SPEAKER_00: This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.
SPEAKER_00: For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, when we sing songs like that, what we're saying to you is our belief in you, our worship of you, and our enjoyment of you is not conditional.
SPEAKER_01: It is not conditioned, it's not dependent upon our circumstances.
SPEAKER_01: So if we're on the summit today, on the highest point of the mountain, enjoying the view, or if we're in the valley, you're not hard to find.
SPEAKER_01: We're not hard to find.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you're not hard to find.
SPEAKER_01: Some of us don't want to find you because in finding you, we find ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: And that's the thing we don't want to fix.
SPEAKER_01: So, Holy Spirit creating us a desire today to find you and to find ourselves, to see you and to see ourselves accurately, because your nature is a reflection, God, uh, of what's capable of us.
SPEAKER_01: And we fall short of the glory of God.
SPEAKER_01: So when we see you clearly, we're reminded I'm capable of more.
SPEAKER_01: And so I pray for anyone that's running today.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, let the storm get to the point where their heart turns back towards you, uh, not away from you, but towards you.
SPEAKER_01: God, give us wisdom to solve the problem we're in right now by thinking rightly about the problem and discerning the problem for what it is.
SPEAKER_01: Now, Holy Spirit, illuminate the scripture today so we walk out of here with more understanding and more freedom than we had when we walked in.
SPEAKER_01: This is our prayer.
SPEAKER_01: We prayed in Christ's name, and everyone said, Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: You can have a seat.
SPEAKER_01: If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to the Old Testament book of Jonah.
SPEAKER_01: If you're a guest, we preach through books of the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: It's called expository preaching.
SPEAKER_01: And here's why we do that.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, because we think it's the way you nurture, we think it's biblical, and that's the main reason.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but it's the way you nurse the faith and the understanding of a congregation over the long haul.
SPEAKER_01: So we do a New Testament book, then we do an Old Testament book, we finish the book of Acts, and now we're doing the book of Jonah.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm in Jonah chapter one, verse five.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to talk to you this morning uh about how to solve a problem.
SPEAKER_01: How to solve a problem.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is a second sermon in the book of Jonah.
SPEAKER_01: Last week we just did the first four verses, and basically what happened last week was it's the only book of the Bible that starts off with the word of the Lord coming to somebody.
SPEAKER_01: The word usually sets the tone in the background and the story, and then the word of God comes to somebody and they hear it, and they're like Indiana Jones.
SPEAKER_01: They're faithful, they go rescue the woman and save the world.
SPEAKER_01: Jonah, the word of the Lord comes to him.
SPEAKER_01: Jonah basically says, No, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: I do not want this, and he runs, okay?
SPEAKER_01: God tells him to go to a city called Nineveh, and Jonah's like, I don't like those people.
SPEAKER_01: They don't vote like me, they don't think like me, they don't smell like me.
SPEAKER_01: They all deserve judgment, okay?
SPEAKER_01: And so God tells him to go to Nineveh, he gets on a ship and goes the exact opposite direction.
SPEAKER_01: This is what I mean when I talk about running, okay?
SPEAKER_01: He goes down to the ship, he gets on it, and he takes off.
SPEAKER_01: And God says, Okay, you want to do that?
SPEAKER_01: And so God hurls.
SPEAKER_01: Now, here's one of the things uh that that that I just want to point out is how often in chapter one the word hurled is used.
SPEAKER_01: God hurls a storm, uh, a storm so severe that everybody on the ship realizes this can only come from God.
SPEAKER_01: God hurls a storm, they hurl the cargo overboard, and as you'll see this morning, eventually they hurl Jonah overboard.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and so the little play on words there.
SPEAKER_01: And you say, Well, what do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: What are you talking about?
SPEAKER_01: Let me just jump in in verse five.
SPEAKER_01: We left off, it says uh last week that in verse four says, But the Lord hurled great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
SPEAKER_01: Now, now, by the way, when it says the ship threatened to break up, it's all it's almost like all of creation.
SPEAKER_01: The wind, the waves, and the ship are all conspiring against what Jonah's trying to do.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're running, here's one of the ways you know you're running from the will of God.
SPEAKER_01: It just gets harder and harder and harder.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: And as you'll see, we'll end here today, but let me just give you a little foreshadowing.
SPEAKER_01: God intends it that way, not to punish you, but to invite you back to what He's created you to be.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Then the mariners were afraid.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, verse 5, then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his God, and they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them.
SPEAKER_01: But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.
SPEAKER_01: So the captain came and said to him, What do you mean, you sleeper?
SPEAKER_01: Arise, call out to your God.
SPEAKER_01: Perhaps the God will get will give a thought to us that we may not perish.
SPEAKER_01: And they said to one another, Come, let us cast lots that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.
SPEAKER_01: So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
SPEAKER_01: Then they said to him, Tell us whose account this evil has come upon this evil has come upon us.
SPEAKER_01: What is your occupation?
SPEAKER_01: Where do you come from?
SPEAKER_01: What is your country?
SPEAKER_01: Or what people of what people are you?
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Now, by the way, he says, I am a Hebrew, I fear the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You can live in such a way that nobody believes a word that comes out of your mouth.
SPEAKER_01: I just don't want to run past that.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a Hebrew and I fear the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: These cats are thinking, What are you doing here then?
SPEAKER_01: Ah, I fear the Lord, the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.
SPEAKER_01: Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, What is this that you have done?
SPEAKER_01: For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
SPEAKER_01: And they said to him, What shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us?
SPEAKER_01: For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.
SPEAKER_01: He said to them, Pick me up and hurl me into the sea.
SPEAKER_01: Then the sea will quiet down for you.
SPEAKER_01: For I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: For you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.
SPEAKER_01: So they picked up Jonah and they hurled him into the sea.
SPEAKER_01: And the sea ceased from its raging.
SPEAKER_01: Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
SPEAKER_01: And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.
SPEAKER_01: And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when I said earlier how to solve a problem, I have zero life coaching tips for you today.
SPEAKER_01: I just want us to see how the Bible kind of speaks to us in a very practical way.
SPEAKER_01: There's three things I want to say.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, you have to ask three questions.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, what is the nature of the problem?
SPEAKER_01: What is the nature of the problem?
SPEAKER_01: The nature of the problem should inform the nature of the response.
SPEAKER_01: Said differently, how you define the problem informs uh uh your engagement with the problem.
SPEAKER_01: The problem here is not the storm.
SPEAKER_01: The storm is God's response to the problem, it's a consequence of the problem.
SPEAKER_01: The problem here is an insufficient response to the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: I told you last week, I said the main character in this in the book of Jonah is not the great fish, it's the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: The word of the Lord comes to Jonah.
SPEAKER_01: That sets the stage for all of this, okay?
SPEAKER_01: The problem is not the storm, it's that he has this insufficient view of the word of the Lord and where there are not convictions around something, God brings consequences.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the things we see here in the text is that Jonah doesn't have a very big conviction around the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Because it again, in verse one, it all begins when the word of the Lord came to Jonah.
SPEAKER_01: And let me just say it like this: with revelation comes responsibility.
SPEAKER_01: With revelation, when God reveals something to you, when God speaks something to you that lines up with his word, and you get a clarity that, oh, this is the Lord, then, my friend, you have this sense of responsibility.
SPEAKER_01: The onus is then on you.
SPEAKER_01: Now, the Bible has always put a high weight and responsibility and a privilege on hearing the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Let me read from the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, chapter 23.
SPEAKER_01: I want you just to hear how how valued the word of the Lord is.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I say the word of the Lord, I don't mean the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: They weren't like Gideons going around jamming Bibles in every hotel.
SPEAKER_01: This is like I'm hearing what God is saying about my circumstance and situation in life.
SPEAKER_01: And prophets were the people that bore that responsibility.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the way they viewed the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He says, For who among them has stood in the counsel of the Lord to see and hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listen?
SPEAKER_01: Behold, the storm of the Lord, wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest, it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
SPEAKER_01: The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he is executed and accomplished the intents of his heart.
SPEAKER_01: In the latter days you will understand it clearly.
SPEAKER_01: I did not send the prophets, yet they ran.
SPEAKER_01: I did not send them, yet they prophesied.
SPEAKER_01: But if they had stood in my counsel, when they had proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is in this is baked into everything God says to Jonah when he says back in Jeremiah 23, because I gave you my words, and I sent you to Nineveh, so they would turn from their evil deeds.
SPEAKER_01: But Jonah doesn't want them to turn.
SPEAKER_01: Jonah wants to keep God all to himself because he thinks, hey, this is just kind of a Jewish Israeli thing.
SPEAKER_01: These people, these Assyrians, they're on their own.
SPEAKER_01: He does the exact opposite.
SPEAKER_01: He hears the word of the Lord and he runs, but he runs the other way, okay?
SPEAKER_01: But the consequence is the same.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when I say what is the nature of the problem, there's three kinds of responses to the problem.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and they're all right there in verse five.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to just point them out in the order that they appear.
SPEAKER_01: First, the response to the problem is a spiritual response.
SPEAKER_01: In verse five, it says, Each of them cried out to his God.
SPEAKER_01: His God.
SPEAKER_01: Now just think about that, underlying that.
SPEAKER_01: This is called polytheism.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna give you some theisms here this morning.
SPEAKER_01: You want to think a little bit?
SPEAKER_01: Say amen.
SPEAKER_01: Now, will you say, what each cried out to his God?
SPEAKER_01: You heard the phrase, any port in a storm?
SPEAKER_01: I say it like this: yes, any port, and we're at kind of safe out of the storm.
SPEAKER_01: But in this situation, any God in a storm would do.
SPEAKER_01: Every man on the ship cries out to his God.
SPEAKER_01: This is polytheism.
SPEAKER_01: This is the belief or worship of more than one God.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we live in a pretty polytheistic city.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of gods.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of uh uh, you know, hey, I believe this, you believe that.
SPEAKER_01: So there's polytheism.
SPEAKER_01: You've probably heard that before.
SPEAKER_01: Here's a second one: monotheism.
SPEAKER_01: It's the belief that there's only one God.
SPEAKER_01: The belief that there's only one God.
SPEAKER_01: Uh Deuteronomy 6.4 says it like this.
SPEAKER_01: In Jewish life, it's called the Shema.
SPEAKER_01: Deuteronomy 6.4 says this: Hero, O Israel, the Lord our God is one, the Lord is one God.
SPEAKER_01: Every day a devout Jew would get up and recite that.
SPEAKER_01: Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one, the Lord is one God.
SPEAKER_01: And so we talk a lot about polytheism and monotheism.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but I would submit to you today the most dangerous ism in 2025 is the next one.
SPEAKER_01: It's called henotheism.
SPEAKER_01: Henotheism, if you've ever heard that phrase, say amen.
SPEAKER_01: My friend Adrian's over here going, I got nothing on that one.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, put a star by this in your mind.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what henotheism teaches, okay?
SPEAKER_01: The belief that there are many gods who who, by the way, are the same, but they're just called by different names.
SPEAKER_01: Henotheism teaches that there are many gods and they're all the same.
SPEAKER_01: They're just called by different names.
SPEAKER_01: It sounds like this: hey, bro, there's a lot of different roads to the mountain, but they all lead to the top.
SPEAKER_01: Now, now, the way that sounds in in in in in Sugarland in in 2025 is hey, your God is my Allah, is there Brahma, is there Gitama?
SPEAKER_01: They're all the same.
SPEAKER_01: There's all the names of different gods in different world religions.
SPEAKER_01: They're just all the same.
SPEAKER_01: And not only are they all the same, you're hating on me, you're you're you're you're prejudiced against me.
SPEAKER_01: Uh you you you are not loving me if you don't agree with me.
SPEAKER_01: Your children are taught henotheism every day.
SPEAKER_01: It's a wash in our culture.
SPEAKER_01: So while we got our eyes on polytheism and monotheism, you need to be teaching your yourself and your children about henotheism because that is the thing.
SPEAKER_01: So, by the way, the first response to the problem is this it is a spiritual one.
SPEAKER_01: They all cry out to their God.
SPEAKER_01: The second response is a physical one.
SPEAKER_01: This is typically uh what we can control.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and so what do you mean a physical response?
SPEAKER_01: And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them.
SPEAKER_01: They're thinking, listen, if this thing's not as heavy, maybe we can ride the storm out.
SPEAKER_01: Something happens, and the first thing you do is check your bank account and call your lawyer and you say, Hey, hey, hey, hey, can we get our way out of this?
SPEAKER_01: That is the physical response to the problem, okay?
SPEAKER_01: And typically this is about what you can control.
SPEAKER_01: Now, sometimes if you always respond to every problem physically, what God has to do is take away your physical assets so he can elicit a different response from you.
SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense to anybody but me?
SPEAKER_01: If you always respond with, hey, we we can cover it, we can afford it, oh yeah, bail him out, bail her out, yeah, we'll cover that, drop that class, blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_01: Then to get your attention, what God will do is he will limit your physical resources so to elicit a different response from you.
SPEAKER_01: So you have a spiritual response, then you have a physical response, and then thirdly, there's an emotional response.
SPEAKER_01: This is typically what we avoid, especially as men.
SPEAKER_01: We typically avoid an emotional response.
SPEAKER_01: I'll talk about this at the varsity on Thursday.
SPEAKER_01: By the way, if you're not registered, get registered.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna have a good time.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna talk about emotions after 60.
SPEAKER_01: And I'll give you a little foreshadowing of what I'm gonna talk about.
SPEAKER_01: After 60, you tend to have two uh emotions that are like ditches on each side of the road.
SPEAKER_01: One is anger, and the other one is low-grade depression.
SPEAKER_01: Just you're not depressed, you're just kind of wintry, you're just kind of sad.
SPEAKER_01: My kids don't call as much as they used to.
SPEAKER_01: When they do call me, it's usually to babysit the grandkids.
SPEAKER_01: I love the grandkids, but do my kids, my adult children, love me.
SPEAKER_01: So, on that happy note, be sure and register, everybody.
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_01: It's in so there's a there's a spiritual response, there's a physical response, and then there's an emotional response.
SPEAKER_01: This is typically what we avoid.
SPEAKER_01: You said, where do you get the emotional response?
SPEAKER_01: Right there in verse five.
SPEAKER_01: You know, they they cried out to their God, they hurled the cargo, that's spiritual, physical.
SPEAKER_01: Here's an emotional response.
SPEAKER_01: But Jonah had gone down in the inner part of the ship and had laid down and was fast asleep.
SPEAKER_01: This is an emotional response to a spiritual problem.
SPEAKER_01: He said, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: Sleep.
SPEAKER_01: Sleep was typically, I don't mean at night, okay?
SPEAKER_01: I mean like like inappropriate sleep patterns, like I sleep too much, I sleep at the wrong times, I worship sleep, I look forward to sleep.
SPEAKER_01: Inappropriate sleep patterns or habits are many things, but they're an indication of four things.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, a sign of depression.
SPEAKER_01: A sign of depression.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I'm not saying if you sleep a lot, you're depressed.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying that low energy is one of the red, it's one of the indicator lights that depression may be in play here.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, it's a form of avoidance.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'll think about it later.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna lay down and take a nap.
SPEAKER_01: Thirdly, a subtle form of escape.
SPEAKER_01: Sleep is a there's some people they just can't wait to get to a certain time.
SPEAKER_01: If you go to bed at 9 o'clock or 9:30 or 10 o'clock, if you're thinking, I cannot wait for 9 o'clock to get here, then then you think of sleep as a form of escape.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the last one: it's unconscious denial.
SPEAKER_01: Sleep, inappropriate sleep patterns, not sleeping.
SPEAKER_01: Now, by the way, I was talking to somebody this week as a lady, and she said, Hey, what are you preaching on Sunday?
SPEAKER_01: I said, The book of Jonah.
SPEAKER_01: She said, I know, but what are you gonna talk about?
SPEAKER_01: I said, Well, what are they gonna talk about is inappropriate sleep patterns?
SPEAKER_01: And she said, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: And so I gave her these four things and she said, add to the list if you're pregnant.
SPEAKER_01: I said, I think that's a given.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're pregnant and you sleep a lot, God's all good.
SPEAKER_01: Get all the sleep you need, okay?
SPEAKER_01: But unconscious denial, what do you mean, unconscious denial?
SPEAKER_01: That is an unconscious response to a conscious problem.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna blot it all out and go to sleep and act like it's not gonna be here in the morning, but it will, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Now, let me just say this before we move to the second point, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes God puts his words in other people's mouths.
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse six.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is the great thing about the book of Jonah.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't slow down, your eyes and your ears will miss this.
SPEAKER_01: And so this so the captain uh came down and said to him, What do you mean, you sleeper?
SPEAKER_01: Arise, call out to your God.
SPEAKER_01: Perhaps the God will give us a thought to us that we may not perish.
SPEAKER_01: He said that little phrase, arise, call out.
SPEAKER_01: Sound familiar?
SPEAKER_01: This is the initial thing.
SPEAKER_01: Look back up if you would in verse one.
SPEAKER_01: Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amitai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it.
SPEAKER_01: See, God wakes him up and says, with this call and says, Arise, call out.
SPEAKER_01: He's sound asleep.
SPEAKER_01: All hell's breaking loose all around.
SPEAKER_01: These people are fearing for their life.
SPEAKER_01: They're getting they're listening to every response they can.
SPEAKER_01: A spiritual one, oh, let's just pray to your God, any God that helps, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Here's a physical one, light in the load, we're gonna ride this storm out, boys.
SPEAKER_01: And now there's an emotional one.
SPEAKER_01: He's sound asleep.
SPEAKER_01: The captain sees him and he says, Listen, dude, wake up, arise, call out.
SPEAKER_01: You're you're Jonah, you're sound asleep, and you hear the exact same phrase coming out of the mouth of man that you've heard hot out of the mouth of God.
SPEAKER_01: What are you starting to think?
SPEAKER_01: What are you starting to kind of like, mmm?
SPEAKER_01: I tell people all the time in counseling, hey, what is repeated in your life?
SPEAKER_01: And they go, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: What is repeated?
SPEAKER_01: You should look and listen for things, experiences that are repeated, because if things always repeat themselves, you're not hearing the message that God wants you to hear.
SPEAKER_01: And so what Jonah is not hearing, God says, arise, call out.
SPEAKER_01: And then he puts it in the mouth of this sea captain, arise, call out to your God again.
SPEAKER_01: Jonah's waking from a deep sleep, only to hear the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: God seems to be reminding Jonah that he is where he is because he didn't listen the first time.
SPEAKER_01: God is not only repeating himself, he's reminding Jonah, hey, by the way, my mind has not changed about this.
SPEAKER_01: Uh let me say it like this: your disobedience does not alter God's will for your life.
SPEAKER_01: Your disobedience does not alter God's will for your life.
SPEAKER_01: It prolongs your experience of God's will, but it does not alter it.
SPEAKER_01: It does not, why?
SPEAKER_01: Because God can just turn up the circumstances to any degree he chooses to in order to conform you to his will.
SPEAKER_01: And he will, as we'll see in just a minute.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the second thing if you're going to solve a problem, you've got to ask yourself the simple question, okay, what is the nature of the problem?
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, who's responsible for the problem?
SPEAKER_01: This is verses 7 to 16.
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean, who's responsible?
SPEAKER_01: Verse 7 says, and they said to one another, Come with us, cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.
SPEAKER_01: So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
SPEAKER_01: Uh now you you think, what do you mean, casting lots?
SPEAKER_01: Uh basically, sometimes they would put write people's name on a stick, put the sticks in a box, and then they reach in there and pull out.
SPEAKER_01: Now, you I'll get to why we don't do that nowadays, but casting lots, this is how they decided God's will.
SPEAKER_01: And when it wasn't really clear, hey, what should do here, they believed that this is a way for God to reveal his will in a specific situation.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, the outcome was random, but they accepted it as from the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Now, you probably remember this.
SPEAKER_01: The probably most uh popular use of this is on the cross when Jesus is being crucified, they took his seamless garment.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, and it says the soldiers cast lots to see if you could get this expensive uh clothing that Jesus was wearing.
SPEAKER_01: They're just trying to discern because when you cast lots, it's like, oh, that's it.
SPEAKER_01: You know, the gods have spoken.
SPEAKER_01: Uh now you may be thinking, why don't we do that nowadays?
SPEAKER_01: Two reasons, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Number one, we have a completed Bible.
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean you said completed Bible?
SPEAKER_01: Old and New Testament, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Old and New Testament.
SPEAKER_01: And the New Testament doesn't cancel out the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: Look at me.
SPEAKER_01: The New Testament feels full, the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: And so you can't separate the two.
SPEAKER_01: And we like to separate the two because the Old Testament, God's kind of a grumpy old man.
SPEAKER_01: New Testament, Jesus is sweet and he rides a donkey and forgives people.
SPEAKER_01: It's the same God.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is as capable, is as much wrath as God is, because Jesus is the Son of God.
SPEAKER_01: You don't get to pick your deity.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01: They're all one.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, here, Israel, the Lord our God is one, the Lord is one God.
SPEAKER_01: It's not like I like this, but I don't like that.
SPEAKER_01: I've had so many people say to me, typically, unbelievers, why is the God of the Old Testament so angry?
SPEAKER_01: And I said, The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament.
SPEAKER_01: You can there aren't separate gods.
SPEAKER_01: But I like Jesus, but I don't like God the Father.
SPEAKER_01: You can't divide the Trinity.
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like your kid saying, I like when you buy me stuff, I hate when you discipline me.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Same thing.
SPEAKER_01: Different words.
SPEAKER_01: Who's responsible for the problem?
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you focus on verses 7 to 11, you'll see that the sailors are trying to figure out two things, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Two simple things.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, why has this evil come upon us?
SPEAKER_01: This is what they say, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Tell us on whose account that this evil has come upon us.
SPEAKER_01: And then they start judging with questions.
SPEAKER_01: What is your occupation?
SPEAKER_01: Where do you come from?
SPEAKER_01: What is your country?
SPEAKER_01: Or what people are you?
SPEAKER_01: Here's why they ask those questions because your nationality and where you live kind of determines your religion.
SPEAKER_01: You say, I don't know about that.
SPEAKER_01: If you're from South Louisiana, there's a good chance you're Catholic.
SPEAKER_01: True or false?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's people that have been there.
SPEAKER_01: Now I'm not hating on anybody.
SPEAKER_01: That's just the way it is.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it was in the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: That's why they ask him all these questions, because they're trying to figure out okay, who is the source of the problem?
SPEAKER_01: Why has this evil come upon us?
SPEAKER_01: And Jonah basically says, hates me because I'm running from the presence of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And then, but but that's not what they're trying to figure out.
SPEAKER_01: Don't miss this, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Look at me.
SPEAKER_01: What they're trying to figure out is who is the God that is ultimately responsible?
SPEAKER_01: What deity is angry?
SPEAKER_01: Remember, he said, hey, in the beginning, hey, pray to your gods.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody pray to your gods.
SPEAKER_01: They wake up Jonah because they've been praying to their gods and their gods aren't answering.
SPEAKER_01: What they're really trying to do now they are saying, hey, you're the reason this evil has come upon us.
SPEAKER_01: Who is the God that you worship who is ticked off at us, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Who is the God that you are running from?
SPEAKER_01: Now, I I want to ask you a simple question.
SPEAKER_01: Well, make a simple statement.
SPEAKER_01: One of the best things every one of us in this room could do is ask ourselves this simple question Who is the God?
SPEAKER_01: What is the nature of the God that you're running from?
SPEAKER_01: This is a question I use in counseling a lot.
SPEAKER_01: Because people say, Well, I know God, blah, blah, blah, but I'm just not, and dee, dee, dee, dee, dee.
SPEAKER_01: And I just ask, hey, what's the nature?
SPEAKER_01: Who's the God that you're running from?
SPEAKER_01: And it's typically the God that they describe is not the God of the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: It's not.
SPEAKER_01: It's a God that wants them to be miserable or lonely or alone.
SPEAKER_01: Like I recently met the lady who's 31, she's unmarried, and she's the older she's gotten, the lower her standards have gotten.
SPEAKER_01: She said, When I was in high school, I had like 10 things that my husband had to have.
SPEAKER_01: When I was in college, it was like six things my husband has to have.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, now it's one thing.
SPEAKER_01: My husband has to have a pulse.
SPEAKER_01: And she said, pretty much.
SPEAKER_01: She's bought house, she's very successful.
SPEAKER_01: She's dating a guy, and the guy said, Why don't I just move in?
SPEAKER_01: Why should I pay rent when I can move in with you?
SPEAKER_01: I said, Because he's a freeloading mooch.
SPEAKER_01: That's why.
SPEAKER_01: And God hates a mooch.
SPEAKER_01: And she said, Yeah, but I love him.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, What does loving him explain?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: And she was like, What?
SPEAKER_01: I said, You keep telling me you love him, you love him, you love him.
SPEAKER_01: What does that explain?
SPEAKER_01: Because what I'm listening for today is how does the love, how does your love for God factor into your behavior?
SPEAKER_01: Because you're saying, I love him, I love him, I love him.
SPEAKER_01: And finally she got to the point, she was honest, she just said, This may be my last chance to get married.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, So you believe in God, a God that created the heavens and the earth, and then he doesn't have a man that you don't have to compromise your beliefs for.
SPEAKER_01: It sounds terrible when you say it, but I guess that's the real problem.
SPEAKER_01: I said, Well, see, the God that you believe in is not the God of the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: This is what they're trying to figure out.
SPEAKER_01: They're trying to figure out why this evil happened to us, and then basically, who is this God that you're running from?
SPEAKER_01: Now, don't miss this, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Because this question is asked five times in the Hebrew Bible, and they ask it down there, they said, uh, verse 10, what is this that you have done?
SPEAKER_01: Exclamation point.
SPEAKER_01: What is this that you've done?
SPEAKER_01: Hey, listen, students.
SPEAKER_01: You know you're in trouble when your parents walk in and they ask you that question.
SPEAKER_01: They're not soliciting information, they're trying to get their head around this knucklehead thing you just did.
SPEAKER_01: That happens five times in the Bible, and every time it happens, it is not a good situation.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, if you want to see a modern day example of it, uh, watch John Wick.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, there's the gate, there's a son of a Russian gangster who steals a Mustang.
SPEAKER_01: He sees a guy at a gas station pumping gas.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, nice car.
SPEAKER_01: And he's basically how much?
SPEAKER_01: And he says, not for sale.
SPEAKER_01: So him and his buddies come by that night, they beat up the guy that owns the car, they steal the car.
SPEAKER_01: Word gets back to the kid gets back to his dad that, oh, by the way, he's what's and the dad confronts his son.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, What's the big deal?
SPEAKER_01: It's just a car.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, You know whose car that is?
SPEAKER_01: And he tells him, You stole John Wick's car.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, So what?
SPEAKER_01: Big deal.
SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Well, is he, the boogeyman?
SPEAKER_01: No, he's the man you send to kill the boogeyman.
SPEAKER_01: You have this foreboding sense of, uh-oh, I what is this that you have done?
SPEAKER_01: Same thing here.
SPEAKER_01: What is this that you have done?
SPEAKER_01: Now, one thing you should notice is that by now Jonah is moving away from God, and the sailors on the ship are moving closer to God.
SPEAKER_01: They rowed hard to get to the shore, but the goal wasn't to get to dry land.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, God could use the ship and the sailors to get Jonah to dry land if he wanted to.
SPEAKER_01: But there's this creational conspiracy that prevents any human solution to the problem from working.
SPEAKER_01: By the way, there's always a consequence when you fail at your responsibility.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the third question you have to ask in solving a problem.
SPEAKER_01: What is God's response to the problem?
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 17.
SPEAKER_01: And the Lord appointed.
SPEAKER_01: That's a great word.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord appointed.
SPEAKER_01: I don't have time, but let me just tell you.
SPEAKER_01: I don't have time to show you in the Bible I want to, but I had to cut it out.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, the Lord appointed.
SPEAKER_01: Uh now, God is sovereign.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible teaches that.
SPEAKER_01: What that means is that He has power and authority over not just humanity, but everything created: trees and grass and rocks and rivers and rain and animals.
SPEAKER_01: There's a story in the Old Testament where these people were not worshiping God appropriately.
SPEAKER_01: And so God sent lions among them and said, Go eat the people, and they did.
SPEAKER_01: And the people cried out and said, Hey, God sent these lions to eat us because we ain't doing it right.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the same situation.
SPEAKER_01: Why am I telling you that?
SPEAKER_01: You should ask yourself, do you want to take on this God?
SPEAKER_01: What can he not appoint in order to get your attention?
SPEAKER_01: And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.
SPEAKER_01: Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
SPEAKER_01: See, what you here's the third question you should ask.
SPEAKER_01: What is God's response to the question?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, to the problem.
SPEAKER_01: God's response to the problem is not to solve it or to rescue it.
SPEAKER_01: God's response to the problem is judgment.
SPEAKER_01: He said, I Jonah would rather undergo the judgment of God than go to go to Nineveh.
SPEAKER_01: How do you know?
SPEAKER_01: Because the men asked him down here.
SPEAKER_01: They said to him, What shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us?
SPEAKER_01: Why did he not say, Hey, turn the ship around?
SPEAKER_01: I'm running, I'm going this way, Nineveh's back that way, I'll pay for the gas, take me back to Nineveh and just throw me out, I'll swim to shore.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: He would rather die than obey God.
SPEAKER_01: And so he said, Throw me overboard.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, it's a death wish.
SPEAKER_01: What is God's response to the problem?
SPEAKER_01: He's like, hey, throw me overboard.
SPEAKER_01: You wouldn't, okay.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, I would rather, instead of going to Nineveh and preaching grace to people that don't deserve it, I would rather die.
SPEAKER_01: You ever notice how quick we are to decide what people deserve?
SPEAKER_01: I love what R.
SPEAKER_01: C.
SPEAKER_01: Sproul said, talking about the judgment of God.
SPEAKER_01: Hear this, beloved, and we're almost done.
SPEAKER_01: God's grace is not infinite.
SPEAKER_01: God is infinite and God is gracious.
SPEAKER_01: We experience the grace of an infinite God, but grace is not infinite.
SPEAKER_01: God sets limits to his patience and forbearance.
SPEAKER_01: He warns us over and over again that someday the axe will fall and his judgment will be poured out.
SPEAKER_01: Hear that part at the very beginning.
SPEAKER_01: God's grace is not infinite.
SPEAKER_01: God is infinite and God is gracious.
SPEAKER_01: We experience the grace of an infinite God, but grace is not infinite.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Look at me.
SPEAKER_01: You continue in disobedience and you push God's grace to the discipline phase, and he will discipline you.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says it over and over.
SPEAKER_01: Every son, every child of God that he resets, every son, every daughter, he disciplines.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: So you could share in his holiness.
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know what you mean.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody asked me last week, I told you a story about me running and being involved in a car accident.
SPEAKER_01: And somebody said, What do you think God was saying to you?
SPEAKER_01: I was watching last night this movie came on.
SPEAKER_01: I was just like, Oh yeah, this is it.
SPEAKER_01: What he was saying, I can keep going.
SPEAKER_01: He's like Denzel in one of his movies, I can keep going, brick by brick, dollar by dollar.
SPEAKER_01: How bad do you want this to go?
SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm not making God out to be a hit man.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying this.
SPEAKER_01: When the Bible says, and God, the Lord appointed, everything that God is sovereign over, he has access to.
SPEAKER_01: How much of that does he have to use to turn your heart back towards him?
SPEAKER_01: We don't talk enough about the judgment of God in the church, but let me just say this and we'll be done.
SPEAKER_01: God gives Jonah just a taste of divine judgment so he can realize he doesn't want this for himself, and he does not want this for the people of Nineveh.
SPEAKER_01: We typically think of salvation as we're salvation, we're being saved from judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Hear this, beloved.
SPEAKER_01: But here in the book of Jonah, we see salvation through judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Now, God loves himself so much, he will not compromise his nature.
SPEAKER_01: So your salvation, your being rescued, okay, will either come, you can be saved from judgment, or you will be saved by judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Jonas says, dude, what should we do to calm down the sea?
SPEAKER_01: Well, I can afford it.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go back.
SPEAKER_01: You know, remember I said, hey, if you always have a physical response to a spiritual problem, God takes away your physical capacity to respond to the problem.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't say that.
SPEAKER_01: He just says, hey man, I'd rather die than do that.
SPEAKER_01: And so they throw him overboard.
SPEAKER_01: And God appointed.
SPEAKER_01: Translation, God's response to the problem was not rescue, it was judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Because the truer and the greater the call, the greater the consequence for not heeding the call.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say that again and we're done.
SPEAKER_01: The truer and the greater the call.
SPEAKER_01: When God makes it very clear and very obvious, and you and I fight against that, all you're saying to God is, God, you got to turn up the dial on judgment to get my attention and look at me.
SPEAKER_01: He will.
SPEAKER_01: Not because he's mean, not because he's some arbitrary being that just flies off the handle like a drunken stepfather.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, because he's God and He's holy.
SPEAKER_01: His grace is not infinite.
SPEAKER_01: He is infinite, he's gracious, but we experience the grace of an infinite God, but grace is not infinite.
SPEAKER_01: I would plead with you today, whoever you are in this room, if you're like, you know what, I know I'm doing things I shouldn't be doing, God's not out to get you, but he's not going to tolerate the problem forever.
SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_01: Say amen.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, one of the hardest things we do is discipline our children in a way that turns their heart away from sin and back towards you.
SPEAKER_01: And yet, one of the most necessary things we do is do that.
SPEAKER_01: Their character is shaped through discipline.
SPEAKER_01: That's why you brought judgment on Jonah.
SPEAKER_01: And we'll see next week.
SPEAKER_01: Let's then judgment involved.
SPEAKER_01: We can pick our sin, but we cannot we're we cannot pick your response to our sin.
SPEAKER_01: So, Holy Spirit, cause us to think deeply today about what your word said to us.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we read those questions and we think, man, there's there's nobody that I refuse to have my mind changed about.
SPEAKER_01: And yet every time we gossip, God, we are saying, I cannot have my mind changed about that person.
SPEAKER_01: But every time we pray for that person, we're saying, God can change anybody.
SPEAKER_01: God changed a wretch like me.
SPEAKER_01: He can change anybody.
SPEAKER_01: So Lord, we don't want to be like Jonah, who couldn't have his mind changed about the Nevites.
SPEAKER_01: God, we understand from your word today very clearly that you'll do whatever it takes to get us into your will and out of our will.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, when we were children, we thought like a child, we spoke like a child, we reasoned like a child.
SPEAKER_01: We're no longer children, so we put away childish things.
SPEAKER_01: So, Holy Spirit, just point out any childish behaviors in our life that just need to go.
SPEAKER_01: You're not a child anymore.
SPEAKER_01: It's time to grow up, move forward into what God has next.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, thanks for your word.
SPEAKER_01: It's always thought-provoking, and it's always inviting.
SPEAKER_01: For this, we're grateful.
SPEAKER_01: So we say thank you in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: And everyone said, Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for your presence here today.
SPEAKER_01: If you're a guest, thanks for exploring a new church.
SPEAKER_01: I know it takes, it's a it's a big deal to find a church that's a fit for you and your family.
SPEAKER_01: I highly recommend this one to you.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a little bit prejudiced.
SPEAKER_01: Uh uh, but if you're our guest today, all we ask of you is simply this.
SPEAKER_01: If you would just text the word welcome to that word, that number on the screen behind me, gives us a record of your visit.
SPEAKER_01: We'll shoot you a text back.
SPEAKER_01: All we want to do is answer any questions you may have, help you take the next step in your spiritual journey, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Uh we always have things going on in the life of our church.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we make you aware of those by way of our video announcement.
SPEAKER_01: So check out the screen.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what's happening at Graham Park Way Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_02: Our next fast day is Tuesday, May 20th.
SPEAKER_02: On that day, we abstain from food to focus on our faith.
SPEAKER_02: Fasting together as a church is an important practice.
SPEAKER_02: So please join us that day as we say no to the physical to say yes to the spiritual.
SPEAKER_02: You can fast for a meal, two meals, or the whole day.
SPEAKER_02: Mealtimes are spent praying, reading, and listening to how our lives are being lived and how we need to respond.
SPEAKER_02: The varsity is for all adults ages 60 and over.
SPEAKER_02: Come join us on May 22nd for lunch and to connect.
SPEAKER_02: At Graham Park Way, we believe you are the most experienced people and that you're still in the game.
SPEAKER_02: Register online today and invite friends.
SPEAKER_02: The event starts at 10:30 a.m.
SPEAKER_02: and the cost is$10 per person.
SPEAKER_02: Is this your church home?
SPEAKER_02: You are invited to attend our starting point experience on June 1st and 8th at 9 a.m.
SPEAKER_02: to help you answer that question.
SPEAKER_02: At this gathering, we will describe how Grand Parkway Baptist is led, what we believe, and explain our core values and vision.
SPEAKER_02: We will help you understand what is expected of our members and what they can expect from us.
SPEAKER_02: Space is limited, so register soon to reserve your seats at the meeting.
SPEAKER_02: This summer, we are partnering with a ministry in San Antonio called Blueprint Ministries.
SPEAKER_02: This ministry works to provide families with homes that are livable.
SPEAKER_02: Few things build stronger bonds than hard work and making an impact on people.
SPEAKER_02: This trip will do both of those, helping students work together as a team, but also being the hands and feet of Jesus to homeowners who really need their help.
SPEAKER_02: Students will learn some practical life skills to make them more self-sufficient young men and women.
SPEAKER_02: The deadline register is May 24th.
SPEAKER_02: We will be collecting food from our Brothers Keeper Outreach Center through June 15th.
SPEAKER_02: The summer months are a crucial time as their food supplies often dwindle leading into this time of year.
SPEAKER_02: This is an opportunity for us to live out our core value of blessing to a local community.
SPEAKER_02: Please drop off your canned goods and non-perishable food items at the Mission Center in the lobby.
SPEAKER_02: For more information or to register for these events, please visit our website at grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_02: If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors or elders at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.
SPEAKER_01: Again, the varsity, uh, the deadline register is Tuesday.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it is this Thursday at 1030 in the gathering room, the old sanctuary building over there.
SPEAKER_01: I'll give you one other foreshadowing from the varsity on Sunday about emotions after 60.
SPEAKER_01: The more emotionally self-aware you become, you have different responses to your adult children, and then your adult children have different responses to you.
SPEAKER_01: That's all you get.
SPEAKER_01: Would I conclude our service with a spoken blessing?
SPEAKER_01: So stand to your feet.
SPEAKER_01: Hold your hands out.
SPEAKER_01: It's not a matter of if.
SPEAKER_01: In a world ruled by a sovereign God, it's a matter of when.
SPEAKER_01: And you can contribute to the wind.
SPEAKER_01: Depart now.
SPEAKER_01: Get yourself in the wind as quickly as possible.
SPEAKER_01: Because God's not angry, he's just right.
SPEAKER_01: And he's unchangeable.
SPEAKER_01: And this is a good thing.
SPEAKER_01: Depart into the goodness of God now.
SPEAKER_01: In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Bless you.