WEBVTT 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:12.480 This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:17.920 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:19.679 Amen. 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:20.239 Amen. 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:20.719 That's good. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:21.519 Let's pray together. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:23.120 Lord Jesus, that is good. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:24.079 That is the gospel. 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:29.760 We don't just preach the gospel, we sing the gospel here, and that is the gospel that you brought us back to life. 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:33.679 Jesus, you did not come to make bad people better or good. 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:36.000 You came to make dead people alive. 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:37.359 That'll be borne out. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:42.799 And so we we we forsake everything that used to be a part of our life that no longer glorifies you. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:45.280 All you've come to do is to get glory for our life. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:46.399 This is from our life. 00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:52.000 This is why we stand amazed in the presence of Jesus and we wonder how he could love us. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:54.159 Sinners condemned, unclean. 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:57.200 Without condemnation, there is no wonder in the gospel. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:04.239 Lord, restore to us the wonder that we've forfeited through comfort-based preaching instead of consequential preaching. 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:10.959 Restore the wonder of the gospel to us today, from your word, God, and by your spirit, I pray in Jesus' name. 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:12.879 And everyone said, Amen. 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:13.280 Amen. 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:13.920 You can have a seat. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:17.519 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to the Old Testament book of Jonah. 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:20.640 If you're our guest today and you're visiting, we're going through the book of Jonah. 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:24.000 We go through books of the Bible, do a New Testament book and then an Old Testament book. 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:26.079 And so we're going through the book of Jonah. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:32.640 And we are, I'll start reading at the end of chapter one, verse 17, and I'll just read like 11 verses, okay? 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:35.840 Uh, and I want to talk to you this morning about the glory of disobedience. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:37.280 The glory of disobedience. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:38.959 Now, I want you to listen carefully. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.120 Uh I don't want you to confuse what I'm saying. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:51.040 I'm not trying to glorify disobedience, but I'm trying to establish the fact that God is not waiting for your permission or your participation to glorify himself in your life. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:52.480 Let me say that again. 00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:54.480 I'm not trying to glorify disobedience. 00:01:54.560 --> 00:02:02.480 I'm just trying to establish the fact that God is not waiting for your permission or your participation to glorify himself in your life. 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:14.879 The reason you were breathing, as you said in this room, is not because somebody invited you to church or it's Memorial Day weekend and you thought, hey, I'm gonna I'm gonna get my party on tonight and tomorrow, so I better go check the God box and be okay with that. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:19.919 No, you're in this room because you were created to live a life that glorifies God, okay? 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:24.400 And so when I talk about the glory of disobedience, hopefully that'll be sense as we get further into the text. 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:26.960 Well, let me let me start with some introductory thoughts, okay? 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:32.319 Uh here's one about the book of Jonah, because here's here's my lay all my cards on the table. 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:36.879 I think that we've been taught a cultural narrative about Jonah and not a biblical narrative. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:40.639 And so uh and that'll become apparent as we get into the text. 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:41.919 But here's some introductory thoughts. 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:45.039 Number one, we've consumed Jonah upon our comfort theology. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:46.400 Our comfort theology. 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:47.199 You say, What do you mean? 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:51.840 It started when you were a little kid and went to Sunday school and you saw pictures like this on the wall, okay? 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:54.080 You say, What do you mean, our comfort theology? 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:57.439 Well, you see pictures of uh of Jonah and and the big fish. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:59.039 The picture's coming, bear with me. 00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:02.240 Uh uh, not the big fish back there, but another one. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:02.960 Uh right here. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:07.520 See, Jonah's inside the well and he's got a candle lit and he's praying. 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:10.240 Hello? 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:25.759 And then you meet an atheist when you go to college in your philosophy class, and he says, I don't believe in the Bible, I believe it's all uh a narrative, an allegorical thing, and you cannot defend the faith because you're like, No, Jonah lit a candle and prayed to Jesus, and Jesus saved him. 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:27.120 Or how about this? 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:29.280 It gets it gets worse, actually. 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:30.719 Uh that that's bad. 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:36.879 But Jonah's naked in this picture, and he's got a fire going, and he's cooking a fish inside the fish. 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:40.319 That has to violate some Old Testament law. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:41.199 I'm just saying. 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:45.520 It's like cooking a baby goat and some other milk, something's off there, okay? 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:51.039 But this is what we and you taught this and you just grew up, and then and then this is probably one of my favorite. 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:53.199 Uh Jonah, we'll get to this next week. 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:58.159 He gets to the shore and he just kind of surfs the whale to the shore and jumps out and says, Thanks for the ride. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:00.240 This was the first Uber right here. 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:01.439 Yes. 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:06.080 So when I say that we've consumed Jonah upon our comfort theology, this is what I mean. 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:08.960 It started when you were little and you went to Sunday school class. 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:10.479 I didn't go to church much as a kid. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:17.279 I remember going one time when I was about eight, uh, and I looked over on the wall and there was a picture, and Jonah had a candle lit and was reading the Bible. 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:22.800 And as an eight-year-old, I just thought, I don't think there's enough oxygen in there to sustain that flame. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:24.480 I'm not sure how this happens. 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:30.800 And it caused me to look at the Bible and you people like you were kind of goofy, not very intellectual. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:32.879 This kind of huggy, touchy, feely. 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:37.120 Let's all just close our eyes and pretend that we're not really saying this. 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:38.639 Here's a second introductory thought. 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:41.360 The book of Jonah was not recorded as it was happening. 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:46.480 Jonah wasn't in there with a legal pad, the pen, kind of going, I'm in the well now, bear down in prayer. 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:47.199 No. 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:58.160 Uh the first part of the passage we're gonna read is a couple descriptive verses, and then there's this long psalm of Thanksgiving from verses two to verses nine that describes after the fact what Jonah went through. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:00.079 Here's a third introductory thought. 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:02.160 You have to pick your miracle today. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:03.519 You say, What do you mean? 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:04.399 You gotta pick your miracle. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:08.319 Either he lived three days in the belly of a great fish, or he died and was resurrected. 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:10.639 Both are miracles, but you gotta pick your miracle. 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:14.240 You you you can't try to hold on to the tension of both of them. 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:14.800 All right. 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:18.000 So let me just read Jonah chapter one, starting in verse 17. 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:23.360 It ended now the last chapter, if you weren't here last week, we ended how Jonah's ran, he's on the run from God. 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:24.480 The word of the Lord came to him. 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:27.759 God said, Go to Nineveh and preach to the Nineveh, a bunch of pagans. 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:30.160 And Jonah thought, those people don't deserve mercy. 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:42.480 And so he went down, got on a ship, bought a ticket, really rent it out the whole ship, went the exact opposite direction, and God said, Hello, you're disobeying, and there, unlike in our culture, there is a consequence for disobedience in God's culture. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:46.160 And so God sends a great storm, uh almost like a javelin thrower. 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:48.480 The Bible says he hurled this great storm at the ship. 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:50.560 And basically that they cast lots. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:52.879 They said, Hey, who's got the bad juju on them? 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:54.000 And Jonah said, It's me. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:54.879 What do we do with you? 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:56.399 And they said, Throw me overboard. 00:05:56.560 --> 00:06:00.480 And so they threw him overboard into the in the into the Mediterranean Sea. 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:03.360 And God sends this is where we pick up the story right here. 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:05.360 Uh Jonah chapter 1, verse 17. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:07.920 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.879 And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:17.839 And then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, I called out to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:25.519 And out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice, and you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me. 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:28.240 All of your waves of your billows passed over me. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:33.759 And then I said, I am driven away from your sight, yet I shall again look upon your holy temple. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:37.920 The waters closed in over me to take my life, and the deep surrounded me. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:41.680 Weeds were wrapped around my head at the roots of the mountains. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:46.079 I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever. 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:54.000 Yet you brought me up, you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God, when my life was fainting away. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:58.000 I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you into your holy temple. 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:01.839 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:06.480 But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you what I have vowed. 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:07.519 I will pay. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:09.839 Salvation belongs to the Lord. 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:14.399 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:18.720 Now, I just want to point out uh four things from the text this morning. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:22.639 The first one is simply this that a sovereign God does everything for a reason. 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:25.040 A sovereign God does everything for a reason. 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:27.279 There's no wasted movement with God, okay? 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:31.920 He appoints a great fish to do his will, and and Jonah is there for three days and three nights. 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:34.160 You should hear that and kind of go, that sounds familiar. 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:39.839 I told you back on Easter that there's this three-day pattern in the Bible and that good things tend to happen on the third day. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:46.399 This is uh uh the cultural understanding of the day back then was because God comes to us in in familiar ways. 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:50.399 Uh He God doesn't take excuse from the culture, but God says, Hey, I know how you think. 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:56.800 And and the cultural understanding in the day back then was it takes three days to go from the underworld to the land of the living. 00:07:56.959 --> 00:08:01.120 But the story of Jonah is a story of death, resurrection, and proclamation. 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:02.160 Let me say that again. 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:06.240 The story of Jonah is a story of death, resurrection, and proclamation. 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:21.439 And the prophetic purpose of the book of Jonah is to be a sign of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, which is why in the New Testament Jesus says to people who are wanting Jesus to show off and kind of keep doing miracles, he said, No sign will be given except the sign of Jonah. 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:23.759 Now, what what does Jesus mean? 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:25.920 Actually, he says that in Matthew 12. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:29.920 Uh, he he says, No sign's gonna be given except the sign of Jonah. 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:32.000 Now, that seems kind of crazy. 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:33.440 Uh what's he talking about? 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:35.519 A little bit of context, Matthew chapter 12. 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:36.480 You don't have to turn there. 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:39.200 I'll read a section to it to you in just a minute. 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:42.240 Uh, but but in Matthew chapter 12, a couple things happen. 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:48.879 First of all, Jesus, the guy has a withered hand, and Jesus goes over and and and prays for him and heals the guy's hand. 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:55.120 And the Pharisees who had all the uh the power but no authority, they were like, Oh my gosh, how does this happen? 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:56.480 There's no way he can do that. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:09:03.200 And so Jesus also comes next up on the scene, and there's a kid there who is mute, he can't talk, and he's deaf, he can't hear. 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:05.440 And they're like, Well, can you can you heal this kid? 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:07.360 And Jesus is like, Absolutely, I can. 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:08.399 And he does. 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:13.440 By the way, when you see people who have special needs, they do not need your pity, they need your prayer. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:18.320 Because the same God that did that in the New Testament has the capacity to do that today. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:23.120 He's just looking for people that have the capacity to believe him, what he's capable of. 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:25.200 And so this is the context. 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:27.120 These two things, miracles have happened. 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:31.039 And then the Pharisees come to Jesus and they're like, hey, dance, monkey, keep doing stuff. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:32.240 We think this is great. 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:35.840 Prove to us that you really are God and have this power. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:39.519 And this is what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 12, starting verse 38. 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:44.320 Some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you. 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:52.559 But he answered them, an evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:56.799 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:06.159 By the way, when it says in verse 40, for just as, just as is the Greek word hosper, and it means exactly like in the same manner. 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:08.080 So you have a problem. 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:15.759 If you don't have a Jonah, if you got Jonah that's in there lighting candles and cooking fish, then you got Jesus in the tomb who's lighting candles and cooking fish. 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:20.799 And you don't want that because there is no resurrection, there's no redemption. 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:26.720 It really goes, this cultural motif that we've kind of swallowed our entire life goes deeper than you think. 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:33.840 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man eat three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:37.759 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it. 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:43.519 For they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:54.159 This is what I mean when I say the story of Jonah is one of death, resurrection, and proclamation, because this is a foreshadowing of what's going to happen with the life of Jesus: death, burial, resurrection, proclamation. 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:56.159 After the resurrection, it wasn't after the cross, man. 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:58.480 After the cross, the disciples hid in fear. 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:03.440 It was after the resurrection that they get up and they're like, oh my gosh, this is really true. 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:08.000 We have a message to proclaim to the nations, and this is what they do, okay? 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:10.639 The Pharisees want more signs, more signs. 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:14.080 We'll believe if you just keep doing more magic tricks, David Blaine. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:22.320 But they've already seen, they don't believe the signs they've already seen, and they're not going to believe the sign of Jonah when Jesus does what Jonah did and rises from the dead. 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:29.039 You should ask yourself this question: Is there something you're wanting and waiting for God to do to kind of prove Himself? 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:31.120 Like I have friends that attend this church. 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:32.639 They sit kind of back over here. 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:36.320 I don't think they're here today, but they are diehard Dallas Cowboy fans. 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:40.559 And for them, proof of God's existence is that the Cowboys are gonna win the Super Bowl. 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:43.519 They are gonna die as atheists, okay? 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:46.720 That is never going to happen, but they hold out every year. 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:49.679 Like I saw them a couple seconds ago, and they're like, hey, this is our year. 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:52.799 And I'm like, this sounds familiar. 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:56.720 Yes, you might want to get a not quarterback, but I digress. 00:11:56.879 --> 00:11:59.759 So the first thing, hey, a sovereign God, think about this. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:02.639 When you say sovereign, a sovereign God does everything for a reason. 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:03.679 What do you mean, sovereign? 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:04.480 That's a big word. 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:07.600 You probably don't hear that if you live in Bryan, Texas very much. 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:14.000 But a sovereign God means that God is all powerful and he acts with all authority and he asks no one for permission. 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:17.840 And the world is better because of that reality. 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:21.919 He's not like a SWAT team kicking down the door, getting you by the neck, kind of going, yeah. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:29.919 No, one of the ways God demonstrates his sovereignty, look at me, is he creates a desire in you that you by nature have never had. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:32.000 You just, that's one of the signs. 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:34.240 You're just kind of like, Whew. 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:37.279 I think I kind of want to do things differently here. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:39.200 Here's the second thing you want you see in the text. 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:40.559 It's never too late to pray. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:41.919 It's never too late to pray. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:42.960 Chapter 2, verse 1. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:46.879 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, I called out. 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:52.080 And this is where his psalm of thanksgiving really starts in the latter part of verse 2, all the way to verse 9. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:55.120 He's looking back after the fact that he's going, This is how it went down, people. 00:12:55.279 --> 00:13:03.039 I called out to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me, out of the belly of Sheol, I cried, and you heard my voice. 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:05.600 Now, you say I say it's never too late to pray. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:12.960 When you believe that, when you really believe it's never too late to pray, you will find yourself praying from some pretty unusual places. 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:15.360 Like, I asked this question at lunch today. 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:18.559 Hey, what's the weirdest place you ever offered up a prayer to God? 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:19.519 Where were you? 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:22.000 What is the weirdest place you've ever prayed from? 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:25.679 Now, I uh I I ask this question every once in a while. 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:28.960 It's not like I have a list of questions I carry around, but I just get in conversations. 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:32.480 Like I was talking to God one time, uh, and I prayed before my meal. 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:33.759 And he said, Do you always pray? 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:37.120 I said, I try to pray before meals just as an expression of thanksgiving. 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:38.879 And he said, Oh, I respect that. 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:42.159 And I could tell by the way he said it, it was like, I respect that. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:43.360 Keep it over there. 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:44.559 And I said, What about you? 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:45.360 Do you ever pray? 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:47.519 He goes, He's kind of like jelly roll. 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:49.759 Oh, I only talk to God when I need a favor. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:53.360 And I said, Where's the weirdest place you've ever prayed for God? 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:57.279 And he said, He looked down and looked back up and he said, Seriously? 00:13:57.440 --> 00:13:59.519 And I thought, ooh, let's crank down. 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:02.480 We're about to wow, set the hook on this big fish. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:04.320 And I said, Yeah, what's the weirdest place? 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:05.600 He said, The clinic. 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:07.120 And I said, The clinic. 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:12.399 And he said, with my girlfriend, you're not talking about the health clinic, are you? 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:16.720 And he said, No, I'm not, and launched us into a great conversation. 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:18.399 I said, Hey man, let me tell you something. 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:24.320 Uh, you know, the Bible says that like in the 130th Psalm, I said, if I told you something to the Bible, would that be meaningful? 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:25.600 He goes, It depends. 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:27.360 I said, I love your honesty. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:32.080 I know that you think because of what you and your girlfriend decided to do, that God's somehow mad at you and he's gonna get you. 00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:34.960 And he goes, Dude, I I mean, come on, dude. 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:38.159 I mean, you know, I I know what happens at the clinic, okay? 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:41.919 I don't need a lesson from you, but look, this is the thing you need to understand about God. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:44.240 And he goes, Well, how do you know so much about God? 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:47.679 I was like, I'm gonna take my belt off with you right here, boy. 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:51.360 So as I finished my club sandwich, I said, Well, actually, I said I'm a Christian. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:52.720 He goes, So what? 00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:55.919 And I thought, to what do I appeal now? 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:59.120 So, like a good Pharisee, I said, actually, I said, Did you go to college? 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:00.240 He goes, Yeah, I went to college. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:01.360 What did you go to college for? 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:03.600 I was a speech communication major. 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:08.080 Right there with fashion merchandising. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:11.759 Uh old Navy's hiring kids. 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:13.919 Look at me. 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:15.600 And then it came to me out of the blue. 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:20.720 I said, actually, after college, I went to grad school and I have a master's degree in theology. 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:22.639 He goes, Okay. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:26.320 And I said, I'm not gonna beat you up with the Bible, I'm just gonna tell you this one thing. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:32.799 Psalm 130 by verse 3 and 4 says this of God, if you, oh Lord, kept a record of sins, who could stand? 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:34.960 But with you there is forgiveness. 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:36.240 There is forgiveness. 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:37.679 This is not the unforgivable sin. 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:39.519 He goes, Well, I know there's one unforgivable sin. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:40.799 I said, You know what it is? 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:42.480 You probably never committed it. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:45.279 And he's like, Yeah, this feels like that. 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:46.639 I said, Look at me. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:51.840 In the name of Jesus and on the authority of God's word, this is not the unforgivable sin. 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:53.360 You can be forgiven. 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:58.320 Now, I'm not only him, but anybody in this room, if you fall under the umbrella of that, you not only can be forgiven. 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:01.120 If you've asked for forgiveness, you're a Christian, you are forgiven. 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:03.759 Quit walking around like a second-class citizen. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:05.519 It's never too late to pray. 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:08.720 Be careful who you ask that question to you because you get some crazy answers. 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:18.159 I asked a friend of mine that one time and he said, Oh, I was I was uh laying beside my girlfriend, and tears are coming out of my eyes into my hair because I was like, God, I don't want to do this anymore. 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:22.559 And he just prayed and said, God, if I ever get started down this road, I want you to kill me. 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:26.960 I was like, Yeah, I didn't pray that prayer when I was in college, but anyway. 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:32.720 Uh and about he said about two weeks later, I was at a party and things started, you know, going the wrong direction. 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:37.200 And and I started preparing for what was fixed to happen and clear as the bell, the Holy Spirit said, You remember your prayer? 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:38.000 Because I do. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:45.279 See, do you believe in a God that not just punishes sin, but punishes sinners? 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:50.320 See, because the church in America has kind of adopted this view of God, like, oh, God punishes sin. 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:52.399 God punishes sinners. 00:16:52.720 --> 00:17:03.200 Not because he's an alcoholic stepdad that flies off the handle, no, but because God hates what sin does to you and you've lost the faculty to understand what sin does to you. 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:05.519 And so it's when I say it's never too late to pray. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:06.240 Here's what it means. 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:12.400 Now, now he's in the belly of the fish, and he says, and he says, Oh Lord, I I out of the belly of Sheol I cried. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:18.000 Now, some people point to the fact that, well, he prayed for the belly of a fish, and so this proves he was alive. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:18.960 And I get that. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:22.400 That that that that sounds logical, but let me just offer up this, okay? 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:26.960 Uh, I would just point to the to Luke chapter 16, the story of the rich man Lazarus. 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:29.039 There's a there's two people in the story. 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:30.720 If you're not familiar with it, you don't have to turn there. 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:32.720 There's two people in the story, they both die. 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:38.720 One of them goes to Abraham's bosom, which is uh a reference to heaven, and one goes to Hades, okay? 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:45.519 Hades is not hell, it's it's kind of like the waiting room where you're just getting uh uh just getting warmed up, so to speak. 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:46.799 Uh pardon the pun. 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:49.920 Uh here's what did I lose you there? 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:55.039 I started that sentence and I thought there's no way to finish this where it doesn't sound punished. 00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:56.640 Uh my apologies, okay? 00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:58.799 Uh Luke chapter 16, verse 22. 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:00.319 Here's what the Bible says, okay. 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:05.759 Again, a lot of people point and say the theologian people go, well, you know, he prayed for the belly of the uh of the fish. 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:07.519 He also prayed from the belly of Sheol. 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:10.480 Sheol is uh the place of the dead. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:11.039 Okay? 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:14.960 This is why I believe Jonah died and was resurrected, which is equally miraculous. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:21.680 But then Luke chapter 16, and here's what I want you to understand that when people are in Sheol, they're not alive, but they are conscious, okay? 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:22.559 They're existing. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:26.160 I mean, I mean they're that they died, but they're they're aware of what's happening. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:27.039 And this bears it out. 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:30.400 Luke 16, verse 22, the rich man also died and was buried. 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:44.160 And in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and he saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus by his side, and he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in the water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame. 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:48.000 Now, you should ask yourself, the Bible says in verse 23, in Hades. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:49.119 What is Hades? 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:51.440 Hades is the Greek translation. 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:53.519 Hades is not the seventh grade. 00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:56.079 It's not. 00:18:56.319 --> 00:18:59.039 It's the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Sheol. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:02.799 And Sheol and Hades both refer to the place of the dead. 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:07.599 Hades is a place of temporary punishment for the wicked while they await the final judgment. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:14.559 So no one's in hell, they're going to get judged at the great white throne judgment unbelievers are, and then they're sent to what the Bible refers to as the lake of fire. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:16.480 But in the meantime, they're being punished. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:20.880 And here's what I want you to understand people in Sheol, people in Hades are conscious. 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:23.839 And otherwise, how do they know they're being punished? 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:27.519 The rich man in Luke 16, he's conscious. 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:32.319 He's already died, but he's in Sheol, and he's conscious because he's aware that he's being punished. 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:34.079 I think the same thing is true of Jonah. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:38.240 People are like, well, he prays from the belly of the fish, yeah, and from the belly of Sheol. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:39.920 Sheol is a place of the dead. 00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:40.480 All right. 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:42.720 You say, I don't know what you mean. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:48.960 Think of it like this: without no consequence, excuse me, there is no consequence without consciousness. 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:52.079 There is no consequence without consciousness. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:54.880 I believe Jonah is conscious of what is happening, okay? 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:56.000 But he's already died. 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:58.480 He's in the place of the dead, just like the Bible says. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:01.039 Now, let me bring it down to where we live, okay? 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:02.000 Let me repeat this. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:05.440 There's no real consequence where there is no consciousness, all right? 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:06.640 Think of it this way. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:08.960 Have you ever been really mad at somebody? 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:10.640 I mean, like really torqued up. 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:14.799 Their name comes up and you go from zero to 60 in about 0.2 seconds. 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:23.359 If you've ever felt that way about somebody, not that you do now, you followed Matthew 18, you're a Christian, you went to them and said, I'm offended, let's make peace. 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:32.720 But let's just say there was a time you were like, I mean, this person would grind your gears and you're like, if you've ever had that feeling towards somebody, say amen. 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:36.160 Oh, good, a room full of grudge holders. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:38.079 Now, let's take it to the next level. 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:43.839 Remember, where there is no, there is no consequence where there is no con uh consciousness, okay? 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:52.480 If these people aren't conscious, if they're not alive in Hades and Sheol, after dying, they're just, hey, you are experiencing the consequences of your unbelief. 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:57.519 If there's no consciousness, then how can there be any consequence for their unbelief? 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:03.039 See, I'm just what I'm saying to you is I believe that when the Bible says from the belly of Sheol, that Jonah has already died. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:05.039 But God says, Hey, I'm not done with you, bro. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:08.400 And so he's in the place of the belly of Sheol, just like the Bible says. 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:09.920 And there's a sense of consciousness. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:11.920 Have you ever had this toward somebody? 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:16.319 And here's what really grinds your gears: they don't know it, they're not conscious of it. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:22.079 And so every time you see them, they're free and winsome and happy and joyful. 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:27.759 And you think to yourself, if you knew how I felt about you, you wouldn't walk in the same building with me. 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:35.039 And they're over there just, hey, ho, hoo, hi, and other people are loving them while you're hating them. 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:37.200 You know what drives you crazy? 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:39.279 There's no consciousness on their part. 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:41.200 They're not aware of how you feel. 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:46.720 So your feelings have no bearing on them, no consequence for them. 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:52.880 The Bible says, hey, because this principle is true, this is what is going on in the book of Jonah. 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:53.359 Okay. 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:57.279 So again, without consciousness, there is no consequence. 00:21:57.519 --> 00:21:59.599 I think he's conscious, I think he's fully uh. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.680 Uh able to say, hey, from the belly of Sheol, I'm crying out here. 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:07.119 Here's the third thing: there is a consequence for disobedience. 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:10.000 There is a consequence for disobedience. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:15.839 Now, we live in a culture where we we find it hard to discipline our own children. 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:23.440 I say this in counseling all the time, and people look at me and I go, hey, listen, one guy asked me a while back, he said, Where'd you get this from? 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:25.119 I said, My own parenting. 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:30.400 I said to my oldest when she was going to college, now, by the grace of God, you've heard horror stories about preachers' kids, right? 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:33.279 By the grace of God, my kids, my two girls took after their mother. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:34.160 They're good kids. 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:45.519 But I said to my oldest before she went off to college, now listen, if you get up here and you get off the reservation and you just you don't listen to your mom and dad and you go crazy, I will let you live in the world that you prefer to live in. 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:46.960 And she said, What does that mean? 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:56.319 If you don't listen to us, you don't submit to our rules, you don't live the life that we expect you to live, I will let you live in the world where the only person you have to submit to is yourself. 00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:57.440 You'll be all on your own. 00:22:57.599 --> 00:23:03.200 You'll pay for college tuition, you'll pay for room and board, you'll pay for rent, you'll get a job and buy your own meals. 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:06.559 And she didn't say, Oh, Dad, why would you do that? 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:07.680 You know what she said? 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:09.839 Dad, I would never do that. 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:11.039 I don't think you would. 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:14.559 But I want you to know your mom and dad believe in discipline. 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:17.680 So you get up here, I ain't gonna finance your stupidity. 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:21.200 And I said, Baylor is not Jerusalem on the brasses. 00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:23.440 There's real sinners there. 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:28.400 She was there about a week and she called and said, I met some, Dad. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:29.839 Absolutely. 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:32.960 Now, some of you are like, I'm glad you're not my parent. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:38.160 Listen, you would be better if your parents loved you enough to say, you don't want to listen to us, you don't want to submit to our rules. 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:40.400 You can live in the world that you you really live in. 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:42.799 I'm gonna stop playing, dress up, and make-believe. 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:47.119 Now, by the way, when my second one got ready to go to Alabama to her college, I said the same thing. 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:48.720