WEBVTT 00:00:18.430 --> 00:00:23.660 I'm gonna invite you to turn to the book of Jonah, Jonah as we go through a new series together on running from God. 00:00:23.680 --> 00:00:29.160 And so we're going to be on the, in the book of Jonah for the next four weeks, just so you have an idea of where we're going. 00:00:30.020 --> 00:00:36.540 Jonah is a satire, prophetic wisdom, poetic literature. 00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:37.600 All right? 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:45.110 So what that means for us is because it's written in the set technical form, it kind of has this gloomy, 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:46.100 messy ending. 00:00:46.120 --> 00:00:53.260 In fact, when you get to the end, you're like as gentlemen and like a chapter or two somewhere because there's no, there's no American 00:00:53.260 --> 00:01:00.280 ending to this where the hero rides off on his horse into the sunset and all bad things have been resolved 00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:02.420 and all good things live on forever more. 00:01:02.440 --> 00:01:02.860 Praise God. 00:01:03.180 --> 00:01:04.060 That's not Jonah. 00:01:05.160 --> 00:01:12.360 And when you get to the end of the journey of Jonah, the reason I think Jonah ends in such a dismal way is so that we recognize 00:01:12.360 --> 00:01:20.180 in the story who the real hero is and how even in our, in our, incorrect living, 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:26.870 our unreal, our desire to not recognize Jesus as Lord in our lives, that God still works his will to see things accomplish. 00:01:27.420 --> 00:01:34.140 And when we recognize in the end that he is in control and surrender to him is what we're created for. 00:01:34.320 --> 00:01:39.360 And the joy of life is found in that we get to experience the very reason for which we're created. 00:01:39.500 --> 00:01:46.800 And I think this story sets in us in an unsettling way towards the end for that particular reason to remind us the goodness of who 00:01:46.880 --> 00:01:47.540 God is. 00:01:48.220 --> 00:01:52.270 And so if you're wanting to know where the book of Jonah is, it's towards the end of the old Testament. 00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:56.340 You have the 12 minor prophets that conclude the old Testament. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:00.220 And Jonah's more towards the beginning of those 12 minor prophets. 00:02:01.160 --> 00:02:02.750 If you remember, we studied Hosea recently. 00:02:03.540 --> 00:02:07.620 Hosea precedes Jonah and you'll be able to find it. 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:09.229 If you just go from the book of Matthew. 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:16.880 If flip back just eight books into the old Testament backwards, there's shorter books towards the end of the old Testament and you should be able to find the book 00:02:16.880 --> 00:02:17.440 of Jonah there. 00:02:19.380 --> 00:02:22.210 Historically, the book of Jonah is important to the Jewish people. 00:02:22.720 --> 00:02:29.990 They actually read this book on a specific day every year on what's called Yom Kippor for them, or you might know it as the day of atonement 00:02:30.980 --> 00:02:36.910 in Jewish tradition, old Testament, they had a temple in which they worshiped in until 70 a D when it was destroyed. 00:02:37.420 --> 00:02:41.780 This temple had one specific room in which it was told the presence of God would dwell. 00:02:42.200 --> 00:02:47.420 The temple itself only had two rooms that they really did any worship in and only the priests could go into that. 00:02:47.900 --> 00:02:55.100 This one particular room that they had built that the presence of God would dwell in, they were only able to go into that room one time a year to 00:02:55.100 --> 00:02:58.120 worship, and it was on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. 00:02:58.200 --> 00:02:58.760 So it's like this. 00:02:58.780 --> 00:03:01.420 We built a church, but we have everything that we do out in the parking lot. 00:03:01.760 --> 00:03:02.630 That's what it was like for them. 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:10.140 One day a year, one person could walk into the auditory and the main room where we would worship and they would sprinkle blood on the altar before 00:03:10.160 --> 00:03:16.250 the presence of the Lord and that's what the temple represented and Yom Kippur was that day, the day of atonement for the people of Israel. 00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:23.150 During this time, they would read the book of Jonah when they concluded the book of Jonah as a people, they would recite and unison. 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:26.140 Together we are Jonah. 00:03:30.900 --> 00:03:38.060 Well for the next four weeks, we're really going to unpack the reason behind that and the point of the story is so that 00:03:38.060 --> 00:03:45.260 in our lives we can connect to God in the way that Jonah is described in this past as what we even find in the life 00:03:45.260 --> 00:03:52.260 of Jesus is that Jesus connects this story to the people around him in the gospel and so it's important 00:03:52.260 --> 00:03:59.260 for us to really capture what Joan is about because I believe when you understand what Jonah is about, it really gives you a large scale picture 00:03:59.260 --> 00:04:01.150 of what all of scripture is. 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:08.510 It's themed upon Jonah by way of just identifying him for you so you know him a little better. 00:04:09.200 --> 00:04:16.360 There's not a whole lot we know about them, but Jonah is considered a minor prophet, minor prophet, 00:04:16.420 --> 00:04:19.899 not because he was any less significant than other prophets in Israel's history. 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:23.060 Only minor because the amount of his book is just four chapters. 00:04:25.640 --> 00:04:28.740 Jonah lived 800 years before Jesus. 00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:30.840 Out of the minor prophets. 00:04:31.180 --> 00:04:35.440 It's the only minor prophet that's in a narrative form or telling us a story. 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:43.940 And usually when I bring up the name Jonah, what Joan is about, almost instantaneously someone immediately jumps to the thought of 00:04:43.940 --> 00:04:45.280 a big fish. 00:04:45.620 --> 00:04:52.780 You might even call it a whale, which is a little more presumptuous than what scripture says, but at least the Bible tells us that 00:04:53.400 --> 00:05:00.880 the story centers around Jonah and Jonah gets this call from God and Jonah runs from God. 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:03.480 And God in the midst of this story uses a well. 00:05:03.500 --> 00:05:05.220 But the theme of the story isn't about a well. 00:05:06.440 --> 00:05:10.000 In fact, at the end of the story, God even uses a killer words. 00:05:12.400 --> 00:05:16.840 I think the worm that destroys an entire tree is more interesting than, than the whale. 00:05:16.960 --> 00:05:24.380 The wheel seems more more plausible to me than killer worms, but God uses these things for a specific purpose. 00:05:24.380 --> 00:05:25.310 They're in the theme of the store. 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:26.290 They're not the point of this story. 00:05:26.500 --> 00:05:29.200 They're simply a tool to what God's purpose is. 00:05:29.220 --> 00:05:29.880 And the story of Jonah. 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:37.860 And one of the major themes for us is I would say, is this, you can run from God, but 00:05:37.860 --> 00:05:39.570 you can't outrun him. 00:05:41.760 --> 00:05:48.780 And when you see the story of Jonah, you see in his life in the beginning, he runs from God and then he, 00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:55.080 he's captured by the Lord and any praise to God chapter to talk about prayer. 00:05:55.500 --> 00:06:00.240 And he comes before his city and the Lord uses him to call his message to the city. 00:06:00.300 --> 00:06:03.500 And the city repents and said, we'll see God's concern in chapter three for the city. 00:06:03.840 --> 00:06:06.880 And then you get to chapter four and you find out Jonah's still hates God. 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:13.440 Tens of thousands of people come to know the Lord through this message and rather rejoice. 00:06:14.440 --> 00:06:16.460 He kind of looks like a spoiled, whiny brat. 00:06:16.520 --> 00:06:20.060 He's more, he's more distraught over a worm that eats a tree. 00:06:20.340 --> 00:06:24.460 Then he's celebrating the fact that so many people come to known the Lord. 00:06:25.900 --> 00:06:28.620 And so the book just sort of ends in that flavor. 00:06:28.640 --> 00:06:32.760 But what you see in the story is people run from God outright in their lives. 00:06:32.760 --> 00:06:33.860 We run from God. 00:06:33.860 --> 00:06:41.200 And we know we're running from God, but then you even see it sort of this turn in chapter three chapter four where he even participates in 00:06:41.200 --> 00:06:42.640 what God calls him to participate in. 00:06:43.080 --> 00:06:50.140 And even in that participation, it's run from God says to us, as 00:06:50.800 --> 00:07:00.040 God's people here this morning, it's possible to be in church, but not of the church to 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:07.180 listen to God, but not allow the truth of the Lord to penetrate our heart, to even participate in everything that might be involved in a worship 00:07:07.180 --> 00:07:11.440 celebration before the Lord, but never truly worship. 00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:18.760 The theme of Jonah reminds us, you can run from God, but you can't outrun him. 00:07:18.780 --> 00:07:23.460 In fact, the Psalmist said in Psalm one 39 where can I go to hide from your presence? 00:07:25.400 --> 00:07:26.700 The point of the Psalm is nowhere. 00:07:28.660 --> 00:07:29.980 God's presence is always there. 00:07:31.880 --> 00:07:39.040 So one of the reasons this book is so unique for us, maybe it'll work, maybe not 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:43.500 Jonah chapter one there we go. 00:07:43.500 --> 00:07:46.760 In verse one it tells us this introduction for us about Jonah. 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:54.100 The word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai saying, this foundation begins to share with us exactly 00:07:54.100 --> 00:07:56.260 where Jonah is going with what he's going to communicate to us. 00:07:56.540 --> 00:07:58.080 One is the word of the Lord too. 00:07:58.080 --> 00:07:59.070 He's the son of Amittai. 00:07:59.580 --> 00:08:02.800 Jonah's name means Dov Devin old Testament, new Testament. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:10.140 It's a representation of the Holy spirit and God's going to sort of use Jonah as a way to proclaim his truth, that 00:08:10.140 --> 00:08:17.180 his truth will penetrate the hearts of the people and God would use that as the means or the tool to provoke people to repentance as a reflection 00:08:17.180 --> 00:08:24.180 of what the Holy spirit does to us on the inside, but he's, it identifies him as the son of Amittai, which means truth 00:08:25.900 --> 00:08:32.900 because what it's telling us in the stories that Jonah was about to tell us the truth, the good, the bad, the ugly, the dust settling 00:08:32.900 --> 00:08:35.710 part, the messy, the entire book is a messy struggle. 00:08:36.059 --> 00:08:42.179 It ends that way to show us really not that a whales, the hero worms, the hero that Jonah's a hero, but God is the hero. 00:08:43.340 --> 00:08:49.580 In fact, there's really no other reason to tell this story the way the story is told other than the fact that it is the truth. 00:08:51.860 --> 00:08:52.720 Cause the ending is so bizarre. 00:08:55.100 --> 00:08:56.920 I mean I know what we think. 00:08:56.940 --> 00:08:58.240 Sometimes we consider Jonah. 00:08:59.180 --> 00:09:00.700 Did that really happen? 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:04.680 Did he really get eaten by? 00:09:05.550 --> 00:09:09.760 Well, I mean come on three days in a belly of stomach acid. 00:09:10.820 --> 00:09:11.580 Who makes that historically? 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:20.420 Just so you know, if you, if you Google that, you can even find accounts where similar stories have been told. 00:09:20.500 --> 00:09:27.680 I think the last one I've seen historically was in the 18 hundreds in England there a tombstone buried where a guy was who 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:32.120 had died, has been eaten by a well spit out later or eaten by fish that out later. 00:09:33.280 --> 00:09:37.300 And on his tombstone, that muddled moment of his life was reflected on it. 00:09:37.520 --> 00:09:42.980 Just to let everybody know this guy could get eaten by a well and still survive, but eventually death got them anyway. 00:09:43.820 --> 00:09:47.460 So it's historically been seen as happening. 00:09:47.460 --> 00:09:54.460 We'll talk about it a little bit more as it relates to scripture, whether or not it's Alec work or whether or not it's true, but I think what it's saying 00:09:54.460 --> 00:09:56.590 in this story in the very beginning, Jonah's has got a truthful story. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:04.320 He just wants us to recognize the significance of what takes place in his life so that we can gain from this satirical wisdom in 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:07.040 our own lives and he calls it the word of the Lord. 00:10:08.520 --> 00:10:14.380 Anytime a prophet was to share a message from God, this is the way that they would categorize it as a word of the Lord. 00:10:14.440 --> 00:10:16.240 These aren't my words I'm about to share. 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:17.460 These are the Lord's words. 00:10:17.520 --> 00:10:24.620 In fact, in Deuteronomy chapter 13 Deuteronomy chapter 18 in both of those chapters, the Bible tells us this was written 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:31.340 to Moses, that if someone claims to be a prophet and anything they say do, does not come through stone them. 00:10:32.980 --> 00:10:35.880 That's how serious Israel would consider this statement. 00:10:37.140 --> 00:10:42.140 To understand the words I'm about to share are not my words, but God's words. 00:10:42.140 --> 00:10:49.260 These are his special revelation and God would send Israel profits to proclaim this for the purpose of 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:56.530 directing the people of God back before the presence of God and walking with him and for own personalized. 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:04.000 I think this idea of God sharing a special revelation becomes important to us and when we look at our lives 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:11.040 and think, if I could just receive some sort of truth or direction from the Lord, some sort of special revelation, and I 00:11:11.040 --> 00:11:12.760 want you to know this morning, you can too. 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:18.560 You can receive prophetic words from God. 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:23.030 The way you do it is you've opened up the book of Jonah. 00:11:23.900 --> 00:11:27.740 The same words written to Jonah are written to us. 00:11:27.860 --> 00:11:29.280 God's truth is timeless. 00:11:29.300 --> 00:11:36.880 If you want to understand what God desires for you in life, he's written words on pages so that we have the same 00:11:36.880 --> 00:11:43.880 special revelation that came to Jonah as the same special revelation that comes to us and the same truths that he wanted Jonah to 00:11:43.880 --> 00:11:49.160 understand in his walk with him are the same truths God desires for you to understand in your walk with him. 00:11:50.940 --> 00:11:53.570 In fact, the Bible talks about two special revelations. 00:11:53.620 --> 00:11:56.410 It says to us, one, the word of God is his truth. 00:11:56.620 --> 00:12:01.940 It's God's special revelation written to us, but it also says to us, and Hebrews as if it read it. 00:12:01.940 --> 00:12:08.940 Hebrews chapter one verses one God spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many 00:12:08.940 --> 00:12:10.240 ways so long ago. 00:12:10.500 --> 00:12:17.660 He talked to the prophets in these last days, which is Jesus and on, and these last days has 00:12:17.660 --> 00:12:24.740 spoken to us in his son and he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature and upholds 00:12:24.740 --> 00:12:26.340 all things by the word of his power. 00:12:28.680 --> 00:12:31.400 The point of scripture is to give us the truth of who God is. 00:12:31.500 --> 00:12:35.480 We could walk in light of Christ that Jesus has been revealed, that he is. 00:12:35.780 --> 00:12:41.060 What is saying in Hebrews is setting this foundation that everything is pointing to Jesus. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:43.620 If you've not ever read the book of Hebrews, I would encourage you to read it. 00:12:45.640 --> 00:12:53.140 I mean, the book of Hebrews, written Hebrews or to the Jews is to show them how everything that they did in their worship system was ultimately 00:12:53.140 --> 00:12:54.900 a fulfillment of all that Christ was. 00:12:55.700 --> 00:13:02.920 The temple, the priesthood, the lamb, the law, the prophetic statements, everything was centered 00:13:02.920 --> 00:13:09.960 to find its pinnacle Mark in Jesus that when Jesus came along, we saw the significance of who Jesus is and when pursuing him with our 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:10.360 lives. 00:13:11.020 --> 00:13:15.080 Special revelation in Christ and in God's word. 00:13:16.860 --> 00:13:23.280 In fact, God correlates his word to Christ. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:24.160 In the beginning was the word. 00:13:24.260 --> 00:13:25.740 The word was with God and the word was God. 00:13:25.740 --> 00:13:29.840 In John chapter one, Jesus, his own prayer and John sanctify them through truth. 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:30.540 I word as truth. 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:36.340 Well, the picture is paramount and wanting us to understand the significance of those two points. 00:13:36.400 --> 00:13:43.400 And so I would encourage you this morning as we look to direction through the book of Jonah, that God's direction is still given to 00:13:43.400 --> 00:13:44.000 your life. 00:13:44.040 --> 00:13:51.120 That it's not this unique revelation that comes to you apart from anyone else, but God gave his word that we can all have it and see the truth 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:56.580 of who he is together in community and when this truth comes to Jonah. 00:13:56.660 --> 00:13:57.760 This is what it says in verse two. 00:13:58.520 --> 00:14:05.280 Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city and cry out against it for their wickedness has come up before me. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:13.090 Joda is a little unique in the prophetic books in the sense that Jonah is one of just a few prophetic books. 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:20.360 The other one is Obadiah and Nahum that are written to people, groups outside of the nation of Israel, but 00:14:20.360 --> 00:14:21.500 it's still pointing to us. 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:29.100 God's love for the nations and what God is calling Jonah to is literally 00:14:29.100 --> 00:14:31.300 to go to one of Israel's enemies. 00:14:32.260 --> 00:14:41.400 Nineveh, the Assyrians, the Assyrians are described historically as horrific people, the 00:14:41.400 --> 00:14:48.120 way that they devalued life, how they killed men, raped women, and even would rip babies from the wounds of mothers. 00:14:49.980 --> 00:14:57.160 Israel at this point been attacked by the Assyrians a few times and now God is calling Jonah to go back into this land and 00:14:57.160 --> 00:14:57.900 preach his message. 00:14:59.780 --> 00:15:06.000 If you, if you historically study where Ninevah is located today, it's in modern day Iraq. 00:15:07.940 --> 00:15:11.340 Historically, Iraq is a pretty prominent place for scripture. 00:15:12.500 --> 00:15:20.060 Abraham has called out of the earth the land of the Cal DNS, which is South Eastern Iraq, Babylon and 00:15:20.060 --> 00:15:27.120 the garden of Eden is considered more central Iraq and Nineveh is more Northwest direct to the Bible is rich in history from 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:34.420 the people of Iraq and Jonah is called to go back into the city knowing that his people 00:15:34.420 --> 00:15:38.550 are called to go into the city knowing that his people had been attacked by the Assyrians. 00:15:38.640 --> 00:15:45.960 It's like today telling you, I want you to head into Fallujah or Mosul and 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:47.940 let everyone know you're a Christian. 00:15:48.520 --> 00:15:55.940 In fact, if you look at Jonah's message, it's probably what you would say, not the one you would want to share to be ranked high on the popularity 00:15:55.940 --> 00:15:57.520 list in Nineveh. 00:15:57.900 --> 00:16:01.640 I mean, it's kind of like a Turner burns sort of statement that he gives in chapter three. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:10.660 So could you imagine you go to modern day Iraq where some fighting's going on now or into Iran and you say, Hey, 00:16:10.700 --> 00:16:13.370 I'm a Christian and you're all going to be destroyed. 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:16.060 How would that go for you? 00:16:16.100 --> 00:16:18.050 It's not going to, it's not going to last long. 00:16:18.280 --> 00:16:18.760 Right? 00:16:18.920 --> 00:16:23.080 And if you look at Jonah's story, how would you respond if God had called you to do that? 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:24.980 What would you, what was your reaction be? 00:16:26.580 --> 00:16:29.860 I'm Jonah takes all but two seconds to think about this here. 00:16:30.620 --> 00:16:33.750 And then it says in verse three, but Jonah Rose up to flee to Tarsus. 00:16:34.900 --> 00:16:36.820 Tarsus is sorta like beachfront property. 00:16:37.280 --> 00:16:43.400 So he's like, Hm, 500 miles into the desert or beach front property. 00:16:43.680 --> 00:16:45.640 I mean, who's willing to live in the desert? 00:16:46.940 --> 00:16:47.550 Wait a minute. 00:16:48.560 --> 00:16:54.850 He's like 500 miles East, deeper into the desert or beachfront property. 00:16:55.060 --> 00:16:58.620 So it says Jonah Rosa flipped the Tarsus from the presence of the Lord. 00:16:58.680 --> 00:17:04.260 So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare. 00:17:04.280 --> 00:17:10.319 And look what it says and went down into it to go with them to Tarsus for the presence of the Lord. 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:12.599 Just hold onto that thought, that gentlemen down into it. 00:17:12.619 --> 00:17:20.030 For a moment it's going to become important for us, but usually when you talk about getting on a boat, I would say he got up on it. 00:17:20.569 --> 00:17:27.680 He went on the boat, not down into it, but this is significant that the authors are writing for us, something he wants us to recognize here in just a 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:35.740 moment, but Jonah is literally doing the exact opposite of what God called him to do and 00:17:35.740 --> 00:17:36.460 he's going to learn the lesson. 00:17:38.380 --> 00:17:46.900 You can run from God, but you can't outrun God. 00:17:47.760 --> 00:17:48.420 No, I know. 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:59.660 If God called me to a circumstance that seemed difficult and he made that call and clear, I 00:17:59.660 --> 00:18:06.900 know there would be an internal wrestling within my soul, something I would need to work out with the Lord God, how do I know for sure this is what you want 00:18:06.900 --> 00:18:09.340 or how do I know you're going to be with me? 00:18:09.400 --> 00:18:15.780 You know, just it's a time of learning in your faith and that's usually how, that's how faith goes. 00:18:15.860 --> 00:18:22.880 Like we put our trust in Jesus and as we're walking along and as we continue to 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:27.070 trust in him, we see how he over time again and again, proves himself faithful. 00:18:29.800 --> 00:18:31.840 Our walks with Jesus and we claim to follow Jesus. 00:18:32.060 --> 00:18:33.110 I'm not always going to be perfect. 00:18:34.300 --> 00:18:34.540 You're not. 00:18:34.620 --> 00:18:42.100 I follow Jesus instantaneously perfection in my life, but rather I'll learn even from 00:18:42.100 --> 00:18:45.200 a missteps how to better step in Christ. 00:18:48.340 --> 00:18:50.530 Why does Jonah choose to run? 00:18:52.020 --> 00:18:55.210 He actually tells you at the end of the book in chapter four, this is what he says. 00:18:55.280 --> 00:18:56.760 I just want to read this. 00:18:56.900 --> 00:19:02.420 We'll go back to chapter one in a minute just so you know why Jonah's choosing what he chooses and he, and he writes it down for us. 00:19:02.800 --> 00:19:08.990 He says, they prayed to the Lord and said, please, Lord was not this what I said while I was still in my own country. 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:12.660 Therefore, in order to forestall this, I fled to Tarsus. 00:19:14.560 --> 00:19:17.020 I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God. 00:19:18.820 --> 00:19:26.540 Slow to anger, abundant and loving kindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. 00:19:30.620 --> 00:19:31.580 Jenna, why did you make this decision? 00:19:36.260 --> 00:19:42.340 I made it cause I love my people more than I love those people. 00:19:45.640 --> 00:19:53.200 I made it because I love my people more than I love you talking 00:19:53.360 --> 00:19:54.090 about the Lord. 00:19:56.820 --> 00:20:02.400 And if just stepping back, not getting into the specifics of Jonah's circumstances, it seems pretty cut and dry. 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:07.900 God calls you somewhere, you decide you don't want to go, and so you don't go. 00:20:09.520 --> 00:20:13.940 And from a rational point, you see Jonah's decision doesn't make sense. 00:20:13.940 --> 00:20:21.180 If we live to true Christianity, we live for a man who died for his enemies or 00:20:21.220 --> 00:20:24.160 a God man died for his enemies. 00:20:26.860 --> 00:20:27.120 Yeah. 00:20:27.120 --> 00:20:34.220 Jonah's making this decision to deny his faith and run from the circumstance because it's more than 00:20:34.220 --> 00:20:36.280 just rational thinking. 00:20:36.320 --> 00:20:43.600 God calls I go, but rather he begins to reveal the pressure of the moment Riggins to reveal to Jonah where 00:20:43.600 --> 00:20:44.260 his love lies. 00:20:46.010 --> 00:20:49.560 He's got, I call an important two letter word. 00:20:54.450 --> 00:21:01.180 God, I'll follow you if I don't have to follow you there. 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:04.020 God. 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:05.690 I'll love you with everything I have. 00:21:05.820 --> 00:21:13.100 If you give me a nice home on the beach, God, I love you. 00:21:13.100 --> 00:21:20.160 If you give me the job on want or if you make my family do this, or if you bring me the person that I went with in my life, God, I will love 00:21:20.180 --> 00:21:20.740 you if so. 00:21:22.940 --> 00:21:28.190 When you look at the story of Jonah, you see God's heart for the nations got hearts for the city. 00:21:28.340 --> 00:21:29.740 God's heart is for Minerva. 00:21:30.100 --> 00:21:31.790 God's heart is for his enemies. 00:21:31.940 --> 00:21:35.540 God desires compassion and loving kindness and forgiveness. 00:21:35.540 --> 00:21:42.740 You see that in Jonah for Jonah, Jonah points out, but the story 00:21:42.740 --> 00:21:45.560 isn't just about God's desire for this nation. 00:21:45.800 --> 00:21:47.110 The story is also personal. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:53.040 God growing in unison with an individual. 00:21:53.060 --> 00:22:00.260 That relationship being nurtured, it's not just about the people external, it's about the person of Jonah, so it's not until the pressure 00:22:00.260 --> 00:22:06.900 of our life surrounds us with circumstances that are attempting, that we find out in our world what we truly love more. 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:16.640 Jonah's decision was for second best. 00:22:20.020 --> 00:22:28.060 When obedience becomes costly, that's when we weigh it and 00:22:28.060 --> 00:22:30.160 that's when it reveals to us our true gods. 00:22:34.370 --> 00:22:34.810 Jenna, what do you love? 00:22:35.020 --> 00:22:36.230 More pleasure or the Lord? 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:38.880 What's more important to you? 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:43.540 Comfort, faithfulness. 00:22:44.840 --> 00:22:46.520 This is the truth that happens in our lives. 00:22:46.520 --> 00:22:54.560 When you deny God's authority, it's because you doubt his goodness and 00:22:54.560 --> 00:22:57.120 therefore it leads you to ignore his guidance. 00:22:58.340 --> 00:23:05.740 Instead again, when you deny God's authority because you doubt his goodness and therefore ignore 00:23:05.740 --> 00:23:12.880 his guidance, walks a 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:17.590 walk with the Lord is not always easy and we don't always do it perfect. 00:23:19.980 --> 00:23:27.200 Well, sometimes the stress of life or the pressure of life around us or circumstances that may look at verse to us shows us 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:31.030 where is our love? 00:23:33.130 --> 00:23:40.210 If God you do this, then I will do 00:23:40.210 --> 00:23:40.610 this. 00:23:42.810 --> 00:23:47.830 Meaning the reason you obey is as important as that which you obey. 00:23:51.230 --> 00:23:57.030 Following God out of convenience may not mean that we're necessarily following God. 00:23:57.030 --> 00:24:05.050 It more means that it's just convenient in the moment to pursue God, but the moment it isn't convenient that I choose convenience over 00:24:05.130 --> 00:24:12.250 the Lord and it's when picture perfect things aren't always picture perfect that you find what's more 00:24:12.410 --> 00:24:19.610 and if our pursuit of God is for any other reason than his glory is 00:24:19.610 --> 00:24:21.410 most important than we waver. 00:24:23.170 --> 00:24:30.540 That's why John Piper has given the famous statement, God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in him. 00:24:32.030 --> 00:24:39.750 The story of Jonah is this, Jonah, none of us, God 00:24:39.830 --> 00:24:45.430 loves you as you are, and he also loves you too much to leave you that way. 00:24:46.950 --> 00:24:49.350 Can you see in chapter four when the story goes on, it says the Lord. 00:24:50.610 --> 00:24:58.050 Now that he's on the boat, the Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was 00:24:58.050 --> 00:25:05.150 about to break up and then the sailors, anytime sailors start freaking out, it's time to just, you're on the plane, the pilot is 00:25:05.150 --> 00:25:05.790 running around like crazy. 00:25:06.690 --> 00:25:08.490 You know, it's time to panic, right? 00:25:09.250 --> 00:25:12.490 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his God. 00:25:12.730 --> 00:25:20.210 I remember this a side note, but our first kid was when he was being born, we're in the hospital and we're trying to get an epidural 00:25:20.210 --> 00:25:27.630 and Stacey, because they have an emergency section they got to make cause they had some complications and the doctors start freaking out and I'm like, I 00:25:27.630 --> 00:25:27.630 grab him. 00:25:27.630 --> 00:25:28.830 Like, listen right now. 00:25:28.890 --> 00:25:30.790 I don't need you to do this. 00:25:31.070 --> 00:25:33.910 Let's make this happen. 00:25:34.010 --> 00:25:34.470 All right. 00:25:34.550 --> 00:25:41.670 So when the sailors became afraid and they man cried to his God and they threw the cargo, which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for 00:25:41.670 --> 00:25:42.170 them. 00:25:42.250 --> 00:25:44.200 But Jonah had gone below, look, here it is again. 00:25:44.430 --> 00:25:48.750 Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, laid down in the fallen and sound asleep. 00:25:48.790 --> 00:25:52.150 So the captain approached him and said, how is that you are sleeping? 00:25:52.330 --> 00:25:54.030 Get up calling on your God. 00:25:54.390 --> 00:25:57.970 Perhaps your God will be concerned about us that will not be able to perish. 00:25:58.950 --> 00:26:02.970 So sailors are freaking out and they go down, they see Jonah again and he's down. 00:26:03.150 --> 00:26:05.260 It tells us in this passage he's down. 00:26:05.570 --> 00:26:12.670 And the same thing happened in verse three, but what the author is doing, we don't get it in our English language, is he's using a play on words to show how 00:26:12.670 --> 00:26:15.110 Jonah is moving towards death. 00:26:16.150 --> 00:26:23.350 This word will actually highlight that Jonah's steps are the steps of death that I would even submit to you that the reason he's 00:26:23.350 --> 00:26:27.470 so asleep in the middle of this storm is that he's so far into this depth. 00:26:27.510 --> 00:26:28.380 I think Joan is depressed. 00:26:29.710 --> 00:26:35.210 If you're on a boat and it looks like it's going under and you hear people screaming like mad above you and they're the sailors. 00:26:35.670 --> 00:26:40.430 I mean if you're in your fairly normal state of life, you're going to be like, we gotta get outta here. 00:26:40.430 --> 00:26:43.730 You know, whatever I need to do, I want to be doing something but Jonah's asleep. 00:26:46.290 --> 00:26:49.330 And I think that he recognizes the difficulty of his circumstance. 00:26:49.590 --> 00:26:54.010 He doesn't want to trusting God where he's at, but not trusting in God. 00:26:54.010 --> 00:26:59.070 He finds himself in this at this place of depression, this place of death. 00:27:00.970 --> 00:27:03.710 Normally in our culture, this is what we would say for him. 00:27:05.910 --> 00:27:09.890 We'd say, you know what, we need to get with Jonah Gaza's Hogan downstairs for this storm. 00:27:09.890 --> 00:27:10.920 We got to take care of this real quick. 00:27:10.950 --> 00:27:11.810 We'll come back and handle the storm. 00:27:12.090 --> 00:27:13.490 Joey needs to build his self esteem. 00:27:15.190 --> 00:27:18.550 Let's, let's just, let's just build a self esteem up so he feels better about himself. 00:27:18.550 --> 00:27:20.040 He can get out and he can help us, right? 00:27:21.450 --> 00:27:28.870 And I'm all for whatever we can do to encourage you in a way that I think is honoring to the Lord but encourage 00:27:28.870 --> 00:27:31.230 you to see your worth, your value. 00:27:31.550 --> 00:27:38.520 But can I tell you sometimes when we talk about self esteem, I don't think self is the right way to start with it. 00:27:40.230 --> 00:27:42.100 What I mean is usually we talk about self esteem. 00:27:42.110 --> 00:27:46.570 We start telling somebody why they're worth so much and we look to different things that they're capable of, right? 00:27:46.890 --> 00:27:53.890 You've got talent, you're popular, you look cute, whatever you got, you got money, whatever 00:27:53.890 --> 00:27:54.590 it is. 00:27:54.590 --> 00:27:58.210 Just some sort of some sort of characteristic that other people might want. 00:27:58.210 --> 00:28:01.910 And so whatever people might cover it shows, shows that that's why you're worth something. 00:28:02.470 --> 00:28:07.060 But the problem is someone always has more. 00:28:08.910 --> 00:28:13.150 I mean your mama probably told you were good looking, right? 00:28:13.170 --> 00:28:14.370 My cute little baby. 00:28:15.970 --> 00:28:22.570 But there's always somebody stronger, more popular, more money, better looks. 00:28:23.490 --> 00:28:25.510 And if it's not today, then it will be tomorrow. 00:28:27.930 --> 00:28:35.790 And so when you put your esteem from yourself in those things, what you find is eventually, if not now, those things collapse. 00:28:37.190 --> 00:28:44.310 And so in order to build your esteem, it would seem logical to think it needs to come somewhere external behind beyond things that 00:28:44.310 --> 00:28:44.810 collapse. 00:28:44.830 --> 00:28:52.070 But where could you ever find something that would always be dependable to demonstrate to you your worth? 00:28:54.190 --> 00:29:01.110 I think it's in the Lord God determines your worth. 00:29:02.910 --> 00:29:05.660 So much so that he gave his son for you. 00:29:06.650 --> 00:29:07.170 So much. 00:29:07.170 --> 00:29:14.170 So in this story, what you're going to see as God cares for Nineveh or a sinful and by 00:29:14.170 --> 00:29:18.670 definition just horrific civilization, the way that they're living at this point in their lives. 00:29:20.590 --> 00:29:21.170 What about Jonah? 00:29:23.790 --> 00:29:25.600 Can you talk about somebody that blew it? 00:29:25.750 --> 00:29:30.620 I have never had God show up to me and be like, Hey, I need you to go do this. 00:29:30.730 --> 00:29:33.620 You know, head to this place and do this specifically. 00:29:33.870 --> 00:29:35.500 I mean, God's word gives us direction. 00:29:35.530 --> 00:29:41.930 God leads our hearts, I think to different people, groups in places and for different things, but God's never audibly said that. 00:29:42.970 --> 00:29:43.910 I mean, you blew a Jonah. 00:29:47.090 --> 00:29:48.260 What do you say to that loser? 00:29:49.050 --> 00:29:51.490 I know that's like, so what you do, what do you do to that? 00:29:53.070 --> 00:29:58.100 Well, if you look, this isn't going to be on the screen, but look at Jonah chapter one verse 17 I want you to see this. 00:30:02.230 --> 00:30:02.810 Look what it says. 00:30:03.910 --> 00:30:10.990 I mean if you had, if you want to just contrast in the story that I think the two pinnacle points of chapter one I would tell you verse three verse 00:30:10.990 --> 00:30:18.090 five where Jonah goes down because those verses are highlighting death and Joan is walking away from the Lord not being able to trust in 00:30:18.090 --> 00:30:18.790 his goodness. 00:30:18.790 --> 00:30:25.470 Those are, those are important themes for chapter one, but in verse 17 then you get the position of the Lord that's contrary to Joan. 00:30:25.510 --> 00:30:25.710 Isn't. 00:30:25.710 --> 00:30:33.110 It says this and the Lord in this word look appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah. 00:30:33.190 --> 00:30:41.410 Now, most of us would be like, that's not, that is not like the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, not 00:30:41.410 --> 00:30:48.790 because he wants to destroy him though Laura appointed this because God's 00:30:48.890 --> 00:30:50.510 still concerned for him. 00:30:51.810 --> 00:30:54.370 It says in Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. 00:30:54.390 --> 00:30:55.950 What blows me away about this story? 00:30:55.970 --> 00:31:03.430 I never thought about this until I read it this time, but if Jonah died in that fish and that would have been exactly like Jesus he 00:31:03.430 --> 00:31:10.510 died, spits out comes back to life three days, but Joe de general, what's important for him to recognize 00:31:10.510 --> 00:31:17.890 in this story, what he wants us to get across here is this word appointed because this word appointed some translations say had 00:31:17.890 --> 00:31:18.510 appointed. 00:31:18.530 --> 00:31:19.480 It's not like this. 00:31:19.810 --> 00:31:20.580 Joan was on this ship. 00:31:20.670 --> 00:31:21.630 The storm comes there. 00:31:21.770 --> 00:31:23.810 God's like, Oh my gosh, I got to bite my fingernails here. 00:31:24.050 --> 00:31:24.630 I don't know. 00:31:24.750 --> 00:31:25.750 What are we going to do? 00:31:25.930 --> 00:31:27.210 I cannot figure this out. 00:31:27.410 --> 00:31:28.070 You have blown it. 00:31:28.150 --> 00:31:30.630 Jonah, I gave you the option that was playing a, I don't have a B. 00:31:30.910 --> 00:31:32.330 God's not doing that in this story. 00:31:34.470 --> 00:31:34.950 How do we know? 00:31:37.170 --> 00:31:44.550 Because it says in verse 17 God had appointed meaning God knew 00:31:44.550 --> 00:31:48.660 what Jenna was going to do before Jonah himself knew it. 00:31:50.170 --> 00:31:57.210 And I think before the foundations of the world, as God created, he made a fish. 00:32:00.590 --> 00:32:09.450 He made a fish specific for a purpose and as soon as that boat took off, God 00:32:09.450 --> 00:32:11.040 called that fish to pursue. 00:32:13.310 --> 00:32:17.310 God didn't look at the moment and where Jenna messed up, I was like, I can't, I can't fix this. 00:32:17.390 --> 00:32:19.210 I mean I've got, I've got to start over on somebody else. 00:32:19.230 --> 00:32:26.330 New profit, because the story is 00:32:26.330 --> 00:32:31.590 not just about Nineveh and the story really has nothing to do with a whale. 00:32:31.630 --> 00:32:32.650 It's just the Will's a tool. 00:32:34.650 --> 00:32:41.080 The most important thing I think that Jonah wants us to recognize is how in all of this, God's still pursued after him. 00:32:43.150 --> 00:32:54.010 The God wasn't taken back by the things that Jonah had done, but that he had appointed this moment. 00:32:54.550 --> 00:32:54.850 Why? 00:32:57.390 --> 00:33:02.650 So the end, his heart, Jenny could stop and still see the love of God in pursuit of his life. 00:33:04.270 --> 00:33:10.710 And when we're running from God, I mean if there's one thing that the gentle call of this will just bring you in. 00:33:10.950 --> 00:33:16.950 It's the idea of you in wickedness or sin or just totally oppose anything God wants in your life. 00:33:16.950 --> 00:33:18.850 And he's saying, I'm right behind you. 00:33:21.350 --> 00:33:22.390 I'm running after you. 00:33:22.410 --> 00:33:25.730 And not only that, I've already, I've already appointed ahead of time to meet you here. 00:33:29.610 --> 00:33:36.690 Most important thing that can happen here is you're trying to run is what can take place 00:33:36.690 --> 00:33:39.830 in your heart as I, as I want to meet you where you are. 00:33:39.870 --> 00:33:41.050 And so the story goes on like this. 00:33:41.110 --> 00:33:42.050 I love what happens here. 00:33:42.050 --> 00:33:49.070 It says chapter nine or chapter one verse nine he said to them, talking to the sailors that are freaking out, I am a Hebrew and I fear 00:33:49.070 --> 00:33:52.280 the Lord, the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land. 00:33:52.310 --> 00:33:54.010 And the men became extremely frightened. 00:33:54.010 --> 00:33:56.000 And they said to him, how could you do this? 00:33:56.470 --> 00:34:02.460 For the men knew that they were fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told them, and so they said to him, what should we do? 00:34:02.670 --> 00:34:06.570 So what should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us? 00:34:07.190 --> 00:34:08.139 I mean, we'll cut your head off. 00:34:08.230 --> 00:34:15.310 I mean for the CS becoming increasingly story, it's you go down or all of us go down and so it says in verse 12 he said, them pick me up and 00:34:15.310 --> 00:34:16.469 throw me into the sea. 00:34:16.469 --> 00:34:18.510 Then the sea will become calm for you. 00:34:19.150 --> 00:34:22.590 For I know that on account of me, this great storm has come on you, whoever. 00:34:22.889 --> 00:34:25.590 However, the men rode desperately to return to land. 00:34:25.670 --> 00:34:30.870 They wanted to preserve his life, good for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 00:34:31.230 --> 00:34:33.750 Then they called on the Lord and said, we earnestly pray. 00:34:33.750 --> 00:34:39.949 Oh Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us for you. 00:34:39.949 --> 00:34:42.179 Oh Lord, have done as you have pleased. 00:34:42.330 --> 00:34:45.270 They picked up, Jonah, threw him into the sea and the sea stopped. 00:34:45.310 --> 00:34:47.570 Its raging then the men for the Lord greatly. 00:34:48.810 --> 00:34:50.170 Let me just paint this picture at the end. 00:34:50.170 --> 00:34:52.679 This is kind of culminating at all over another time. 00:34:54.360 --> 00:34:59.370 During this time, it was normal for people to worship several gods. 00:34:59.890 --> 00:35:03.110 You had your fertility, God, your crop, God, your land, God, your sea God. 00:35:03.670 --> 00:35:04.630 These guys are on the boat. 00:35:04.950 --> 00:35:05.910 They're tossing dice. 00:35:05.910 --> 00:35:10.810 When the storm comes, they're like, we want to determine who's the blame for this and we need to worship the sea. 00:35:11.050 --> 00:35:12.450 God, where's the sea God? 00:35:12.590 --> 00:35:13.330 Help us see God. 00:35:13.610 --> 00:35:14.630 See God's not helping us. 00:35:14.850 --> 00:35:16.040 There's some weird dude downstairs. 00:35:16.430 --> 00:35:20.950 Maybe he's got an extra guide that might help us in this so they run downstairs and Joan is like, Oh no. 00:35:21.050 --> 00:35:27.590 See God know I worship the God who's the God of everything, the God of land and sees the God above, above all things. 00:35:27.910 --> 00:35:29.070 He is God alone. 00:35:30.230 --> 00:35:31.330 What are you doing on this boat? 00:35:31.590 --> 00:35:34.570 Why would they got us way better than our God? 00:35:34.570 --> 00:35:39.640 He's so much bigger than than these little [inaudible] Demigodz that we're trying to work up here. 00:35:39.670 --> 00:35:42.010 What is this guy that you've made mad? 00:35:42.010 --> 00:35:45.070 We need this God, this God obviously has the control of everything. 00:35:46.710 --> 00:35:53.710 And in the midst of that, Jonah still has opportunity to 00:35:53.710 --> 00:36:00.890 point people to the Lord, even though they might say he's messed up, it's 00:36:00.890 --> 00:36:02.350 just transparent with where he's at. 00:36:02.370 --> 00:36:04.850 I'm running from God, but he's real guys. 00:36:04.890 --> 00:36:05.830 He's definitely real. 00:36:05.850 --> 00:36:07.910 I mean, I told you I'm running a room, but look at this. 00:36:07.910 --> 00:36:10.630 Isn't this is pretty spectacular out here. 00:36:10.630 --> 00:36:12.090 I'll tell you, it's my God. 00:36:12.090 --> 00:36:13.010 So throw me overboard. 00:36:13.070 --> 00:36:13.980 And this is what Jonah does. 00:36:15.150 --> 00:36:16.010 Really a display of Jesus. 00:36:18.660 --> 00:36:19.430 How about this? 00:36:21.870 --> 00:36:28.580 My life for years in my weakness, you see the strength of who God is. 00:36:31.550 --> 00:36:33.490 I think that's why Jesus used Jonah as that illustration. 00:36:36.830 --> 00:36:44.030 They asked Jesus for a sign and he knew that there were unrepentant wicked generation people that were not interested in 00:36:44.030 --> 00:36:44.270 him. 00:36:44.290 --> 00:36:46.870 So he said this for justice journey came as assigned to the Ninevites. 00:36:48.910 --> 00:36:56.010 So the son of man be to this generation, my life for years out 00:36:56.010 --> 00:36:56.570 of weakness. 00:36:58.310 --> 00:36:59.490 You see the strict for the Lord. 00:37:03.130 --> 00:37:08.670 So one of the reasons I think Jonah failed at this, he was resting in his own strength. 00:37:11.890 --> 00:37:16.180 And sometimes I think we're afraid to step because we like to handle things within our own strength. 00:37:16.330 --> 00:37:20.210 And to take any step means we'd have to do trust in the Lord. 00:37:22.370 --> 00:37:23.150 And so we like these IPS. 00:37:25.330 --> 00:37:29.630 When you deny us authority, it's because you doubt his goodness and therefore ignore his guidance. 00:37:31.670 --> 00:37:38.670 When things aren't going well in our lives, even in the irritation of arguments between spouses or kid with your kids 00:37:38.670 --> 00:37:40.920 or whatever it is, I mean, you know how it goes. 00:37:40.930 --> 00:37:45.770 Sometimes it's just the right button gets pushed and all of a sudden, rather than the presence of Jesus, your flesh comes out. 00:37:48.650 --> 00:37:55.750 Now the pressure you find where your heart's resting when things 00:37:55.750 --> 00:37:58.070 aren't going well or tendency is to get cell phones. 00:38:00.460 --> 00:38:01.010 Yes. 00:38:01.010 --> 00:38:11.390 And that's where Jonah was depressed in the belly of a ship moving towards death, his 00:38:11.390 --> 00:38:14.190 pity party, right? 00:38:15.170 --> 00:38:22.190 What was me, you know what the Lord ones when things aren't 00:38:22.190 --> 00:38:24.180 going well, we tend to get self-focus. 00:38:25.250 --> 00:38:27.530 But the solution in those moments are the exact opposite. 00:38:29.230 --> 00:38:30.130 The exact opposite. 00:38:30.330 --> 00:38:35.110 And Sam, sometimes it takes a fish in a worm to show us. 00:38:38.520 --> 00:38:45.710 God's called us to so much more beyond self to look out and see beyond 00:38:45.710 --> 00:38:53.650 the circumstance, to trust him in the morning and 00:38:53.650 --> 00:39:00.810 the weakness of our failures, moments of death, recognize even 00:39:00.810 --> 00:39:02.330 in those moments, God has appointed. 00:39:05.170 --> 00:39:07.610 God knew it before I did it. 00:39:07.690 --> 00:39:10.650 He knew it before I was there. 00:39:10.650 --> 00:39:17.850 He was there and he's been there running behind me, chasing after me, and he's already in front of me preparing the 00:39:17.850 --> 00:39:19.390 way for me. 00:39:19.650 --> 00:39:27.570 If in these moments I could stop wallowing in this and just turned to him because 00:39:27.570 --> 00:39:34.590 Scott's greater than my hips and God's got plans beyond really my wildest 00:39:34.590 --> 00:39:35.540 dreams. 00:39:36.470 --> 00:39:37.050 Who would have thought? 00:39:38.230 --> 00:39:39.120 Who would have thought Nineveh? 00:39:41.810 --> 00:39:43.260 Tens of thousands of people. 00:39:44.430 --> 00:39:47.370 Maybe if you talk to the devil, devil, Oh, tell me about your favorite cities. 00:39:47.370 --> 00:39:48.790 He would have been like, Oh, number one. 00:39:49.650 --> 00:39:54.410 Number one, I got these people, Nineveh, right? 00:39:55.570 --> 00:39:58.530 I got to tell you, church, and you think about this for a moment. 00:39:58.550 --> 00:39:59.810 You consider just history. 00:40:00.070 --> 00:40:00.170 God. 00:40:00.350 --> 00:40:01.470 God turns Nineveh. 00:40:01.510 --> 00:40:03.770 You look at Rome, he turns Rome. 00:40:03.770 --> 00:40:07.750 You look in 15 hundreds in the dark ages, he's got the reformation in America. 00:40:07.750 --> 00:40:08.790 It's the great awakenings. 00:40:10.790 --> 00:40:18.450 It's the same God today, the same God if 00:40:18.450 --> 00:40:20.990 you trust in walking. 00:40:21.710 --> 00:40:25.990 Now, let me close with a word of prayer where we love you. 00:40:27.570 --> 00:40:28.470 Thank you for the story of Jonah.