WEBVTT 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:05.280 Thank you for joining us on the CCW podcast. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:11.119 Make sure you connect with us on social media to stay up to date on ministries and events happening at CCW. 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:15.039 We hope you're encouraged, inspired, and motivated by today's message. 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:19.120 To find out how to connect with us, keep listening after the message ends. 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:27.839 Y'all ready? 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:29.199 Amen. 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:31.039 That's it. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:32.079 I know it. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:33.280 Go get them fast. 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:36.880 I saw Publix was out yesterday, so get your turkeys. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:38.799 I man, I missed y'all last week. 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:46.159 We, Heather and I had the privilege to go to our previous church and officiate a wedding. 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:49.359 I'll tell you the neatest thing about the whole wedding. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:56.960 This young lady had hoped since she was a little girl that she would have a snow-covered wedding. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:02.399 And Monday in Connorsville, Indiana of that week, it was 72 degrees. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:05.680 And so chances were looking pretty bad. 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:12.319 And uh anyhow, well, Thursday, 30% shot out on the weather radar. 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:17.519 It was rising 35, 40 Friday, 50, 55 Friday night. 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:23.200 We wake up Saturday and the ground is covered in snow for the wedding. 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:24.159 And pretty cool. 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:25.680 It was like a Disney scene. 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:30.239 So it was old country church, and they walked in from the outside. 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:36.319 So an usher went and opened the door, and there was Bride and Daddy with snow just falling behind her. 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:38.640 And I'm telling you what, what a scene. 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:40.319 So that was awesome. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:46.799 And then I got to preach last Sunday, and uh we had a great uh moving of God's spirit. 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:52.640 But I know y'all had a great service right here because I listened to Pastor Dave. 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:59.280 Man, what an awesome job on Jonah chapter 3, Dave did. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:05.280 This week, uh, just to fill y'all in, was our Alabama State Southern Baptist Convention. 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:09.919 I learned a lot of things, and I'll share just a couple that I'm I'm excited about. 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:15.919 There's 3,332 Southern Baptist churches in Alabama. 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:19.599 Can we just get one more and make it 3333? 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:22.879 Um and here's something really cool. 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:30.159 So we support over 10,000 missionaries in 153 nations across the world. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:33.599 So we can give God a hand clap for that. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:35.520 And uh it's been a good week. 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:36.719 Glad to be here. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:42.159 If you open your Bibles to Jonah chapter 4, gonna give one more commercial. 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:49.199 In just two weeks, the best Christmas pageant ever is going to be right here. 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:53.680 Literally, that is the title of the pageant, the best Christmas pageant ever. 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:55.120 So you don't want to miss it. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:59.919 Our kids have been practicing hard, their leadership has been working long hours. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:02.400 So do me a favor, invite somebody. 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:05.919 Somebody might not come to church, but they'll come to a kid's play. 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:06.960 This is the thing. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:08.639 Invite them in two weeks. 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:10.719 And we cannot wait for that. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:14.240 Jonah chapter four, as you're turning there. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:20.159 Have you ever watched a movie that you were dissatisfied with the ending of the movie? 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:21.199 You got there. 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:22.960 This happens often with my wife. 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:26.080 She'll say, I'll never watch that movie again. 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:27.919 And it happens a lot. 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:31.280 And this something else I'll tell you about, Heather. 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:34.400 Heather loves her, some Leonardo DiCaprio. 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:36.639 I'm not jealous. 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:37.199 Okay. 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:38.800 It's okay. 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:54.240 Um, I've never spoken this publicly about the situation, but if you watch the movie Titanic, which she loved, uh there is a scene that has been, I'm telling you, a thorn in the side of moviegoers has to be for 20 years. 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:57.599 The ending of that movie is so dissatisfying for me. 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:02.560 I know some of it is based on reality, but look, Jack saves everybody. 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:09.759 Leo saves her, gets her outside, they endure this boat going down, and when it goes down, they get in the ocean. 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:16.639 She, Rose, is on a door, and it is quite obvious that there is room on the door for Jack. 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:18.639 And he just slides off. 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:21.360 And that's it, he's dead because he couldn't climb. 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:25.360 He could get out of the boat sinking, but he could not climb onto a door. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:27.199 I hate it. 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:31.279 I just had to get that off my chest this morning, okay? 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:32.560 Before we get started. 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:33.920 Okay. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:39.279 There was plenty of room, no matter what anyone says, on that door for two. 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:39.920 Okay. 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:48.879 As we get to Jonah chapter three, if it ended right there, we would all say, great movie, storybook ended. 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:58.959 He confessed, he was spat up by a whale, he went and reached the city that God once reached, and 120,000 people came to repentance. 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:11.600 What a great story! We'd have resolved, we'd feel fulfilled, but there's a chapter four, and I'm gonna tell you, I don't like chapter four. 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:24.800 Chapter four is about unsettling and unresolving until you get into it and it's perplexing, but we have a lesson that we gotta learn today from chapter four. 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:26.079 Let me pray. 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:31.839 Father, we love you, and God, uh, we thank you for your presence already. 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:36.160 Lord, we thank you, God, in worship that you were exalted. 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:39.279 I thank you, God, for my church family who I miss. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:43.360 Lord, I thank you, God, for all of the guests that are here today. 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:48.480 Lord, we pray that your Holy Spirit would touch our hearts. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:52.240 God, if not, we're we have no reason to even be here. 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:53.920 I have nothing to say. 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:55.920 Let your Holy Spirit speak. 00:05:56.160 --> 00:05:58.720 God, move today in Jesus' name. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:05:59.680 Amen. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:01.439 So look in Jonah chapter four. 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:13.360 We're gonna read verses one through three, and we'll see, starting off today, Jonah's response after the city of Nineveh had returned unto God or had repented from their ways. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:15.120 Look at Jonah chapter four. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:20.639 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:28.399 So he prayed to the Lord and said, Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country. 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:41.600 Therefore I fled previously to Tarshus, for I know that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, one who relents from doing harm. 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:51.279 Therefore now, oh Lord, please just take my life, for it's better for me to die than to live. 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:53.199 You see Jonah's response. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:56.800 Jonah says what he says out of a loveless heart. 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:03.759 Jonah despised the Ninevehes, and God saved them through Jonah's loveless preaching. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:09.839 God can use people, church, today, that do right things for wrong reasons. 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:11.120 Hear me. 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:13.920 God can do more than we can imagine. 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:18.720 Have you ever heard anyone say, God can't use a dirty vessel? 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:22.879 This is a well-meaning statement, but it's inaccurate. 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:26.959 God can use all kinds of things in all kinds of ways. 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:30.720 And if anything, Jonah was a dirty vessel here. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:38.399 He was a pitiless vessel, he was a merciless vessel, and God uses him to save an entire city. 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:50.240 By the way, I want to tell you today when Satan tries to come at you and guilt you of your past and your choices, mistakes, I want you to be able to say, hey, Satan, God used Jonah. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:08:06.319 God used Jonah, and maybe sometimes Satan, yeah, I'm a hypocrite sometimes, and sometimes maybe I am sinful, and sometimes I don't make the decision that I wished I made, but God is greater than all my defects, Satan. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:10.879 Jonah gives us, though, a lesson here in chapter four. 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:15.920 We see in contrast, the point of this book is that he does get it wrong. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:20.879 And so we are to learn what kind of heart should the prophet have. 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:23.439 And then what kind of heart should we have? 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:25.519 Because he does have the wrong heart in this. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:31.680 What it says he did, letter A, is he's mad at God's mercy. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:33.519 His madness at God's mercy. 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:35.039 Look again at verse one. 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:40.799 It displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:43.039 Displeased, it says, but it displeased. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:50.080 This is the Greek word ra-wa, and ra-wah means to spoil, literally, to the breaking into pieces. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:53.440 Jonah was exceedingly upset. 00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:56.639 Don't miss the weight here, like, oh well, he's just angry. 00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:02.399 He is so fired up, burnt up in a rage, mad that God would do this. 00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:09.600 The same word is used when it talks about King Nebuchadnezzar when he told everybody, when my music goes off, I want everybody to bow. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:12.879 And there were three guys unwilling to bend or bow. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:14.960 And he gave them a second chance. 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:16.080 He hit the music. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:18.000 He explained to them as if they were dummies. 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:21.039 I'm gonna let you guys have another chance you didn't understand, I guess. 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:23.519 And he hit the music, they didn't bow again. 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:27.600 And it says that his face was distorted towards them. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:28.879 That's the kind of rage. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:31.440 Anybody ever seen somebody's face? 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:32.639 Anybody at home? 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:34.080 You know how to raise your head. 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:35.919 Their face turned at you. 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:38.240 He said, That ain't how you usually look. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:43.120 In a rage, it says Jonah was. 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:44.480 He was mad. 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:49.200 He was not happy when we brought uh Wyatt home. 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:50.320 Callie as a baby. 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:52.639 Callie whimpered, she still whimpers. 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:54.960 That's how that's how she communicates things. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:55.679 She whines. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:09:57.759 It was like that. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:09:58.799 It was so easy. 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:08.399 When we brought Wyatt home, the first time that Wyatt ever cried, I guess because he was hungry or whatever it was, he turned completely purple. 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:09.279 Everything. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:10.799 All of it. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:14.960 And Heather looks at me, I look at her, I'm like, what is this thing? 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:17.440 All of it, his face, all of it raged. 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:19.759 And we're like, I guess he's hungry. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:22.000 Like, like he just went in a rage. 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:23.679 Where are you, little rage monster? 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:24.480 In here. 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:25.440 I'm just kidding. 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:26.399 I'm just kidding. 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:29.200 So this is Jonah. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:30.559 He's angry. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:33.519 He's so angry at what God has done. 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:40.159 He told him, and we're gonna go into his tone and the way he talks to God, but he's this is this not why I ran? 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:43.919 I knew that you would do this, God. 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:47.440 He's mad at God's mercy. 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:56.000 I wonder, I want I want to give you a pop quiz on the story of Jonah here as you've walked through. 00:10:56.159 --> 00:11:04.000 When you go back to the first time God called Jonah to Nineveh, why do you think that Jonah did not want to go? 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:05.519 You got the answer in your minds? 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:06.960 Everybody got the answer in your minds? 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:17.519 Now I think for most people, and maybe you learned this in Sunday school or what have you, for most people they will say he didn't go to Nineveh because he was afraid. 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:22.320 He didn't go because he was fearful of the Ninevehes and what they would do. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:23.840 I want you to think of something. 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:25.440 I'm not trying to prove. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:27.679 Maybe that's true, maybe not. 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:28.159 Okay. 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:31.120 But Jonah did some pretty courageous things. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:34.320 Jonah said, throw me overboard of the ship. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:37.039 Jonah slept through a storm throughout this. 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:41.120 So we can say that, but I want you to see what I believe. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:42.240 Verse 2. 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:47.600 He prayed to the Lord and said, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:51.519 I fled because I knew that you would relent. 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:54.240 I believe it's wrapped up right there. 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:58.639 He did not want to see these people reached. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:02.399 And so he's reiterating, I didn't want to see this, God. 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:04.000 That's why I didn't want to go. 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:06.559 That's why I boarded the other ship. 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:12.000 And so Jonah was so upset at God's mercy. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:14.080 It was uncontrolled. 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:15.840 Now think about this. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:21.600 Was Jonah not becoming like that which he was so against? 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:26.080 The merciless, the violence, the raging people? 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:33.360 Was Jonah not becoming and his self-righteousness not what he held in great contempt? 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:39.200 I heard a preacher once asked this question, and I want to pose it today. 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:42.240 How many lost people call you friend? 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:53.440 How much do you have to hate a person to know what salvation is and never share it? 00:12:54.960 --> 00:13:00.000 Why would you have the life-saving power of God in you and never share it? 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:02.320 Church, I want to ask you a hard question. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:06.399 Who is the last person that you told your salvation story to? 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:12.879 Who is the last person that you personally invited to hear what God can do? 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:15.360 Let me tell you what Leonard Ravenhill said. 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:16.480 Oh, preacher. 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:17.200 He said this. 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:21.120 Could a mariner sit idle if he heard the drowning cry? 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:25.039 Could a doctor sit in comfort and just let his patients die? 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:29.519 Could a fireman sit idle, let men burn and give no hand? 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:33.279 Can you sit at ease in heaven with the world around you? 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:34.159 Damned. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:37.840 Church, we say we have Jesus. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:40.000 We know the Savior of the world. 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:42.399 Whom are we telling? 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:49.600 We see his madness at mercy, and then let it be, we see the manner of Jonah's manipulation. 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:58.879 Manipulation is controlling of people by unfair or insiduous terms, especially to somebody's advantage. 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:00.480 He's looking to manipulate. 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:03.279 He's manipulative in the way that he speaks. 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:08.639 First of all, in that we see that he disrespects God in the tone that he takes. 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:09.440 Anybody here? 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:12.559 Somebody been talking to you and you knew their tone meant something? 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:13.120 Right? 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:14.799 Parents, are you with me? 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:15.919 Tone means a lot. 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:17.039 Teenagers hear me. 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:19.039 The way that you say something matters. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:20.960 You say, but I said what I said was okay. 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:25.600 Well, the way that you say it, I'm going to my room. 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:27.519 I'm just doing what you said. 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:31.279 Well, that tone right there can get you really more in trouble. 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:32.240 Am I right? 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:35.919 Jonah's tone and manner of speaking. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.759 He says, Oh, Lord, isn't this what I said? 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:42.720 I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:48.159 I knew you'd be merciful, and that is why I ran to Tarshish. 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:51.120 It's almost like he's saying, Are you dumb? 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:52.799 Can you imagine? 00:14:54.080 --> 00:15:00.320 You knew how I felt about him, but you did what you wanted to do, anyways. 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:04.080 So are you even surprised that I'm angry? 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:09.440 God's love sometimes throughout this, I don't know about you. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:17.039 His love sometimes for Jonah, some to me, is more astounding than his love towards the ignorance of the Ninevites. 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:26.720 A pastor once told me this, and I've never forgot, he said, Man, I want to spend my time with people who don't know better instead of most of my time with people who ought to know better. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:28.320 You understand? 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:32.080 And so Jonah, he ought to know better. 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:39.519 But he lets God know through tone and tantrum that he is disgusted with the Almighty. 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:42.240 Manipulation. 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:44.480 Manipulation here. 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:47.519 Look, this is the epitome of stubbornness. 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:52.240 He is so stubborn that he talks to God as if to say, God, I am right. 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:54.000 I knew you would do this. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:55.120 I am right. 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:56.879 You ever been around somebody like this? 00:15:57.039 --> 00:15:58.960 They gotta let you know that they're right. 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:00.799 They always gotta be right. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:03.759 Doesn't matter how much contention comes, right, right, right. 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:07.440 And Jonas says, God, I knew this would happen. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:09.840 I don't have to love and serve. 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:11.600 I'd rather just die. 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:17.039 Now listen to me. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:20.720 He's using a dangerous dialect that people do. 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:23.919 Manipulation through a life is no way. 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:25.120 Hear me, church. 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:27.279 It's no way to treat people. 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:31.279 You should never treat people, acting like you're on the edge. 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:33.200 Don't do that to people. 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:35.840 This type of manipulation is dangerous. 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:41.759 And he's basically getting to the point where he's saying, it's not my way, and I can't stand it. 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:43.279 Just take me. 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:46.240 Why don't you just kill me? 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:48.320 I want it to be my way. 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:52.159 I don't want any saving of these Ninevites. 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:56.320 And here's the thing. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:01.120 He's got to go back to his Israelite people. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:05.839 And what Jonah is so concerned about is his prophet reputation. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:14.079 When I go back to my people over here, if these people have been saved that everyone hates, they're gonna call me a false prophet. 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:18.640 My reputation is on the line, God. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:24.240 My reputation. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:31.440 Sometimes I think people care more about what other people think about them than what God Almighty wants for them. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:38.720 When reputation overarches character, look at where Jonah's at on this. 00:17:39.039 --> 00:18:03.279 When I was uh I went to Christian school, and in Christian school, um about eighth, ninth grade, we'd be coming to lunchtime, and I'd sit there at the lunch, and every day my heart would start beating because I'm supposed to be a Christian at Christian school, and there's my lunch, and I know my mom and daddy taught me before you eat your lunch, you better pray. 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:06.319 Let me tell you about the fastest prayers ever known to man. 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:07.599 I thought Lord blessed this food. 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:10.480 Just enough time for a blink. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:11.519 You know why? 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:14.480 I was concerned about my reputation. 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:18.559 Man, my rep was on the line. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:21.599 And so we see Jonah here. 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:24.799 A simple test of character is to ask these three questions. 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:27.519 So I want you, if you're writing stuff down, write this down today. 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:30.000 Number one, what makes me happy? 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:31.920 You want to know about your character? 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:34.960 What just think about the things that make you happy? 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:38.720 Number two, what makes me angry? 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.440 I'm gonna find out about your character. 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:42.480 What makes me happy? 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:43.519 What makes me angry? 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:46.799 And number three, what makes me want to give up? 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:59.200 Pleasing people instead of God, impressing others, and the opinion of others is mattering more than what God's like, what God has spoken. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:05.039 Jonah's living in this moment for temporal instead of for what is eternal. 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:06.480 I want you to look at something. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:08.079 Matthew chapter 26. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:10.559 Keep your place there in Jonah. 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:13.759 And I just want you to see, this is not the only time in Scripture. 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:21.119 There's many times in Scripture where manipulation is used in the service of God. 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:27.680 Matthew 26, 14 through 16, one of the key times we see this, Judas. 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:35.920 Then one of the twelve, verse 14, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priest and said, What are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you? 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:38.559 And they counted out to him 30 pieces of silver. 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:43.920 So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Jesus. 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:50.720 Judas for money would manipulate and betray Jesus. 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:54.559 Jonah for reputation would betray Jesus. 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:56.640 Yet look, don't miss this. 00:19:57.599 --> 00:19:59.680 Jesus loved Judas. 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:03.200 And Jesus loved Jonah. 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:06.880 And Jesus loved Nineveh, and Jesus loves you. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:08.720 And he loves me. 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:10.640 Don't miss this story. 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:12.880 The greater picture of this story. 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:17.279 Well, the second thing we see is Jesus' redemption here. 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:21.519 I want you to see verses four through six. 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:26.640 He says, Then the Lord said, Is it right for you to be angry? 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:30.079 So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:36.079 There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade till he might see what would become of the city. 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:44.720 And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah that it might be a shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:48.160 So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:53.599 I want you to see in Jesus' redemption here a couple of things that he sends in the story. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:56.960 He sends Jonah a physical illustration. 00:20:57.119 --> 00:21:02.240 He sends a weed, a worm, and a word to deliver the message of his redemption. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:08.240 And so in that we see, letter A, a tenderness to the prophet. 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:12.319 He still cares about this man. 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:24.799 God's response, he doesn't respond to Jonah in his manipulation or in his tantrum angrily from heaven, throwing his finger down, like I don't know about you, but that's how I was taught how God was when I was a little kid. 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:29.279 He's up in heaven with his finger in judgment and he's ready for the first time you sin. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:31.839 This is not the God of the Bible. 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:42.400 Yes, he is just and he judges sin with his right hand, but he's also very loving and slow to anger. 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:46.079 He's not looking for an opportunity to pounce down in anger. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:46.880 He's slow. 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:49.440 And so he's tender towards his prophet. 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:50.799 How does he respond? 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:52.720 He gives him a tender question. 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:54.880 Instead of anger, he asks him a question. 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:56.880 He says, This, I love this. 00:21:57.759 --> 00:22:03.200 Verse 4 in the King James, it says, Do you do well to be angry, Jonah? 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:05.599 Do you do well? 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:09.839 For you and me today, do you do well to be angry? 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:13.200 Is it really helpful for you when you get angry? 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:18.240 Do you ever go past that moment and go, man, I'm sure glad I had a tantrum today. 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:19.440 I felt so good. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:23.680 I had a good spell of anger, and I feel so much better. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:31.680 All I need to do is spit and stammer and sputter and hit some things, and now, with a hole in my wall, I feel great. 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:37.200 He says, Jonah, do you do well to be angry? 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:38.960 And then he sends a weed. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:39.839 Interesting. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:41.599 A plant for comfort. 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:51.119 Jonah is pouting, he's mad, he's sitting over, and by the way, he's sitting for 40 days watching, wondering if God will then destroy the city. 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:54.640 That's what Jonah's doing, and he's just waiting and watching. 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:57.599 And God sends this plant to comfort him. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:22:59.839 He sent Jonah a touch. 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:01.279 It was shade. 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:03.519 In the midst of hot sun. 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:06.079 Anyone ever been in the midst of hot sun? 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:07.119 Needs some shade? 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:11.920 Heather took me to a Red Sox game as a gift a few years back. 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:17.839 And as we were watching the game, the sun in left field became like unbearable. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:19.039 It was just beating down. 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:24.079 There we were, just baking for the Lord in this game and just getting cooked. 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:28.079 And I looked over at some people over there on the side, man, they had a nice deck. 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:30.640 Like they were over there flaunting their shade. 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:32.160 Sorry. 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:33.359 Should have paid. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:35.839 You know, I think they probably paid less for their seat. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:37.359 I think our seats were better. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:37.839 Okay. 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:41.359 But there they were in their shade sometimes. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:46.160 Out of the goodness of God's heart, the church, he just sends shade. 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:48.799 Let me explain. 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:58.400 The Bible in Exodus 13, 21, it says this, and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the Israelites. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:01.200 He's a veiling, he's a covering. 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:05.279 He goes before us and behind us in Psalms 139.5. 00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:13.359 He says this in the Psalms, but you, O Lord, are a shield for me, and the one who lifts my head, he's a cloud, he's a shield. 00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:20.079 In Psalms 3, 3 it says, He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:22.480 He's a cloud, he's a shield, he's a shelter. 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:27.519 It says that the Lord is my keeper, the shade of my right hand, Psalms 121.5. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:32.160 He is a shield and a cloud and a shelter and a shadow and a shade. 00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:37.200 He loves us with a tenderness to care about our comforts, even. 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:42.240 This weed, this plant that growed up, this weed was a blessing. 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:46.799 I don't want you to leave here saying the pastor said that weed is a blessing. 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:48.400 That's not what I said. 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:48.799 Okay. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:51.920 This weed was a blessing. 00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:55.119 God is not condemning Jonah. 00:24:55.759 --> 00:24:58.559 He relentlessly loves this man. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:04.799 Even though in this moment Jonah is a pretty sorry prophet. 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:06.319 God loves him. 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:10.960 He doesn't look at his sin, he's not holding it on a whiteboard up in the pearly gates. 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:11.680 Another one. 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:12.640 Another one. 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:14.400 Who loves like this? 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:16.720 We've been talking about this relentless love. 00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:20.720 And I don't know if we really appreciate the definition, but who loves like this? 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:22.559 And I came to this conclusion. 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:24.319 How many moms are here? 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:26.480 Raise your hand if you're a mom. 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:32.079 Some of y'all, look, just be honest, you don't gotta raise your hand, but you got some sinful children, don't you? 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:36.400 Do they not sin every day? 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:43.200 Have you ever, one time, ever turned your back and said, I'm not being mom no more? 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:46.240 Some of you shook your head. 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:48.480 I saw it. 00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:50.960 I did. 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:52.720