Untitled Sermon (16)

I. WHO IS JONAH THE PROPHET? (JONAH 1:1]

A. The office of prophet in the Old Testament

1. Authority based on a carried word (Ezekiel 2:7-3:4)

2. Usually they come from nowhere of note (Jonah 1:1. 2 Kings 14:23-25]

B. Jonah knew the mercy, grace, love, and power of God (2 Kings 14:25-27)

II. GOD'S MISSION FOR JONAH (JONAH 1:2)

A. God calls Jonah to arise and go to Nineveh

1. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria and infamously wicked

2. Jonah is called to the heart of wickedness and paganism

B. Jonah is commissioned to call out against the evil of the city

III. JONAH'S RESPONSE TO THE COMMAND OF GOD (JONAH 1:3]

JONAH 1:1-3

A. Jonah rises only to flee from God, not follow God

B. He sought to flee the presence of God and his obligation to God.

1. Tarshish was the furthest city from Israel

2. But God fills heaven and earth (Jeremiah 23:23-24: Psalm 139:7-12)

C. Jonah's rebellion spirals downward (Jonah 4:2)

1. He went to a gentile city where he could be anonymous

2. The circumstances aligned perfectly for him to succeed in rebellion

3. He goes down further into the inner part of the ship

D. What can we learn about ourselves from Jonah?

1. Our disobedience to God's command is an act of rebellion against the authority of God by substituting ourselves as supreme

(Romans 1:21-25)

2. When we give ourselves permission to sin, our hearts grow hardened because we deceive ourselves through rationalization (Hebrews 3:12-13]

3. When we do not love our enemies but love our comfortable lifestyle then our enemies are viewed as threats rather than people in need of grace (Romans 12:17-21)

4. Jesus is the better Jonah who fully obeyed, never gave in to sin, truly loved even his enemies, and came full of grace and truth to give us sinners grace upon grace (John 1:14, 16. 1 Peter 2:22-25)