Jonah part 3

Jonah –Part 3

God Rescues the Repentant

1. Review

So let’s review the story of Jonah.  God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach repentance to this wicked nation but Jonah, who wanted God to punish this wicked group of people, ran from the call of God and boarded a ship.  His intent was run as far away from God as possible but in the midst of his voyage, God sent a violent storm on the boat, the sailors ended up giving their lives to God and they threw Jonah into the sea as God requested.  But God spared the life of Jonah and he sent a large fish to swallow Jonah.  This is where we pick up our story tonight. 

Jonah is in the belly of a giant fish which had to be an amazing experience.  Jonah obviously had changed his mind in relation to his call to God as we saw in his involvement in God saving the lives of the sailors.  Jonah could have kept quiet about his faith and call but instead, God used him to draw the sailors to Himself. 

So Jonah…

• Runs from God’s call
• Boards a ship
• Is in a violent storm
• Is thrown in the raging sea
• Is swallowed by a big fish

It is safe to say his life was all but ordinary and God was present in every step.  Jonah now has realized his call from God and in the belly of the fish, Jonah expresses repentance toward God for his disobedience. 

1. Reading Jonah 2:1-10 (ESV) 1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. 3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ 5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” 10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

1. Rapport

We can learn a lot from this part of Jonah’s life.  He is at a place where we all need to be everyday of our life.  Jonah had realized his disobedience toward God and his heart was broken over his sin.  He was willing to change and he expresses to us in these verses the steps that we must take to have a repentant heart.  What I want you to see in this passage tonight, is that as Christians, we must be repent over our sin if we are to be used by God. Jonah shows us the steps of repentance we must take in our lives everyday. 

       I.      Realizing where you are- Verse 3

3For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.

E- Jonah here sees the place where he is.  He is in trouble with God.  And in his prayer of repentance, he admits that God is punished him for his disobedience by being thrown into the raging, violent sea.  As he struggled for his breath and his life, it is here that Jonah said, “OK I screwed up.”  He said, “for YOU cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas.”  He did not say those rotten sailors did, but he acknowledged that God did it.  God was punishing him for his sin.

In a similar prayer, the psalmist writes, “6 You have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep. 7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves.”

What is it that punishes us for our sin, it is God’s wrath.  God hates sin and so his anger with our sin brings his wrath.  It is God’s wrath that punishes people for their sin.  It is in Exodus 32:9-10 where we see God’s wrath burn great against the Israelites because of their sin. It says, “9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”

It is the writer Paul who explains the consequences of our sin- God’s wrath.  “5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.  Jonah was facing the wrath of God, drowning in the turbulent sea. 

Who is storing up wrath for themselves, mankind is when they commit sin.  God is not storing up the wrath for us, He is delivering what we earn for our sin.  So Jonah knew that he had sinned against God and the wrath of God was poured out upon him as he drowned in the sea. 

I- Imagine for a second that you go into the hospital with severe headaches and you are not sure why you are having them.  The doctors talk with your family and tell them you have a tumor on your brain.  The doctors and your family all come in to break the news to you.  Your family tries first to tell you but you do not believe them.  You are healthy and all the sudden, now you have a brain tumor.  Then the doctors confirm that the information is true.  It is easier to believe coming from the doctors but you still have a hard time believing it.  Then they show you the X-rays taken of your head and the picture proves the doctors are correct.  It is the pictures that prove this to be true. 

For Jonah, he realized he was in trouble with God as he was drowning in the sea.  It was clear to him that he had angered God. 

A- God hates sin and his wrath comes upon those who have sin in their life.  Jonah realized where he was in standing with God.  He was smack dab in the cross hairs of God’s wrath and it is not where he wanted to be.  Is that where you want to be?  Your sin puts you in that same place as Jonah.  Being in this place lead Jonah to say, SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE!  Can you say that today? 

    II.      Realizing what you need- verse 2

“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.

E-Jonah truly realized who could save him and he cried out to God.  It is during those times of distress that we cry out to those who we know can save us.  Jonah cried out to God to save him after he realized he could not save himself.  This is the normal stages we go through in salvation when we realize we are doomed in the wrath earned from our life of sin and we cannot save ourselves.  So who do we turn to? 

Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians writes, 9 For they themselves report… how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Jonah realized what we must all realize if we are to live a life of repentance, that we cannot save ourselves and only God can save us.

I- Going back to our brain tumor illustration, now that you know what is wrong, you have to ask the doctor, can you fix it?  You did not call your plumber, or your 8th grade science teacher, or your personal trainer.  You ask your doctor what the solution is to your problem.  Jonah’s problem was a spiritual problem and so he went to the ultimate source- God – for help. 

A- Once you realize what is wrong, you must realize what you need to fix it.  In your spiritual life, the only thing that can fix a spiritual problem is a spiritual solution.  If it is sin, you must seek out God.  You cannot fix it with anything found in the world, it must be fixed by God.  Are you turning to God with your sin or are you trying to deal with it another way?

 III.      Realizing what God has done

I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.

E-Jonah realized that God had sent that fish not to punish him but to actually save him from the punishment of the sea.  The fish was his salvation from God and Jonah recognized.  True repentance is realizing that we are in a state of sin.  Sin angers the very nature of God.  We then turn to God for salvation from that sin because we know that He is the only one that can provide what we need to be saved. 

When Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem to God, he said.:
35 “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, 36 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

God provides what none of us can- forgiveness for our sins when we turn from our sins.  That is what the work of Jesus was all about.  He experienced the wrath of God that our sin has earned and he took it upon Himself on the cross so that we could be free. 

I- Now you have your brain tumor and as you talk to the doctors about a solution, you discover something amazing.  You find out that as a child, you were injected with a drug that lies dormant in your body to fight off any type of cancer or tumors in your brain.  In the event that you discover you have a brain tumor, all you have to do is take a corresponding pill that would work along with this drug you took as a child and your tumor would miraculously die off and you would be fine.    The question is…would you take this drug.  Would you choose the path that would save your life? 

A- Would it not be amazing to find out that because of the work that was done years ago, you would have a chance to live today?  Well, years ago God did an amazing work in the world when Jesus came to earth.  Jesus died on the cross and took upon Himself the wrath of our sin for the past, present and future sins.  All we have to do is make Him the Lord and Savior of our life and to live a life devoted to him.  Yet so many turn away from what seems like the simple solution.  Why would you not take the drug that would save you?  Why would you make Jesus your Savior and Lord?

 IV.      Readjust your life toward God

But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”

E- The last step in repentance is actually making change occur in your life.  It is the step that most people fail at doing.  They want to make a change.  They commit to make a change but they never follow through.  Jonah was telling God that he was readjusting his life toward Him and he was going to follow through with the call God placed on his life.  He was turning from his sin toward God.  He would fulfill the vow he made to God in his life. 

Repentance is realizing our sin and seeking forgiveness from God and turning away from that sinful practice in our life.  That is what repentance is all about.  The turning away may be the hardest part but it is not repentance if it is left off. 

What sin is there in your life?  WE ALL HAVE SIN.  Is it pride, lust, hate, greed, gossip, selfishness?  What is your sin?  If you had this permanent sign on your forehead with big LED lights flashed your deepest darkest sin, what would it be?  Have you repented of that sin, asking God for forgiveness and turning away from the practice of that sin?  God requires us to repent initially and continually.  He wants us to repent initially as slaves to sin and turn to Jesus.  But even as Christians, we are to live lifestyles where we focus in on the sin in our life and we are continually eradicating that from our lifestyles.