The Boat

Introduction:

· Keeping a promise...

WE’LL SEE THE MISSION OF GOD, THE MERCY OF GOD, AND THE SACRIFICE OF GOD.

I) The Mission of God

A. God Desires to Extend Grace to The Lost

i. God is paying attention to nations beyond Israel: (vs. 1-2)

1. Nineveh: a massive, foreign city outside the bounds of Israel… (map)

2. …and Nineveh was renowned for its violence, brutality

3. And God takes notice of the evil: What will he do?

ii. Jonah has paid attention to God’s track record within Israel (2 Ki. 14:23-25)

2 Kings 14:23–25 ESV

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. 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. 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.

1. Jonah valued mercy for Israel, but despised mercy for others

2. ILLUSTRATION: Someone cuts you off vs. you cutting someone off

B. Yet We Are Indifferent to God’s Desire to Extend Grace to the Lost

i. Jonah is indifferent to the plight of the perishing (vv. 3-7)

1. Jonah goes down, down, down, rather than obey God (vv. 3, 5)

2. While the sailors are perishing, Jonah is sleeping (vv. 5-6)

3. The sailors dread losing 1, Jonah cared nothing for a city (vv. 13-15)

ii. APPLICATION: Do we share God’s heart to see the lost receive mercy?

1. Jonah is a mirror for God’s people: do we share his posture for the lost?

2. ILLUSTRATION: Who are “Those People” that you find hard to love?

THAT TAKES US INTO THE SECOND PART OF THIS STORY. ONE OF THE IRONIES IS THAT EVERYONE IS CHANGED BY GOD’S MERCY – EXCEPT JONAH. LOOK AT THE SAIOLORS.

II) The Mercy of God

A. God’s Saving Mercy Rescues the Lost

i. From Polytheistic Pagans to Worshippers (vv. 5, 6)

1. No atheists in foxholes: threatened sailors call out to any/every god, and consider Jonah’s God one among many options

2. By the end, they worship and sacrifice to YHWH (vv. 14, 16)

ii. What changed? The Power of YHWH over the seas (vv. 9, 15)

1. God’s power over the ocean was so astounding as to stir fear

B. God’s Severe Mercy Spares the Stubborn

i. The Foolish Flight from God’s Face (vv. 3, 10; see Ps. 139:7-9)

Psalm 139:7–9 ESV

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

1. Jonah flees God’s presence: his gracious yet difficult sanctifying work

2. APPLICATION: We avoid God’s presence anytime we justify, minimize, rationalize, deny sin

ii. The Severe and unrelenting Mercy of God (vv. 4, 17)

1. God sends a storm, &a fish – that should destroy, but they are mercy

2. APPLICATION: If we “run”, God’s mercy looks like a terrible storm

HOW DOES GOD BRING THIS MERCY TO BEAR IN OUR LIVES?

III) The Sacrifice of God

A. Jonah Offers Himself to Justice…but will receive mercy…

i. Jonah’s realization: Only Justice will do (vv. 11-14)

1. Jonah’s death will mean that God punishes the guilty to save the innocent

2. Jonah’s posture remains: “Guilty people deserve justice!”

ii. Yet, lives – and God spares the sailors (vv. 15, 17)

1. Jonah should have died but he does not – he lives, as do the sailors

2. How can God meet undeserving people with mercy instead of Justice?

B. Because Jesus receives Justice, so that We Might Receive Mercy

i. A more obedient prophet left for a more difficult mission

1. Jonah was asked to leave his comfort for a difficult mission and says no

2. Jesus was asked to leave for a more difficult mission and says yes

ii. A greater innocent one

1. The sailors gave up Jonah whose blood was comparatively innocent to save themselves

2. Jesus was truly innocent and sacrificed himself to save us

iii. A more deserving prophet was hurled into the storm of justice

1. On the cross, Jesus was put away from the presence of God and crushed under the weight of God’s judgment…and brought up

2. APPLICATION: This is what will galvanize us for mission!

Transition:

Conclusion

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