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How To Make A Missionary
Jonah 2:1-10
January 15, 2023

As you know we are in the middle of our “Missions Month”
And you know that we are studying the negative example of Jonah.
Jonah is clearly a terrible missionary.

BUT if you’ve read the entire book of Jonah
You know that Jonah becomes
The most successful Old Testament missionary ever.

God takes this terrible missionary and yet uses him
To lead a city to repentance and to save them from judgment.

Somewhere in the story of Jonah we need to see THE TURNING POINT.
• We need to see what God did in his life that turned this wayward prophet into an ambassador for God.

Chapter 2 of the book of Jonah is that explanation.
Jonah 2 is where God makes a missionary out of Jonah.

That is important for God seeks to make a missionary out of all of us

WELL LET’S START HERE:

There are perhaps MANY REASONS WHY people fail to be the missionary God requires.

• I know we hear “fear” as the excuse quite often; most specifically fear of
failure, but also fear of travel, fear of people, etc.

• I know there is often a feeling of inadequacy that runs through people’s minds
when they contemplate a missionary call. Namely that I don’t know enough
or something like that.

• Maybe there are issues of an unwillingness to suffer or leave behind
comforts, maybe there are money issues, etc.

We hear a lot of different reasons and excuses
For people’s failure to participate in God’s Great Commission.

But if you look at the book of Jonah and you hear God’s explanation
As to why people fail to participate in the Great Commission,
God seems to expose a deeper and honestly more concerning reason.

If you read the book of Jonah and see it as God’s word
Then there is really ONE main reason why people
Don’t participate in the Great Commission.

A LACK OF MERCY

For all the problems of Jonah, this is really THE glaring problem
That GOD IS MOST CONCERNED about exposing and correcting.

You will not and you cannot be the missionary God commands
If you lack mercy.

We think just for a moment of the GREAT MISSIONARIES in the Bible.

Listen to Paul for a second:
Romans 9:1-3 “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,”

• That is a guy who is willing to go to hell if it would save his Jewish brothers.
• And indeed Paul experienced what many would consider to be “hell on earth” as he sought to win them.

We remember Paul’s friends trying desperately to get Paul
Not to go to Jerusalem where they knew he was hated.

Paul responded:
Acts 21:13 “Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

• Paul’s heart was filled with mercy.
• And more specifically it was overwhelmed with the mercy and glory of Jesus.

Certainly this true of God’s heart.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Or we think of the obvious mercy of Jesus.
Luke 5:27-32 “After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him. And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Or
Luke 19:1-10 “He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Jesus is concerned about the people that everyone else overlooked.
And not just overlooked, but disdained.

Jesus cared about the people that other people despised.
Jesus cared about the people that other people overlooked.

JONAH IS JUST THE OPPOSITE.
I was listening to John MacArthur talk about Jonah this week and he called Jonah a RACIST. (That’s actually pretty fitting)

Jonah is like the Pharisees of the New Testament
Who had no mercy or compassion.
And is out of touch with God’s heart

We think of the famous Luke 15 (Lost coin, Lost sheep, Lost son)

You are aware WHAT PROMPTED those stories from Jesus.
Luke 15:1-2 “Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

Those stories were given by Jesus
As a direct confrontation to the heart that had no mercy.

The Pharisee heart, like Jonah’s, was a heart that beats out of rhythm.
They hated it when sinners got saved and that is nothing like God’s heart.

Luke 15:7 “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

Luke 15:10 “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

But that was certainly NOT the Pharisee, or Jonah.
As we have said many times already, they were that older brother.

Luke 15:25-32 “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. “And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ “But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ “And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”

A lack of mercy will absolutely kill your missionary zeal.
If you are able to rationalize that people do not deserve mercy
Then it is not surprising if you don’t offer it.

WELL, THAT WAS JONAH.

We remember from studying chapter 1:
• Jonah hated sinners
• Jonah hated the gospel (because it offers mercy to sinners)
• Jonah hated God (because He relents concerning judgment)

• Jonah was disobedient – God said “Go”, Jonah refused.
• Jonah was disconnected – Even pagans had to tell him to pray
• Jonah was delusional – Thought himself to be a God-fearer

• Ultimately Jonah was a self-righteous man with no mercy.
• He would rather drown than see the Ninevites receive the message of the gospel.

SO, GOD IS ABOUT TO TEACH MERCY TO JONAH

You remember LAST WEEK that the sailors threw Jonah into the sea
And God appointed “a fish to swallow Jonah”.

Interestingly enough
• The word for “fish” in the book of Jonah is NOT the Hebrew word for “whale”.
• For all we know God created a special sea creature just for the purpose of
swallowing Jonah.
• The New Testament calls it a “sea monster”. (Matt 12:40)

And yet, what you will see is that this “fish”
Became a first-hand account of God’s mercy to Jonah.

So let’s work through chapter 2 and see how God makes a missionary.

#1 JONAH’S EDUCATION
Jonah 2:1-7

What we learn in the first verse of chapter 2 is that
God had a great lesson to teach Jonah
And by the time we get to chapter 2 Jonah has ALREADY LEARNED it.

(1) “Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish,”

What you will notice is that this prayer is one of thanksgiving.
• Jonah does not see the fish as a trial to be delivered from.
• Jonah saw the fish as deliverance.

God saved his life with that fish.

That means that the education of Jonah
Actually occurred between verses 15 and 17 of chapter 1.

God educated Jonah in the sea.
And the main course curriculum was mercy.

When you think of MISSIONARY TRAINING you might be tempted to think of subjects like:
• Gospel familiarity (theological)
• Cultural Issues (about the nations)

But if a missionary never learns mercy
His theology and knowledge of the nations won’t help him much.

Jonah is being educated in mercy.
Let’s see how God does it.

1) DISTRESS

You notice that Jonah’s distress is NOT the fish.
Jonah’s distress was the sea.

You notice that now in the belly of the fish, Jonah is speaking in PAST TENSE.
• (2a) “I called out of my distress…”
• (2c) “I cried for help from the depth of Sheol;”
• (3) “For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, and the current engulfed me. All Your breakers passed over me.”
• (5-6a) “Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head. I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever.”
• (7a) “While I was fainting away…”

So you get a picture of Jonah’s distress.
• He had been thrown overboard and he began to sink.
• He was sinking in the sea, with the seaweed around his head and the roots of the mountains in view.
• The weight of the sea crushing him.
• Jonah had but a few moments before he would die.

It was absolute distress.
It is what we call a “near death” experience.

What was Jonah learning?
JONAH WAS LEARNING ABOUT THE SEVERITY OF JUDGMENT

Sometimes in our witnessing
We encounter people who seem to have no fear of hell.

The only reason that is the case is because
They have no accurate concept of hell.

Mark 9:43-48 “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. “If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.”

Jesus was clear that you’d be better off to gouge out your eye
Or cut off your hand than to go to hell.
You don’t want to go to hell.

But many lost people have no accurate understanding of hell
And so they don’t fear it.

But this can be a problem for the missionary too.

When a missionary loses touch with the reality of judgment
He will stop caring about saving men from it.

James Hudson Taylor said:
“Would that God would make hell so real to us that we cannot rest; Heaven so real that we must have men there.”
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/7871218.Hudson_Taylor

Jonah had no problem with the Ninevites falling into the hands of God.
Jonah had forgotten just how terrible that would be.

So God reminds him here.
• Jonah gets a few seconds of a taste of God’s judgment.
• Jonah was granted the privilege of staring death in the face.
• Jonah experienced distress

2) DESPERATION

This is obvious.

Jonah may have had a low view of the severity of judgment
But it only took a few seconds to realize how awful it is.

And Jonah started crying out for help!

• (2a) “I called out of the my distress to the LORD”
• (2c) “I cried for help”
• (4) “So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’”
• (7b) “I remembered the LORD”

Just moments earlier,
• Jonah had been content to flea from God
• He would rather drown than see the Ninevites warned.
• Under the heavy hand of God’s judgment and Jonah has changed his tune.

He has decided that mercy is a good thing.
And what a blessing to know that
We are promised mercy when we call on Him.

Romans 10:13 “for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Jonah remembered that too, and was eager to act upon it.

Jonah was a missionary who saw no need for mercy,
But it didn’t take God long to change his tune.

Jonah is granted distress so that he might be moved to desperation.

3) DELIVERANCE

Again, the sea is the judgment, the fish is the deliverance.
And from the fish, we see how Jonah prays.

• (2b) “I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice.”
• (7c) “I remembered the LORD, And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple.”
• (6) “I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God.”

God delivered Jonah.
God showed mercy to Jonah.

Jonah was first allowed to feel the sting of judgment
So that he would also be allowed to feel the relief of salvation.

I think of that prodigal…
Luke 15:22-24 “But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.”

What a blessing that was, and what a wonderful feeling!

We think of that woman caught in adultery…
John 8:10-11 “Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

Again, what a relief!
• To be dead to rights in sin.
• To be condemned clearly by the Law.
• To be facing sure and certain judgment.

And then to be spared by nothing but pure mercy!
WHAT A JOY!

Jonah was just educated.
• He learned the severity of judgment,
• The availability of God
• And the joy of mercy.

All of those things are necessary things for a missionary to know.

Jonah’s Education
#2 JONAH’S DEDICATION
Jonah 2:8-9

After being reminded of mercy
We now see how Jonah has CHANGED HIS TUNE.

(8) “Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness”

That verse has some depth to it.

ON ONE HAND there is the theological reality
THAT THERE IS SALVATION NOWHERE BUT IN GOD.

As Jonah sank in that sea
• He could have called on any number of the pagan deities.
• He could have cried out to the sailors to throw him a rope.
• He could have relied on the advice of his childhood swim instructor.

But the reality is none of them could even hear him, let alone help him.

As Jonah faced judgment the exclusivity of God
As the only Savior become abundantly clear to him.

There was only One who could save him at that point.
IT WAS GOD.

Isaiah 43:10-13 “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. “I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me. “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And I am God. “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”

Isaiah 45:5-7 “I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.”

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Jonah was emphatically reminded while he sank in the sea
That there is only One Savior.

What does that mean in terms of missions?

Without the knowledge of the One True God
The Ninevites will never receive mercy.
You can’t know mercy apart from God.

AND TODAY.
There is no mercy in Islam – Allah cannot grant mercy.
There is no mercy in Buddhism – Buddha cannot grant mercy.
There is no mercy in Mormonism – Joseph Smith or their fake Jesus cannot grant mercy.

Jonah saw the value of mercy and he was filled with the conviction that
IT ONLY COMES FROM ONE SOURCE.

A missionary should certainly know that.
If you care about mercy then you care about the gospel
Because that is the only place where genuine mercy exists.

BUT ON THE OTHER HAND Verse 8 is NOT JUST a theology verse.

Jonah says, “Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness”

For Jonah that is also a statement of repentance.
Jonah had been unfaithful to God because Jonah had been idolatrous.

No, I don’t think Jonah worshiped pagan gods.
• I think Jonah sought to distort the true God.
• Jonah wanted to make God someone who had no mercy.
• And a false view of God is idolatry.

Jonah is now confessing that mercy only comes from God
And He doesn’t deserve hatred for that mercy,
He deserves glory for it.

Jonah fled from God and that was wrong.
God deserves Jonah’s faithfulness.

And that is what he promises.
(9) “But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD.”

I told you I question the legitimacy of Jonah’s salvation in chapter 1,
And if he was not saved, this is where salvation occurred.

Saved or not, JONAH HAS NOW REPENTED
And is once again committed to the LORD.

This is the necessary repentance for any of us
• Who have lost our sense of mercy
• And failed to obey God’s mandate to share the gospel with the world.

There is no other way to say it.
• If you are not obeying the Great Commission…
• If you are not sharing the gospel with anyone…
• You are in violation of the agreement you made at salvation.

When we are saved we confess Jesus as Lord.
We submit our lives to Him and commit to follow and obey Him.

If you said you would do that, but you have not done that
Then repentance is necessary.

You see that here in Jonah.
• God reminded Jonah of the value of mercy.
• And Jonah has determined that God should be glorified for such mercy.

God is the Savior and the world must know this.
That is Jonah’s new DEDICATION.

Jonah’s Education, Jonah’s Dedication
#3 JONAH’S RELOCATION
Jonah 2:10

What a great picture!
The whole time Jonah was in that fish pouring out his heart to God,
That fish was already swimming to Nineveh.

God never changed His mind about the mission to the Ninevites

When Jonah refused to go,
• God DIDN’T just say, “Oh well I guess the Ninevites will never hear the warning.”
• God determined that the Ninevites would hear it
• God determined that Jonah would share it.

And that is what is happening.
• And after Jonah went through a crash course on missionary training
• God recommissioned him
• And the fish “vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.”

YOU SEE NOW THE PROGRESSION OF THE STORY.
1. Jonah was a missionary who hated the lost, hated the gospel, and hated God. He was a missionary who lacked mercy.
2. God has now changed his tune by granting him the second chance that he did not deserve.

And Jonah is now ready to obey God.

This is important for us to grasp.
In Scripture, one’s propensity to offer mercy
Is directly related to one’s appreciation for having received mercy.

To put it another way.
Show me someone who has no mercy,
And I’ll show you a self-righteous person who has never cried out for it.

There is a link between having received mercy and then offering it.

Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

Matthew 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

We remember that story of the king who forgave his slave only to watch that slave refuse to extend mercy to his fellow slave.
Matthew 18:33 “‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’”

Luke 6:35-36 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

And we are forced to wonder:
If we don’t offer mercy, have we really ever received it?

SO THIS MORNING
As we seek to be the missionaries that God has called us to be,

We are going to remind ourselves of our tremendous need of mercy
That it may inspire us to offer it as well.

I would start with:
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

We are reminded there of a specific list of the types of sins
That God does not condone.

Sexual immorality – Idolatry – Adultery – Homosexuality – Theft – Coveting – Drunkenness – Reviling – Swindling

Do you find yourself on that list anywhere?
Are any of those sins indicative of your life?

I know we tend to read that list like homosexuality is the only one on there,
• But what about when you lusted for that women?
• What about when you saw an advertisement on the internet and you coveted something?
• What about when you got drunk?
• What about when you talked about that person behind their back?

Those are ALL sins of which God sends people to hell.

“Such were some of you…
“but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

You did not deserve mercy but God gave it to you.

Perhaps we read:
Romans 5:6-11 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

The words there are:
“helpless” – “ungodly” – “sinners” – “enemies”

Do you know that is what we were?
We were very much like Jonah, helplessly sinking in our sin and not deserving of any mercy at all.
• We were antagonistic to the call of God.
• We were disobedient to Him.
• And we deserved judgment.

But He saved us.
He sent His Son to forgive us.

How about:
Titus 3:3-7 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

“foolish” – “disobedient” – “deceived” – “enslaved to various lusts and pleasures” – “malice” – “envy” – “hateful”

But God saved us.
God showed us mercy.

Do you recognize that in your life?
• Do you remember the weight of your guilt before God?
• Do you remember that fear of judgment?
• Do you remember the terrors of hell?
• Do you remember how disgusted you were with your filth?
• Do you remember how badly you wanted out?

And do you remember how Jesus rescued you?
• How He forgave you?
• How He delivered you out?
• How He set you free?

Do you remember the mercy you received?

Then your cry ought to be the same as Jonah’s
“Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness, But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD.”

This morning we are going to partake in the Lord’s Supper
Because we need to be reminded of what Jesus Christ did for us.

We need to be reminded that
• He answered the call to leave the comfort and glory of Heaven to go to a
place of filth and sin where He would be hated, maligned, and killed.

SO WHERE WILL YOU NOT GO?

We need to be reminded that
• When He came He never stopped offering mercy, even to those who sought
to kill Him.

SO WHEN WILL YOU STOP OFFERING MERCY?

We need to be reminded that
• He fulfilled the requirement we had neglected and suffered the wrath that
we deserved so that He might save those who hated Him.

SO WHAT WILL YOU NOT DO FOR HIM?

We need to remember that He did this for us.

And may such a reminder motivate us
To share His mercy with the world like He has commanded us to.

As always, we’re going to have A Time Of Preparation to examine ourselves and then we’ll partake of the table of the Lord.

Download here

 

The Reluctant Missionary – Part 2
Jonah 1:1-17 (4-17)
January 8, 2023

As you know we are now in a new year
And we have begun our annual “Missions Month” here at the church.

We like to take this first month of the year and remind ourselves of the mandate
That remains for believers to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

It is why we remain here on earth.

And this year for our study we are looking at the BOOK OF JONAH.

As the famous Veggie Tales song about Jonah goes:

“Jonah was a prophet, but he really never got it. If you watch him you can spot it, he
did not get the point.”

Jonah is a negative example of what a missionary ought to be.
“A Heart Out Of Rhythm”

AS WE SAW LAST WEEK:
• Jonah was a missionary who hated sinners.
• Jonah was a missionary who hated the gospel.
• Jonah was a missionary who even hated that God was merciful.

We are learning about missions from this bad missionary example.

We are breaking this chapter down into 6 points. We started the first point last week.

#1 DISOBEDIENCE
Jonah 1:1-3

Here we have God, by His mercy, breaking the silence
With a SPECIAL REVELATION for the people of Nineveh.

And God commanded Jonah to take that message to them,
But Jonah said “No.”

In fact, we read that “Jonah fled from the presence of the LORD.”

Jonah didn’t even want to be around God.
• He hated the people of Nineveh
• He did not want them to hear God’s warning of judgment.
• He will later reveal in chapter 4 that he didn’t want to warn them of judgment because he was afraid they might repent
• And if they repented he was afraid that God would forgive them.

Jonah did not want the Ninevites forgiven
So he disobeyed God’s command and fled from His presence.

Such behavior even caused us to question Jonah’s salvation.
(A theory Carrie argued with me about)

The fact is, it’s hard to say if Jonah was saved or not.
• It is true that God spoke to him and commissioned him.
• But it is true that God spoke to Balaam and commissioned him as well.

Either way, we can agree that Jonah’s behavior of disobedience
Is not the behavior of the children of God.

At the very least he has a HEART THAT IS BEATING OUT OF RHYTHM.

Now, one thing we didn’t discuss last week is
WHY JONAH HAD SUCH HATRED FOR THE NINEVITES.

And I’ll tell you that no one can be certain,
But history gives some pretty good possible explanations.

Jonah actually shows up in the Old Testament narrative
Outside of the book that is attributed to him.

2 Kings 14:23-25 “In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years. He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher.”

Because of this passage we know
WHERE Jonah lived and we know WHEN Jonah lived.

• He lived in the Northern kingdom in the region otherwise known as Galilee.
• His prophetic ministry was during the time of Jeroboam II.

THIS PUTS THE MINISTRY OF JONAH
• Roughly 60 years before the Assyrians would conquer the Northern Kingdom and take them captive.
• It also makes Jonah a contemporary of 2 other prophets, namely Amos and Hosea.

While Assyria has not committed her most heinous cruelty against Israel,
Her future attack has BEEN PROPHESIED.

Amos 5:27 “Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.”

Hosea 11:5 “They will not return to the land of Egypt; But Assyria—he will be their king Because they refused to return to Me.”

So Assyria hasn’t yet attacked Israel,
But God had already made it apparent that they would.

Coupled with that,
History notes THE EXCEPTIONAL CRUELTY of the Assyrian kingdoms.

The MEMOIRS and chronicles of the Assyrian kings
Reveals common practices of cruelty against their enemies.

Things like:
• Commonly beheading their enemies and piling the heads outside their enemies’ gates.
• They are noted for skinning their enemies, sometimes alive, and draping their skin over their own city walls.
• They often times took pleasure in mutilating both the dead and the living and humiliating them.
• They burned multitudes in the fire.
• And all of this was bragged about by their kings in their memoirs.
(Walvoord & Zuck [The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament; Victor Publishing; Colorado Springs, CO; 1998] pg. 1494)

The book of Nahum describes the city of Nineveh which was Assyria’s capitol.

Nahum 3:1-4 “Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage; Her prey never departs. The noise of the whip, The noise of the rattling of the wheel, Galloping horses And bounding chariots! Horsemen charging, Swords flashing, spears gleaming, Many slain, a mass of corpses, And countless dead bodies— They stumble over the dead bodies! All because of the many harlotries of the harlot, The charming one, the mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations by her harlotries And families by her sorceries.”

What you have represented by Nineveh then
Is a people who were deemed unworthy of forgiveness by Jonah.

• They were too cruel.
• They were too vicious.
• They had shown no mercy to anyone.
• And they were even a promised future threat to Israel.

It is clear that Jonah wanted no part of their redemption or forgiveness.
His one consolation had always been that God would soon destroy them,
And now he feared that instead God would show them mercy.

THIS ANGERED JONAH.
IT EVEN MADE HIM ANGRY AT GOD.
SO JONAH FLED.

I can’t help but think about the story of Cory Ten Boom “The Hiding Place”
And how she was humiliated in the German concentration camps being paraded naked as a prisoner.

And then one day while having returned to Germany
To speak about forgiveness she tells this story:

“It was in a church in Munich that I saw him, a balding heavyset man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken, moving along the rows of wooden chairs to the door at the rear. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives. It was the truth they needed most to hear in that bitter, bombed-out land, and I gave them my favorite mental picture. Maybe because the sea is never far from a Hollander’s mind, I liked to think that that’s where forgiven sins were thrown. “When we confess our sins,” I said, “God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever.” The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe. There were never questions after a talk in Germany in 1947. People stood up in silence, in silence collected their wraps, in silence left the room. And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were. Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland; this man had been a guard at Ravensbrück concentration camp where we were sent. Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: “A fine message, fräulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!” And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course–how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women? But I remembered him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. It was the first time since my release that I had been face to face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze. “You mentioned Ravensbrück in your talk,” he was saying. “I was a guard in there.” No, he did not remember me. “But since that time,” he went on, “I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fräulein”–again the hand came out–“will you forgive me?” And I stood there–I whose sins had every day to be forgiven–and could not. Betsie had died in that place–could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking? It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.
https://guideposts.org/positive-living/guideposts-classics-corrie-ten-boom-forgiveness/

If you keep reading you’ll find that Cory did in fact forgive the man.
But you can imagine how little compassion she would have felt.

I remember speaking with an older gentleman from Byers, TX right after I was fired at the church in Crawford. I had gone to preach in Byers and he took me out to eat. Perhaps he still sensed by anger from the war that took place at that church. But he shared with me how thrilled he was when his daughter surrendered to be a missionary and how appalled he was when he found out she was going to Japan. He had served in WWII and those were “dirty Japs”. In his mind they didn’t deserve forgiveness. Though he did learn to forgive and even accompany his daughter.

John MacArthur shared a story in a sermon called “The Love of God”
“I don’t know how it struck you, but it struck me as an amazing thing on one hand, and yet not so amazing on the other, that before Jeffrey Dahmer – the mask-murdering, homosexual who killed seventeen and cannibalized a number of them – died at the hands of some fellow prisoners, he had made a confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and been baptized. In fact, I had occasion to read his will, in which repeatedly he expressed his genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in confidence that Christ had forgiven all his sin. And I heard an interview with the chaplain who said that there was no question in his mind but that the faith of Jeffrey Dahmer’s was indeed placed in Jesus Christ and that he was now in His presence.”
https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/90-77/the-love-of-god-part-1

Or perhaps today we think of Isis or some other terrorist band.
• Maybe we think of child traffickers or child molesters
• Maybe we think of drug lords smuggling drugs across the border.
• Maybe we think of corrupt leaders who caused millions to suffer.

But you understand what it is to face the reality of
People who have done heinous things finding God’s forgiveness.

JONAH COULDN’T STOMACH IT.

And that tells us something else about Jonah.
• Not only did he hate sinners.
• Not only did he hate the gospel.
• Not only did he have a hatred towards God.
• Jonah had never come face to face with his own sinfulness.

Jesus is clear in the beatitudes:
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

IT’S NOT that you earn mercy by showing mercy.

Rather, it is that people who can’t show mercy
Indicate that they have never grasped
How much mercy they themselves have needed.

We think of the story of Jesus (Matthew 18:23-35)
• About the king who forgave his slave that insurmountable debt
(10,000 talents = 3.6 billion)
• Only to watch the slave go and choke his fellow slave over a much smaller debt
(100 denarii – $10,000).

A failure to show mercy reveals a failure to grasp ones own need for it.

And this is Jonah’s problem too.
• He is a disobedient man who has failed to see his own sinfulness.
• He hates sinners and the gospel that forgives them.
• And he hates that God would ask him to offer it.

None of that is what a missionary is called to be.
Jonah is a horrible missionary example.

If you are going to be the type of missionary Scripture commands you to be. (really even the Christian Scripture commands)

1. You must grasp to some extent your own unworthiness of forgiveness.
2. You must love the gospel that explains how forgiveness is won.
3. You must love the mercy of God and the God of mercy.
4. You must have a willingness to obey God.

JONAH HAD NONE OF THOSE THINGS

But we’re not done.

Disobedience
#2 DISCONNECT
Jonah 1:4-6

So Jonah is in a boat sailing for Tarshish
And Jonah had gone downstairs in the boat and has FALLEN ASLEEP.

He was fleeing from the presence of the LORD.

HOWEVER:
Psalms 139:7-10 “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.”

Jonah could not escape God.

(4-5) “The LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep.”

What we find startling here is that
Jonah seems so ok with his disobedience.

Not only is he a man who is fleeing from God,
But he seems rather unbothered by it all.

AND EVEN IN THE MIDST OF THIS STORM, JONAH IS SLEEPING.

When people do wicked things someone might ask them, “How do you sleep at night?”
(Apparently Jonah slept just fine in his wicked demeanor)

And then comes A Remarkable Confrontation
Which shows just how disconnected Jonah was from God.

(6) “So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us that we will not perish.”

Let’s just state it like this.
“Non-believers should never have to tell believers to pray.”

JONAH IS TOTALLY DISCONNECTED.
• He’s not concerned about the Ninevites.
• He’s not concerned about disobeying God.
• He’s not concerned about his fellow sailors.

JONAH COULD JUST CARE LESS.

THAT IS ALSO NOT A MISSIONARY MINDSET.
• Do we not care that people are perishing?
• Do we not care that they don’t know the gospel?

I’m reminded of the story of “The Woman at The Well”
When Jesus is witnessing to that woman
But the disciples are off in town buying food.

When they return we read:
John 4:31-38 “Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. “Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. “For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”

It is a very convicting rebuke from Jesus to those disciples.
They walked in and out of that town
And their mind never moved past their own desire for bread.

It’s as if Jesus reveals, “I didn’t send you into that town for bread, I sent you there for souls. You totally missed the point.”

It’s easy to get busy and distracted in life and forget our main purpose.
Jonah was sleeping, how many times are we caught sleeping as well?

Just totally disconnected from the lost world around us.

JONAH IS NOT A GOOD MISSIONARY.

Disobedience, Disconnect
#3 DELUSION
Jonah 1:7-9

Despite the fact that Jonah is walking in total disobedience,
You can’t help but notice that
JONAH IS ABSOLUTELY CLUELESS AS TO HIS SPIRITUAL CONDITION.

• So the captain woke Jonah up and told him to pray.
• Obviously the prayers were not seeming to accomplish anything.
• So the sailors hatch a new plan.
• Let’s find out who is causing this.
• And they start casting lots.

(7-8) “Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

Granted it was a superstitious way,
But God has granted them to know that Jonah was their problem.

This storm was Jonah’s fault.
So the sailors start interrogating Jonah.

And when they interrogate him look at what he says:

(9) “He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”

THAT’S PRETTY RICH ISN’T IT?
• “I fear the LORD God of heaven”

What have you seen in Jonah’s life thus far
That would indicate that he had any fear of God whatsoever?

• Was it his lack of mercy?
• Was it his disobedience?
• Was it his neglect to pray?

WHAT WAS IT THAT CONVINCED YOU JONAH FEARED GOD?
NOTHING

JONAH IS DELUSIONAL.
• He hates sinners
• He hates the gospel
• He hates God’s mercy
• He is clueless of his own sin
• And yet he thinks he is still a devout God-fearing man.

It is possible to be totally disobedient in the arena of missions
And still perceive yourself to be a faithful obedient Christian.
Jonah did it.

That’s a prayer for us right there in and of itself.
“God, please don’t let me deceive myself.”

WE SEE AGAIN: Resemblance to that older brother in the story of the prodigal who had the audacity to tell his father:

Luke 15:29 “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;”

Jonah sounds like those Pharisees “who tithe mint and dill and cumin but neglect the weightier provisions of the Law; justice and mercy and faithfulness.”

Jonah is self-deceived.

Disobedience, Disconnect, Delusion
#4 DESPERATION
Jonah 1:10-13

Now we come to a very interesting portion of the story.
It serves for us as A REMARKABLE CONTRAST.

Take a moment and compare the behavior of Jonah
With the behavior of these pagan sailors.

(10) “Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.”

So we have Jonah,
• The Israelite
• The prophet
• The man who claims to fear God

But disobeying God hasn’t seemed to bother him in the least,
In fact he was fine just going to sleep.

And then we have the sailors,
• Pagans
• Idol worshipers

And they are totally shocked that Jonah would be so irreverent to God.

“How could you do this?” they questioned.

We already said that unbelievers should never have to tell believers to pray

And now we can say as well that, “Unbelievers should never be more shocked at appalled by disobedience than believers are.”

And yet that is the case here again.

Isaiah 1:2-3 “Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the LORD speaks, “Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me. “An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.”

That is Jonah and it is certainly A SHOCKING REALITY.

(11-12) “So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.”

So the sailors want to know what they can do to get the storm to stop

And notice Jonah’s response:
“Pick me up and throw me into the sea…”

You’d think Jonah might have said, “Sail to Nineveh”.
But apparently Jonah would rather drown
Than tell the Ninevites the message of God.

And then we read this amazing fact.
(13) “However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them.”

Jonah told them to throw him into the sea
• The sailors didn’t do it.
• First they tried to fight the storm.
• First they tried to row with all their might.

NOW NOTICE THE IRONY HERE.

Jonah won’t go to the Ninevites
Because he doesn’t think they deserve mercy.

But here Jonah has put these sailors in very grave danger.
• They are about to die because of Jonah
• Not to mention they are already facing a large economic loss having been
forced to jettison their cargo into the sea.

BUT EVEN THEN THEY SHOW MERCY TO JONAH
By first trying to save his life before they toss him overboard.

DO YOU SEE THE REALITY?
THESE PAGAN SAILORS CARE MORE ABOUT JONAH
THAN JONAH DOES ABOUT NINEVEH.

They are more desperate to save Jonah’s life
Than Jonah is to save the lives of the Ninevites.

And we have to ask ourselves
How much effort are we willing to give for the salvation of the lost?

• How much rejection will we endure?
• How much cost will we pay?
• How much inconvenience will we suffer?

We think of Paul being begged by his friends not to go to Jerusalem and he said:
Acts 21:13 “Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Or I think of Paul in that Philippian jail when the earthquake hit and the door sprang open and the guard was about to kill himself and secure Paul and Silas’ freedom.
Acts 16:28 “But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”

I think of Elizabeth Elliot.
You are familiar with her husband Jim Elliot who was speared to death
In Ecuador by the tribe of natives he had gone to reach.

He’s the man with the famous quote “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Did you know that
• After his death his wife was still committed to reaching the same Huaorani Indians that had killed her husband?
• That her plan for reaching them was to sail to them down the river with her infant child with her in order to make herself appear less threatening?

To what lengths will we go
To make sure that the lost hear the gospel?

JESUS LEFT HEAVEN TO COME TO EARTH

Hannah sang it: (Jerusalem by City Alight)
See Him in Jerusalem, walking where the crowds are. Once these streets had sung to Him, now they cry for murder. Such a frail and lonely man holding up the heavy cross. See Him walking in Jerusalem, on the road to save us.
See Him there upon the hill, hear the scorn and laughter. Silent as a lamb He waits, praying to the Father. See the King, who made the sun and the moon and shining stars, let the soldiers hold and nail Him down, so that He could save them.

IT IS A MARK AGAINST JONAH
That these pagan sailors cared more about his life
Than Jonah did about the Ninevites.

And yet, if I am honest, I can certainly resemble Jonah.

We see desperation at this point in the story,
BUT IT IS COMING FROM THE WRONG PLACE.

It should have been coming from Jonah,
It was instead coming from these pagan sailors.

Disobedience, Disconnect, Delusion, Desperation
#5 DELIVERANCE
Jonah 1:14-16

And here again the sovereign prerogative of God takes over.

Having seen that they could not row past the storm
These men turn their attention to Jonah’s God.

(14) “Then they called on the LORD and said, “We earnestly pray, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O LORD, have done as You have pleased.”

We talked last time about GENERAL REVELATION
Things like creation and nature.

Here you see another element of general revelation and that is the CONSCIENCE.
• These men, even though they did not have the Law of God, intrinsically knew that murder was wrong.

And now, having been forced to do what offends their conscience,
They cry out to God for mercy.

They RECOGNIZE His sovereign hand behind the storm
And they CRY out to Him for mercy.

(15) “So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.”

The second Jonah hit the water, the water became calm.
God’s wrath was satisfied.

And you are tempted to think that this is the deliverance.
• It is not.
• It is true that God saved their lives from the storm.

But the true deliverance here is found in verse 16.
(16) “Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.”

THAT IS THEIR DELIVERANCE.
THAT IS THEIR SALVATION.

And we again marvel at the sovereign prerogative of God.
God determined to save these men and God did it in spite of Jonah.

Jonah was a terrible missionary.
• He did not care about the Ninevites
• He did not care about these sailors.
• It was Jonah who employed them into disobedience.
• It was Jonah who slept instead of praying.
• He never even tried to teach these men about the mercy of God.

AND YET, in spite of Jonah’s pitiful example,
These men end up getting saved.

• They offer a sacrifice, understanding their need for atonement
• They made vows indicating their understanding of faithful submission.

God saved these men in spite of Jonah.

So while we certainly strive to be usable vessels to God
It is certainly comforting to know that God can save in spite of us.

Too often Missions is portrayed as though the entire plan of God’s salvation stands or falls based upon our involvement.
THAT’S NOT TRUE.

Jesus said that “All who the Father has given Me will come to Me.”

We’re not lifting up the story of Jonah as a story to say,
“If you don’t do your job then the lost will never be saved.”

No, the story of Jonah is a story of self-evaluation.
• If I am not a missionary, what does that say about me?
• What does my lack of mercy say about me?
• What does my lack of obedience say about me?
• What does my lack of prayer say about me?

GOD DELIVERED THESE MEN IN SPITE OF JONAH.
GOD IS SAVING MEN TODAY.
IS YOUR HEART BEATING IN RHYTHM WITH HIS?

And then we get one more final point to the opening narrative of this story.
#6 DIGESTION
Jonah 1:17

Jonah chose drowning over Nineveh, but God had other plans.

God intervened again and “appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah”.

And again God’s sovereign prerogative is remarkable.
All Jonah did was rebel against God.

And yet
Not only did God save the sailors through Jonah
But God also performed through Jonah
Perhaps the greatest Old Testament sign of Jesus.

Matthew 12:39-40 “But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Jonah actually became a “type” of Jesus.
Jonah was handed over to death for the salvation of sinners.
Jonah will immerge from death for the salvation of sinners.

JONAH COULD NOT THWART THE PLAN OF GOD AT ALL.

Now we back up and look at the opening chapter of this story
And we learn a great deal about missions.

• We learn that a missionary must love the lost.
• We learn that a missionary must love the gospel.
• We learn that a missionary must have mercy.
• We learn that a missionary must be devoted to the mission.

We also learn that even when they are not,
It does not stop the sovereign plan of God.
(He can and will save sinners in spite of us)

THE QUESTION WE ARE ASKING IS:
IF I AM NOT A MISSIONARY, WHY NOT?

• Where is my obedience?
• Where is my mercy?
• Where is my love for the gospel?

In chapter 2 Jonah is going to experience revival.

Jonah is going to stop fleeing from God and start seeking God.
(2:4) “So I said, “I have been expelled from Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.”

(2:9) “But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD.”

That may have been Jonah’s actual salvation.
At the very least it is repentance and revival in his life.

And if my heart is not beating in rhythm with God’s heart
Then this is the response for me as well.

Download here

 

Praise the LORD! He Favors Us
Psalms 147
January 8, 2023

Well it’s been a few weeks
Since we’ve gathered together for a study of the Psalms,
But you can certainly see now that we are in the home stretch
Of a study that began back in June of 2018.

So it’s nearly a 5 year study that we are wrapping up.

And the final 5 Psalms end the way the book should end.
They are called the “HALLELUJAH PSALMS”

Each of these final 5 start and end the same way,
With the phrase “Praise the LORD!” or in the Hebrew, “Hallelujah!”

And TONIGHT we are going to talk about
What is one of the MOST PECULIAR REALITIES in all of eternity.

And it is that the God of the universe would care at all about us.

It is that famous reality mentioned by David in a couple of Psalms:
Psalms 8:3-4 “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?”

Psalms 144:3-4 “O LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You think of him? Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow.”

It blew David’s mind, as it should blow our minds,
That the God of the universe who governs the stars
Would care at all about the insignificant lives of mortal man
Whose days are so transient and short.

It is mind-boggling that God would care for us.

As we talked about when we looked at Psalms 144:
• When is the last time you ever concerned yourself with a squabble between ants?
• When is the last time you ever wondered about the worries of a worm?
• When is the last time you ever took the request of a house fly?

It is stupid that you in your complex life of important decisions
Would belittle yourself to such an extent
As to even give the time of day to an ant or a worm or a fly.

And I promise you are closer to them in nature than God is to us.

It is mind-boggling that God would favor us.

I LOVE
Psalms 113:5-6 “Who is like the LORD our God, Who is enthroned on high, Who humbles Himself to behold The things that are in heaven and in the earth?”

He has to humble Himself just to behold things in heaven,
How much more to behold things on earth?

AND YET HE DOES.

Jesus pointed out:
Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”

God cares even about the insignificant.

Now all of that is true in A PROVIDENTIAL SENSE
And we haven’t even discussed yet those truths in A SALVIFIC SENSE.

• That God, in His sovereign authority, would choose to save and adopt and grant
an inheritance to us!
• That God, would make us His sons and daughters and give us a future and a
hope!

To ponder any of this certainly results in a HALLELUJAH!

WELL, THAT IS THE FOCUS OF PSALMS 147.

That the infinite sovereign God of the universe
Would even give us the time of day, let us alone show us favor.

BUT HE DOES.

We’re going to break this Psalm into 3 points.
• They are easily recognizable when you read the Psalm for it naturally breaks
into 3 parts.
• Each part beginning with a call to praise.

What is also interesting in this Psalm is that
Each segment also does a magnificent comparison.
Each segment also describes God’s role in creation.

The Psalmist does this to make sure understand
Just how awesome and important God is.

And then the Psalmist will talk about God then humbles Himself
To do the exact same things in our lives.

And these are the reasons the Psalmist calls us to “Praise the LORD!”

So we’re going to discuss 3 roles that God fulfills for creation,
See how He also fulfills those for us,
And then praise Him accordingly.

#1 THE SUPREME ARCHITECT
Psalms 147:1-6

First we have to recognize the beginning of the stanza
And that it BEGINS WITH A CALL TO PRAISE.

(1) “Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant and praise is becoming.”

• The call to praise is obvious.
• The call to sing is clear.

We also notice that praise is given 3 adjectives to describe it.

“it is GOOD to sing praise to our God”

“good” there is TAWB
It is the word God used of creation before the fall.

We know it as a word that not only speaks of PERFECTION
But also a word of COMPLETION.

Creation was good indicating that it needed nothing.
It was completely finished and exactly as God intended.

You can throw praise in that category.
• It is intended, it is the chief goal and desire, it is flawless and perfect.
• Nothing more needs to be added.

God desires praise from His people and it is good when we do it.

We also see that “it is PLEASANT” to sing praises to God.

“pleasant” is the word NAW-EEM
It is also translated as “sweet”

Psalms 16:6 “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.”

It is fulfillment, it is satisfaction, it is to be totally pleased with something.

Picture it as though
We all appear before God and we bring Him gifts, like at Christmas.

And one approaches God and says, “I brought You praise”
God’s response would be NAW-EEM – “Sweet!”

It is “good” and it is “pleasant”
It is the goal and it is what is desired.

We also see that “praise is BECOMING”

“becoming” translates NAW-VEH
Which is also translated as “fitting” or “lovely”

Solomon’s Shunamite in the Song of Solomon is so often referred to as NAW-VEH or “lovely”

And this is the word used of our praise.
• It is a beautiful thing when God’s people stop to praise Him.
• It is a good thing, it is a desired thing, and it is a beautiful thing when God’s
people sing God’s praises.

THAT’S HOW THE PSALM STARTS.

But we move quickly into WHY it is such a “good” and “pleasant” and “becoming” thing to “Praise the LORD”

(2-3) “The LORD builds up Jerusalem; He gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.”

Even without any context or comparison this is a remarkable fact.
• That God “builds”
• That God “gathers”
• That God “heals”
• That God “binds up”

Those are remarkable truths.

When we think of God as BUILDER,
Such verses come to mind as:
Matthew 16:18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

Or we think of:
1 Corinthians 3:9 “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.”

We think of the church and we see here
Not what man has built, but what God has built.

• It is NOT US who add to the church, it is Jesus who does it.
• It is NOT US who renovate the church, it is Jesus who does it.
• We work and we strive and we labor, but God is the One who does it.

The very existence of the people of God is a testimony to God as Builder.
Everyone that is part of the church is there because God has done it.

AND EVEN MORE REMARKABLE THAN THAT
Is THE MATERIAL God used to build His church.
He didn’t select the biggest and bravest and smartest and best.

“He gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.”

• When God looks for citizens of His kingdom, He looks in the gutter.
• When God fields an army of soldiers He starts in the infirmary.
• When God adopts people into His family He selects the broken.

We think of that parable of the wedding banquet and the King commanding:
Matthew 22:9 “‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’”

It is the Lord’s prerogative to seek out the “least of these” as His own.

Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;”

AND THIS IS WHO GOD IS.

I’m reminded of the foolish shepherds of Israel.
Ezekiel 34:1-6 “Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? “You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. “Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. “They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. “My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.”’”

And in response to their failure God later says:
Ezekiel 34:11-16 “For thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. “As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. “I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. “I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. “I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,” declares the Lord GOD. “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment.”

God cares for the least.
God chooses and saves the broken.
He is a Redeemer.

And so we learn that
He is building “Jerusalem”
He is building His church
And He is building out of the weak and outcast and broken and afflicted.

AND THAT IS REMARKABLE.

But it is not unprecedented
That someone build with less than desired building materials.
• There is many a builder who uses cheap materials or cheap tools to build a project.

What makes God’s choice to build His church with the least of these so praise worthy is that God doesn’t have to.

And this is where the Psalmist begins to appeal to
Exactly who God is in respect to creation.

(4-5) “He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.”

Here we see God as “The Supreme Architect”
• God is not just some builder of an average doghouse.
• God is the designer and builder of the entire galaxy of stars!
• God “counts the number of the stars”
• God “gives names to all of them”

Isaiah 40:26 “Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.”

He is the designer of all creation.

No wonder the Psalmist goes on to say “Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.”

• Who can build something like the galaxy?
• Who can design something like the heavens?
• Who can draw plans and create something like this universe?

How powerful and how smart do you have to be
To make the Grand Canyon or Victoria Falls or the sun?

When we talk about God as “The Supreme Architect” we mean it.
There’s no one even close.

And the remarkable thing is that
• This Supreme Architect is the One who is building Jerusalem.
• He is the One who is building the church.
• And He’s doing it with the broken and outcast.

(6) “The LORD supports the afflicted; He brings down the wicked to the ground.”

He’s building incredible furniture out of particle board.

And this is why the Psalmist wants you to praise the LORD.
• Imagine if Michelangelo volunteered to paint your house.
• Of if the greens keepers from August National volunteered to maintain your lawn.

You’d be grateful.
You’d sing their praises.
You’d be ecstatic.

WELL
• The One who built the oceans is the One who is building Jerusalem.
• The One who constructed the rain forest is the One who is building the church,
• The One who made the mountains is the One designing His holy city.

And He is doing it with you!
He’s doing it with a bunch of broken, afflicted, wounded outcasts.

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

• Why should He care about using us to build His church?
• Why should He be willing to include us in what He builds?

There is no reason, but we certainly see that He deserves praise for it.

And so we praise God for building the church.
• We praise God for building it out of broken outcasts like you and me.
• We praise Him for building a kingdom that cannot be shaken and allowing me to be a part of it.

PRAISE THE LORD!

He is the Supreme Architect and He is building the church.
#2 THE SOLE PROVIDER
Psalms 147:7-11

In verse 7 we come across our second stanza
Which is also introduced with a call to praise.

(7) “Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; Sing praises to our God on the lyre,”

• Still we see the call to sing.
• Still we see the call to praise.
• This time with the notable addition of the words “with thanksgiving”

Here we uncover the MOTIVE of praise in this stanza.

Certainly God’s nature is enough to deserve our praise.

But always added to that should be our thanksgiving
Because this awesome God does for us
What He does not have to do.

Again, to see this, the Psalmist appeals to God’s role in creation.

And in creation God holds the role of “THE SOLE PROVIDER”

(8-9) “Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who provides rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains. He gives to the beast its food, And to the young ravens which cry.”

We think of that remarkable 104th Psalm which outlines
God’s magnificent and thorough provision for the earth.

Psalms 104:14-23 “He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth, And wine which makes man’s heart glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And food which sustains man’s heart. The trees of the LORD drink their fill, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted, Where the birds build their nests, And the stork, whose home is the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the shephanim. He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting. You appoint darkness and it becomes night, In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about. The young lions roar after their prey And seek their food from God. When the sun rises they withdraw And lie down in their dens. Man goes forth to his work And to his labor until evening.”

God is certainly the Provider.
And He provides for everything.
• Who feeds the wild goats?
• Who does the lion look to for food?
• Where does the grass look for water?

It all comes from God.
He is the provider for all things.

And incidentally He is the only one.

(10) “He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man.”

That is to say God doesn’t need any help.
Acts 17:25 “nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;”

God even asked Job:
Job 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,”

And again:
Job 38:12 “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place,”

And again:
Job 38:16-18 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea Or walked in the recesses of the deep? “Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? “Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.”

And again:
Job 38:22-23 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle?”

And again:
Job 38:31-33 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion? “Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites? “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?”

And again:
Job 38:34-35 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you? “Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, ‘Here we are’?”

And again:
Job 38:39-40 “Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, When they crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair?”

You get the point.
God does all those things and He doesn’t need any help.
HE IS THE SOLE PROVIDER.

And we stop and think of all that God has on His plate.
• At my house we have 2 cats and 8 chickens to feed.
• And there are days when my kids don’t even want to do that.
• Some of you have quite a few more animals than that and you think of all the labor that goes in to just feeding your cows.
• And there are days of extreme cold when feeding livestock can literally be an all-day affair.

It is a heavy burden.
God’s burden is to care for all of creation.

But then we find something remarkable:
(11) “The LORD favors those who fear Him, Those who wait for His lovingkindness.”

He doesn’t just care for us, He delights in it!
• He “favors those who fear Him”
• He favors “those who wait for His lovingkindness”

Those who fear and trust in God
Are those whom God delights to provide for.

Isaiah 40:31 “Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”

Psalms 33:18-22 “Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness, To deliver their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name. Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us, According as we have hoped in You.”

God, despite His responsibility as the sole provider of all creation,
Has chosen to delight in providing especially for
Those who fear Him and for those who trust Him.

And we read:
Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Or we read:
Psalms 37:23-26 “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing.”

It does not seem right with all that God has on His plate
That He should concern Himself with us, BUT HE DOES.

And the call of the Psalmist is that we should thank Him for it!

We praise God with thanksgiving
Because even though He carries the burden of caring for all things,
He has sovereignly chosen to care for us.

• What if I told you that some billionaire like Donald Trump had volunteered to take over your bills and debts?

Would you be grateful to have such a capable provider?
Well Donald Trump has nothing on God.

God is the sole provider.
And yet God has promised to provide for you.

• God has told you not to worry about what you will eat or wear or drink.
• God has told you to cast your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.
• God has promised to work all things out for your good.

IS THAT NOT PRAISEWORTHY?
We praise Him!
We thank Him!

He is the Supreme Architect yet He builds the church.
He is the Sole Provider yet He favors His own.
#3 THE SOVEREIGN DIRECTOR
Psalms 147:12-20

Again the segment distinguishes itself as beginning with a call for praise.

(12) “Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!”

Again it is a call for praise and yet again it is unique.
This call distinguishes itself by reminding you that
We praise God because He is OUR GOD.

I’ve always loved Psalms 95
Psalms 95:1-7 “O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.”

God deserves worship simply as God.
But He deserves even more worship as our God.

And just look at some of the things He does for us as our God.
(13-14) “For He has strengthened the bars of your gates; He has blessed your sons within you. He makes peace in your borders; He satisfies you with the finest of the wheat.”

• You see protection.
• You see blessing of progeny
• You see peace
• You see satisfaction

He is God to us and a great one at that.

But have you considered what else God has under His charge beside just being God to you?

The Psalmist would have you focus upon
God as “The Sovereign Director” of all things.

Look again at God’s role in creation.
(15-18) “He sends forth His command to the earth; His word runs very swiftly. He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes. He casts forth His ice as fragments; Who can stand before His cold? He sends forth His word and melts them; He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.”

The obvious point is that God is sovereignly controlling all things.
• He must decide when snow should fall.
• He must decide when snow should melt.
• It is under His control to send the cold or to send the wind.
• It is by His decision that water should flow.

GOD DIRECTS ALL THINGS.
And we can certainly see that He is flawless in His command.
• He never makes a mistake.
• His direction of the course of this world and of human history is flawless.
• His wisdom is beyond comprehension and He never does the wrong thing.
• Oh, it is true, that we might not understand why He does what He does, but that’s only because His thoughts are infinitely higher than ours.
• He never has to retract.
• He never has to ask for a mulligan.
• He never has to fix a mistake.

God directs all things flawlessly with precision and perfection.
HE IS THE SOVEREIGN DIRECTOR OF ALL THINGS.

And yet, as if this were not a big enough responsibility,
Look at what He does for us.

(19-20) “He declares His words to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any nation; And as for His ordinances, they have not known them. Praise the LORD!”

We call it special revelation.
That God has seen fit to give His word and His direction to men.

• What if you wanted to pitch a baseball and Nolan Ryan agreed to give you advice?
• What if you wanted to invest in the stock market and Warren Buffet wanted to guide your investments?
• You’d be thrilled that someone so successful would take time out of their day to instruct you in your life.

Well church, the sovereign director of all time
Has freely spoken to you regarding how to live your life.

“He declares His words to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.”

Paul said:
Romans 9:4-5 “who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”

• What a blessing that God spoke to them!
• That God gave them more than their own conscience to guide them.
• God actually told them the way in which to walk.

And certainly He has done the same for His church.
Ephesians 1:7-10 “In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.”

• He told us the mystery!
• He gave us the revelation!

And notice what the Psalmist says:
(20) “He has not done thus with any nation; And as for His ordinances, they have not known them.”

Do you suppose that all men have the special revelation of God?
No, they don’t.

It is pure grace that God has chosen to allow you to HEAR His word.
And even more than that it is pure grace
That God has chosen to allow you to UNDERSTAND it.

1 Corinthians 2:14-16 “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.”

Look at what God has done for you!

And the simple response is this:
“PRAISE THE LORD!”

• Praise Him that even though He is the SUPREME ARCHITECT He has decided to build the church.
• Praise Him that even though He is the SOLE PROVIDER He has decided to favor you.
• Praise Him that even though He is the SOVEREIGN DIRECTOR He has seen fit to instruct your life.

Why would such a big and important God
Be so willing to do so much for such insignificant people as us?

I HAVE NO IDEA,
But I do know what such an expression of favor deserves.

It deserves praise and thanksgiving and submission.

Praise Him!

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The Reluctant Missionary – Part 1
Jonah 1:1-17 (1-3)
January 1, 2023

This morning we begin a NEW YEAR and we have found it very fitting here to always begin our new year with what we call “Missions Month”.

It is good to remind ourselves that the church remains here on this earth for ONE MAIN PURPOSE and that is to share the gospel.

Every other mandate of the church can be better achieved in heaven.
• Personal holiness will be easier in heaven
• Worship will be better in heaven
• Singing, giving, praying, loving one another…
• All of that is easier and better in heaven and the church will do it much better
there.

But you can’t tell a lost person about Jesus in heaven.
It is your purpose for remaining on this earth.

We often times see people in pain and suffering or in depression and despair and the frequent question is, “Why would God leave me here?” “Why doesn’t He just take me home?”

And I know the answer to that question.
• If you are lost it’s because He is extending you time to repent.
• If you are saved it’s because He is not finished using you for a testimony to His
gospel and His kingdom.

This is why we are here.

We remind ourselves of THE GREAT COMMISSION:
Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

This is the mandate.
It’s not simply the mandate for some, it is the mandate FOR ALL.

AND YET so many in our world call themselves followers of Jesus
And yet have no willingness to share the gospel with anyone else.

They are more concerned about temporal comforts and riches
Than they are about the command of Jesus.

Did you pick up on that quote on the mission video?
Leonard Ravenhill
“Today Christians spend more money on dog food than on missions.”

That is a pretty telling quote.
That quote forces some self-evaluation:
• Just how invested am I in this mandate Jesus gave us?
• How important is it to me that the gospel of Jesus Christ be proclaimed throughout the world?
• And perhaps more importantly: What part am I playing in this great battle?

We need to be reminded that we are here for a purpose
And that purpose is the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So to that end this month we are going to study the BOOK OF JONAH.

I’ve called this study: “A Heart Out Of Rhythm”

Because that is ultimately what we have here.
• We have a man, a prophet of God no less.
• And his heart is not beating anywhere close to God’s heart.
• He is totally and absolutely out of touch with who God would have him be.

He is a negative example of good missions.
And it just might be that he is a convicting example to us.

NOW, TO BEST UNDERSTAND THE BOOK OF JONAH
You first need to have at least a basic understanding of the heart of God.

To understand the point being made here
And to understand Jonah’s great folly
You really need a basic idea of who God is.

So let’s make a really basic and general observation.

We remember that God led His people out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
• They had crossed the Red Sea.
• They had arrived at Sinai.
• Moses had gone to receive the Law of God.
• And the people fell into idolatry.
• God threatened to abandon His people.
• Moses interceded and pleaded for the presence of God.

It was during this dialogue that Moses asked God to
“Show me Your glory!” (let me see You)

You’ll remember that
• God told Moses that no man could look on Him and live
• But He would hide Moses and the cleft of the rock
• And allow Moses to see His back as He passed by.

And on the day that God would present Himself before Moses
God introduced Himself in this way.

Exodus 34:6-7 “Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

This is God’s own self-assessment.
This is not what men say about God,
It is what God says about Himself.

And God announced that He Himself is:
“COMPASSIONATE”

It is (RA-KHOOM) in the Hebrew
And it is a word that is ONLY EVERY USED about God.

It can also be translated “merciful”

Nehemiah 9:17 “They refused to listen, And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them.”

Psalms 78:38 “But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them; And often He restrained His anger And did not arouse all His wrath.”

Micah 7:18-19 “Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea. You will give truth to Jacob And unchanging love to Abraham, Which You swore to our forefathers From the days of old.”

Psalms 103:8-10 “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.”

This is who God is.
• He is compassionate to weak and sinful and failing men.
• He is merciful toward sinners.

So many times humanity has offended God
And yet God delights in forgiving sinners of their offense.

He has mercy and compassion.
That is who He is.

Paul actually calls Him the “Father of mercies” to the Corinthians.

God also announced Himself as
“GRACIOUS”

If compassion is the sentiment then grace is the result.
Because God feels mercy and compassion for humanity
He responds to them in grace.

He gives what humanity does not deserve.

In fact, in all those passages we just read where God is called “compassionate”
You see “and gracious” immediately following.

The two cannot be separated.
One is the cause the other is the effect.

He has mercy toward men and so He treats them better than they deserve

God also announced about Himself that He is
“SLOW TO ANGER”

You’ve probably heard it as “long suffering” or even better as “patient”.
• He is not hot-headed or quick-tempered.
• He does not fly off the handle.
• He isn’t reactionary.

God takes much offense at the hands of sinners
And yet remains willing to forgive even the greatest of offenses.

We think of what Peter writing about how:
1 Peter 3:20 “…the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark”

• In was in Genesis 6 when God announced His frustration with humanity for there wickedness, and decided to flood the earth.
• But it was another 100 years before God sent the flood as He patiently waited for Noah to build the ark, and to preach righteousness to his wicked generation.

And God also announced about Himself that He is
“ABOUNDING IN LOVINGKINDNESS AND TRUTH.”

It is interesting that the word “abounding” there is also translated “great”

As in:
Genesis 6:5 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Where as man abounds in sin, God abounds in lovingkindness.

We think of what Paul wrote:
Romans 5:20 “…where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,”

This “lovingkindness” is God’s CHECED
Or “loyal covenantal love”

And God says that He has it in gobs!

NOW, THIS IS HOW GOD DESCRIBES HIMSELF.
He is a merciful and gracious and patient and loyal God.
It is not His chief desire to destroy sinners,
It is His desire to save sinners.

Through Ezekiel He said it clearly:
Ezekiel 18:32 “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord GOD. “Therefore, repent and live.”

And again:
Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’”

And hopefully you understand this about God.
He is compassionate and gracious and patient and loyal.
He delights in saving sinners.

As David Livingstone stated in that video:
“God had only one Son and He made that Son a missionary.”

THAT IS THE VERY HEART OF GOD.

We think of the famous words of Jesus.
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

• That is who God is.
• That is what God is about.
• He saves sinners.

He is self-defined as “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness.”

YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT FIRST
Because it will help you better understand the book of Jonah.

And namely you need to know this.
Jonah also knew that God was “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness.”

In fact, Jonah hated that about God.

AFTER he preached to Nineveh and AFTER they repented
And AFTER God relented concerning the calamity He had declared, we read:

Jonah 4:1-2 “But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD and said, “Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.”

Jonah is a missionary who hates that God saves sinners.

Sounds backward doesn’t it?
• That’s like a day-care operator who hates kids
• Or a nursing home operator who hates the elderly.

Jonah is a missionary who hates sinners
And he hates the fact that God loves them.

You can’t get anymore backward than that.

BUT LET ME ASK YOU THIS,
How did Jonah express his hatred for sinners?
How did Jonah express his disdain for the mercy of God?

• Did he attack sinners? No
• Did he curse at them? No

WHAT DID HE DO?
• He refused to share the truth of God with them.

And we have to come face to face with the reality that
We may have more in common with Jonah than we care to admit.

• What use is a missionary who hates sinners?
• But then again what use is a Christian who won’t share the gospel?
• What use is a Christian who won’t participate in the great commission?

YOU SEE THE PROBLEM.
God IS compassionate and gracious and patient and loyal
And we are commanded to be imitators of God.

But it is very easy for us to fall into a sinful rut
And actually be exactly the opposite of what God commanded.

THE BOOK OF JONAH TELLS THE STORY
About a prophet whose heart was out of rhythm with God’s heart
And it is a story that allows each of us to evaluate ourselves.

Now that’s the difficult part (necessary but difficult)

The beauty and glory and wonder of the book is that
Even though Jonah was a selfish and rebellious missionary
God still uses Jonah to save everyone around him.

IT IS REMARKABLE!

One of the things that you must notice when you study the book of Jonah is who the catalyst of all things is, and it is certainly God.

You are constantly seeing that the book of Jonah is about God at work.

• (1:1) – “The word of the LORD came…”
• (1:4) – “The LORD hurled a great wind…”
• (1:17) – “And the LORD appointed a great fish…”
• (2:10) – “Then the LORD commanded the fish…”
• (3:10) – “Now the word of the LORD came…”
• (4:6) – “So the LORD God appointed a plant…”
• (4:7) – “But God appointed a worm…”
• (4:8) – “God appointed a scorching east wind…”

GOD IS AT WORK.
• The sailors on Jonah’s boat get saved.
• The Ninevites get saved.
• And God uses Jonah as the vessel through which He saves them.

The tragedy is that God has to use Jonah
As an unwilling vessel as opposed to a useful one.

God saves the sailors and the Ninevites in spite of Jonah.

AND THAT IS A COMFORT AND A TRAGEDY.

It is COMFORTING to know that
• Even in my weakness & sinfulness that I can’t thwart the sovereign plan of God.
• God has sovereignly chosen whom He will save and no carnal missionary can stop that.
• That is a comfort.

But it is also a TRAGEDY to know that
• In my selfishness that God would have to save men in spite of me.

I would prefer to be useful.
I would prefer to be a blessing.

2 Timothy 2:20-21 “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.”

I would much rather be that sanctified and useful vessel for God
And not be a vessel that He must use in spite of my corruption.

JONAH IS THE LATTER.
He is a terrible missionary example

But even bad examples can be useful to us
So for our missions month we are going to study this convicting book.

So let’s get started briefly this morning.
We can break this first chapter down into 6 points,
But we won’t get through all of them this morning.

#1 DISOBEDIENCE
Jonah 1:1-3

The disobedience is obvious here in the text.
God tells Jonah to do one thing and Jonah does exactly the opposite.

Perhaps we can dig a little and see what God was asking,
And perhaps why Jonah was so unwilling.

We read:
(1-2) “The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”

FIRST we must always marvel at the intervention of God.
“The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai…”

God SPOKE to Jonah!
God INTERVENED in the lives of humanity!

We marvel at the realities of what is called GENERAL REVELATION

Psalms 19:1-6 “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.”

There you see there the natural elements of God’s creation spoken of as missionaries of sorts.
• “The heavens” tell.
• The “expanse” declares.
• “Day to day” speaks.
• The “night” reveals.

But it is a SILENT sort of revelation
David says, “There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard.”

That is to say that they are speaking a message
But it is not an audible one.

What do they reveal?
• Things like “the glory of God”
• Or “the work of His hands”
• Or “knowledge”

When David considered GENERAL REVELATION he wrote Psalms 8.
Psalms 8:3-8 “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.”

David looked at creation and was mesmerized
By the HUGENESS of God and the INSIGNIFICANCE of man.

He looked into the starry night of the solar system and felt really small,
Prompting him to ask God, “what is man that You consider him?”

• Why do You care about humans?
• But you clearly do because you have given them dominion on the earth to rule over everything else.

David learned of the majesty and glory and even mercy of God
Simply by evaluating creation and man’s place in that creation.

Paul speaks of the message of GENERAL REVELATION.
Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

• Paul says you can learn about God’s “power” through creation.
• He says that it is clearly seen.

This is all GENERAL REVELATION and man should certainly search it out.
Man is in fact accountable to learn of God through this general revelation.

But GENERAL REVELATION also has VERY DEFINITE LIMITATIONS.
• While you can learn something of the majesty and power and even grace of God through creation, the stars will not articulate the gospel. (The best a star ever did was point to the Christ child)
• While you can learn something of the power and strength and fury of God through creation, the heavens won’t articulate the coming judgment.
• While your conscience (part of general revelation) can give you guilt and teach you a basic sense of right and wrong, even your conscience can be corrupted and won’t perfectly align with the holiness of God.

And THE SIMPLE POINT is that
If all God ever gave us was general revelation
We might certainly be in awe of God, but we would ever be saved.

• We would never know about God’s holy standard.
• We would never know about the reality of judgment.
• We would never know of the Savior who came and fulfilled the Law and died in our place.

NO MAN IS EVER SAVED FROM ONLY HAVING GENERAL REVELATION.

And that is even important to know as we study missions.
This is why we must go to the far-reaching places of the globe
And take the gospel to the people.

• They have the heavens,
• They have the sun and moon,
• They see storms and the power of God.
• They have a conscience,

But if they don’t hear the gospel
They cannot call on the name of the Lord and they cannot be saved.

Well that is one of the real remarkable things of the story here.

It was not God’s plan to leave the Ninevites with only a general revelation.
God wanted to give SPECIFIC REVELATION to them.

And Specific Revelation is His word.

“The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”

God had a special revelation for Nineveh.
• You have sinned
• I am offended
• Your judgment is on its way

They could not know that if someone did not tell them.
• God pierced the darkness.
• God broke the silence.
• God determined to warn the Ninevites of their impending doom.

That is always redemptive.
If God wanted them dead, all He had to do was nothing.
• God didn’t want them dead.
• God wanted them to repent.
• God wanted them saved.

So God determined to send Jonah to explain their sin
And to warn them of the coming judgment.

THAT IS GRACE RIGHT OFF THE BAT.

AND WE MIGHT ALSO POINT OUT
That grace was revealed through a message of judgment.

“go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it”

And that IS a gracious message.
• Our world thinks any mention of sin is to be judgmental or cruel.
• No, seeing a person headed for judgment and not warning them is cruel.
• This is grace.

WE MIGHT ALSO POINT OUT
That in order for Nineveh to hear this gracious message Jonah would have to “Arise” and “go to Nineveh”

There is RELATIVELY NO CHANCE
That the Ninevites are ever going to come find Jonah.

Missions and evangelism is far more
Than just hanging a “Welcome Sign” on the church building.

You’ve got to go to them.
Even in our day
• We understand that few nations have the resources or even the opportunity to come to America to hear the gospel,
• But Americans have the resources and the opportunity to go to them, and we have to go.

All of that is just a basic missionary understanding.

We have the specific revelation of God
And so we must take it to those who do not.

Romans 10:13-15 “for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”

That is Missions 101
It really is that simple.

AND THAT IS WHAT WE SEE HERE
In the opening 2 verses of the book of Jonah.

And what we expect is an Isaiah moment.
We expect an “Here am I, send me!” from Jonah.

But that is not what we get.
Instead we get DISOBEDIENCE

(3) “But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.”

• The Lord commanded Jonah to go.
• Jonah said, “No”.

NOW FIRST allow me simply to remind you that
Disobedience is NOT A CHRISTIAN VIRTURE.

John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”

John 14:30-31 “I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.”

1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.”

So just to make sure we are clear on this.
Telling God “No” is not something a Christian does.

The command of God is to go and preach.
This is a command for all believers.
Jesus made it clear in His great commission.

John Piper said:
“You have three choices in world missions: be a joyful, sacrificial goer, be a joyful, sacrificial sender, or be disobedient.”

Far too many Christians choose option 3.

Well that’s the one Jonah chose.
God said to go to Nineveh.
“But Jonah arose up to flee to Tarshish…”

And I’m sure you’ve heard that Tarshish
Was in the exact opposite direction of Nineveh.

But do please notice something.
Jonah is NOT fleeing from Nineveh.

“Jonah arose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.”

• And again at the end of the verse, “from the presence of the LORD.”
• And again later in verse 10, “the men knew that he was fleeing from the
presence of the LORD…”

Jonah isn’t running from Nineveh, he is running from God.

So let’s MAKE SURE WE UNDERSTAND
What a refusal to participate in missions really is.

It is NOT to run from your neighbor or coworker or some distant land.
A refusal to participate in God’s commission is to run from God.

You will find out later in chapter 4 that
• Jonah actually disdains God.
• Jonah actually finds fault in God.
• He thinks God is wrong to want to warn the Ninevites.

• Jonah thinks God is too compassionate and too gracious and too patient and too loyal.
• Jonah thinks God too quickly lets sinners off the hook.

Are you ready for this?
JONAH HATES THE GOSPEL

So let’s peel back the onion.
Let’s examine WHY God’s people
Don’t participate in missions and evangelism.

For Jonah it is because
• He hates sinners
• He hates the gospel that offers them forgiveness;
• And so to some degree he even hates that God would be so willing to offer it.

At this point we are even forced to consider
If Jonah is actually redeemed at all.

And I’ll be honest – At least at this point in his life, I think I’d have to say “NO”.
(His tune will change a little in chapter 2)

But in chapter 1, Jonah appears to be a phony believer.
• Jonah was certainly an Israelite, but plenty of them were lost.
• Jonah has certainly heard from God, but so did Balaam.

• Jonah hates the lost.
• Jonah hates the gospel.
• Jonah is at the very least frustrated with God.
• Jonah has determined not to do what God has said.
• Jonah is fleeing from God.

Those are not Christian attitudes.

Jonah sounds more like a Pharisee from the New Testament than a disciple.
Luke 15:25-32 “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. “And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ “But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ “And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”

That actually sounds more like Jonah.

We’re going to have to continue this next time,
• But this morning let’s simply set the precedent that saving sinners is the very heart of God.
• And if our heart is not set to that same frequency then our heart, like Jonah’s, is clearly out of rhythm.
• And a very real possibility here is that if you have no missionary desire at all then you are not saved.

But it is also true that even genuine believers can become misguided.

Luke 9:51-56 “When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.”

Certainly James and John were saved.
• But on that day they looked nothing like Jesus.
• On that day they were following the wrong spirit.
• On that day they had totally missed the point.

And so we can say with certainty.
If I am not willing to obey God to join Him in His missionary efforts
Then I am either lost or walking in terrible disobedience.

Either way, my heart is out of rhythm with God’s heart
And this must change.

So we’ll start there.
And for each of us this becomes a time where we can repent and ask forgiveness and commit our lives to whatever God has in store for us.

Download here

The Effect of Christmas
Various Scriptures
December 25, 2022

This morning as we gather together on Christmas morning
There is not a main text that we are going to study.

Instead what I want to do this morning is
Apply the reality of Christmas
To what we’ve been studying for this entire past year.

THIS PAST YEAR on Sunday morning
We’ve studied through 2 books in the Bible.

We’ve studied 1 John and we’ve studied Malachi.

And not to rehash either of those books,
I do want to layout that each of those books dealt with
THE ISSUE OF READINESS regarding the arrival of the Messiah.

Malachi spoke about readiness regarding the FIRST COMING
John spoke of readiness regarding the SECOND.

We remember:
Malachi 3:1-2 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.”

And we remember:
1 John 2:28-29 “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.”

1 John 4:17 “By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.”

• MALACHI spoke to a group of indifferent religious people to show them that they were not ready for the coming King.
• JOHN spoke to a group of genuine believers in order to show them how to have confidence before the coming King.

And in both instances the answer is actually the same.
HOLINESS

It is holiness that prepares you for the coming of the King.

• That is why Elijah (John the Baptist) came…
• That is why Elijah will come again…
• That is what Malachi and John both wanted from their audience…
• HOLINESS IS THE KEY TO READINESS

And THIS MORNING I want to take that one more step
As we talk about the realities of Christmas.

WHAT DOES HOLINESS HAVE TO DO WITH CHRISTMAS?

There are a lot of sentiments
That are elevated during the Christmas season.
• We talk of love and joy
• We talk of peace and good will toward men.
• We see generosity and giving and fellowship.

What I want you to understand this morning is that
When a person truly understands the point of Christmas
The purest and most genuine effect on their lives will be holiness.

If our understanding of Christmas does not produce holiness
Then perhaps we’re not understanding
Exactly what God has done and what God will do.

SO LET’S DISCUSS A LITTLE HERE…

I want to consider the two main focuses of Christmas.
#1 WHAT WE CELEBRATE

Clearly Christmas is a celebration.
We’re not even going to get into the corruption of Christmas
That takes place among a pagan culture.

But for the Church…
For believers…
Christmas is a celebration.

That we agree on, it’s why you are here this morning

WHAT ARE WE CELEBRATING?

Let’s just simplify it.
• At it’s core it is “God with Us”
• At it’s core it is “Emmanuel”

That God the Son left the glories of Heaven to be clothed in human flesh
That He might come and save His people from their sins.

WE CELEBRATE THAT.

But we can get even more specific.
1) HE FULFILLED THE LAW

Galatians 4:4-5 “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

We are dealing with HUMANITY
That HAS BEEN CONDEMNED by the Law of God.

The Law represents God’s holy expectation for humanity.
And ALL HUMANITY IS RESPONSIBLE to it.

Some may argue that only Israel was under the Law, but that’s not true.
For Paul makes it clear in Romans 2 that
God wrote His Law on the conscience of every man.

The Jews just had less excuse for breaking it because God spelled it out for them.

But ALL humanity is under the righteous expectation of God.
And all humanity will be judged
By their failure to live up to the righteous expectation of God.

And humanity has failed miserably.
Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

• We could continue on about how there is none righteous not even one
• Or how death spread to all men because all sinned.
• But you get the idea.
• All mankind had fallen short of God’s righteous expectation.

SO God sent His Son, “born under the Law”
He was circumcised at 8 days old.

In Hebrews 10 we learn:
Hebrews 10:5-7 “Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME; IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE. “THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’”

So Jesus came as a human, born under the Law
So that He might fulfill the Law of God.

• This is why we love the story of His temptation and how He resisted every
one.
• This is why we love that twice from Heaven God spoke that He was “well-
pleased” in Jesus.

Jesus came to accomplish what we could not accomplish.
He came to live a human life that was pleasing to God.
And then to IMPUTE that righteousness He earned to our account.

That is a tremendous reason to celebrate at Christmas.

He came to fulfill the obligation that we had failed to fulfill.

2) HE ATONED FOR SIN

Philippians 2:6-8 “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

When He came to this earth,
• It was NOT to show off.
• NOR was it to only be some sort of righteous example.

He came to fulfill the righteous obligation we had failed to fulfill Then He came to endure the punishment that we had earned.

On one hand was a command left UNDONE.
On the other hand was disobedience left UNPUNISHED.

Christ checked both boxes.
• He came for the purpose of the cross.
• He came to bear the full wrath of God.
• He came to endure our shame and sin and scorn and suffering.
• He came to stand in our place.

Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

And how could we not celebrate that?

How could we not celebrate One who would come to this earth
To take the punishment that we deserved?

It is easy to celebrate His atoning death.

3) HE CONQUERED DEATH

Hebrews 2:14-15 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

Because we had sinned, we earned the wages of sin, which is death.
And from the time of Adam, mankind had no answer for death.
Man lived in absolute fear of the reality.

But Jesus came and FACED death.
Jesus came and TASTED death.
Jesus came and DESTROYED death.

After His death on the cross He rose from the grave
And made that promise that “because I live, you will live also”.

HE CONQUERED DEATH
• We love the story of the resurrection.
• We love Matthew 28 and how Pilate tried to seal and secure that tomb.
• But nothing could stop the sinless Son of God, not even death.

He came to die so He could defeat our enemy.

HOW COULD WE NOT CELEBRATE SOMETHING LIKE THAT?

1. WE HAD a Law that condemned us…
2. WE HAD sin that enslaved us…
3. WE HAD death that tormented us…

And Jesus came to conquer them all.

• He was born a human…
• He was born under the Law…
• He faced death…
• He conquered the grave…

All to fulfill what was spoken about Him by the angel to Joseph.

Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

• He gives us His righteousness.
• He receives our punishment.
• He defeats our enemy.

Christmas is certainly a time of celebration.

What we celebrate at Christmas is salvation.

Without His first coming there is no salvation.
• We are condemned by the Law.
• We are enslaved in our sin.
• We are doomed to eternal death.

But at His first coming He fixed all of that.
WE CELEBRATE SALVATION!

#2 WHAT WE ANTICIPATE

Christmas is not just a celebration, if you look at it correctly,
IT IS ALSO A TIME OF ANTICIPATION.

For all those promises that were made about the coming King…
They were only PARTIALLY FULFILLED at His first coming.

We think of the famous Isaiah 9:
Isaiah 9:1-7 “But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

• While it is true that Galilee saw a great light…
• While it is true that a Child was born to us…
• Most of that promise is STILL TO COME.

We are still waiting for the global peace.
We are still waiting for Him to reign on David’s throne.

Even the songs we sing like “Joy to the World”
Are more about the second coming than the first.
• “Joy to the word the Savior reigns”
• “No more let sins or sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground”

Those are promises yet to be fulfilled.
We are waiting for that day.

So while Christmas is about celebrating salvation.
It is also about anticipating salvation.

WE ANTICIPATE SALVATION
(the fullness of salvation from sin)

Philippians 3:20 “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;”

Hebrews 9:28 “so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

WHAT KIND OF SALVATION?
1) We are still waiting for Him to come and REDEEM THIS CREATION.

Romans 8:19 “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.”

All creation groans under the curse of sin
And it waits eagerly for the Redeemer to come and reverse the curse.

2) We are still waiting for Him to come and REMOVE SINNERS.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 “…the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.”

• Our world suffers under the weight of sinful men.
• We mourn the wickedness that is rampant and spreads
• And we long for the day when the King will return and remove the tares from among the wheat.

3) We are still waiting for Him to come and RESCUE HIS OWN.

1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.”

• After the tares are removed then the righteous will shine like the sun.
• We are waiting for our ultimate deliverance from the Satan devil who longs to steal, kill, and destroy.

4) We are still waiting for Him to come and REIGN UPON THE EARTH

We want to see that child on David’s throne.
We want to see that kingdom physically manifest on the earth.

And while we celebrate what Christ did in His first coming,
We cannot help but anticipate what He will do at His second.

TURN TO: REVELATION 19:11-20:6

For we are certain that if Jesus had not come 2,000 years ago as a baby
Then we would not be saved.

But we also understand that
If He does not come again then we still cannot be saved.

This is why John is weeping in Revelation 5
When no one is found who can open that scroll.

WE STILL WAIT FOR SALVATION.
Total – final – eternal – complete salvation!

SO WE CELEBRATE AND WE ANTICIPATE

But back to the question that we started with.
WHAT DOES HOLINESS HAVE TO DO WITH CHRISTMAS?

Do you want to know what it looks like to truly celebrate Christmas?
IT IS HOLY LIVING.

IF YOU REALLY WANT TO CELEBRATE the fact that
Jesus came to this earth and fulfilled the Law
And bore your sin and conquered the grave
THEN WALK IN THE HOLINESS THAT HE PURCHASED.

DO YOU NOT EXPECT PEOPLE TO USE THE GIFTS YOU BUY THEM FOR CHRISTMAS?

• Jesus came to produce righteousness for you and to impart that righteousness to you.
• He came to remove the wrath that dwelled upon your head and bring you near to His righteous Father.
• He came to remove the penalty of sin which is death and to grant you eternal life where you can dwell in the presence of His holy Father for all eternity.

His gift to you is HOLINESS
Do you really want to celebrate Christmas? THEN USE IT

Romans 8:1-4 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

If you truly want to celebrate what Christ did for you
Then walk in holiness.

BUT WHAT ABOUT ANTICIPATION?

If you really anticipate that
Jesus Christ will return and judge sinners
and reward the righteous
Then your most fitting response is again obvious.
IT IS STILL HOLINESS

Isaiah 35:4-10 “Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.” Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah. The scorched land will become a pool And the thirsty ground springs of water; In the haunt of jackals, its resting place, Grass becomes reeds and rushes. A highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it. No lion will be there, Nor will any vicious beast go up on it; These will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, And the ransomed of the LORD will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

When Jesus returns He will set up “the Highway of Holiness”
And only the holy will walk upon it.

ARE YOU PREPARING FOR THAT?

The best and most pure way to celebrate Christmas
Is by living the holy life Christ purchased for you.

The best and most pure way to anticipate Christmas
Is by living the holy life that Christ expects from you when He returns.

Romans 13:11-14 “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

We’ve spent a year talking about how true believers live
And what it means to be ready for the coming of the King.

If you are truly grateful and if you truly believe He will return.
THEN WALK IN HOLINESS.

HE DESERVES IT for what He did when He first came
HE DEMANDS IT based on what He will do when He comes again.

Holiness is the ultimate effect Christmas should have on your life.
If it produces something else,
Then perhaps you’re missing the point.