Friends, would you stand with me for the reading of the Lord's Word this morning? We are reading again for the last time, Jonah, chapter one. Again, this is the Lord's Word. The word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. And the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his God and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, laying down and fallen sound asleep. So the captain approached him and said, how is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your God. Perhaps your God will be concerned about us so that we will not perish. Each man said to his mate, come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, tell us now, on whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation, and where do you come from? What is your country, from what people are you? He said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. And the men became extremely frightened. And they said to him, how could you do this? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. So they said to him, what should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us? For the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. He said to them, pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that on account of me, this great storm has come upon you. However, the men rode desperately to return to land, but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. Then they called on the Lord and said, we earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us. For you, O Lord, have done as you have pleased. So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. And the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. This is the Lord's word. Please be seated, friends. Again, our Father, we thank you for your word and pray that you would I grant blessing to a weak servant and to people who are tired and hot and hungry and whatever else it might be, any numerous distractions. We ask that you would come and be present with us by your spirit. We know that no man can change another man's heart, but Lord, you can. And so we pray that you would, and that you would encourage our hearts today in light of this scripture. We humbly ask all of this now in Jesus name. Amen. It must be acknowledged that the Lord has tremendously blessed his people, especially his church in this country. If you consider friends, uh, just these things that we are a people who sit in here in a sanctuary, an air conditioned sanctuary, nonetheless, And we sing of salvation. We sing of deliverance. We sing of being free from our sins, of not having the fear of death, even though it should come to us. Yet we do not fear it like the world fears it. We don't longer fear condemnation because on Calvary's cross, Jesus Christ took that condemning wrath upon himself. On top of these things, the Lord has also blessed us with many comforts, with buildings and properties with money corporately and privately. And he has blessed us with numerous children. He has blessed us with health reasonably so, long life and health and these sorts of things. The Lord has blessed us so incredibly. And these blessings should produce in us hearts of gratitude. But so often we come to expect it as though I deserve these things. We so often come to that place. So instead of a thankfulness towards the Lord and an attitude of amazement towards his grace and a love for our neighbors and a compassion for the lost, we speak and act as if we deserve a break, that we are entitled to these things. We are, after all, the Lord's people. We are not like other people you know, communists, Marxists, tax collectors, or sinners. You see, we start to develop a mindset that I'm I'm better than the average Joe. We must be careful not to forget, dear friends, that were it not for the kindness of the Lord towards us, we would be in the very same spot as everyone else on the planet. You know, we take these things for granted because Sunday in and Sunday out, we get to experience them. But we only experience them because of the kindness of the Lord. Paul would write here, or do you not, or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God lead you to repentance. It is God's kindness, which has led us to repentance. It is his kindness towards us. which should secure hearts of compassion for those around us who, just like us, are undeserving of mercy. And so often you've heard people say this. They don't deserve mercy. You realize what a ridiculous statement that is. Nobody deserves mercy. It's because you don't deserve it that you get it, right? That's the very nature of mercy. And this would be the account of Jonah, the prophet of God, who when told to go to Nineveh, the great city, and to cry against it for their wickedness had come up before God, he decides he would rather flee from the presence of the Lord and to escape his divinely appointed task. Though a true prophet and a very capable prophet, at this point Jonah is the disobedient prophet. He's a disobedient prophet. He was an Israelite. He was part of the people of God. recalled that they were and had experienced great blessing from the Lord Israel under Jeroboam II was experiencing great peace and great prosperity. And yet Nineveh, on the other hand, the capital of Assyria, was a people who were incredibly cruel. They were an awful people, a terrible enemy of the nation of the church. And Jonah's attitude is, why would I want to go to them and tell them to repent. They might. I don't want them to repent. And you, Lord, you will likely show mercy. In fact, he says this. This is not why I didn't want to go, because I knew that you're this kind of God who shows compassion and mercy on sinners. I don't want to go. I don't want to go to Nineveh. I don't want to tell them to repent, because if they do, you will show mercy to them. And frankly, they're just so bad in my eyes. Classic legalism here. They're so bad in my eyes that I think they deserve your wrath. They're not like us. There are bad people. And you will likely show mercy. Jonah, like all Israel, could not stand the thought of these people sharing in the Lord's blessing of kindness. His story is too often our story. He represents Israel, and he represents friends of the church. Perhaps this is why the church now, and I know someone's going to say, yeah, Bible sales are up. I hear you. They're up 22%. I heard it. I heard it with my own ears. I'm not convinced that the nation is necessarily turning back to the Lord. I think that they're becoming more sensitive to spiritual matters. but I'm not convinced that they're necessarily turning back to the Lord. And you know why? Because I hear very little speak about Jesus Christ. I hear a lot of talk about God. I hear a lot of talk about spirituality, but I hear very little about Jesus Christ. And that's alarming to me. And it's quite possible, friends, that you can be very spiritual and be very ooey-gooey and in touch with your feelings and emotions and be very disconnected from the Lord himself. Entirely possible. And so I believe that Jonah here is a story that is fit for the church. It is fit for us to hear because he is a man who has tasted of the goodness and the kindness of the Lord And yet he sees the world around him, and he wants nothing to do with it. He wants nothing. He doesn't want to bring mercy or the message of the gospel to people, because he thinks they're beyond reaching, and they shouldn't be reached. Smug, conceited, and pleased, not caring for the widow and the orphan in distress, thinking that the peace that Christ has secured for us on Calvary's cross was for personal benefit, personal peace, prosperity, and comfort, and not so that I might be a blessing. You understand the reason that the Lord has saved you, the reason he has not taken you away into heaven is so that your life would be a blessing to other people around you. Namely, that you would bring the truth of who Jesus Christ is to bear upon the lives of those people around you. That's why he blesses us, so that we would be a blessing to the nations. And we see this throughout the Psalms. We see it in the book of Acts, right? Where the Jews, well, you can't go to the Gentiles. Well, the Gentiles, that's always been part of God's plan. Remember that the seed of Abraham would be a blessing to the nations. God has always been concerned for the nations and for the sinner. He's concerned for them. And we are the vehicle by which the Lord advances his kingdom. The passage before us here is to instruct and encourage us to bring about a change of heart in us, a transformation. Perhaps we will not have to learn the hard way that Jonah had to learn. Perhaps we won't have to go through, uh, to the extent that he did. We are shown in this chapter how the Lord has dealt with his disobedient servant and beloved understand that because the Lord does love his people, he deals with us. And he does not allow us to continue down a path of sin and rebellion against him. This is the wonderful thing about the Lord. We are not just coming to the Lord in faith and then waiting for heaven to occur. The Lord promises that the work he has begun in us, he is going to complete for Philippians 1.6. He starts a work in us and he completes it. so that the person who turns to faith in Jesus Christ, the Lord begins immediately to deal with that person as a child. Listen to Hebrews 12, as I read for us verses four through 11. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin, and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons. My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him. For those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Shall we not much rather be subject to the father of spirits and live? for they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good so that we may share his holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful but sorrowful, yet to those who have been trained by it afterwards, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. The Lord loved Jonah. And he loves his church. He loves you, friends. But do not ever think that he will turn a blind eye to your sin or to our sin. He disciplines us so that we look like him in the end. He disciplines us so that we will share in his holiness. We see here, then, how he uses everything at his disposal, and everything is at his disposal, to bring about correction to his wayward servant, to prepare and position him for faithful service. In verses four through six, as we saw last week, we were shown that the Lord frustrated Jonah's attempt to flee from his call. And he uses the captain of the ship to shame Jonah, who was sleeping in the ship while everyone else panicked for their lives. The ship's captain reiterated the Lord's command. He says in verse 6, how is it that you are sleeping? Get up. What did the Lord say to Jonah in verse 2? Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry against it. Again, the same word in the Hebrew. The captain is saying, reminding, in essence, reminding Jonah, this is what the Lord has told you to do. You're not supposed to arise. You're supposed to get up. The people in Nineveh are as in a desperate condition as the men on this boat are. Remember, the sea is foaming. The people, the men, are afraid. And what's Jonah doing? He's down in the hull of the boat, and he's just sleeping away. No concern in the world for what's going on up on the deck. No concern for them. He's sleeping away and the captain comes, a pagan captain at that, and shames him. What are you doing? Everyone else is up here fighting for their lives and you're down here napping? They're all praying. You should be praying. You should be crying out. Perhaps your God will be merciful to us. What a stinger that would have been to Jonah. Don't just sit there and do nothing. Do something. Call on your God. And of course, friends, he says, the captain says, perhaps your God will be concerned. We know that God was concerned for the lost, and that is exactly why he commanded Jonah to arise and go to Nineveh. Friends, when you plan on disobeying the Lord, don't expect your path to go smooth. If you are his, he will trouble that path. He will trouble you. But now we go on the Lord opposed Jonah. And now the Lord exposes Jonah sin. Listen to this in verses seven through 10. Each man said to his mate, come, let us cast lots. So we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, tell us now, on whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation, and where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you? He said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. The men became extremely frightened, and they said to him, how could you do this? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. So often we think no one will find out our sin. And up to this point in the text, no one on this ship knows much about Jonah, do they? So there seems to be that there's safety in anonymity. One of the stories that came out this week in the news and in God's providence was that Coldplay concert. I think it's Chris Martin. who the kiss cam focused in on this couple, a random couple, a random couple. And he goes, what? Are you having an adulterous relationship? And it turns out they were. And the kiss cam exposed them. The man has now resigned his job. And there's an investigation going on. And you think, what were the chances of that? But the whole world. And so it's a reminder to us, friends, if you're living in sin, if you are cherishing a sin, The Lord, he knows how to expose these things. It'll be interesting to see what happens with this couple, what they do with it. Jonah, he's a nobody on this ship. He's down. He's just minding his business. He's keeping a low profile and not looking up, not on deck with anyone. He's going to stay anonymous. Nobody's going to know the difference. And what does the Lord do? He sends a terrible storm. And each man said to his mate, come, let us cast lots, so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us. So the storm is raging. The sailors are terrified. And they cast lots in order to find out who was responsible for the storm. We do this all the time. Who's responsible for this sickness? The disciples asked Jesus in John 9. Is it the guy? Was it his fault he's blind, or is it his parents' fault? Of course, in that instance, it was neither, said Jesus. But here, it's always something we wonder about. Why that particular area of Texas? Why was it hit with these raging storms? Was there something going on? It's what we naturally do. These sailors are wondering the same thing. And so they cast lots. The casting of lots, said one scholar, was a custom widely practiced in the ancient Near East. The precise method is unclear, although it appears that, for the most part, sticks or marked pebbles were drawn from a box or a bag into which they had been cast. It's very similar to us drawing straws. Lord, who do you want to go and do this thing? Well, we're going to draw straws. Whoever draws the short straw. And we go, well, that's such a random thing. And yet, friends, understand that the Lord is sovereign, even the most random and minuscule things. It would appear to be simply a thing of chance, and yet the Lord sovereignly controls everything that, from man's perspective, is a thing of chance. The smallest and tiniest details of our lives are all under his control. Proverbs says this, 1633, the lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord. So lots were used to discern the will of the Lord. In other occasions, Achan, remember, he stole the things under the band as they were just coming into the promised land. And he thought he could bury and hide his goods, the things under the band in his tent. And it was the use of lots that exposed Achan. And it was also the use of lots that was instrumental in determining who the Lord's will was to replace Judas Iscariot. These men, these sailors, wanted to know who the culprit was who brought this hardship upon them. The fugitive, said Jerome, the fugitive is taken by lot, not from any virtue in lots themselves, least of all the lots of heathen, but by the will of him who governs uncertain lots. God worked through this method to point out to the sailors that the culprit, the one who was napping below the deck, is none other than Jonah. Jonah was the culprit. Why are we in such a hardship right now? Because we are aiding and abetting a man who was a fugitive from the presence of the Lord. And so they inquire, tell us now, who are you? On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you? They want to know who he is because they want to fix the problem. Everyone on board now sees it He can't escape. Jonah is busted, and we are told in Numbers 32, 23, be sure, friends, that your sins will find you out. Jonah confesses. He says, I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land. He uses the name Hebrew to show that he is set apart from other nations. This is the name by which other nations would describe them. He describes himself as one who fears the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land. Is that a little bit hard to believe, that he fears the Lord? A little bit hard for me to believe that, simply because he's running in the opposite direction. And yet, he attests to it. He says, I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land. That is, I am in a covenant relationship with the sovereign Lord of the earth who has made the sea and the dry land. This is the one, in other words, Jonah is saying, I do fear the Lord. I adore the Lord. I am in this relationship with the Lord. The sailors would have understood Jonah's words as being descriptive of the highest deity. That is why we read from Psalm 107 in the call to worship. Because who alone can calm the seas? What do we see in the New Testament with Jesus Christ? Who alone can calm the seas and make the wind stand still? What does that tell you about Jesus Christ? What does that tell you about God to the sailors? They understood that the deity that controls the seas, he is the highest deity. So now there's a bit of evangelism going on and Jonah doesn't even know it. God himself is guarding his glory is, is promoting his glory. He is Yahweh is the, uh, the supreme deity. Jonah has confessed that though he adores this God and is a servant of the sovereign Supreme God. It was just not going to happen that he should go to Nineveh and preach to them. He has fled from the presence of the Lord and after hearing who Jonah is and what he has done who he has attempted to run from. The men became extremely frightened and they said to him, how could you do this? In other words, what were you thinking? This is not actually a question, it is an accusation. Are you an idiot? Why would you run away from this God? Why would you flee from his presence? What are you thinking? Friends, what do you think? What is it that we're thinking when we live in disobedience to the Lord? We think we're gonna get away with it? You think he's going to be pleased with it? You think he's not going to see it? He will see it. What are you thinking? Jonah thought, like so many do, that we can live in disobedience to the Lord and get away with it, that we can run and hide and cover our tracks. Ask David, did it work for him? King David, ah, the Lord will not do anything about it. And the church, so often, We live in disobedience to the Lord, and we think, oh, the Lord will not do anything about it. My friends, it is not over yet. We need to live with that idea that everything we do, everything in our daily lives, private lives, everything we look at on that computer, everything we watch on that television screen, he's privy to all of our conversations, to every thought that goes through the gray matter. He is privy to them all. And will you be able to hide from the face of the Lord? Jonah thought he could, and Jonah could not. He thought he could do it, but he could not. The Lord does notice, and something happens that exposes him and catches him in his sin. What is more, friends, is that we know better. It's not just that Jonah was ignoring the Lord. It's that he had tasted such good things from the Lord, and yet he refused to act in light. So to whom much is given, much is required. Need it come to this? Did it have to come to this that Jonah should be pursued like this? It didn't. What would have had to have happened for Jonah to say, stop, turn around, take me back? I'm in disobedience. I need to make things right. Had he obeyed or if he had repented and confessed, if he had said these things, I have a job to do, perhaps he would have missed all of these things. Friends, we shouldn't require the Lord to clamp down on us before we decide to obey him. If you know of something you've been doing in disregard of the Lord, let me urge you to stop it. Do what you know the Lord wants you to do. Now, I don't think for a second that Jonah felt like obeying the Lord. Jonah, we could say, was just obeying his thirst. That's what he was doing. He was just following his heart by fleeing from Nineveh. The Lord doesn't call us to obey our thirst. The Lord doesn't call us to follow our hearts. He calls us to obey. That's what he called Jonah to do. And so we see in verses 11 through 16, how the Lord would discipline his servant. Again, listen to this. So they said to him, what should we do that the sea may become calm for us? For the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. He said to them, pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that on account of me, this great storm has come upon you. However, the men rode desperately. uh, to return to land, but they could not for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. Then they called on the Lord and said, we earnestly pray, Oh Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us for you. Oh Lord have done as you have pleased. The men, they are extremely frightened. They are caught between this Hebrew prophet and his God. the God of the universe, and now the sea has grown even more stormy, and they ask, what should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us? That's a key verse. What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us? They dare not presume to know, clearly the man is guilty, but merely owning his sin is not enough. Sin has a price tag. The wages of sin is death. And Jonah will ultimately get a taste of God's judgment, which he was only too willing to have Nineveh experience. Perhaps it will make him more empathetic what he's about to go through. And we see in verse 12 this recompense. Pick me up, he says, and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that on account of me, this great storm has come upon you. My friends, it's interesting to me that he knows what should be done to him. Jonah knows the justice of the Lord, what ought to be done to those who willfully disobey. It is what he has wanted to happen to Nineveh. He needs to be thrown into the sea to calm the wrath of God, thus calming the sea and sparing the lives of these men. Listen, it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people. Now we start to see something very interesting unfold here in this passage. A priest said this concerning Jesus. It was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people and friends. Jonah knew his sin. He knew what needed to be done to him. And yet Jonah does nothing. He's standing there. And in the whole while, the sea is increasingly becoming more and more wrathful. These poor sailors are praying. They're casting lots. They're crying out to their household deities. The captain shames Jonah. And Jonah comes up. And they draw their lots. And they determine it's Jonah. And they ask Jonah. And he goes, yeah, there's a little detail. I'm fleeing from the God of the universe. What do we do? And they don't, initially, they don't throw him in. They don't want, they'd say, we want to protect him. We want to give him safe passage. And they're digging their oars in deeper and deeper into the water, trying, but they can't fight it any longer. The Lord has an issue. The Lord has a problem with Jonah. And the Lord's making a lesson out of Jonah. Jonah has disobeyed. Jonah deserves to die. He deserves to be thrown in the water. He deserves to die. And they say, what do we do to protect to you in order to protect us? Since you're the culprit, you deserve this. What do we do to protect us? And he says, what? Throw me in. They try not to. But it doesn't go anywhere. My friends, why wouldn't he throw himself overboard for them? He knew what was right. What Jonah wouldn't do for these men, Jesus Christ willingly did for you. That's what I find is interesting here, is that Jesus Christ had no sin. If Jesus had been on that boat, he wouldn't have been the culprit in any way. But Jesus would have thrown himself, if that calmed the wrath of God against this boat of men, Jesus would have thrown himself in that water. In fact, that is what he did for you. He threw himself on the mercies of God. He delivered. He was our atonement. He was the perfection that we needed. He was the sacrifice, the only sacrifice that could be made to redeem a people. And here we have in this account, this picture of a man who was sent and he's begrudgingly, he doesn't want to obey the Lord. He is fighting the Lord. and the Lord the whole way, just in his providence, he is making things harder and harder and harder, and he's narrowing the focus upon Jonah, and he's going to show Jonah, Jonah, you are going to give your life as a sacrifice for these men on this boat. The very thing you say, I'm not doing it, you're gonna do it. Because this is what I'm going to do for the sinners of this earth. You're going to do it now. What Jonah wouldn't do for these men, Jesus Christ willingly did for us. He didn't do it. Jonah didn't want to do it. I'm already humiliated enough. How much lower could I go? Well, how about dying? How about dying for someone else? Right? Finish this. Greater love has no man than this. one would lay down his life for his friends. Right? You start to see this, this picture of Christ is, is being presented to us here in this passage. Again, we were told in verse 13, however, the men rode desperately to return to land, but they could not for the sea was becoming even stormier against them in desperation. They dig in their oars, But their effort is futile. There is nothing they can do to thwart what the Lord has ordained. Our best and most earnest efforts are never enough. Someone would have to be sacrificed for us. They pray. And the Lord has sent the storm to frustrate Jonah's plan. The Lord has identified Jonah as the culprit. And now, because there was nothing else that could be done, because they fear for their very lives. They pray, don't hold us culpable for this man's life. And then we read in verses 15 and 16 judgments. So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea and the sea stopped its raging. And the men feared the Lord greatly and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. Something very interesting there, isn't there? Jonah becomes the sacrificial lamb. He is the one who is thrown overboard, and the sea stops its raging. One man, wrath is appeased, and the many were saved. And as a result, we are told that the sailors feared the Lord greatly. He is this God of the Hebrews. He is the true God. Right then and there, they sacrificed to the Lord and made vows. Even in his disobedience, Jonah's disobedience, the Lord would cause his name to be known, cause himself to be glorified, would cause the gospel to go forward. One will come whose life is an atonement for sin. One will come, and by his life, your life will be spared. One will come, and his life will appease the wrath of the God of the oceans. The Lord was glorified. Jonah, however, would be disobedient, and he would suffer terribly due to his disobedience, and he would suffer God's judgment because of his sin. My friends, how far does the Lord go in disciplining his people to bring about the heart of love for the lost, an attitude that seeks and saves the lost? How far did he go to bring about new hearts in us? He went so far as to send his son into this world who willingly came and gave his life for us that we might have new hearts. The Lord does go as far as he will. He will take it as far as he must in order to orchestrate the good of his people. And that is what he has done for us in Jesus Christ. And that's what we see in the life of Jonah. that Jonah's life would be given and would be used to bring about a great turning of people to the Lord. Let's pray. We thank you, Father, for your word, and we thank you for this passage, and we pray that your grace would be upon the word going forward, that you would cause your people to wrestle, to think on, to meditate upon these words through the week. We pray that you would remind us again of the great sacrifice of our Savior on our behalf, that our hearts might not be cold towards the world around us. We know that you have called us and that you have established, Lord, as we speak of, Providence and of sovereignty that you have Sovereignly ordained our times and our place and that we live in this realm this part of the world by your design during these days We pray Lord that you would put in us Again hearts of compassion that you would open doors for us to speak of Christ and that many would come to know you We humbly ask these things in Jesus name Amen