(v2) (Jonah 1:1-16 Part 2) A Calling to Big for a Prophet

INTRODUCTION:

One of the greatest life-impacting studies we can do is to study who God is.

When we consider who he is

>>>>> it often provides clarity, comfort, and hope.

(SHOW SLIDE OF ATTRIBUTES)

Whether we are talking about God’s knowledge, power, and presence

OR

His Incredible Goodness, Mercy, and Grace.

When we Behold God - it often provides clarity, comfort, and hope in our life.

Now we are quick to run to God when we are on our knees - whether because of sin or Pain.

When we are hurting - these are the truths we run to.

And for good reason - because God is Magnificent in every way.

And his Magnificence - is what sustains our Spiritual and physical lives.

But let me ask you this?

When do you consider these attributes?

When you are hurting? - Good.

When you are asking him to meet a need in your prayer life? - Good.

When someone’s asks you why in the World you are in church on Sunday’s? - Good.

But what about when God asks you do something you don’t understand?

Do you still have the same faith?

ILLUSTRATION:

For example:

How about when a death row inmate asks you to forgive him for murdering your sister?

We know what Ephesians 4:32 says,

Ephesians 4:32 ESV

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

But the murder of your sister?

Rusty Wellborne was tried and convicted in 1979 for one of the most brutal murders in South Carolina History.

But a man named Bob McAlister - lead that murder, in death row, to Christ.

While waiting execution … he felt compelled to ask for forgiveness from the family of the woman he murdered.

And amazing story of forgiveness was born … when that brother, also a Christian, visited Rusty in his cell and gave forgivenss.

But that was a hard request?

From Bad Beginnings to Happy Endings, by Ed Young, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publ., 1994), pp. 3-5

Do you have faith enough to give the forgiveness God has called you to?

Or do you forget or ignore his magnificence - and do what you want instead?

Another example perhaps, is the testimony of many Christians.

- I have heard more than one Christian say, I resisted salvation because I was convinced God would send me to Africa.

And they didn’t want to go.

- But what if that same Good God exercised his magnificent character - to send you to Africa or some other place you didn’t want to go.

Do you have enough faith to conform your will to God when it is hard?

That is when your emotions are repulsed, perhaps angry, you can find someone to justify disobedience - but by Faith you apply God’s Word to that situation.

Perhaps, I am alone,

but I think many of us have been faced with these kinds of hard Spiritual decisions.

And we are not alone.

The Prophets of the OT had the same struggle.

May I say that is exactly the kind of struggle we get to observe in the book of Jonah.

I began last week challenging us from Jonah 1,

Proposition: We ought to Conform to the Will of God

TRANSITION: And this text gives us 5 ways God can help us with that.

Now last week, we looked at 3 ways we should be conforming to the will of God.

1. By listening to God’s Word.

When God speaks to us; that is not just another conversation.

We ought to intently, intensly, listen to His Word - which we find as NT Christians in the Bible.

2. By Doing God’s will.

God’s Word was also not intended to just a be a poetic fancy - but with a call to action.

We must listen and do the Word of God.

3. By heeding to God’s suffering.

Many times God allows suffering in our lives - to help us better listen and do His Word.

In the case of Jonah,

God is like a cosmic chess player hurled a Storm onto the Mediterranean to challenge the heart of Jonah.

We ought to listen to the warning signs of suffering.

But Fouthly, we ought to conform to the will of God

4. By Heading to what we know about God.

Jonah 1:7–15 ESV

And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.

So Imagine this,

The sailors are facing a storm they can’t beat.

The ship is considering breaking up under the storm.

The Pagan Sailors have called upon every Sea God they can think of - trying to get their false idols to calm the storm.

They have thrown their cargo over-board

And then the irony begins in Jonah 1:6.

All while this is going - Jonah is sleeping and ignoring the suffering God has sent.

Who should have been the first to pray for help?

Jonah, the Prophet of God

OR

The Pagan Sailors.

Yet, in defiance Jonah slept.

Even after being challenged by the captain,

Jonah continued to resist calling upon God.

Has sin ever lead you to the point you won’t pray to God?

- Even if you say no; at least note it is possible to get there.

- Let that be a warning to us - even as a mature Christian sin can lead you to defiance against God to the point you refuse to call upon God for his mercy.

So the Sailors are left with one final option - Cast lots.

And Behold the Lots fall on Jonah.

************* PPT WITH LOTS **********************

The question here is interesting because they do not immediately suspect that Jonah is the cause.

Notice the frantic questioning that the Sailors express in v. 8.

Jonah 1:8 ESV

8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”

I imagine a crowd - frantically trying to understand what is going on.

But his answer surprises us -

Jonah 1:9 ESV

9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

As we consider that statement,

note two aspects that contradict his belief.

1) “I fear the Lord”.

That is a great confession.

Proverbs 1:7 ESV

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

In both those passages - “fear” has the idea of awe or reverence.

We ought to have fear of the Lord.

And in fact, Jonah believes he is someone who gives reverence - or value to God.

But does his actions demonstrate that?

He has fled from the presence of God.

He is refusing to call upon God in need - because of his defiance.

But he claims to be a God-fearing man.

May I suggest - too often we say we love God,

but in fact our flesh, our desires, our hopes, our dreams are what are really controlling us.

The actions that flow out of our heart are the greatest indicator to what I really worship.

I really like how the KJV translates Prov 4:23.

Proverbs 4:23 KJV 1900

23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life.

In other words,

What I love - is what I truly worship.

So we can have the perfect Christian testimony,

be able to talk deeply about God,

regularly read and study our bibles

>>>>and yet truly worship something else.

Is that not the case with Jonah? - he is prophet who confesses a great confession of God. One we ought to mimick.

But he is also a prophet who is running from the will and the presence of God.

At the same time.

A second aspect I noticed.

2) The Irony of His confession.

Jonah 1:1–3 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.” 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

Is it possible to flee form the presence of the Lord?

We can point to several scriptures declare that you can’t run from God

Jeremiah 23:23–24 ESV

23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.

We could look to a Scripture like this,

But we don’t have to look anywhere else

- because Jonah declares this fact from his own lips.

In a sense, Jonah knows you can’t run from God.

Jonah 1:9 ESV

9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

Yahweh - that is the Word “LORD” in our text is the “God of heaven”

EXPLANATION:

This is similar to us saying Charles is the King of England.

Jonah confesses that God is the ruler and king of all of the World -

wherever there is a sky - God rules there.

and then he adds to the idea, by saying he made the sea and the land.

Is there anywhere that is not sea and not land?

No, God rules all of Earth.

That is his confession.

Now put his words and actions together.

- His words confess that Yahweh rules all the earth.

- But his actions show a man running from the Presence of God into the sea -

If God created and rules the sea - is there any point in running to the sea?

So Jonah was completely aware you can’t flee from the presence of God. His theology was right in his heart.

So that begs the question, why did he flee the God you can’t flee from?

I think as we study the circumstances - we understand Jonah’s actions were not following the beliefs he held.

Instead, he justified in his mind - that he could avoid the call and the rebuke of God.

Now perhaps you are sitting there saying, that doesn’t make any sense - Yahweh is the God of Heaven - may I say your right.

But does sin always make sense?

ILLUSTRATION:

I think in our mind we always picture the CEO who calculates how much more money he can make if he cuts corners - and plans how to get away with it.

But usually,

sin is bound up in desire, emotion, and cravings.

- Which means sin often doesn’t make sense - flowing out the “I wants” of my heart rather than wisely calculated, Biblically informed decisions.

Jonah is a perfect example of how we often sin - we allow the “I wants” to control our lives rather than what we know about God.

We need to take heed to what we know about God from His Word

And allow it to renew minds, shape our desires, and conform our will to His.

The 4th Way we should conform to his will is

5. By Heading to God’s Mighty Rule.

ILLUSTRATION:

When we consider who the greatest Kings in history are - how do we decide which one’s were the greatest?

Typically,

By how much power they held over their kingdom.

If the King ordered it - could you ignore his order.

The book of Jonah demonstrates God’s awesome rule over the nations.

As we consider this point, we could almost make the same point from what we know already.

Jonah flee’s; and God throws a storm onto the sea - lovingly challenging Jonah to complete his will.

O What might, and power, and rule does God have that even the sea obeys his commands!

But what is equally amazing is how God worked in the lives of Pagan sailors.

Jonah 1:16 ESV

Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

God brought these men - not Jewish, but Pagan men - to the point they were worshiping Yahweh.

Imagine this,

These men were terrified for their lives. They thought they were going to be swallowed up by the sea.

And so they had been pleading, crying to every God they could think of.

I can imagine if you are Pagan sailor facing extreme peril at sea - you are going to plead to every sea God you can remember

But none of their God’s could calm the storm.

The Pagan God, Poseidon - the Trident wielding God of the sea

and

his Son > Triton - who could still the waves with his trumpet.

All the Pagan God’s these men could think of were shown to be useless to calm the storm.

And then in v. 9 they learn the person who was causing these storms was Yahweh - the Lord.

And in Jonah 1:11-16 - he tells them how to calm the storm - literally to pitch him into the sea.

Jonah 1:11–16 ESV

11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

Now you can imagine what this must have been like for these men -

Background:

In the Ancient World the sea was considered the battle ground of the God’s - and yet Yahweh has been proved to be the most powerful one of them all.

They had tried all other God’s, but only Yahweh had the power to calm the storm.

God in his might has just demonstrated to these Pagan Sailors exactly who is the true living God - who rules heaven and earth.

APPLICATION:

Perhaps you are like me,

and often we act like it all depends upon us to help people know Christ as their savior or help a friend who is making awful destructive decisions.

We will say,

If we don’t do it; then who will?

And in our mind - the answer to that question is no one.

And we plan all kinds of ways to solve that person’s problem.

But is that true -

While we stress and worry,

God in his power and might has the entire situation under control.

May we quit trying to make a difference in this world by our own might - and instead entrust our soul, our friends soul, and the nations to the mighty God of Jonah.

- One who is able to show love and mercy to a rebellious prophet

- while using a rebellious prophet to make his name known to pagan sailors.

We should conform to the will of God because we recognize that he is the supreme ruler of all the World.

CONCLUSION:

The book of Jonah is noted as one of the great classical literatures of the Ancient World.

However, it is not simply a story,

but the real account of a real prophet who struggled with what God had called him to do.

Have you ever struggled with doing the will of God?

- Perhaps the prospect of loving like Christ loved seems to hard.

Your anger, pride, self-love makes forgiveness to hard for you to imagine.

- Perhaps the task God has set before you seems to much.

I can make more money by doing X.

I would enjoy this task more than the task God has called me to.

I am not cut out for that kind of work - which many times is a way of saying I don’t want to do something I have to work at .

The bottom line- the cost of God’s will seems to high.

Yet as we consider what it means to be a disciple of Christ- Jesus tells us

Mark 8:34 ESV

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

A disciple of Christ must be willing to loose everything.

So let me ask you,

Do you have enough faith to obey God

when it scary

when it defies your logic

when it makes you angry

When God challenges you do something that scary, doesn’t make sense, or makes you angry -

Perhaps it is forgiveness

Perhaps it is serving the church in a way you don’t feel cut out for.

Perhaps it is loving the unlovable.

Perhaps it is sacrificing time and money to invest in someone’s Spiritual life.

We ought to conform our will to the will of God.

And as we consider choices of Jonah - we learn how God can help us conform to His will.

1. By listening to God’s Word.

2. By Doing God’s will.

3. By heeding to God’s suffering.

4. By heading what we know about God.

5. By heading to God’s rule.

Jonah ignored or rejected all three of these principles. Let’s learn from his mistakes.

May we through Christ instead conform our will to God, making his will the ultimate will and purpose of our lives.

To say it another way,

Let’s make God the Father’s will, as revealed through the Son of Jesus Christ, the template, foundation, and guide for our lives.

*********************PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY

This morning we have spoke much about the will of God, but may I say that you can only conform to the will of God if you are saved by the blood of Christ.

Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins -

It is by his death and him rising from the dead that we are able to conform to his will.

This is why Scripture tells us,

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

If you are sitting here and have not come to believe in Christ as your Savior - I will be in the back and would glad to lead you to become a follow of Jesus.

If you are a Christian and say,

I am struggling with obeying the will of God in my life - then I would be glad to help you work through that struggle.

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Reflective Response:

1) Do you confess the greatness and goodness of God? How, when, where, and why?

2) Do you live out what you confess? How, when, where, and why?

3) List 5 ways God directly rules in your life today?

4) How should the knowledge of God’s character and rule change our response to life and life’s issues?