WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:07.280 Turn with me in your Bibles now to Jonah chapter one as we continue in this series running from Mercy. 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:12.000 And as you're turning there in your own copy of the word, allow me to just start with this question. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:15.599 Has anybody in here like me ignored your GPS? 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:28.640 You're in the car, you got your phone or your device, or maybe you still have one of those actual GPS devices, and you're thinking about obeying what that GPS is saying, but you're like, no, I know a I know a better way. 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:30.239 Has anybody ever done this? 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:31.679 I'm not the only one, right? 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:38.240 So when you do that, if you have a device like me, what does your device say when you get off track? 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:42.799 Redirecting, redirecting, recalculating, something like that, right? 00:00:43.039 --> 00:00:47.759 So uh recalculating, you're going, and then you continue to disobey. 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:49.840 What what happens again? 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:51.359 It repeats itself, right? 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:52.320 Recalculating. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:57.920 It will continue to do this to the point where it kind of starts to feel a little bit annoying if you're like me. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:07.439 And as I'm thinking about this device and whether or not I want to listen to it, uh, I realize wait a minute, this this device, my phone, is not trying to punish me. 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:10.000 Uh this device is not angry with me. 00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:15.599 Uh it's saying recalculating because it is trying to get me where I said I wanted to go. 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:20.239 And I want to ask you a hard question related to that. 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:23.200 Have you ever done that with God? 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:30.400 Have you ever avoided what you knew God wanted you to do in your life? 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:38.799 Have you ever known what God wanted and willingly, intentionally chose another route? 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:41.040 I know I have. 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:47.040 There was a time in my late teenage years that I did not want to go in God's direction at all. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:02:06.640 But I also know that really everything I love about my life right now is a result of me first resisting those plans that God had for my life, wanting to do my own plan instead, and God in his grace interrupting me, God in his grace disrupting me and completely redirecting me. 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:11.919 And that recalculation, that redirection is something I thought at first. 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:23.360 But it led me eventually to the marriage I now enjoy with my wife, to the children and family that we built together, the Bible college I went to, it led me to the seminary I went to, it led me to go into full-time ministry. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:30.719 And as I look back now about that resistance, and I think about that time, I think, wow, I had this idea of what my life was supposed to be. 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:36.159 I had maybe this vision for my life, and I realized my vision was too small. 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:43.759 God had a completely different vision for my life, but his mercy was greater than my resistance. 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:49.199 And I am eternally grateful for that recalculation, that redirection. 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:52.080 And now I get to be a part of what he's doing. 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:54.719 And I'm thankful he kept driving. 00:02:55.360 --> 00:03:01.919 I say that because I know that this sermon today is true, not because I read it in the Bible. 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:06.800 I know that today's sermon is true because I have lived this sermon in my own life. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:13.680 And so I wonder if anybody in here can relate to that, can relate to perhaps me and the story that I just told. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:17.039 Because Jonah chapter one is about that kind of story. 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:24.560 It's about a guy who heard from God, and that same guy said, Nope, I got another route. 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:26.560 That's what we're gonna talk about today. 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:30.240 So, Jonah chapter one really is answering a question. 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:34.000 And the question it's answering is, What happens when we run from God? 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:36.479 What happens when we run from God? 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:43.439 And I think really obviously what you're gonna see in this text is we learn three really important timeless principles. 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:47.199 What happens when we run from God is that God disrupts our rebellion. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:51.680 What happens when we run from God is that God exposes what we're trying to hide. 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:56.000 And what happens when we run from God is God calls us to surrender. 00:03:56.400 --> 00:03:59.280 So that's what we're gonna look at in our text today. 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:05.759 If you have your Bible, uh, why don't we go ahead and read that text in full together, and then we will pray and look at the details. 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:15.919 So if you're able, would you stand just in honor of God's word as we read this text in full, and then get the gist of it, and then we will come back and pick up the details together. 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:20.160 Jonah chapter one, and I will be reading out of the ESV. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:22.000 Hear the word of the Lord. 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:32.160 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Emetai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me. 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:35.519 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:38.639 He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:44.480 So he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:52.319 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:56.399 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his God. 00:04:56.639 --> 00:05:00.800 And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:06.480 But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship, and had lain down and was fast asleep. 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:10.399 So the captain came and said to him, What do you mean, you sleeper? 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:12.879 Arise, call out to your God. 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:17.360 Perhaps the God will give a thought to us that we may not perish. 00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:23.439 And they said to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:26.879 So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:33.199 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? 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:36.079 What is your country, and of what people are you? 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:44.480 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. 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:50.079 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, What is this that you have done? 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:54.399 For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:59.439 Then they said to him, What shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us? 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:02.480 For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:13.199 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. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:21.360 Nevertheless the men rode hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:30.000 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. 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:33.360 For you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you. 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:38.160 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea. 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:41.360 And the sea ceased from its raging. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:48.079 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:51.920 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:55.759 And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:57.199 The word of the Lord. 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:05.519 Father, thank you that you're a God who speaks, that you do not leave us to wander on our own, that you call us and lead us and invite us into your mission. 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:14.240 As we open your word today, I would ask that you'd quiet distractions, soften our hearts, give us ears to hear what your spirit wants to say to your people. 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:27.120 And Lord, if there's any place in our lives right now where we're resisting you, avoiding you, delaying obedience to you, or running in another direction altogether, would you please lovingly reveal that to us? 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:33.439 Give us humility to receive your correction and give us courage to surrender and trust you again. 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:39.279 Remind us all that your discipline is not your abandonment of us, but it is your mercy. 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:43.680 You pursue your people because you love your people. 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:52.319 So speak clearly through your word and magnify your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, so that he might change us through his spirit to walk in obedience with you. 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:53.920 For we pray it all in his name. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:55.920 And everyone said, Amen. 00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:57.120 You may be seated. 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:03.920 The structure of the book of Jonah really falls into two major scenes, which are completely parallel, scene one and scene two. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:05.920 Really, they are almost identical. 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:10.399 Right now we're in scene one, and we will get to scene two at another week. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:16.720 But you see here that there are two stories that are meant to be read side by side with one another. 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:19.279 We are right now in scene one. 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:29.839 Two weeks ago, Pastor Bob did a great job kicking things off, and we were introduced for a moment to the main character of the book of Jonah, the person of Jonah. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:33.039 And we learn that Jonah received a word from God. 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:37.679 Just to remind you of what verses one and three, one through three said, I'll put it up on the screen here. 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:42.159 Notice verse one begins with that phrase: the word of the Lord came to Jonah. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:44.879 We have a God who speaks. 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:46.720 We have a God who is not silent. 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:48.720 We have a God who breaks the sound barrier. 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:50.559 We have a God who spoke to Jonah. 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:54.480 And brothers and sisters, we have a God who is still speaking today. 00:08:54.960 --> 00:09:09.919 Not necessarily through new direct revelation on the level of scripture, but we do have a God who still guides and who speaks by his spirit and who works personally in our lives through his word and through his people to direct us and to guide our hearts. 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:15.279 And when he speaks, often it is about God wanting us to join him on his mission. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:20.320 Because really, God is the first missionary, and we are called to join him on that mission. 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:21.440 So let me ask you a question. 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:24.159 How many of you in here would like to hear from God in your life? 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:25.600 Just a quick show of hands. 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:27.200 Okay, that's probably most of us. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:28.480 You can put your hands down. 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:37.360 I want to warn you a lot of times we want to hear from God, but when he speaks, he will often tell us something that we do not want to do. 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:40.240 So be careful what you wish for. 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:46.480 A lot of times we want to hear from God, and it feels to us like a major interruption. 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:50.720 But that's the kind of life we have if we are following this God. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:56.000 It's like certain positions and certain careers out there that lend themselves to interruptions. 00:09:56.159 --> 00:10:04.639 Like if you're a physician or you're a doctor, let's say you're an OBGYN, your career is pretty much you signing up to get interrupted in your life. 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:15.519 You don't know when that baby's gonna come, and so you're gonna get a call, you're on call, you have chosen a career, you have accepted a life that is gonna be a life of always being on call. 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:28.399 In a little bit of a way like that, to be a Christian is to accept a life where you are always on call, where God has permission to interrupt you anytime, anywhere. 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:32.480 Even if it feels like an interruption, this is God's privilege. 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:35.919 So the word of the Lord came to Jonah. 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:42.639 And in a similar way, at one point in your life or another, the word of the Lord may come to you. 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:47.440 And when it comes, it might not be to do something that you want to do. 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:52.960 Notice also in verse 2, just a review here, God says, Arise and go. 00:10:53.519 --> 00:11:04.000 In verse 3, it does say that Jonah arose, or he rose, it's the same Hebrew construction there, but he arises not to obey, he arises to flee. 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:11.679 And so Jonah intentionally goes the opposite direction to Tarshish, as far away from Nineveh as he could possibly get. 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:17.759 Jonah finds a ship, Jonah pays the fare, Jonah leaves, which leads to a very interesting point. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:19.759 Pastor Craig Groschel said it well. 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:24.720 He said this if you want to run from God, the devil will always offer you a ride. 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:29.440 If you want to run from God, you can always find some people sailing in the wrong direction. 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:32.320 There will always be people who aren't following God. 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:35.039 There will always be a boat waiting at the harbor for you. 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:38.320 There will be people there going, hey, we were hoping you would come. 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:40.320 You can tag right along with us. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:41.840 Watch out for that. 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:43.840 Do not get in their boat. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:47.840 Now Jonah is disobeying God right here. 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:55.360 And the reason why he's able to do that is he, like you and me, is rationalizing his sin. 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:57.759 What does it mean to rationalize sin? 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:04.159 When we rationalize sin, what that means is our mind is making an excuse for something our spirit knows is wrong. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:06.639 That's what rationalization really is. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:09.519 The reality is many of us do this. 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:11.840 We rationalize our sin. 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:21.600 We're prompted by God to serve somewhere or to be part of his effort or his mission, and we think, eh, I want to kind of get around that, or maybe I'll get to that some other time. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:23.919 And we delay obedience. 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:26.720 Now there is another term for delayed obedience. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:28.080 Do you know what it is? 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:29.840 It's disobedience. 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:31.039 That's what that is. 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:34.799 It is really just rationalizing my disobedience. 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:40.159 Sometimes I say that because we make light of this and we don't think of it like it's so intentional. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:44.879 And sometimes even the way we talk about sin is almost like it happens on accident. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:46.799 Oh, that person fell into sin. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:51.440 Like they were walking down the road and there was a pothole and they accidentally fell into the pothole. 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:54.080 But that's not really what sin is according to the scripture. 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:56.080 Sin is much more intentional than that. 00:12:56.240 --> 00:13:02.720 Sin is like walking down the street and eyes wide open, jumping into the pothole, because I want to jump into the pothole. 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:05.519 Sin is definitely intentional. 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:10.000 And Jonah is definitely intentionally rejecting God right here. 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:12.399 He is running from God. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:19.279 Now, do you think after he ran from God, his life got better or worse? 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:20.799 Come on, talk to me, guys. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:22.639 So you're at the 11 o'clock service, you're awake. 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:23.759 So better or worse? 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:25.200 Okay, very good. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:31.120 When you run from God, do you think your life is gonna get better or worse? 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:33.279 You're right, it's worse. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:38.720 Pastor Bob pointed this out, but I want to remind you again of a wordplay happening in the Hebrew. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:40.879 In chapter one, there's this word down. 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:46.240 That word down gets repeated several times in the beginning of the book of Jonah on purpose. 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:52.480 First, Jonah goes down to Joppa in verse 3, then he goes down into the inner part of the ship. 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:53.759 We'll see that later on. 00:13:53.919 --> 00:14:00.399 And later on, when we get to chapter 2 next week, you're gonna see he goes all the way down to the bottom of the sea. 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:13.120 Jonah, at the beginning of the book, is being called by God to go up, yet Jonah is running from God, and when he's running from God, his life is going down, down, down. 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:17.360 That's what happens when you run from God. 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:21.279 Your life goes down, down, down. 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:24.720 Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:26.080 You've been there. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:35.600 You get called by God and you disobey thinking you can figure out a better plan than the omnipotent, omniscient, all-wise God of the universe. 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:42.960 Thinking you can figure out a better plan than the omnipotent, omniscient, all wise God of the universe. 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:48.320 I emphasize that because sin is at its heart so irrational. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:52.000 Sin is the height of foolishness. 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:56.480 Someone once said it this way: all sin is temporary insanity. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:58.559 It doesn't make sense. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:03.039 This guy thinks he can get on a ship to flee from God. 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:05.200 You can't do that. 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:09.360 Sin doesn't really make mental cognitive sense. 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:12.559 That's the foolishness of us in our rebellion. 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:14.960 Sin is me thinking, I know better than God. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:19.679 Jonah wants to play hide and seek with the omnipresent God of the universe. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:22.080 But Psalm 139 says, Where can I flee from your presence? 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:22.799 Answer. 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:24.000 I can't. 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:27.200 But yet, this is what Jonah is going to try to do. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:32.720 When I was a younger dad, my kids used to love to play hide and seek. 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:37.759 And so I was the seeker, and when they were really young, it was super easy. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:39.840 They were terrible hiders. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:44.000 And so I had to kind of pretend just to make the game last a little longer. 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:47.600 You count to 20 and 19, 20, ready or not, here I come. 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:53.600 I come out, and like you're behind the curtain, your leg is sticking out from the dining room curtain. 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:55.519 How can I even make this fun, right? 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:59.759 So you kind of have to pretend you don't see them, and it's ridiculous. 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:07.360 And like that, when I run and hide from God, this is yet how I appear to him. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:09.200 It's kind of ridiculous. 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:12.639 I mean, Adam and Eve, they hid behind a bush. 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:15.519 This is what we do as human beings. 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:17.120 It doesn't make sense. 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:19.679 Sin is insanity. 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:25.120 So this is where Jonah is, hiding behind the dining room curtain with his leg sticking out. 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:28.159 That's where we find him, which leads us to where we are today. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:29.279 So that was review. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:32.559 Point one when we run from God, God disrupts our rebellion. 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:34.799 That's where we're going to pick it up this morning. 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:37.440 Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to get a little choppy. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:39.039 There's some spiritual turbulence up ahead. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:39.840 Verse 4. 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:43.120 It says, But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea. 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:47.200 Again, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:51.360 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his God. 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:55.120 And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:17:01.360 But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had laid down and was fast asleep. 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:04.720 Notice a couple things in this passage on the screen. 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:09.039 Notice here's these pagans who do not believe in Yahweh God. 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:14.160 They are crying out to their own God, small g, because they are scared. 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:19.119 And sometimes when we are scared, when we are frightened, we start to get a little spiritual. 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:22.319 There's that saying there's no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:23.759 That's these guys right here. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:28.480 It's a big storm, they're scared, so they start all praying to their own individual God. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:34.640 Now they're in a crisis, but this crisis is not a crisis of their own making. 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:39.039 This crisis is something they're finding themselves in because of someone else. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:50.319 Now I want to say this just briefly, but as an aside, sometimes you can face certain storms in your life, and it's not because of you, it's because you got the wrong person in your boat. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:18:01.440 Some of you ladies, you're in a relationship with Jonah right now, and you think that you're gonna be the one to conform this guy, but I'm telling you, you need to throw that boy off your boat. 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:11.519 Some of us, we continue to invite people into our lives that pull us away from God, and we think it's compassion, but it's really compromise. 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:17.599 Or some of you, you have Jonah on your social media feed, and you're interacting with Jonah all the time. 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:24.720 You're around people or you're following people all day that are far from God and they're taking you down, down, down. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:30.000 See, 1 Corinthians 15 says, bad company corrupts good character. 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:37.839 And your life is too short to waste it around company that you shouldn't be keeping that are taking you down. 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:41.599 And the reason is because all sin is costly. 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:47.759 I understand that God's grace is real, but this decision still costs Jonah. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:58.480 It cost him his money for the fare, it cost him his time, it's gonna about to cost him his safety, and it really is about to cost him his life as he's gonna get thrown off this ship in just a second. 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:00.000 All sin is costly. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:04.799 Now, God forgives and God is merciful and God is gracious and God is loving, and all of that is true. 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:05.759 Yes and amen. 00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:08.160 And also, sin is costly. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:19.440 It might cost you wasted time, wasted years that you can't get back, decisions you can't undo, things you wish you could go back, change, rearrange, do all over again, but you can't. 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:20.559 Sin costs you. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:24.960 It could cost you your character, could cost you your reputation, could cost you your good name. 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:34.160 There's that old expression, sin always takes you farther than you want to go, always keeps you longer than you want to stay, and always costs you more than you want to pay. 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:36.400 Sin is costly. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:39.279 And then notice there's also a cost to others. 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:42.880 I emphasize that because you never sin in a vacuum. 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:44.799 We never sin in a vacuum. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:47.440 These sailors, these mariners, they were innocent. 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:49.039 They hadn't done anything wrong. 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:54.000 And they're stuck in this storm, not because of their own rebellion, they're stuck in this storm because of Jonah's rebellion. 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:54.880 And it cost them. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:57.599 It cost them their cargo, they already chucked that off the side. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:00.240 It's costing them their ship that's getting broken apart. 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:01.359 You see that right here? 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:07.680 These sailors are suffering, not because of their own sin, but because of the rebellion of someone else in their boat. 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:09.200 I mean, think about that. 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:10.880 We never sin in a vacuum. 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:14.000 Our sin costs ourselves and it costs others. 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:18.960 How many little kids have paid the cost because of mommy's sin or daddy's sin? 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:24.559 Sin always has a price, not just for you, for those around you. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:32.400 If we're rejecting God's mission, there's also the cost of others not hearing about God's grace because we're refusing to participate in his mission. 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:34.480 Sin is always costly. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:36.400 Notice the other thing here. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:39.599 Jonah is running from God, he's disobeying, but where is he? 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:43.359 He is asleep in the bottom of this ship. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:52.000 Now, in the bottom of a ship in the middle of a storm is not a place that's typically conducive toward having a good Sunday afternoon nap. 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:53.680 And yet here he is. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:21:01.039 And that is really interesting because it tells us something about where this guy is spiritually, emotionally, physically. 00:21:01.279 --> 00:21:05.119 He has gotten really, really comfortable. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:13.920 That's a profoundly important point because you can get to the point where you're running from God and you're totally comfortable with that. 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:16.559 You don't even realize how bad it's gotten. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:18.400 You've gotten totally complacent. 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:21.680 You've become comfortable with compromise. 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:23.920 This is where Jonah is. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:28.960 He doesn't even realize that he's going down, down, and down. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:31.920 Here's the good news, though. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:43.279 If you're a follower of God, if you love the Lord Jesus Christ, God will not allow you to remain comfortable in your rebellion against him. 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:45.920 Following God is never comfortable. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:50.880 And so we have a God that will disrupt your comfortable plans. 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:59.279 Notice it says in verse 4 that God sent a storm, it literally hurled a great wind. 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:02.240 Look in your Own copy of the Bible, what does your Bible say? 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:05.039 Does your Bible say that God allowed a wind? 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:06.160 No. 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:09.119 Does it say that God permitted a wind? 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.319 No, it says that God sent this storm, doesn't it? 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:17.759 Now, this is about to mess up some of your theology. 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:26.319 Because right here, I need to tell you that not every bad thing in your life is there because Satan sent it your way. 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:32.160 Right here, what we're learning in the scriptures is that some storms are there because God actually sent them. 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:39.359 Sometimes God sends the storm, sometimes God allows the storm, and sometimes you actually bring the storm on yourself. 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:45.839 I emphasize that because a lot of Christians that I know, whenever they face a trial in their life, they blame it on the devil. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:48.079 The enemy is attacking me. 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:50.480 The devil took my job. 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:53.759 No, you lost your job because you're late every day. 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:56.640 The devil got me into debt. 00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:01.680 No, that was you and your credit card that got you into debt all by yourself. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:05.119 Yes, the devil is real, but he does not bring every storm. 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:07.839 Sometimes we bring these storms on ourselves. 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:09.039 This is Jonah. 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:17.119 So God sends this storm, not like Thor with a lightning bolt, to destroy people with a sense of vindictiveness. 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:24.480 This storm is actually a kindness of God to disrupt Jonah to get him back on track. 00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:30.400 So God comes in, disrupts his rebellion, and that can be something we experience in our lives. 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:42.559 Sometimes we can experience this disruption, this interruption, and at the moment, perhaps in the moment, it might feel like God is abandoning you, but that disruption is actually not God's abandonment at all. 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:53.359 It is God and his sovereign grace and his power and his love pursuing you, chasing you down, exposing your disobedience or your spiritual drift. 00:23:53.680 --> 00:24:02.960 Is there anything in your life right now that feels like a disruption from God but might have a deeper spiritual purpose? 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:04.319 That's point one. 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:06.960 When we run from God, he disrupts our rebellion. 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:11.839 Number two, when we run from God, God exposes what we were trying to hide. 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:15.680 Jonah's down in the lower part of the boat, remember, she's sleeping. 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:22.799 But now Jonah's secret rebellion, which nobody knows about at this point, is about to be exposed and it's about to be public. 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:31.839 So they're all in this storm and they're crying out to their gods, and then one guy, the captain, goes looking for Jonah to find him. 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:33.200 Verse 6. 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:37.839 So the captain came and said to him, What do you mean, you sleeper? 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:40.160 Arise, call out to your God. 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:43.839 Perhaps the God will give a thought to us that we may not perish. 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:50.319 And they said to one another, Come, let us cast lots that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us. 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:54.880 So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:58.319 The lot fell on Jonah. 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:02.400 Casting lots is an Old Testament concept that might seem kind of random. 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:05.359 It was like rolling dice or like drawing straws. 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:07.759 Jonah gets the short straw here. 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:13.759 It might seem like happenstance, but yet the scripture is very clear that God is even in control of that. 00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:17.440 In your margin, just jot down Proverbs 16, 33. 00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:23.279 It says, the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:34.000 And so back in the Old Testament, this is the practice that they would sometimes engage in, and God Himself would show that He's completely sovereign and reigning over even the casting of the lot. 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:39.039 And here, God exposes what Jonah was trying to hide. 00:25:39.359 --> 00:25:44.559 God's discipline often uncovers and exposes before it can ever restore. 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:58.960 I think about the story of Chuck Coulson, who was engaged with President Nixon in the Watergate scandal, and how he was arrested and sent to prison and exposed for his illegal behavior. 00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:15.279 And it was there, after that exposure in prison, that Coulson was born again and he woke up to the good news of the gospel, and then God birthed in him the vision for breakpoint ministry and the Coulson Center for Christian Worldview and everything that it became. 00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:23.839 It all started because of that first exposure, which I'm sure was not very comfortable at the time, but yet this is what God had planned. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:26.000 Listen to this quote from Matt Chandler. 00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:36.480 He says this quote It is not cruel, unjust, or wicked of God to wound you in such a way that it knocks out from under you the props of self-reliance and puts your reliance completely on him. 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:47.200 He goes on to say, It is not cruel of God at all to take from you what might lead into an eternity of sorrow, to give you sorrow now that leads to an eternity of ever-increasing joy. 00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:49.599 This is what our God is like. 00:26:49.839 --> 00:27:00.079 And so Jonah's being exposed, he's being found out, and the other mariners, the other sailors are not very happy with him at this point because he's got them involved with this whole fiasco. 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:01.839 So let's continue the text with verse 8. 00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:02.480 It says this. 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:14.960 Interesting. 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:21.359 If you're a WNBA fan, this meme has gone viral all week. 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:25.920 This is basically the same energy that the sailors have right here. 00:27:26.079 --> 00:27:28.240 They're just immediately pointing. 00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:32.559 There's no committee, there's no investigation, no follow-up questions, just it's you. 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:35.200 And Jonah's like, all right, fair. 00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:40.640 But there's actually something sobering going on underneath of this little humorous meme here. 00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:44.880 Jonah's secret disobedience is not private anymore. 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:51.519 Verse 9 continues the text and says, And he said to them, I am a Hebrew. 00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:57.599 I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. 00:27:57.759 --> 00:27:59.200 He's in control of all this. 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:05.039 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, What is this that you have done? 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:10.240 For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. 00:28:28.400 --> 00:28:35.519 It is the question that comes up in the scriptures where God is exposing his children after they have committed a sin. 00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:37.599 What is this that you have done? 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:46.160 The second thing I want you to notice here is the interesting interplay with the concept of fear in this passage. 00:28:46.400 --> 00:28:53.839 First, you'll see in verse 10 that Jonah said, that the sailors say they're exceedingly afraid. 00:28:54.160 --> 00:29:03.440 But you notice back in verse 9, Jonah ironically also refers to the same concept of fear, claiming that he actually fears the Lord. 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:07.359 The text is clear that that's the God Yahweh right there. 00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:14.079 So you have two instances of the same concept of fear, but they're different from each other. 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:28.640 On the one hand, Jonah is confessing sound theology, but he's got his doctrinal statement all lined up in his mind, which is completely contradicting his actions in real life. 00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:35.759 The sailors, however, ironically, they actually have a true and certain fear of the Lord. 00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:44.480 And here in this text, it's the pagans that are rebuking God's prophet with the appropriate kind of fear. 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:54.160 This is kind of like that story in the New Testament where the Roman centurion has faith and he ends up having more faith than the people of Israel who are supposed to have faith in the first place. 00:29:54.319 --> 00:30:00.799 Here's Jonah saying he fears the Lord, but really it's the sailors who are actually appropriately fearing God. 00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:06.079 Jonah is claiming to fear and worship God, yet he's disobeying that same God. 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:07.039 There's a gap. 00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:12.799 There's a gap in between his theological confession and his practical obedience. 00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:14.319 Do you see the gap there? 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:16.160 That can happen. 00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:17.920 That can happen today. 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:19.680 That can happen to me. 00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:24.240 I can say I worship Jesus, I can confess the right theology. 00:30:24.319 --> 00:30:29.599 I could come to church, you could come to church on Sunday morning and confess all the right stuff. 00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:35.039 And yet your life Monday through Saturday doesn't line up with that confession at all. 00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:41.039 There's a gap between what's being confessed and what's actually being lived out. 00:30:41.599 --> 00:30:46.000 Every few years we we read a headline that exposes that gap. 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:51.680 There's a celebrity that thanks God at some award show, and we're like, oh wow, cool. 00:30:51.839 --> 00:30:59.759 They're calling themselves a Christian, but then we find out publicly they're also celebrating things that Jesus explicitly rejects, and there's this gap. 00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:03.920 We all notice the inconsistency when it's out there. 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:10.640 Jonah is not written so that we might look at the inconsistency out there. 00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:15.279 Jonah is written not to be a window, but to be a mirror. 00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:23.920 Jonah was written to expose the people of God in Israel and how they had failed and rejected God and his mission for them. 00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:27.680 And Jonah is a microcosm of the entire nation. 00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:36.000 And so Jonah was written to be a mirror for the people of God to see themselves and how they were and expose the gap in their lives. 00:31:36.319 --> 00:31:37.920 And that's how we need to read it today. 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:39.359 So can I ask you that question? 00:31:39.680 --> 00:31:44.960 Where is there a gap in your life between your confession and your actions? 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:49.759 Some people think embracing the gospel of Jesus Christ is like getting life insurance. 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:56.000 Hey, I'm covered, I signed the paper, now I can kind of like do whatever I want in my life, right? 00:31:56.160 --> 00:32:00.079 That's not the mindset of a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:01.920 Jesus wants every area. 00:32:02.160 --> 00:32:05.119 He said, Why do you call me Lord, Lord, but don't do what I say? 00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:14.160 So maybe you say Jesus is Lord, but then every major decision that you make is made around your comfort or your money or your status or your convenience. 00:32:14.400 --> 00:32:22.240 Or maybe you say, I trust God, but yet your anxiety reveals that you're really trying to control everything yourself. 00:32:22.559 --> 00:32:31.200 Or maybe you say, hey, God's word is my authority, but when Scripture confronts something that you want, something suddenly you think, well, I'm the exception to that. 00:32:31.680 --> 00:32:35.440 That's the question being asked of Jonah and us here. 00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:41.839 What do you say you believe, and does my life really move in the same direction as my confession? 00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:48.960 If there's a gap, God in his mercy, though it's uncomfortable, will expose that gap. 00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:53.839