| [0.00 --> 8.24] Thanks, Ken. Well, good morning again, everyone. I was here last week, privileged to be here, | |
| [8.40 --> 16.62] and began what I hope will be completed in a number of weeks, a sermon series on the book | |
| [16.62 --> 23.78] of Jonah. Now, Jonah, as I mentioned last week, is a fairly popular book for vacation Bible school | |
| [23.78 --> 31.04] programs and Sunday school programs, etc. You know, the drama of the story lends itself to pictures | |
| [31.04 --> 42.66] and to crayons and to short plays and so forth. But in the drama of the story, there is also a journey | |
| [42.66 --> 50.90] that we are all invited to participate in. It's not just simply a story. It's an invitation to | |
| [50.90 --> 61.18] reflection and to understanding. Some people have said that there are three main foci or lessons in | |
| [61.18 --> 68.58] the book of Jonah. The predominant one, which I think is the right one, is a focus on an understanding | |
| [68.58 --> 76.44] of the grace of God. But there's also a quest towards justice, to doing what is right, | |
| [76.44 --> 85.84] and a quest towards dealing with the issue of racism. Because Jonah, as you read the story, | |
| [86.32 --> 96.90] does not come off as a very nice person, actually. He is a racist. He hates anyone who is not like him. | |
| [96.90 --> 106.58] He wants to see the Ninevites destroyed. When you look closely at the story, you wonder about the | |
| [106.58 --> 113.66] source of the story. And the source of the story has to be Jonah himself, whether he wrote it himself, | |
| [113.90 --> 121.80] or whether he told the story to someone else who then wrote it down. How would that person have known | |
| [121.80 --> 131.08] it except that Jonah had shared it? It's quite something to think about a person sharing a story | |
| [131.08 --> 139.86] in which he comes off so negatively. If you're not familiar with a story, it only takes about 20 minutes | |
| [139.86 --> 148.30] to read, if that. It's four chapters, 67 verses. It's not very long. In my Bible, it's two pages. | |
| [148.30 --> 156.44] That's it. Last week, we looked at chapter one. It was the story of Jonah receiving the word from God, | |
| [156.54 --> 162.76] go to Nineveh and preach against that great city, for its wickedness has come up before me. | |
| [163.46 --> 171.82] And Jonah says, no, I'm not going to go. He stopped to think about that for a minute, because Jonah | |
| [171.82 --> 178.38] was a prophet of God. We have reference to him in the book of the Kings. He worked at the time of | |
| [178.38 --> 186.82] Jeroboam II, a king in northern Israel. And he prophesied about the expansion or the recovery | |
| [186.82 --> 197.62] of Israel's geographical area. And Jeroboam was able to push its boundaries north, became large again. | |
| [197.62 --> 205.86] Jonah was obviously a successful prophet. What he said came true. | |
| [207.86 --> 216.06] But Jonah hears this word from God, says, nope, I ain't going. Forget it. Because those Ninevites | |
| [216.06 --> 225.84] deserve to die. I am not going. And so he runs from God. God stops him with a storm. | |
| [225.84 --> 236.28] The pagan sailors come off wonderfully good. They try everything they can to save their lives and | |
| [236.28 --> 242.32] the lives of Jonah. When they ask him, what have you done? He says, well, I'm running away from God. | |
| [242.58 --> 251.62] Who's God? The God of the Hebrews. The God of the Hebrews who had said to the founder of the Hebrew | |
| [251.62 --> 260.14] nation, Abraham, I will bless you so that in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed. | |
| [260.14 --> 270.46] Even when they knew that Jonah was the cause of the problem, they still try to rescue themselves | |
| [270.46 --> 277.32] in him. Finally, they threw him overboard. And they become worshipers in the text, it says, | |
| [277.42 --> 284.64] of Yahweh, which is the God of covenant. Every other reference in the book to the Lord is Elohim. | |
| [284.64 --> 295.80] But the pagan sailors worship Yahweh, the God of covenant. And then a great fish comes to swallow | |
| [295.80 --> 302.26] Jonah. And that's where we pick up the story. So let me read with you Jonah chapter 2. If you have | |
| [302.26 --> 307.88] Bibles with you, I invite you to turn to Jonah and then keep your Bibles open because I'll make some | |
| [307.88 --> 315.60] references to the text from time to time. From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord, his God. | |
| [316.94 --> 325.34] He said, in my distress, I called to the Lord and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead, | |
| [325.34 --> 335.38] I called for help. And you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the | |
| [335.38 --> 342.52] seas. And the currents swirled about me. All your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, | |
| [342.64 --> 347.78] I have been banished from your sight. Yet I will look again toward your holy temple. | |
| [349.14 --> 357.46] The engulfing waters threatened me. The deep surrounded me. Seaweed was wrapped around my head. | |
| [357.46 --> 365.30] To the roots of the mountains I sank down. The earth beneath barred me in forever. | |
| [366.72 --> 375.90] But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, | |
| [375.98 --> 382.02] O Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. To those who cling to worthless idols, | |
| [382.02 --> 389.86] forfeit God's love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. | |
| [389.86 --> 399.16] What I have vowed, I will make good. I will say, salvation comes from the Lord. And the Lord | |
| [399.16 --> 407.38] commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. This is the word of the Lord. | |
| [407.38 --> 413.88] So what's happening here in this particular chapter? I think it could best be described as a journey | |
| [413.88 --> 422.26] toward understanding. Have you ever struggled with understanding anything? Think, for example, | |
| [422.36 --> 427.80] that you come into a new city, and you need to go to a certain location, you don't know how to get | |
| [427.80 --> 433.76] there, and you stop, and you ask somebody for directions who gives you a whole paragraph worth | |
| [433.76 --> 439.10] of directions. But you don't want to look stupid, so you agree that you understand everything. | |
| [439.84 --> 445.56] And then you keep on driving, only to get hopelessly lost. That ever happened to you? | |
| [446.34 --> 452.02] Of course, we live in the age of GPS now, so we don't even have to ask anymore. We can just simply | |
| [452.02 --> 458.26] talk to a machine, and it talks back to us. And when we ignore it, it will say, recalculating. | |
| [458.26 --> 466.06] You know, that's the reality of, you know, a journey toward understanding. Jonah is on a journey toward | |
| [466.06 --> 477.20] understanding who he is. He is a servant of the God of the Hebrews. He is a servant of a God who says, | |
| [477.50 --> 483.68] I will bless you so that you, all the nations of the earth, will be blessed. | |
| [483.68 --> 496.84] In order to understand, Jonah needs to come to a depth of extremity. If you notice in the text, | |
| [496.96 --> 504.46] if you're very careful and slow, you ever notice how some people often talk about devotions, | |
| [504.56 --> 513.32] let's just quick pray a minute? Or let's just quickly read a passage? Well, let me ask you, | |
| [513.32 --> 522.96] not to do it quickly all the time, but to pay careful attention to words, because words have meaning, | |
| [523.52 --> 530.86] and words ought to be pondered and considered. Do you notice in the text that Jonah goes down | |
| [530.86 --> 538.40] to Joppa? His geographical location is towards the north. He has to go down towards the south, | |
| [538.40 --> 548.50] but he goes down to Joppa. And then he goes down under the main deck of the ship. He is in the belly of the | |
| [548.50 --> 558.90] ship, and there he falls asleep. And then he is thrown overboard, and a fish swallows him, but he goes | |
| [558.90 --> 567.90] down. He describes that he goes down amongst the weeds into the depths. To understand something, | |
| [568.58 --> 575.52] you need to come to an awareness of your own ignorance. Let me relate a personal story. | |
| [576.98 --> 583.56] History was something I loved in high school. Languages was something I wasn't very good at. | |
| [583.56 --> 593.94] And French was something I really sucked at. And one test indicated I wasn't doing very well, | |
| [594.06 --> 601.22] so I went to my teacher and I said, I'm not doing very well. And he said, yep. And you know what the | |
| [601.22 --> 610.48] cause of that is? You're ignorant. He says, you don't know your vocabulary. You don't know how to | |
| [610.48 --> 617.40] decline these verbs properly. You don't know your spelling properly. You need to do some work. | |
| [618.92 --> 624.88] I didn't like what he had to say. As a matter of fact, I thought it was a bit insulting, | |
| [625.54 --> 635.84] but I never forgot it because he was absolutely right. I had to work harder. I had to memorize more. | |
| [635.84 --> 648.32] I had to ponder. I had to think. I had to be disciplined. And Jonah goes down and notice his feeling. | |
| [648.62 --> 659.00] In my distress, in my distress, I called to the Lord and he answered me. | |
| [659.00 --> 668.84] And then as the journey goes, because notice that when he calls to the Lord in distress, | |
| [669.72 --> 677.50] God doesn't answer him quickly. He doesn't say, oh, fine, Jonah's prayed now. Let's just | |
| [677.50 --> 682.92] get him out of the fish and get him back onto shore and, you know, keep his journey to about an hour or so. | |
| [682.92 --> 694.76] Let's do it quickly. Sometimes things take time. I related to you last week that one of the projects | |
| [694.76 --> 701.98] my wife and I undertook in which we completed this past week was to paint the interior of our house | |
| [701.98 --> 709.52] from top to bottom. I'm not a very patient person when it comes to things like that. And I decided that | |
| [709.52 --> 717.26] one of the lessons I needed to learn was I was going to do things patiently. But I was reminded of a bumper sticker | |
| [717.26 --> 727.48] I saw on the car years ago which said, God, grant me patience, but hurry. Right? But patience doesn't come | |
| [727.48 --> 738.72] in a hurry. And God takes his time with Jonah. He leaves Jonah in the belly of the great fish for three days. | |
| [739.52 --> 749.72] And makes him ponder. And in the end, Jonah says, now I get it. He says, | |
| [749.72 --> 759.44] with shouts of grateful praise, I will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. | |
| [759.44 --> 768.04] I will say, and this is the key verse here, salvation comes from the Lord. | |
| [769.32 --> 772.50] Now some have argued that this is the key verse in the scriptures. | |
| [773.60 --> 779.68] And all of the scriptures summed up in these words, salvation comes from the Lord. | |
| [779.68 --> 790.02] And when Jonah gets it, there is a shout of praise. Just like many people here would shout if the | |
| [790.02 --> 797.42] Vancouver Canucks won the Stanley Cup in October. Can you imagine? Right? There would be just a shout | |
| [797.42 --> 806.92] of thankfulness and praise. Wow. We succeeded. Well, Jonah comes to this understanding. | |
| [807.62 --> 816.28] Salvation is from the Lord. But he doesn't come to it quickly. He needs to go through a process. | |
| [816.28 --> 824.64] So the beginning of the process has to be the extreme idea. I just don't understand it yet. | |
| [825.74 --> 832.90] And so what does he have to learn? Well, many of us know quite well question and answer one of the | |
| [832.90 --> 839.86] Heidelberg Catechism. Anybody have that memorized? What is your only comfort in life and in death? | |
| [839.86 --> 847.50] That I am not my own, but I belong body and soul and life and death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, | |
| [847.80 --> 853.08] who has fully paid for all my sin. And it goes on. | |
| [855.42 --> 861.60] Question and answer two, however, is equally important. What must you know to live and die in the joy of this | |
| [861.60 --> 867.88] comfort? Number one, how great my sin and misery are. Number two, I am set free from my sin and misery. | |
| [867.88 --> 873.18] And number three, how I can be thankful for the great salvation that is mine. | |
| [874.20 --> 881.96] And then the Catechism unfolds those three things. Well, Jonah has to come to an understanding | |
| [881.96 --> 894.88] of what it means to be a sinner. What it means to come under the wrath of God because of the wickedness | |
| [894.88 --> 904.80] within. Now, we don't like to think of ourselves very often in terms of sinfulness. Oh, we're not | |
| [904.80 --> 915.74] perfect, but we're pretty good. And we like to stress our accomplishments. We like to stress our | |
| [915.74 --> 923.60] freedoms. We like to stress our privileges. We like to stress our rank. We like to stress | |
| [923.60 --> 929.20] how good we are trying to be. | |
| [931.52 --> 938.78] And Jonah was a successful prophet. He had the ear of the king. He was respected, no doubt, | |
| [938.88 --> 947.28] in his community as a servant of God. And now he is in his distress calling out to the Lord | |
| [947.28 --> 958.90] God. Because he says, you know something? I recognize I cannot save myself. And even one | |
| [958.90 --> 969.90] imperfection, even one sin makes me subject to the wrath of God. The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter | |
| [969.90 --> 980.02] 1 verse 18 talks about the wickedness of people and how people respond to it. He uses the verb | |
| [980.02 --> 988.40] to suppress. I don't like to think about that. So I am not going to think about that. I will | |
| [988.40 --> 995.80] just put it behind me and only think about it maybe when I'm in church and somebody forces me to think | |
| [995.80 --> 1005.86] about it. But I am not going to think about it. We suppress the truth. Just think about it the next time | |
| [1005.86 --> 1015.44] a police officer pulls you over for speeding. I wasn't going that fast. We just suppress the truth. And | |
| [1015.44 --> 1023.78] now Jonah in the belly of the great fish has to come face to face with the truth. And in coming face to | |
| [1023.78 --> 1031.48] face with the truth, he comes face to face with a second awareness. That he is spiritually powerless. | |
| [1032.74 --> 1041.60] That he cannot do anything to earn God's favor. We like to try to do that, of course. We like to try | |
| [1041.60 --> 1051.22] to emphasize how good we are, how many religious practices we have observed, how much time we have | |
| [1051.22 --> 1059.12] spent in devotions, how many songs we have memorized, and so forth. We always like to stress the things | |
| [1059.12 --> 1065.98] that we have accomplished. And there is really nothing wrong with that. You could be proud about | |
| [1065.98 --> 1075.22] what you have accomplished. But you have to recognize that you cannot force God into a position | |
| [1075.22 --> 1084.78] where he cannot say no to you. And that's what we try to do. We try to make it so that God has to say, | |
| [1085.18 --> 1091.28] well done, enter in, you have contributed, I have contributed, and together we have accomplished. | |
| [1092.04 --> 1101.80] No, that's not the way it works biblically. Biblically, we are sinful. God is holy. The two cannot match up. | |
| [1101.80 --> 1114.96] So what does Jonah have to do? Jonah has to turn towards hope. So if you have your Bibles open, | |
| [1115.68 --> 1124.50] then I want to, a part of Hebrew writing, and especially poetry, which is what chapter two is | |
| [1124.50 --> 1132.34] about, the part of Hebrew writing, and poetry, is that you need to look for things which repeat, | |
| [1133.34 --> 1140.06] because that's where the emphasis wants to fall. Now notice in verse four, | |
| [1140.46 --> 1149.46] I said I have been banished from your sight, yet I will look again toward your holy temple. | |
| [1149.46 --> 1162.04] And then notice verse seven, when my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, | |
| [1163.00 --> 1173.62] to your holy temple. So this reference to temple is important. When Jonah was in distress, when he | |
| [1173.62 --> 1186.24] prayed, when he called out to the Lord, he turned toward the temple. Why? Because the Ark of the Covenant | |
| [1186.24 --> 1195.24] is in the temple. Remember, this is Old Testament. This is before Jesus. The Ark of the Covenant is in the temple, | |
| [1195.24 --> 1206.76] and inside the Ark of the Covenant is the copy of the Ten Commandments, God's moral law, which teaches us | |
| [1206.76 --> 1218.12] how great our sin and misery are, and how we fall short of our sin, of paying for our sin. And then when we | |
| [1218.12 --> 1226.98] look at the law, we say, well then, what is the answer? Well, above the law, on the top of the Ark of | |
| [1226.98 --> 1235.10] the Covenant, inside the most holy place of the temple, is a place called the mercy seat. And on the | |
| [1235.10 --> 1242.96] day of atonement, Yom Kippur, the high priest, could go into the Holy of Holies the one time of the year, | |
| [1242.96 --> 1250.42] and in his hand, he would have a basin with the blood of a sacrificed lamb, and he would sprinkle | |
| [1250.42 --> 1257.72] the blood on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant, inside the most holy place, inside the | |
| [1257.72 --> 1268.60] temple, and God's anger for our sin would be atoned for. A price would be paid. And as Jonah is in the | |
| [1268.60 --> 1275.58] valley of the great fish, he looks towards the temple, and he looks towards the place where the | |
| [1275.58 --> 1290.56] price will be paid. And then he gives a shout, salvation is from the Lord. God has provided the | |
| [1290.56 --> 1299.12] gift. Now, when we run this way ahead, because I sit here and I look, for example, at this red string, | |
| [1299.28 --> 1306.30] which gives, I guess, a testimony to the fact that there is a story throughout the scriptures. When we | |
| [1306.30 --> 1315.56] run ahead, the reality of who Jesus is, Jesus is the final atoning sacrifice. If you read the book of | |
| [1315.56 --> 1321.54] Hebrews, and again, if you pay attention to the words, you will discover that when the priests, | |
| [1321.68 --> 1327.14] the Old Testament priests, are bringing the sacrifice, they are constantly busy because there | |
| [1327.14 --> 1337.86] is just a constant pouring out of blood. They're always standing in their service. But when Jesus came | |
| [1337.86 --> 1346.56] and poured out of blood, in the book of Hebrews, it says, once for all, he sits down. | |
| [1348.78 --> 1353.34] It's just like if I would sit down, you'd think, well, he's finished, finally. | |
| [1355.68 --> 1361.70] Except I'm not yet. Right? But this idea of just sitting down is done. It's finished. | |
| [1361.70 --> 1376.44] Jesus sat down. He paid the price. He set us free. Salvation is of the Lord. And Jonah moves | |
| [1376.44 --> 1382.62] towards understanding. He becomes aware of his sinfulness, becomes aware of his powerlessness | |
| [1382.62 --> 1388.96] to do anything about his sinfulness. He turns to the temple, and he sees the provision of sacrifice. | |
| [1388.96 --> 1396.76] And in time, we see that Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for our sin. And then we think, oh, | |
| [1396.84 --> 1405.46] now Jonah gets it. Now he is fully mature. Except he's not. Notice verse 8. Those who cling to worthless | |
| [1405.46 --> 1415.88] idols forfeit God's love for them. That is true. But Jonah, and you will see this next week and then | |
| [1415.88 --> 1427.52] a couple of weeks after that, Jonah remains a racist. He remains an imperialist, thinking his nation | |
| [1427.52 --> 1441.56] should be above the other nations. He remains hateful. He remains angry. He still has a way to go. | |
| [1441.56 --> 1450.40] But there is hope here. There is hope that God says, | |
| [1452.34 --> 1459.30] Salve. You've learned salvation is of the Lord. That's enough for now. And he gives the command and | |
| [1459.30 --> 1468.16] the great fish spits Jonah out, vomits him out on dry ground. That's enough for now. And there's a | |
| [1468.16 --> 1474.04] vitally important lesson for us to learn in our journey of understanding. And that lesson is this. | |
| [1474.52 --> 1479.14] Salvation, which is of the Lord, is in a moment and it is in a lifetime. | |
| [1479.14 --> 1489.30] It is in a moment and it is in a lifetime. You know, part of the delight of being here is listening | |
| [1489.30 --> 1502.10] to a small child's voice. A contented cry. But think for a moment of the origin of that. The origin of | |
| [1502.10 --> 1513.16] that was in the moment of fertilization. At that moment, mom was pregnant. It couldn't happen again | |
| [1513.16 --> 1524.16] for that child. Just in that moment, mom was pregnant. Everything changed. About nine months later or so, | |
| [1524.16 --> 1532.26] dad got to hold a child. And the doctor probably said, congratulations, you've become a father. No, | |
| [1532.26 --> 1538.98] that's not right. He became a father about nine months earlier, except had nothing to hold. | |
| [1540.34 --> 1547.32] There's been a progress and a procession. Now this child is there. Phone calls are made to | |
| [1547.32 --> 1555.06] grandparents. If it was my father, my father's first question would be, is the child healthy? He would | |
| [1555.06 --> 1560.84] not ask about gender. And in our day, we couldn't find out gender beforehand. He wouldn't ask about | |
| [1560.84 --> 1570.16] gender. My dad would say, is the child healthy? My mother would say, what is the child? Boy or girl? | |
| [1570.16 --> 1579.50] And then, what is the child's name? Well, my father was concerned about the health. And I could say, | |
| [1579.94 --> 1586.02] everything's fine. Perfect. Ten fingers, ten toes, ears, eyes, everything works. Everything looks good. | |
| [1587.84 --> 1595.90] But can you imagine if 12 months after that event, our oldest son, who just turned 42, | |
| [1595.90 --> 1604.40] our oldest son, would have remained exactly the same way he was 12 months before? Same size, same shape, | |
| [1604.78 --> 1615.68] nothing had happened. We would have been really distressed. Because while he was perfect here on May the 12th, | |
| [1616.42 --> 1625.68] 1978, we would have wanted him to be walking on May the 12th, 1979. Now he was. | |
| [1625.90 --> 1634.92] But he had developed and he had grown. And it is the same way with us as believers in Jesus. | |
| [1635.16 --> 1642.92] We come in a moment of time to understand salvation is of the Lord. And I believe in Jesus. And I believe | |
| [1642.92 --> 1649.64] he died for my sin. And I believe he lives in me. And I believe he is moving in me. And in that moment, | |
| [1649.64 --> 1660.58] salvation is full of yours. But salvation needs then to be applied and unfolded. The biblical term for | |
| [1660.58 --> 1667.60] that moment is justification. It is the act of God's free grace where we are changed in a moment, | |
| [1667.70 --> 1674.68] in a twinkling of an eye. And then the process is the process of sanctification. It is the work of | |
| [1674.68 --> 1681.50] God's free grace whereby he takes out the garbage of our lives and brings us to be more and more like | |
| [1681.50 --> 1689.84] his son Jesus. Well, Jonah understood. But he still had some problems with the Ninevites. | |
| [1690.62 --> 1697.30] He still had some problems with God's mercy. And we'll look at that in the long, in the coming weeks. | |
| [1697.30 --> 1703.72] But the reality is that for all of us, this is a measure of hope. | |
| [1705.22 --> 1715.86] We don't need to be fully mature and perfect. What we need is the acknowledgement that God who began | |
| [1715.86 --> 1723.00] a good work, in the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 1, will bring it to completion. | |
| [1723.00 --> 1732.68] And so two words of understanding. Have hope. Hope in the ongoing work of God in your life | |
| [1732.68 --> 1747.04] and in the lives of others. And have patience. Patience with the process. But don't be lazy about it. | |
| [1747.04 --> 1755.18] When I discovered I was failing French, I had to pull up my socks. I had to make a difference. | |
| [1756.04 --> 1762.70] I never became a French scholar. But at the end of the year, I got a passing grade. And that was really | |
| [1762.70 --> 1773.02] significant. So while we can be patient, we need to be engaged. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. | |
| [1773.02 --> 1779.52] Father God, we thank you. Thank you for the journey that we're on towards understanding. | |
| [1780.62 --> 1784.90] Pray, Lord, that we may be patient with ourselves, patient with you, patient with each other. | |
| [1785.32 --> 1790.12] But that we may also be determined. Determined to learn the lessons that we need to know | |
| [1790.12 --> 1797.86] at the various stages at which we're at. We pray that we'll not be lazy, but that we will be engaged. | |
| [1797.86 --> 1804.52] And that we will be driven towards accomplishment. So hear our prayer. Mature us in Christ, we pray. | |
| [1805.52 --> 1806.04] Amen. | |