What Are You Afraid Of?

Intro

- How many of you were ever afraid of the dark?

o When I was a kid, I was terrified of it

o As we grow older, our fears change- although I always think I’ll be afraid of grizzly bears

o They can be rational and at times, very irrational fears

o Fear is a powerful thing- it can completely control us

- The Bible talks a lot about fear

o In scripture we read stories of how fear lead people away from God, we find admonitions against living a life full of fear- favorite verse- Joshua 1:9- “Have not I commanded you be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid…”

- But for all the instruction we see about the negative aspects of fear, we also see a type of fear that God commands from those who follow him

- The Fear of the Lord- what is it?

o Reverence for God- piety, respect, marvel

§ Psalm 33:8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!

§ Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

§ Jeremiah 5:22 Do you not fear me? declares the Lord. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.

o When we fear the Lord, we will not fear all the other things that may be against us

§ Prov. 14:26-27 In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.

o In fact, the fear of the Lord is necessary for the growth of the Church

§ Acts 9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

- Fear is a central theme in this first chapter of Jonah, and we are going to see a transformation from the fear of circumstances to the fear of the Lord

Fear can drive us, it can consume us, but when we learn to fear the Lord and him alone, only then will we find peace

- Last week we talked about how God sees our wickedness, that it does not go unnoticed, and Jonah's actions were no exception. Now we see the consequences of Jonah's decision to run from God

The Storm Strikes Fear (4-6)

A. God sends a storm as judgments for Jonah’s rebellion

1. And these sailors are caught right in the middle of it

a. V. 5 “and they were afraid”

2. The sailors start crying out to their gods

a. S.O.S. prayers to deaf ears

b. This shows the severity of the storm- they realized it was a divine cause, not a normal storm that seasoned sailors had no doubt faced many times. This was something more

B. Where is Jonah in all this?

1. Sleeping below deck

2. The sailors were afraid for their lives, desperately searching for a solution. However, Jonah seemed unconcerned- went below decks to sleep

a. Does this bring another story to mind? Matthew 8 When Jesus is sleeping during the storm

(1) Jesus wasn't in afraid, because he knew who was in control

(2) Jonah wasn't in afraid because he did not recognize this storm was for him

(a) He had made it clear that he did not fear God

C. The ship's captain comes down and finds Jonah asleep

1. “What do you mean, you sleeper?” Better translation for v. 6- how can you sleep!?

2. "Arise, call out to your God!" reminds us of his original call from God in verse 2

a. This rough, pagan sea captain has to urge Jonah to go to God, to recognize God’s authority in all of this and specifically in his life

3. But Jonah does not pray- he has drifted far from God

4. I can’t help but see us in this situation

a. Sometimes God must shake us awake

b. Sometimes God uses unbelievers to push us into doing what we should have been doing all along! What a rebuke to us

- So we see the overwhelming fear of the sailors, and the apparent lack of fear in Jonah

The Culprit is Found (7-10)

A. The Sailors cast lots to identify the one who has brought this upon them- surprise surprise, the lots fall on Jonah

1. This is not chance- God is sovereign over all things and is continually working his will through the actions of people

a. Prov. 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

b. The cause is revealed- God exposes Jonah's rebellion

2. Its interesting in Verse 7 when it speaks of “this evil”, it’s the very same word as used to describe the evil in Nineveh

a. This is a reminder of the seriousness of our rebellion against God and the fact that we are just as much in need of his mercy as anybody else

B. Jonah on trial

1. Questioned by the fearful sailors

a. Whose fault is this?

b. What are you doing here?

c. What is your country?

d. What people are you from?

C. Jonah's response

1. I am a Hebrew

2. I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and land

a. Jonah claims to fear God, but his actions over the past few days have shown otherwise

b. The sailors were showing more fear and awe of God than Jonah was!

(1) They are at least recognizing this storm is from a divine power, that prayers need to be offered up, and that something needs to be made right.

c. We can say we love and serve God, but what do our actions show it?

D. Jonah's recent actions showed his lack of fear in God, but the sailors were terrified that he would defy his God in this way

1. “What have you done!?”

2. It says in verse 10 that when the men realized what Jonah had done, how he was fleeing from God, they were “exceedingly afraid”

a. Their fear of God, even though they did not follow him, was greater than their fear of the storm

b. I can only imagine their response- "You mean to tell me that you are running from your God, the God of the land and the SEA, and you decided to get on our boat?"

(1) I'm surprised they didn't throw him in right then!

- So they have identified the culprit- this storm and the great fear that it has caused

The Peace is Restored (11-16)

A. Jonah acknowledges his own guilt

1. He tells them to throw him in

2. There were consequences- there are always consequences to our rebellion even when we are forgiven

a. The wages of sin is death

b. You can't say to God… "I said sorry! Now you have to fix this!"

3. We know the fish is coming, Jonah doesn't. He was willing to die- he had finally come to the realization of his sin, the pain it had caused others, and the just nature of his punishment

B. The sailors are hesitant to throw him into the sea

1. So they cry out to God- Something Jonah STILL hasn’t done

2. They recognize God's sovereignty in the events

a. "For you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you." V. 14

b. Jonah still hasn't fully come to this realization

c. What clouds our right understanding of God's sovereignty and our fear of him?

(1) Pride, anger, apathy, fear

d. The sailor’s understanding of God seems so much greater than Jonah's at this moment

(1) Man, Jonah could have learned a few lessons from these guys!

e. This is the authors intention, as he writes to a Hebrew audience, to see the failure of the Israelite prophet and to admire the honest, raw faith of the pagan sailors

C. Obedience to God brings mercy

1. When Jonah is thrown into the sea, the storm calms immediately

a. The sailors fear of the storm turns into a fear/worship of God

b. Seeing God's awesome power and sovereignty drives them to a single response

c. Through Jonah's terrible example, these men God as the true God

2. How do we respond when we are confronted with truth? Like Jonah, run the other way, or like the sailors, turn to God- fear him, offer sacrifices, and make vows

So What?

- What are you afraid of? One fear!

- Will you be like the sailors who recognized God’s power and sovereignty

o They began with a great fear of the storm that turned into a righteous fear and worship of the sovereign God

- Or do we see ourselves more in Jonah? In our efforts to run from God we fail to see him as the almighty, sovereign God he is. We fail to fear him as we should

- When we realize our rebellion, do we admit it and turn to God in obedience?