have to unpack a tension knot here in our passage: Does Jonah ever repent?

Verse 7 tells us that he remembered the Lord. We know that he prays to God here in our passage… but does he repent? Some believe there is at least a partial piece of repentance here… but the majority of scholars agree that repentance is completely absent from this prayer. He says “I remembered the Lord” in his time of need. Think of another person who was in need while out at sea named Noah.

Genesis 8:1 CSB

1 God remembered Noah, as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water began to subside.

It wasn’t Noah that remembered God… it was God that remembered Noah. Jonah is flipping this around. There are 10 other times in the Old Testament where we see this language of the Lord being faithful to remember His people. Aren’t you thankful that God remembers? Your suffering is not unseen. Your faithfulness does not go unnoticed. The Lord remembers! Yet, Jonah is quick to note that he remembered the Lord. It is good to remember the Lord - we must do this! But, so often we fall short. We drop the ball. Yet, God remains faithful. The reason that God saved Jonah was not because of Jonah’s faithfulness, but because of God’s.

There is a temptation for all of us to turn self into an idol. Regardless of your thoughts on John Calvin, he was absolutely right whenever he said that “The human heart is a perpetual idol factory.” A perpetual idol factory. A never-ending idol factory. Do you see this in our world? What have so many done? They invest their entire lives into one specific thing. And after a season that thing doesn’t provide so they move onto another thing. Then another. Then another. The most prevalent and pervasive sin in the Old Testament was in fact idolatry! The most prevalent and pervasive sin in our world today is idolatry.

What is idolatry? We think of idols in the Bible often as golden statues that people would build and fall down and worship. If that’s all that an idol is, then maybe you think that you’re all clear! Tim Keller once defined an idol like this, “Whatever you look at and say in your heart of hearts, ‘If I just had that, my life would have meaning, value, and significance.’” Where do we find meaning, value, and significance?

Hands on things like money, relationships, and hobbies. Status things like our job, title, and popularity. If you find your value and significance in these things, you will have no hope. Money is a wicked master. Relationships change. Hobbies fall to provide. Jobs come and go. Titles change. Popularity is fleeting. Yet, what do we so often do friends? We get so caught up in the game that we think this is where the prize is found! If I just had more money, then I’d be satisfied. If I just had this relationship, then I’d be happy. If I just had this title, then I’d measure up. On the authority of God’s Word, let me level with you: IT WON’T WORK.

See, we all will stand before God - we all are mortal. In that moment, all the accomplishments, accolades, and applause. All the resources, relationships, real estate. All the promotions, platforms, and praise… It’s all meaningless if you stand condemned to hell. It’s fleeting. It’s a vapor. It will not last. Don’t waste your life living for things that won’t last and praise that won’t provide. Don’t waste your life trying to earn your own way whenever your redemption was won on a blood stained cross 2000 years ago! Friend, whatever keeps you from bending the knee to Jesus as King and following Him as Lord is an idol and if you don’t smash that idol, it will drag you to hell. Whenever we realize that we have worshiped an idol or that we’ve allowed something to elevate itself to an idolatrous level in our lives, what must we do? Remember God’s goodness. Remember God’s mercy. Remember God’s power. Remember God’s salvation. Don’t abandon God’s faithful love and mercy and grace and goodness for a temporary fling that will fail to give you what you’re looking for. Imagine being in the desert, desperate for water… after traveling and searching for a long time, eventually you see a well in the distance and your heart leaps for joy as your feet slowly make their way in this direction. You can practically taste the water on your lips with each step you take. You get to well and lower the bucket down the hole… and it keeps going down, and down, and down, and eventually you hear a “THUD” as it hits the ground below… with no water in sight. This is what idolatry does. It looks so promising. So pleasing. We get our hopes up! But whenever that bucket hits the ground, we realize that we’ve been deceived.

Salvation isn’t found in being nice to others. It’s not found in checking the right boxes. It’s not found in repeating some magical words. Look at what the redeemed anthem in heaven proclaims:

Revelation 7:10 CSB

10 And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!

The heartbeat of the Bible and the key theme of Jonah is found in verse 9: Salvation belongs to the Lord. Have you discovered this yet? Millions have not. There are 3 responses that people in our world have when it comes to this truth.

Irreligious people say “I don’t need salvation!” I’m perfect just the way I am. Sin isn’t real. I’m fine!

Religious people say “I can save myself!” If I just work harder. If I just do more. I’m better than that other person! Look at what I did!

Christians humbly say “Salvation belongs to the Lord!” I’m saved not because I’m better than the person next to me, or because I’m perfect just how I am, or for any reason other than this one: God sent His Son to save sinners just like me. He sought me. He bought me. He redeemed me. He saved me. He changed me.

Which person are you today? Are you the person who compares yourself to those around you to justify your actions and make you feel better? Are you the person who looks at your life and says that you’re pretty awesome and have no need for Jesus? Or have you realized what the Bible says that your sins are many, but His mercy is more? Friend, once you arrive at that place, there is freedom. There is salvation. There is hope. There is satisfaction.

Because salvation is from the Lord, we know how the story ends. For Jonah, after these 3 days, he is vomited back on dry land. God’s Word says that the fish was commanded by God to do this. Remember, God is in control, friends. He appointed the storm. He commanded the fish. God remains in control today, He is sovereign! And God gave Jonah another chance. Another chance to go to Nineveh and call on them to repent. Another chance to be obedient to God’s call on his life.

Praise the Lord that our God is the God of second chances. Third chances. Fourth chances. How do you receive that second chance today? Because there is another Jonah, a better Jonah, who 2000 years ago, was thrown into the belly of the Earth in your place as He died on the cross and rose 3 days later. God seeks to save people drowning in sin by sending His Son, Jesus to die in our place. Have you trusted in Jesus as Savior? Are you following Him as Lord? 3 simple questions to ask yourself as we seek to apply this text and respond in faith to our good God

Has Jesus Changed My Heart?

Salvation belongs to the Lord… and we know that whenever Jesus saves us, He changes us! As you look at your life today, do you see those changes? Maybe like Jonah, you blew it before. You believed that there were people too far gone for the grace of Jesus Christ. Today, do you believe that? Has your heart been changed? Whenever you experience God’s grace and power and whenever the Holy Spirit opens up your eyes to see, your heart changes and it is never the same.

Have I Surrendered All?

For all the good that Jonah did - he never repented. He never acknowledged his wrongdoing. He never sought God’s forgiveness. He survived the Pit, but he never surrendered his pride. Some of us have experienced God’s grace and survived the Pit, but we still haven’t surrendered our pride. We still have an idol that we truly worship and run to in the place of God. We’re good at surrendering 99%… but maybe today you can think of that 1% that you’re holding on to. Today, lay that down. Surrender it all to Jesus!

Am I Obediently Sharing God’s Gospel?

Jonah believed the Nineveh-ites were off-limits. Do you have people who you consider to be off limits when it comes to the Gospel? Maybe today this is you - you have a past and you think that you are too far gone. Friend, you’re not because you’re just not that powerful.

South Gate - we are here to exalt our Savior and to engage our Society with the Gospel. This is what Jesus demands and this is what our community needs! Lay it down and let’s lift high the name of Jesus!

All to Jesus I surrender,

All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him,

In His presence daily live.

I Surrender All

I Surrender All

All to Thee my blessed Savior

I Surrender All

“The approval of God in Christ is worth more than a trillion pats on the back and worth all the stabs in it too.” Jared Wilson