As we think about the sovereignty of God this evening, I found it to be a fitting text. So, Isaiah 40, verse 12, to the end of the chapter. Beginning in verse 12. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, measured heaven with a span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. Who has directed the spirit of the Lord or as his counselor has taught him? With whom did he take counsel and who instructed him and taught him in the path of justice? Who taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket and are counted as the small dust on the scales. Look, he lifts up the aisles as very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor is its peace sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted by him less than nothing and worthless. To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness will you compare to him? The workman molds an image, the goldsmith overspreads it with gold, and the silversmith casts silver chains. Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks for himself a skillful workman to prepare a carved image that will not totter. Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing. He makes the judges of the earth useless. Scarcely shall they be planted. Scarcely shall they be sown. Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, when he will also bow on them, blow on them, and they will wither, and the whirlwind will take them away like stubble. To whom then will you liken me, or to whom shall I equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things, who brings out their host by number. He calls them all by name. By the greatness of his might and the strength of his power, not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel? My way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. We thank God for his word. Heavenly Father, we think of that last line in the hymn we just sung. In great power drawn near, we pray that your spirit would work among us through the preaching of your word and that we would have a greater view of you and that you would stir our affections, that we would serve you more faithfully, oh Lord. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Well, please turn with me to Jonah chapter one. We're gonna be looking at verses three to 17 this evening in Jonah chapter one. And the title of this message is The Mystery of Providence. The Mystery of Providence. Now, as we consider ourselves in these challenging and changing and uncertain times, I want to ask you, what is your greatest comfort? What is the ultimate comfort for the Christian in uncertain and changing times? I would suggest to you that it's not found in political leaders. We've known that our own. We've seen that in the days that we've lived through. It's not through political agendas. It's not found in worldly systems. What we see in Scripture is that the greatest comfort for the Christian is found in God. It's found in the world above where the God of love reigns in sovereign grace over all things. Your greatest comfort in changing in uncertain times is in God Himself, in His providence, in His sovereignty. Our comfort is drawn from the fact that God is the one who rules and reigns with full authority and power. When things are changing, we have an unchanging God. When things look hopeless and dark and gloomy, we have a God who has almighty power. Now when we consider the doctrine of God's providence, His sovereignty, one of the catechisms asks this question. What do you understand by the providence of God? Or what is the providence of God? What does it mean that God is sovereign? The answer is, God's providence is His almighty and ever-present power. Notice that. It's not power in days past, but it is His almighty and ever-present power, whereby as with His hand, He still upholds heaven and earth, and all creatures, and so governs them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed all things come to us not by chance, but by His fatherly hand." Even in our day, all these things that have come to pass, they don't come by chance, but they come from God's fatherly hand. Another question, what does it benefit us to know that God has created all things and still upholds them by his providence? Answer? We can be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and with a view to the future, we can have a firm confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate us from His love. From all creatures are so completely in His hand that without His will, they cannot so much as move. That our sovereign God works all things according to His plan, His purposes, His will, and for the good of His church and the glory of His name. Sickness and health, prosperity and poverty. Do you know then that you're under the fatherly hand of God, your Father? Well, as we look in Jonah 1, verse 3 to 17, we see that Jonah and the sailors, they're confronted with the sovereignty of God. They're confronted with the doctrine of God's providence, that behind all the circumstances that they find themselves in, there's an invisible hand, the hand of God governing all things according to His plan, and purposes, that God is sovereign over all creation, that He is sovereign over all the affairs of man, that He rules all things, even salvation, for the glory of His name. And Jonah was a man who needed to learn this lesson. And you and I, we need to be reminded of this lesson in these difficult days, that God, by His sovereign grace, will use His servants to bring mercy to the nations. If you look again in Jonah 1, Verse 1-2, we see again the commission. Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. And so the sovereign Lord says, go. Go to your enemies. Go to the Gentiles. Proclaim this message of judgment. Yet 40 days in Nineveh will be overthrown if they don't repent. Be a messenger of wrath and mercy. But notice in v. 3, there's this contrast. But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. God says go. Jonah says no. And then 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 from the presence of the Lord." Literally, the translation should be, Jonah rose to flee from the face of the Lord." We see this idea three times. Twice in verse 3, he went to flee. He went from the presence of the Lord. Again, in verse 10, we see this. If you look with me in verse 10 of chapter 1, Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, Why have you done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord. So Jonah, he was resolved to flee to Tarshish from where he was in Joppa. And we see here that this wasn't just an average trip that he was turning away, but this was a trip that really would have taken a three-year round trip from Joppa all the way to Tarshish. So Jonah wanted to flee to Tarshish, this place where God's glory was not known. His presence was not known, but the question is, did Jonah actually think he could escape the presence of the Lord? Did he really think that, as a prophet, that he could escape the face of Yahweh, the sovereign Lord? And I would suggest to you that Jonah had his theology right in his head. He would have known this book of Psalms, the psalmist in Psalm 139, verse 7. If you look there with me in Psalm 139, verse 7, Throughout the Bible, we see the Sovereign Lord is sovereign. Yahweh is the Sovereign Lord. Psalm 139 verse 7, where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? See, Jonah would have been acquainted with this, that he's the omnipresent one, the one who is all present everywhere. Where shall I go from your spirit? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me." So as a prophet of God, I would suggest to you that Jonah was aware of the omnipresence of God, that he knew that God was present everywhere, that he couldn't literally flee from the presence of the Lord. But what happened then? Well, Sinclair Ferguson helpfully writes that Jonah was fleeing from God's felt presence, from his felt presence, from the God who had made himself known in grace and power and mercy, from the God who wanted to extend his mercy to a wicked people. He was fleeing from the place of prayer and service. He was fleeing from the sphere of evangelism to which God was calling him. Why should the Ninevites receive mercy? Look at the wickedness. Look at the sin that is bubbling up day upon day. They don't know their right hand from their left. Why should God be gracious? Why should these Gentiles be brought into the people of God? He was fleeing from the felt presence of the Lord. But the question is, can Jonah flee from the God of grace and mercy? Can Jonah flee from the God who has called him to be a messenger of mercy and of judgment to this nation? Can Jonah flee from the will of God for his life? No. That's the answer. But what we see here in verse 14 to 17, we're confronted. Jonah and the pagan sailors are taught about God's sovereignty. How does this change our life? I want us to think of that. How does it change how we view today? How does it change how we view the days to come? There's three truths of God's providence from this passage. If you look with me in verse 4, we first see that God controls all events. God controls all events. Again in verse 3, we see, but Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. But then directly in the next verse, verse 4, but the Lord, You see here, you see the sovereignty of God over all things. Martin Lloyd-Jones writes, don't you just love the butts in the Bible? We think the story of Jonah is going one direction. Jonah fled and it was all over, but we see the sovereignty of God over his very life and over all creation. But the Lord sent a storm. The one who is sovereign and outside of creation sent the storm to direct his messenger. And so Jonah sought to run away from God's felt presence and his calling upon his life. But Jonah experiences God's control over all events. He sees that God is in full control over the sea and over his own life. Both the macro, the large things, the big things, and the micro, the small things. Verse 4, we see that the Lord, Yahweh, the Sovereign One, sent out this great wind on the sea, this mighty tempest. That it was the Lord's doing. That He's the Sovereign One who moves the waves. He's the Sovereign One who's sovereign over every molecule and atom that persists in the entire universe. He orders, He declares, and it comes to pass. That all circumstances work together for His purpose and His glory. Now, Hugh Martin comments on verse 4 saying that the storm, notice, is not attributed to the elements of nature. It didn't just say Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord and then a storm appeared. A storm came to pass. There was the mighty waves. But the storm is not attributed to the elements of nature. But the God of nature, he writes, and he is over all things and above all things. We need to see that in the text. It was the Lord's doing. If you look with me in Matthew chapter 8, we see a similar theme. Men on a boat. A storm arises. There's fear. What shall happen? Matthew chapter 8, verse 23 to 27. Very similar picture here. Now when he got into a boat, that is Jesus, his disciples followed him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But he, Jesus, was asleep. Then his disciples came to him and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us. We are perishing. Very similar theme to Jonah. He's on this ship. The storm is rising. Waves are crashing. Save us, Lord. We're about to perish. Verse 26, "'But he said to them, "'Why are you fearful? "'Don't you have little faith?' "'Then he arose and rebuked the winds in the sea, "'and there was a great calm. "'So the men marveled, saying, "'Who can this be, "'that even the winds in the sea obey him?'' I want you to see, we saw in verse four of John 1 that it's the sovereign Lord who has control over all things. That it's the sovereign Lord, Yahweh Himself, who has brought this storm about. And right here we see the sovereign Lord working again, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who possesses all authority and power, who by His power upholds all things, that all things hold together and consist by the power of His Word. He rebuked the winds, peace be still. The waves stopped, there was a great Calm. That it is the God-Man who possesses this sovereign authority over creation. That the God-Man is the One who possesses this and is in control. And so what encouragement that is. The risen Christ. The Christ who has completed this great salvation. The One who has died for sinners. The One who has been raised in glory and ascended at the right hand of His Father. Possessing all authority in heaven and on earth. What encouragement is this in difficult days, that our sovereign God, the triune God, is outside of creation, that He's the ruler of the skies, He's never changing, He's ever wise, that all your time's in His hands, that all things come to pass by His command, that none can thwart His plans, that all things are governed by Him, sustained by Him, ordered by Him, It's easy for us to know this, but it's very easy to fall into a time of despair when things are uncertain, when things are difficult, when it's a cloudy providence. We forget that God is the God of providence, the God of sovereign grace. We think of the virus, and we think that things are out of God's control. If only things were a bit different. If only this took place. I think we're doomed. Well, it really depends on the education and all these different things that must take place. Yes, those things are important and people have to do their work, but we have to step back and see the invisible hand of God and be reminded that the events that are taking place didn't just happen. That God is not sitting back in heaven in glory and wondering, well, I didn't know that was going to take place this year in 2020. And I really didn't know all these things were going to occur. I was kind of perplexed. I wasn't sure this was all going to take place. All things are in His hand. R.C. Sproul writes, If there is one single molecule in this universe running around loosely, totally free of God's sovereignty, then we have no guarantee that a single promise of God will ever be fulfilled. There's no maverick molecule. There's no one molecule that's outside of God's control, that all things are in His hand. I've heard from this pulpit that a pastor once said, has it ever occurred to you that nothing occurs to God? He doesn't learn something. He's decreed all things to come to pass. And so God controls all events. Jonah has to learn this. We have to learn this. that our birth came to pass because God determined it, that where you would live, what you would do, who you would marry, when you would die, all things are governed by His all-good and fatherly hand. And Spurgeon says that the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which we rest our heads at night. That the all-wise God is ordering all events, but secondly, We see God controls all details, not only large events, but the small details. If you look again in Jonah 1, verse 5 to 13, we see God controls all details. That every single detail of our human existence is controlled by His sovereign hand. There's no accidents, there's nothing random, nothing by chance, nothing meaningless. And we see here that it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, the sovereign God. And we see two things under this heading. First, we see God ordains our steps. All details, even our little steps, day by day. Sinclair Ferguson writes that the ship lying in Joppa Harbor was not meant to be a means of escape from God's clearly revealed word, but the most terrible instrument in the hands of God to bring his servant back to his presence. I want you to notice in our text here, it's ironic that after fleeing from Gentiles, go to your enemies and preach this message, this wicked people. Out of God's sovereignty, Jonah is found with Gentiles again on the ship. These pagan sailors, a God who wants to bestow His mercy and grace to even these men on a ship. And so we see here again, every single detail, even human interaction, and those who cross our paths are all under His sovereign hand. These Gentiles and Jonah are face to face with the all-sovereign God. And His mercy is at their display. If you look in verse Five, then the martyrs were afraid, and every man cried out to his God, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had laid down, and was fast asleep." These men are terrified. They see the sovereign hand of God over all creation, but they call out to their pagan God. They cry out to an idol that cannot deliver. These sailors call to a thing that does not exist. I wonder if that's you. Maybe you've gone through difficult times and you call out to your idol. Maybe it's not a false god, but maybe it's atheism. I believe in all the scientists, textbooks, and humanism, and new ageism, and relativism, and secularism. Maybe you're like these pagan sailors who cry out to a false god. But we see here that false gods can't deliver. The only one who delivers us from our sin and death is the all-sovereign God, Yahweh, the Lord Jesus Christ. And notice how Jonah responds. He removes himself even further. He goes down into the bottom of the ship to remove himself from these pagans who are crying out to their false god who can't deliver. Verse 6, if we look there, So the captain came to him, to Jonah, and said to him, what do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God. Perhaps your God will consider us so that we may not perish. You look at this text and you wonder, well, how can Jonah miss this second opportunity? God's called him to be a messenger of wrath and mercy. This opportunity is right before his eyes. He sees pagans calling out to gods who cannot deliver them. But he goes further into the boat, removes himself away from these pagans under the wrath of God. But we're confronted here with the God of mercy, the God of grace, the God of second chances, who uses weak and feeble vessels, broken men and women, to fulfill His purposes. We see that right in Jonah. That the God of grace would use such pitiful people to make His glories known. That the God of grace would use you and I who failed Him day by day, who failed Him numerous upon numerous times. And He still delights to use us. The Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7, that we have this treasure, this gospel in jars of clay. You can imagine how fragile jars of clay are. You drop it in, it cracks and it's broken. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. It's easy to forget that though. It's easy to forget the providence of God in our life. It's easy to forget that when we're at the workplace and a conversation comes up. Or God places someone in our life to share the gospel with. It's easy to forget the providence of God. He's orchestrated all these details in our life, every single day. And we're responsible. We're responsible to be messengers of mercy and grace in this world. That we're ambassadors for Christ. That those next to us, in your home, in your neighborhood, they're not there by chance. The Lord's placed them next to a Christian. That they may hear the gospel. That they may see the glories of the Savior. Your workplace, your job, the things God's equipped you with and gifted you with. That's not by accident. You just didn't merely develop this on your own. And God thought, well, that might be a little useful. But God has specifically designed you and all of your redeemed ways to be used for his glory. And so how will you view that tomorrow? When you come across people, when you see your neighbor, when you have a task to do, will you understand that God has placed you there today and tomorrow to be his witness, to be his messenger? He controls the details. He controls our steps. He also ordains the outcome. We see here again in verse 7 that God even controlled the casting of the lot to fall on guilty Jonah. The pagans wanted to cast a lot to see on whose account this came upon. And notice in verse 7, they said to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Proverbs 16, verse 33, the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. The Lord's not sitting back and waiting for the responses of men and the outcome to see what are they really going to do. And if they do plan A, then I'll have to try and do another plan. Or if they pick plan B, there's something else. No, God's not sitting back, but God so governs the actions of men to fulfill His purposes and glory. He's never responsible for sin, but He so moves in a way that He orchestrates even the sinful actions of men. to fulfill his purposes. We've seen that in the cross of Jesus Christ on the day of Pentecost. Peter says that you've crucified him and that you've nailed him to the cross, that you're responsible for murder. But this is according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God to redeem his church, to redeem his bride. Martin Luther writes that we must believe that God directs the lots of men and rules our fates with sovereign power. Gain or losses is decided by God. So we see Him orchestrating these details in this passage. We see the mercy of God that He would bring these sailors to Jonah. We see the mercy of God that God would show these men who are enslaved to idolatry and false idols. He would show them his power to save. He would show them himself that he's a living God, the eternal God, the God of heaven and power and glory. Notice in verse 10, then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, why have you done this? For the men knew he fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. Then they said to him, what shall we do to you is that the sea may be calm for us for the sea was growing more tempestuous. These men are asking questions. We see that often when men and women are facing storms of life and when they're facing God himself, they begin to ask questions. When their soul is awakened, they ask questions. When their conscience is pricked and they see the judgment of God, they begin to ask questions. We see this in verse eight. Then they said to him, Please tell us, for whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you? Then look in verse 13. They ask all these questions. Their soul is raised to ask these questions of how did this happen? And where are you from? But nevertheless, verse 13, the men rode hard to return to land. Right there, they didn't turn to God. They tried to get to land by their own abilities. They tried to deliver themselves, but they could not. For the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. And then notice verse 14. Therefore, they couldn't deliver themselves. Therefore, they cried out to the Lord and said, We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man's life, and do not charge us with innocent blood. For You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You. So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. And notice v. 16, Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows. The storm was used by God to show these men their state before God and to bring them to true worship of God. He's in control of all details. Nations rise and fall. Kingdoms come and they go. Viruses come and go. Seasons will come and go. But what we see here, that it is God who is behind it all. And what we see here is that God is in the business of soul winning. That He's in the business of sending out messengers of mercy to the chief of sinners. I read an article by John Piper speaking about our times in the virus, the coronavirus, and he says that, from the time the coronavirus struck my prayer life, this has been my prayer. Against all human expectations, Lord, turn these years into a surge in world evangelization. Call thousands out of their insecurities into the certainty of joy and of Christ and of missions. Lots of men who understood that God's in the business of winning souls. That God is orchestrating all things for the glory of His name and the salvation of sinners. Even what we're going through today. Is this your chief business? We know we've fallen into the footsteps of Jonah, but we're called to repent and to grow closer to the Lord and seek to be used by God. And to be aware of what God's brought in our pathway as a means to advance the Gospel. And so God, He orders all things. He orders all details. But thirdly, we see in verse 12 to 17, the final truth that God controls all means. That He controls all means. All things work together for the glory of His name and the good of His people. And we see here again that the Ninevites, they will hear the word of the Lord. Jonah, he has an escape from God's calling upon his life. That God will use Jonah as a means to bring the message of mercy to Nineveh. Look with me in verse 11 again. Then they said to him, they said to Jonah in verse 11, Then they said to him, what shall we do to you? That the sea may be calm for us, for the sea was growing more tempestuous. And he said to them, pick me up and throw me into the sea, then the sea will be calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me. And then we notice in verse 15, the means in which God brings mercy to Nineveh, but there's some lessons still to learn. These men, so they picked up Jonah, they listened to him and threw him into the sea. And the sea ceased from its raging. And then notice in verse 7, Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days. and three nights." Again, God's sovereignty. The fish was used as a means to bring the gospel to Nineveh. That God is sovereign over even the fish. Imagine that picture. We go fishing and we cast the rod into the water and we try and find a fish, but God has appointed a fish. He's sovereign even over the fish of the sea. And he's even sovereign to preserve Jonah. The fact that Jonah didn't die in the belly of the fish, he was preserved. That's an exercise of God's sovereign control even over the fish of the sea, over all things. And the fish was a submarine of salvation. It appeared in Rites that God has a command over all creatures. and can at any time make them serve His design of mercy to His people." This fish was designed by God to be a design of mercy to Nineveh, that Jonah will come, that they will hear the word of the Lord, that they will receive it and repent of their sin. This fact should astonish us. We often read over that very quickly, but it was the Lord who had prepared a great fish for Jonah. The God who prepares a great fish for Jonah is also the God who's in control of all things. He's the God who has the king's heart in His hand, a stream of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever He will. God's not merely a spectator. He's not merely passively observing the situation with Jonah and the sailors. He's not gently influencing the situation. plans and purposes. That it will come to pass. That what we see in chapter 1 is the sovereign God of heaven and earth. That He uses mere instruments to advance His purposes of salvation. And so this passage calls us to bow down. It calls us to be still and know that He is God. That He alone will be exalted among the nations. That all of our days are in His hands. Ray Ortland writes that this chapter teaches the effectiveness of God's sovereignty, that he controls the destiny of every soul on this board, that the ship sailing out of Joppa Harbor was in control by God, that he is able to put this ship in such danger that it is on the verge of breaking up, but only to separate one man out for his redemptive recovery while sparing, indeed saving, the rest. I wonder if you're not a Christian here this evening, do you know the God of mercy? The God who loves to save souls, who calls sinners to himself? Are you like the pagan sailors? What ship are you on? Are you on the ship to destruction? Are you like the pagan sailor? Thinking, I'm all right, I'll think about things once I'm near my death. My friend, we don't know when our last hour is. We don't know when our last breath is. You need your sins washed away. You need to be forgiven. You need to have the wrath of God above you to be removed. You need the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And what you've seen here today is that God's sovereign, He's in control of all things, that He has you here today. That you would hear a message of mercy and grace. That you would turn from your sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That He is the friend of sinners. That He loves to save sinners. That He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. That He loves to save sinners. That He saves the chief of sinners. that He's willing and able to save the chief of sinners, to cleanse you from all of your sin, that He's a Savior who's tender in mercy, that He's compassionate, He's meek and lowly, gentle in heart, He's merciful, He's gracious. He's able to remove all of your sin, past, present, future. He's able to clothe you in His perfect life, His sinless life. What a Savior is that to have you here today? that you may not perish, but that you may have everlasting life, to call us to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, to bow down before the sovereign Lord, and call upon Him, have mercy upon me, O God, a sinner." And brothers and sisters, we've seen our sovereign God, the God whom we know, the God who's redeemed us from sin and death. How can we be encouraged in days to come as we consider our sovereign God? Well, two things. Since God is sovereign, Your suffering is not pointless. The trials that we face are not pointless, they're not meaningless. And without a knowledge of God's sovereignty, practically lived, not just theoretically, but applied to every area of our life, Every trial seems pointless when it's not applied to our life. Every event seems random that it catches us off guard. And what a terrible thing that would have been if God wasn't sovereign, that his hands would be tied behind his back. And he's saying, I really wish that wouldn't have happened, but but it's out of my control. I would have had things differently. But but what an encouragement that Thomas Watson says all the various dealings of God with his children do by special providence turn to their good. It's a mysterious providence. We won't understand it until we're in glory. We see but through a glass, a dim glass. We don't see His invisible hand at work. Sometimes we get a glimpse. But most times we're living by faith, walking the pilgrim's journey to the celestial city. So whatever trial you're facing right now, whatever dark providence you're facing right now, We can be assured that what we're facing comes from the loving hand of our Heavenly Father. The God who is shaping us and molding us into the image of His Son. And so often it's through the fires of affliction, like a goldsmith putting the gold through a furnace. It heats it up, it melts it, but then it's pure and he can take off all the infirmities and sculpt it and cultivate it and purify this piece of gold. It's often through Fiery trials that the Lord so often conforms us to Christ's image. So we need to be reminded of that. Resting in His sovereignty. Trusting His all-wise hand. But secondly, since God is sovereign, we must evangelize. We don't just see the sovereignty of God in Jonah 1, and Jonah really just has to sit back and arrive to Nineveh, and then God will do His work. But God, out of His sovereignty, so works through the responsibility of man. He uses man as a means to advance His gospel. The Bible makes it clear that it is man, fallen man, who's dead in sin, who's unable to grasp the truth of God. If you talk to a dead man, a man who's in a casket, there's no response. That's the reality of those who are dead outside of Christ. We know that sovereign grace shows us that it is God who must do this work of grace. It is God who must raise the dead from sin to life. It is God who brings about the results. But again, the sovereign God works through means. What means does he use to convert sinners? If you look in Romans chapter 10, Romans chapter 10, verse 13 to 15. The Apostle Paul shows us that he uses Christians, he uses ambassadors for Christ to display his mercy to sinners. Romans 10, verse 13, Paul says, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. There's a statement, and then he asks four how questions. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? And as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved, but it is through the preaching of the word and the proclamation of the gospel that sinners are saved, that when they hear the message of God, the cross of Christ, Christ in him crucified, that is the power of God unto salvation. And God says that he works through weak vessels, through men and women like you and I, feeble, timid. so that the power of God may be on full display. They know that it's not in our intellect or our mere academic knowledge, but that these men and women have encountered the risen Christ, that they have been with Jesus. And so the converting power of sinners is not in the messenger, but again, in the message that they proclaim. So as we seek to be a blessing to those around us, as we seek to obey the call of God, Our confidence doesn't find itself in us, but we rest in the sovereign God, the God of power and grace. And we would say with Paul, 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 5, that our gospel came to you not only in word, it must come in word, but also in the power and the Holy Spirit with full conviction. So very, very Simple truths, two truths to take away as we have considered Jonah one, that whatever circumstances you find yourself in, it's for your eternal good. But then secondly, wherever you are and wherever you find yourselves in, God has placed you there for the eternal good of others as well. And may God help us as we seek to live for Christ. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your very word. We thank you for the Spirit of God that teaches us the things of God and we pray that you would plant this truth deep in our hearts and give us a greater faith to trust in your loving hand. And oh Lord, we pray that you would save those who do not know you and that you may receive all glory for Jesus' sake. Amen.