In The Felly Of A Bish Part 5: Scene 4, Like Father, Like Son

father in heaven thank you for that beautiful prayer that drew and prayed Lord my heart was lifted to the very gates of heaven through that prayer and father I loved the humility in that prayer I loved the simplicity in that prayer and the honesty in that prayer father if it hadn't been for the Adventist educational system if it hadn't been for the for the faithful staff and in the church here of tweed Valley Adventist College we wouldn't have drew and praying these beautiful prayers in our sanctuary bringing us leading us right to your throne and so father I thank you for drouin I just pray you would continue to grow him into a powerful man of God and I thank you for TV ctva see father may that continue to grow into a powerful school an institution that is used not just for educating but for building people for eternity father now as we look to Scripture may you by the Spirit look to us father we're continuing our journey with Jonah and I pray that you would take away any distractions anything that would cause us to lose focus on the text father we spend the whole week thinking about so many things that are of no consequence inconsequential insignificant and in the long term picture of our lives will amount to nothing so father when we have that opportunity to come together and to really think on eternal things help us to be focused help us to be attentive father may your spirit come into a work here that is greater than the work that a preacher could do or a man could do that elocution could do father may there be something supernatural today that transpires this is our prayer in Jesus name let everyone say Amen did they already announced the sin concert okay just a quick word for those of you that were planning on going to the cent concert you know it's on tonight at 5:30 and if you weren't planning on going then you're welcome to come 5:30 and I think the concerts at 7:00 7:00 and there could be a whole bunch of people seeing some really beautiful songs by Allah and I are going to sing a couple songs and so I can't wait it's gonna be really fun all right let's open to the Book of Jonah Jonah chapter 3 and I realize I left my clicker down here Jona and the third chapter we're in now the second half of the book of johna we continue our series in the Feli of a bish let me get there with you Jonah okay Jonah chapter 3 this is part five of our seven part series we're in scene four and our sermon today is titled like father like son like father like son so we've grayed out the first half of the Book of Jonah we're through all of chapters 1 & 2 and the first three scenes and we've noted on several occasions the tremendous symmetry in the Book of Jonah you have two halves and three virtually identical scenes the setup the build-up the speak up we now transition out of the first half and into the second half we're in Jonah chapter 3 just three verses today Jonah chapter 3 verses 1 to 3 we're reading that in just a moment now let's sort of orient ourselves to something that we noted in the second sermon in our failure of a fish series and that is the prophetic call and how the call of jonah follows pretty closely a fairly consistent prophetic template and this isn't the case in every prophetic call but it is the case in enough of them that bible students and scholars have noted and said hey look there's a pattern there's a template that's going on here and you'll notice it here on the screen we've looked at this before but let's just remind ourselves when a prophetic call or a call of commissioning is extended by god to one of his prophets it often follows this basic sequence there is the divine commission that is then followed by an objection to the commission of course the classic example of this would be the call of Moses where Moses is called and then he objects but I'm slow of speech but but I can't do it for a variety of reasons so there's the objection we see this not just in Moses case and in Jonah's case but also in Gideon's case and others so there's the objection followed by divine rebuke and then reassurance that happened with Moses happened with Gideon also happened with Jonah and then in these cases and others that reassurance is followed by a miracle a sign a symbol hey I'm God I'm in control in the case of Moses what was that miracle that was right in the midst of the divine commissioning what was that take your staff and do what within throw it down and it became a fish or a fish when I second what Bible am I reading it became a snake Thank You corrected by the young ladies in the front it became a snake he also placed his hand to his breast and it became leprous and then when he put it back it was made whole so that was the sort of sign God's like look I'm in control I'm in control I gotcha in the case of Gideon does anybody remember the specific miraculous signs accompanied Gideon's call and Commission it's where he took the fleece and he put the fleece out and he said let the fleece be wet in the ground be dry and then he reversed it let the ground be wet and the fleece be dry okay and so we see that in the case of Jonah here a symbolic actor of a miracle is transpired in the case of Jonah it's what we talked about last week that he was swallowed whole by a large sea creature and then regurgitated back onto dry land dry land and that brings us to number five where the Commission is clarified we're going to talk about that clarification here this morning and then ultimately carried out and so we are right in the stream of what we would expect with the divine call and commissioning of Jonah as a somewhat reluctant prophet of Yahweh we're in Jonah chapter 3 we're going to read the first three verses back that's all we're going to look at today three short verses Jonah chapter 3 beginning in verse 1 now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time okay this clearly and unmistakably introduces us to the second half of Jonah here we go we're in the second part scene 1 the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time saying arise go to Nineveh the great city and preach to it the message that I tell you so Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city a three-day journey in extent it's all we're going to look at today now you will notice probably if you've been with us in the series just how remarkably similar the first three verses of chapter three are two chapter one notice the first three verses of chapter one we've noted the similarity before but let's just remind ourselves chapter one let's also read the first three verses there and notice they're basically verbatim in fact we're going to highlight five key similarities and five key differences between these three verses see if you can note not only the similarities that'll be easy but as we read through see if you can notice one or two or three of the differences between chapter 3 in chapter 1 chapter 1 beginning in verse 1 now the word of the lord came to jonah the son of Amitai saying arise go to Nineveh that great city and cry out against it for their wickedness has come up before me but Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish so he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord okay we're going to start by noting the similarities because that's the easiest and most obvious thing to see first of all the verses sound very similar we've noted before the tremendous symmetry and sophistication and organization of the Book of Jonah I mean just every time we study we're seeing wow look at the look at the thought that would have gone into that we've looked at poems we've looked at parallels we've looked at at recapitulation in the book it's just absolutely fantastic and here we have probably the most unmistakable parallel it just basically is an almost verbatim repeat of the first three verses of the entire book now you'll notice that one of the similarities if I actually didn't put up on the screen here is that we don't really have a sense of place when Jonah is originally called we don't know where he is we don't really know the circumstances surrounding his call and similarly here all we know is that the fish has regurgitated Jonah onto dry lands we don't know the exact location we're not told that which is Jonah was on dry land we've noted before those changes have seen from dry land to the sea to in the sea and then now back to dry land would give us a sense of renewal and of starting afresh and beginning again okay so let's note the similarities here between chapter 1 verses 1 to 3 in chapter 3 verses 1 to 3 first of all the word of Yahweh that's how both sections open the word of Yahweh came to Jonah there's the first similarity the second similarity is that it comes to the same prophet in Chapter 1 it comes to Jonah in chapter 3 it comes to Jonah and the words are the same the very same words come arise arise and go also the location remains the same arise and go to Nineveh that great city and in both cases Jonah arises ok in Chapter 1 he arises to flee and in chapter 3 he arises to finally fulfill the original commission and the reader has been waiting a long time to hear these words that Jonah arose and went we're two chapters into the book it's almost like the first two chapters could have been totally avoided if Jonah had not arisen to flee but he had arose to follow the word of Yahweh and so notice what we have here same God same person same command same place same action okay so the similarities between the opening of chapter one and chapter three are unmissable absolutely unmissable so the similarities are emphatic and essential in order to establish the basic symmetry of the book and and and the beauty of the book and and the the point of the book but the differences between these verses are purposeful and profound and we're going to take a look at five differences so not only are there at least five similarities there are at least five differences we're going to go through these point by point the first is found right in chapter 3 verse 1 now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time that's familiar Old Testament language the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the word of the Lord came to Isaiah the word of the Lord came to whatever the prophet might be the word of the Lord in this case came to Jonah but this is unique this particular configuration is unique in the Hebrew Old Testament because it's the word of the Lord came to so-and-so a second time the word of the very same word as we saw same command same place same location same everything it now comes again and we have the sense of being in a kind of loop hey we've been here before we've heard this before and the writer of Jonah wants you to not miss it this is the second time the same call has come and there several things that jump out at us and we think about the word of Yahweh coming to Jonah a second time the first is that Yahweh's character and his loving and saving intentions never change can somebody say Amen God loves us just enough to bring us back over the same ground that we failed on the first time God has not changed his intention has not changed his mercy has not changed his character has not changed Jonah has changed significantly but God has not often our actions prompt God to accommodate a new situation this is what we're going to talk about in significant depth not next week with the following week Jonah's unwillingness to do what God had asked him to do arise and go to Nineveh creates a new situation this new situation then forces forces might not be the wrong word but but creates a situation in which Yahweh has to accommodate himself to the actions of his rebellious prophet now we're going to see the exact negative of that when it comes to Nineveh because Jonah is going to go to Nineveh expecting for his preaching to not be heeded and not be heard and Nineveh is going to change and Yahweh will change in relationship to nineveh's change this is very important to grasp Yahweh in his basic intention God in his love God in His mercy God and his character does not change but God is in a continual state of change and of flexibility and of accommodation to the decisions that we make right you take for example Jonah getting swallowed by the fish this was not in God's plan this is an accommodation to Jonah's rebellion so when when Jonah made a left when God had asked him to make a right God now has to accommodate Jonah's situation okay this happens to us all the time often our actions prompt God to accommodate a new situation both in the negative as with Jonah but also in the positive as we're going to see with Nineveh in a couple weeks time now this is a really cool idea if God had not so wonderfully and so consistently accommodated us we could not be say in the case with Jonah as in the case with all of us God's accommodation to our failure is the thing that brings about our salvation if God had chosen not to accommodate himself to Adam and Eve situation not to accommodate himself to the need to fall in humanity's situation we would not be saved if God had remained absolutely committed to plan a well then we would be in big trouble but if we go on Plan B God goes with us on plan B if we go Plan C God goes with us in Plan C and at no point whether we find ourselves at Plan B efg hijk LMNOP QRS TUV wxy Z no does God in his essential desire and love and mercy and intention change God's actions will change God's accommodations will be ever new but God's intent in your life is always the same he loves you and he wants to save you okay so when we see this hear the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time you almost get the feeling that if Jonah had not gone along and not finally risen and gone to Nineveh that we would be reading chapter 5 that would say the word of the Lord came to Jonah a third time and then if that hadn't worked out we'd be reading in Chapter 7 the word of the Lord came to Jonah a fourth time right the idea here that God is accommodating himself to in this case the rebellious nosov his prophet so that's one that just jumps out of this major difference between chapter 1 and chapter 3 here's a second one this is a subtle one and it's fascinating you notice in chapter 1 I'll read in verse 2 arise go to Nineveh that great city and cry out against it cry out against it did you notice this significant herbs significant but subtle difference chapter 3 verse 2 now arise go to Nineveh that great city and preach to it is there a difference between cry out against it and preach to it or proclaim to it it's fascinating in the in the Hebrew it's just the slightest shift of a preposition from L to L it's the equivalent of a single letter in in the English language from A to E yet the meaning is very different substantively different significantly different the original call was to Jonah go cry against that great city her wickedness has ascended before me this call is different go to Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I will tell you another several things that sort of jump out jump out of this year this subtle shift from cry out against versus proclaim to hints at Jonah's own mindset and actually foreshadows the Ninevites unexpected response we know that that one thing that God is very good at and that is that he's good at speaking our language whatever that language happens to be we see instances of this with Jesus for example when Jesus was speaking to a woman at a well he said I will give you water and you will never thirst again when Jesus met fishermen on the shores of the sea he said follow me and I will make you fishers of men when Jesus was speaking to a wealthy young man he said follow me and you'll have treasure in heaven okay we find again and again God's linguistic and communicative accommodation he speaks our language when God originally spoke to Jonah he spoke the language of Jonah and I'm going to suggest that this was language that wasn't even particularly God's language so much as it was God's language - Jonah in a way that Jonah would relate to it and understand it in other words there's not a lot of Mercy in it let me just put my cars right out on the table go to Nineveh and cry out against it she's a wicked City okay there's not a lot of Mercy there there's there's there's not there's no mercy that tempers the inevitable judgment of course God is going to judge Nineveh it's a wicked terrible pagan idolatrous Gentile City go cry out against it that's Jonah's language and God accommodates that language but here when Jonah has himself become the recipient of Yahweh's tremendous mercy having been a rebellious prophet having ended up in the belly of a fish having them miraculously regurgitated onto dry land he has been bathed not only in the but he's been bathed in mercy and God is hopeful that his own experience with mercy will flavor or season the way that he sees his mission to Nineveh it's not now go to Nineveh and cry out against it it's go to Nineveh and proclaim something to it the author has with just a little shift of a single preposition oriented us to an unexpected outcome any Jewish reader or or or person a milly with the it's the basic story of Assyria and their relationship to Israel would assume that Y all raised Yahweh's wrath would burn hot and vigorous against a pagan idolatrous city like Nineveh nobody expects that Nineveh is going to repent that's not even in the cards that's not on the table that is that is the furthest conceivable thing from a Jewish mind these are pagan people it's us and them and there are bad them and so there's this little hint here don't just go cry against them but go say something to them all of a sudden this adversarial and the suggestion of a hostility has been replaced by a kind of mutuality a kind of I'm here to tell you something number three in both cases Jonah arises the call comes to arise come arise and in both cases Jonah arises in Chapter 1 he arises to flee from the presence of the Lord in chapter 3 he arises to go to Nineveh he arose to flee and he arose and went to Nineveh one more here number 4 will link this in as well he fled from Yahweh's presence and here he arises according to Yahweh's word several points here first of all Jonah is on a journey in the Book of Jonah in more ways than one he's on a literal journey he's been deposited somewhere on the dry land and if he's anywhere near Joppa where the starting point of his journey was he has about a one month 900 kilometer journey to Nineveh ok he's not going to catch a boss he's not going to get on the plane it's going to take him a month to travel that distance so so he's not only on a journey to see and then finally now somewhat reluctantly to nineveh jonah is on a journey in his thinking in his mind in his appreciation and experience with God's mercy and I'm going to suggest that in a very cool way we are all not only on a journey in terms of a geographical journey a geometrical journey from space to pace space to space and place to place we are all on a journey in terms of our own apprehension of God's goodness and his mercy and how that mercy and how God's unchanging amazing character extends to those around us Jonah is on a journey in more ways than one and so are we all Jonah at this stage is outwardly compliant with the call of Yahweh but the question that is sort of simmering below the surface if you read the text carefully the question is is Jonah's heart renewed at this point is this a reluctant compliance how many of you would would be vulnerable enough and honest enough to say with me that there have been times in your walk with God times in your religious experience where you have capitulated to something you have gone along with something physically externally that was not really in your heart but you knew it was the right thing and doggonit you were just going to do it anybody relate to that yeah this is Jonah we encountered Jonah here not fully converted not fully embracing Yahweh's merciful disposition toward himself and toward others but a reluctant frustrated slightly annoyed prophet who is going to go do what he really doesn't want to do he's on a journey and he is not there we mentioned this last week we'll just briefly touch on it in the belly of the fish Jonah did pray he cried out to Yahweh and you might in a shallow reading of that and a profound rereading of Yahweh's or Jonah's prayer to Yahweh you might think oh look he's had a conversion experience look he's turned it around but we noted that there are numerous good reasons textual reasons to think that something is not quite there in his prayer it was a prayer but it was not quite there just go through them very quickly number one it was a reluctant prayer forced by being swallowed by a sea creature number two there is no confession of wrong or of guilt or of sorrow anywhere in the prayer it's not found there's no clear request for forgiveness the only possible may be a subtle hint at forgiveness as he says twice I will pray to your temple number four he acknowledges that he's in a dangerous situation but he never acknowledges the cause of that situation many of us can no doubt relate to this we talked about the inversion of the flood remembrance where Jonah in many ways is a recapitulation of the flood story and in the Noah's story it says Yahweh remembered Noah but in the Jonas story it says Jonah remembered Yahweh as if the onus and the responsibility is upon Jonah to do that and then finally and this is most probably significant in the prayer is Jonah's elevation of his own holiness and his own piety he promises when I get out of this fish if and when I get out of this fish I will pledge pledges I will sacrifice sacrifice I will vow my vows to you and then he goes so far as to say but the heathen forsake their mercy unbeknownst to Jonah of course because he's trapped in the belly of a fish the people the Gentile peoples on board the ship the people that tried to row so hard to save Jonah and who only reluctantly threw him overboard have already done the saying that Jonah promises he will do but what this is doing is it's letting us into Jonah's mindset frankly he's looking down on people who are not him they're not Jews they're idolaters and so yes he prays a prayer and that prayer in a perfunctory reading might seem like oh yeah Jonah's had a turnaround but when Jonah has been redeposited onto dry land this is not a converted Jonah whose heart has now been melted by the mercy of Yahweh this is a Jonah who's been rescued from a dangerous situation and who will now be grudgingly and reluctantly go to Nineveh we note at this point Kevin J Youngblood in his book Jonah's God scandalous mercy says the shallowness of Jonah's quote repentance shapes the remainder of the story and as we will see perhaps surprisingly and a little bit pregnant Lee you never get a sense of resolve in the Book of Jonah Jonah never gets it you never get a sense in which you're like aha there's resolution and we'll get to that in the next two weeks the shallowness of Jonah's repentance shapes the remainder of the narrative now this is a parable that I mentioned just briefly last week and let me just remind you of it Matthew chapter 18 verses 9 to 14 Jesus speaking these words also he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others okay you'll remember this parable two men Jesus says went up to the temple to pray one was a Pharisee right a religious person the other was a tax collector a despised person us-and-them the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself god I thank you that I am not like other men that's the kernel of Jonah's prayer I'm glad I'm not like them extortioners adulterers unjust or even as this tax collector I fast twice a week I give tithes of all that I possess this is the very kind of promise that Jonah was making in the belly of the fish I will do these things promises to be good and faithful and the tax collector standing afar off but not so much as raise his eyes to heaven but he beat his breast and he said God be merciful to me a sinner there's a kind of primitive sincerity here just a sort of like I don't know what to say or how to pray some flowery beautiful prayer but I'm a sinner and have mercy on me and he just beats his chest you get a sense almost of his inability to pray this flowery beautiful prayer that the Pharisee is prayed similar with the sailors onboard the ship they're just like God have mercy on us Yahweh save us Jesus went on to say at the end of that parable I tell you this man that is to say the unexpected man the non-religious man went down to his house justified rather than the other this is very similar to what we're seeing with Jonah for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and He Who humbles himself will be exalted this is an amazing quotation that came across just this week from CS Lewis I'd actually read it before but I must have forgotten it because it is so profoundly simple and amazing Lewis and his book Mere Christianity says as long as you are proud you cannot know God why well a proud man is always looking down on people and things and of course as long as you were looking down you cannot see something that is above you if you find that your basic orientation to other people is a posture or an orientation of judgmentalism it's a reasonably good indicator that you might not be in the relationship with God that you think you are and of course that's the very point that the Book of Jonah is driving out and the very point that the parable that Jesus told was driving at you think your prophets you think when you get out of the belly of this fish you're going to do all of these flowery wonderful religious things you think that you're not like that man in the case of the Pharisee but in both cases that perceived religiosity actually plays a trick on you and you end up deceiving your own heart you're so busy looking down and everybody else from your elevated and religious seventh-day adventists or Christian Church that Lewis makes the point if this is your basic posture and trajectory toward people looking down on them you can't possibly know God because the only way to know God is not to look down but like the the publican to beat your breast and to just take awareness that there's something above you man what a great idea what a simple concept if we're looking down on others we cannot be looking up to God the punchline of Jonah's prayer and we mentioned the punchline of the entire Book of Jonah is this simple declaration that salvation deliverance belongs to Yahweh that beautiful poem that we looked at ABC ba and then ABA and all of those intricate structures and when it came time for the grand and beautiful the refrain of Jonah's beautiful poem is salvation belongs to God God brings about salvation which is really funny because even though Jonah can exclaim this he will deny it in two chapters I wonder how many of the songs that we sing with all of our enthusiasm some of us don't sing with much enthusiasm so you're less hypocritical than others of us I wonder how many of our songs that we sing we deny with our attitude in our actions Jonah can say salvation belongs to Yahweh but when salvation and deliverance will come to a people that he doesn't think deserves it he will find himself on the wrong end of that religious equation Jonah is a man headed toward Nineveh but he's not a converted man he's just a religious man Jonah is a man on an errand for God but he is not God's man Jonah is a man on an errand for God but he is not God's man God is not fooled by our busyness he is not fooled by our errands that we run we see this in Matthew chapter 7 don't we many will say to me in that day Lord Lord didn't we do all of this stuff in your name and Jesus response is you did a lot of stuff you stayed really busy but I don't know you being God's manned and running one of God's errands are not the same thing being God's woman and singing songs about God are not the same thing Jonah is a man a prophet reluctantly on a mission for God to bring a message of mercy that he himself does not fully comprehend does not really comprehend at all as a recipient of Yahweh's mercy patience and saving judgment is Jonah ready to extend that attitude in that perspective to others are we what is our basic orientation as the seventh-day Adventist Church globally and as the kingscliff seventh-day Adventist Church and if you're a visitor here today if you count yourself as a Christian what is the basic Christian orientation to the wider world is it an orientation where we find ourselves looking down judgmentally or is it an orientation where we find ourselves on the same ground in the same situation in the same boat to use the language of Jonah in the same situation and we are all looking up in need of something I think if we were going to be totally honest and totally we would have to admit that at some significant level the perceived posture of the Christian Church toward the world is one of condemnation and judgment am I wrong am i right our perceived posture is not one of coming alongside of people and pulling for people and rooting people on and and hoping it's going to be all right with you it's a posture of why would you do such a thing how could you how could you Jonah is unwilling or perhaps even at this stage unable to extend the mercy to others than he himself has received my question is as am I am I also like Jonah unable to extend a mercy to somebody else that has been extended to me or do I think that I am somehow deserving of God's mercy of course the moment you talk about deserving the word mercy doesn't even mean anything anymore and all of a sudden is a Christian Church as a local kingscliff Church we find ourselves if we're reading the book right doing some serious soul-searching and asking ourselves the question what's my orientation to them is my orientation one that I'm a little better a little more pious a little more vegetarian a little more sabbath-keeping a little more generous with my money a little more whatever whatever teaching whatever your pedigree is that your posture toward others is one of if not outright condemnation at least a sense that you've kind of got your act together and they basically don't are we ready to extend the same like Jonah am I merely outwardly compliant or am I truly converted and this is a question that the good pastor cannot answer for you this is a question that only the pastor can only answer for himself this is the question that the Book of Jonah forces us to ask this is not mere you know study of structure for structure stakes study of symmetry and poetic sophistication for the sake of it all of those things are getting us to a point and the point is that the Book of Jonah should at some level be a mirror to us where we ask ourselves the question am I merely outwardly compliant in some religious sense or in my innermost soul am I converted we could be like Jonah on an errand for Yahweh and be no more converted than Jonah was and then our fifth and final difference fifth and final difference is this kind of fascinating idea here and it does not come across in the version that I'm reading a new King James Version I'll read it for you here in verse three so Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city a three day journey and extent there's no hint of it there no hint of what well this idea of an exceedingly great city is it's actually more subtle and more significant than just Nineveh was a big city I'm going to suggest that the best translation of this year is that Nineveh was a great metropolis belonging to God check this out let me try and show you why I've come to this conclusion this is from the Tyndale Old Testament commentary by Baker Alexander and walki they say a very important city or a very big city is literally a great city to God in the light of the books plot they say it is perhaps best to understand this phrase as meaning a city important to God nineveh jonah rather go to Nineveh a city important to me question would Jonah and for that matter the rest of Israel thought that Nineveh was important to Yahweh the answer is no unequivocally no only perhaps in a sense of they are in - they deserve his judgment and his unmitigated wrath but here's this idea Jonah go to Nineveh a city a great city that belongs to me notice in Kevin youngbloodz Jonah God scandalous mercy how they translate Jonah chapter 3 verse 3 so Jonah got up and went to Nineveh as Yahweh commanded now Nineveh was a great metropolis belonging to God whew that's cool Nineveh belongs to God can you say Amen I don't know how many of you have taken me up on my my my pleading to listen to the sermons that were preached at the Connexions tent this last year by Pastor Steven markavitch I don't know how many of you have done that I know some of you have but if you have not yet go to your Facebook page type in connections 10th 2017 and if you can't listen to all seven of them listen to the sermon on Babylon and I tell you it is a game changing world Rocking sermon in which Pastor Steven basically unpacked for us this amazing command in the Book of Jeremiah where God says to Jeremiah you're in Babylon build gardens build houses settle down and pray for the Shalom of Babylon what you mean Babylon that that was responsible for the destruction of your temple in the destruction of your city and the caring murdered tens of thousands of people and carried many away but what God's like settle down stay there for a while plant gardens and pray and work for the Shalom of Babylon this is a very magnanimous and unexpected posture you would think that the posture toward your captors toward the ones who murdered your brother or your sister or your mother and who destroyed your city and your temple your posture would be one of hostility and taggin ISM and frankly hatred in God's command and you go listen to the whole sermon I'm not going to review it here all of it is pray for Babylon work for the good of Babylon here it's so interesting Jonah go to Nineveh a city that belongs to me and all of a sudden Jonah's us-and-them world cannot accommodate and us that includes Nineveh like most of us we are boxed into our us-and-them worlds whether it's a financial us in them or an educational us in them or a fashion us in them or a racial us and them or a career professional us in them or a denominational us in them or a music style us in them or an age us in them most of us live in a world where us and them and us we have our act together and they don't because if they did they were be a part of us go to nineveh jonah a great city that belongs to me robert alter in his strong as death is love a translation with commentary translates Jonah chapter 3 verse 3 this way and Nineveh was a great city of gods this is God's city well of course the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof Robert altar and his commentary says this preposition live in Biblical Hebrew included including many inscriptions on pottery seals and the like often means belonging to belonging to that meeting makes sense in terms of the theology of the book Nineveh like everything else in the world is God's possession and thus God is appropriately concerned about the behavior of its inhabitants and notice these last three words and their faiths does God care about the Ninevites does God love the Ninevites does God want his saving message to go to the Ninevites yes or no does he want a saving message to go to the labor party does he want to save a message to go to the Liberal Party does he want a saving message to go to the Democrats as you want to say the message to go to the Republicans does he want to save the message to go to the blacks does he want a saving message to go to the homosexuals does God want his saving message to go to the world it sort of seems like it you know these really complicated texts like John 3:16 like really difficult texts to get your mind wrapped around for God for God so loved the world it's right there on the face of it so when God says to Jonah go to Nineveh that great city that belongs to me Jonah cannot get his us-and-them mind wrapped around and us all of us on the ship all of us in the belly of a fish all of us in the belly of a fish all of us in need of mercy and grace all of us not looking down on others but up at God a great city belonging to me and so there are the five differences the second time cry against it verses proclaim to it arise to flee vs. arise any went to Nineveh from Yahweh's presence vs. according to Yahweh's word and to great metropolis belonging to God a number of textual indicators just in these first three verses of chapter three are setting us up for an unexpected outcome to this amazing book if you're reading and you're reading carefully you already are expecting something else you're not if you should already hear set up it's a setup Jonah's going to go to Nineveh he's going to preach and the rebellious godly religious Jewish prophet is going to end up on the wrong side of the religious equation and the idolatrous pagan them Ninevites are going to end up on the right side of the equation you're set up this is a book that's supposed to challenge our basic assumptions about the nature of reality who really is us and who really is them and is there even enough sin to them in God's view for example the idolaters the idolatrous Gentile Mariners their sincere response to Yahweh on the ship when they respond to Yahweh is startling in the narrative and suggestive and we'll talk about just how suggestive it is when we get there in a couple weeks friends I just want to bring this verse to you today it's a verse that you've probably heard before you've read before but I just want you to bathe your mind in the good news of this verse lamentations chapter 3 verses 22 and 23 the faithful love of the Lord now that word they're faithful love is the Hebrew word has said has said and it's a word that's translated variously the forgiveness the goodness the graciousness for mercy the loving-kindness it's a word that is not easily wrapped in any single English idea it's basically the absolute loving amazing awesomeness of Yahweh the head of Yahweh never ends can somebody say Amen other than Lian yes the head of Yahweh never ends his mercies never cease great is his faithfulness his mercies begin afresh every morning every morning God I said is available His mercies are fresh every single morning if you woke up and you breathed into your lungs and the Sun rose God's mercies are available if the sun is risen his mercy is available to you now this is an interesting little point I want to close on and it's a cool one when Jesus first meets Simon we're moving to the New Testament here and this is cool this is really cool in fact this is a really fascinating indication of just how inspired Scripture is all of these links within links and and the greatest proof of the inspiration of Scripture is Scripture itself people say to me how do you know that the Bible is really the Word of God and I think have you read it have you studied it there is the prima facie evidence of the reality of the inspiration of God's Word is found in the text if you're relating to God's Word as you would like to the Mona Lisa or is something that you observe from afar you might find yourself unmoved but for those of you and those of us that find ourselves in the text wrestling with the text reading the text asking questions of the text studying the text the proof is so to speak in the pudding this is this instance after instance revelation after revelation tie upon tie to be honest and I don't say this in a pious way I feel genuinely sorry for Christian people who are not bathing themselves in Scripture it must be a hard thing to be a Christian if you're not bathing yourself in the text because all you can really do is marshal external compliance to a cultural norm but when you are bathing yourself in the text when you have dug a little bit and as we talked about you have found a castle oh you go in that castle you live in that castle you dwell in that castle God's Word speaks to you Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12 the Word of God is quick and powerful living and powerful sharper than any two-edged sword oh my heart breaks for well-meaning sincere beautiful Christian people who don't really spend any significant or appreciable time in the text where are you getting your power from if you're not in the text there is no power right if it's if it's YouTube and State of Origin and don't get me wrong you can read a little you can watch a little State of Origin but not watch State of Origin and not made yourself in the text look at this this is so cool so Jesus meets Peter and look at what he calls Jesus looked at him he said you are Simon the son of John you should be called Cephas which is translated Peter simple question what is peter's dad's name john so his last name would have been Johnson right he lived in today's time he'd be a Johnson he'd be like Kevin Darnell Kobe and the team he'd be a it be a Johnson Peter Johnson okay and watch this John chapter 21 right at the end of the Gospel of John so when they had finished breakfast jesus said to Simon Peter Simon son of John Peter Johnson do you love me more than these you said yeah you know I love you more than these and he said then feed my lambs 10 my lambs now watch this this is right in that pivotal section of the Gospel of Matthew we've studied to the Gospel of Matthew so some of you might even remember this there's that teetering point on which the whole Gospel of Matthew hinges and it's Matthew chapter 16 where Jesus says who do people think I am who do people think I am and they say well man some people think you're John the Baptist some think you're Elijah or one of the prophets something some people people think you're a lot of things Jesus and then Jesus says who do you think I am and right here the whole Gospel of Matthew tips into the second half well you're the Christ the Son of the Living God Nancy Jeff you're the Christ the Son of the Living God now watch this this is cool this is Peter that says that you're the Christ and watch this and Jesus said to him blessed are you simon barjona you know what barjona means son of Jonah we've already established that Peters a Johnson he's the son of John and Jesus does something really and really cool here Oh Peter you've given the right answer man you're like a son of Jonah and I can imagine that Peter would be like no no it's it's John Jesus my dad's name is John I'm a Johnson not a jónasson Simon son of Jonah flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my father who is in heaven from that time Jesus began to show his disciples why son of Jonah from that time and here comes the tip from that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem what's going to happen there he's going to suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes what's going to happen he's gonna be killed and he's going to be raised again the third day ah ha ha Simon son of Jonah is not having any of that Peter took him aside and he began to reviewing it rebuke him it's a god forbid Lord this is never going to happen to you that's not going to happen watch this but he turned and he said to peter simon barjona get behind me Satan you were a stumbling block to me for you are not setting your mind on God's interests but on man's interests Simon son of Jonah check this out Kevin young blood in his book Jonah God scandalous mercy says Jesus likely created a pun because they are very close Yanis and Johannes very close Jesus very likely created a pun here based on the name of Peter's father in order to call to mind the renegade Old Testament prophet Jonah I'm going to go a step further than Youngblood he didn't likely do it he certainly did it check this out this is so cool so I spent this week looking at the story of Peter in contrasting it with the story of Jonah and it's amazing both of them rejected a difficult calling Jonah go to Nineveh he flees to Tarshish Jesus says I'm the Messiah I'm going to die and Peter's like that's not going to happen both of them are hearing things they don't want to hear and they resist it and reject it point of connection number one number two both resisted unwelcome outcomes in those uninviting calls as we're going to see when we get down to the repentance of nineveh jonah is anything but pleased he does not like the outcome peter does not like the outcome of following a messiah that ends up on a roman so both of them will resist unwelcome outcomes number three this is so cool both Peter and Jonah were called to cross the unthinkable barrier of Jew Gentile go to Nineveh a city that belongs to me and God called Peter he he called Peter and he said go to the house of one Cornelius number four both had miraculous animal encounters whoa what now I'm just going to remind you here that the Gospels are written 800 years after the Book of Jonah 600 years 800 years after the story of Jonah 600 years after the writing of Jonah okay so Jonah had this like swallowed by a fish released Peter has this like crazy dream of animals walking through sheets they both have these weird things that pivot on animals form or both saw Gentiles respond favorably to Yahweh when Peter came in to Cornelius house the Gentiles were so filled with the holy spirit they began to speak with tongues and Peter oversaw the baptism of Gentiles number six this is so crazy what are the chances of this Joppa is where Peter was when he received the vision of the sheet go look it up accent he was in Joppa at Simon the Tanners house where was it that Jonah began his journey that was supposed to go to Nineveh but instead he went in the opposite direction Joppa by the way if you look up Joppa in the Bible it only occurs just like like three times you got the Jonas story you got the Peter story in acts 9 and 10 like one other time both had unexpected preaching success when Peter stood up and preached on the day of Pentecost somebody preached in the house of Cornelius they had no idea that there's going to be thousands of conversions when Jonah walked into the city of Nineveh began to preach he had no idea that there's going to be a hundred twenty thousand saved whether or not they were fully saved they responded enough for God to grant them a second chance we're gonna get to that in just a second and this is the punchline both received a second opportunity the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time Peter denies Jesus with crying and cursing and and with with cursing and sighing and he gets another chance another commission both received a second opportunity and thus our sermon title like father like son both received a second opportunity and this got me thinking you know what most biblical stories are stories of second chances Jonah is not unique in this regard here's a tour de force of Scripture Adam and Eve were covered by Grace and given a promised second chance Adam and Eve what about the Noah's story Noah built a boat so that humanity could have a one second chance how about the Abraham story Abraham and Sarah were called out of Earth so that they could have a second chance they conspired and had Ishmael but God gave him Isaac and a second chance Jacob returned home after 20 years where he deceived his father Isaac he returned home and he got a he got a second chance he wrestled with God and his name was no longer Yaakov which is deceiver his name was now Israel which means one who has prevailed with God his name means you get a second chance you get a second chance Joseph's brothers betrayed him but he became a second in charge in Egypt you want to talk about a second chance at life that's a new lease on life my friends Moses murdered a man but he was given a second chance we can go through the entire Bible Israel refused to enter Canaan but they received a second chance when they refused to go in David took Bathsheba any murdered her husband Uriah but he received a second chance Solomon wandered far from God he received a second chance Jonah fled God's presence and call but he was given a second chance that's what we're studying here Israel and Judah were carried away into captivity but they received a second chance let's go to the New Testament Mary was caught in adultery but she received a second chance some of it one of these shoes is going to fit you one of these shoes is going to fit you whether it's the Jacobs shoe or the no issue or the Mary shoe or the one of these shoes is going to fit Lazarus died and he was given a second chance probably that shoe doesn't fit yet Peter denied Jesus with cursing and lying and he was given a second chance Maur chapter 16 verses 6 to 7 I love this when the when Jesus has rose from the dead and the ladies have come and they find they are the Angels at the tomb the angel says do not be alarmed you seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified he's not here he's risen see the place where they laid him and I've always loved this but go tell his disciples and Peter he is going before you into Galilee there you will see him as he said to you why and Peter because Peter probably didn't yet know that he had a second chance make sure you tell Peter to because he's not going to think he's going to think he blew it have you ever thought you blew it and then God gave you a second chance and Peter and Peter go tell his disciples and Peter I love the CS Lewis quote every story of conversion is a story of blessed defeat Jonah is on that journey not only a journey across land and geography to a place called Nineveh he is on a journey in his heart he is transitioning ever so slowly and frankly painfully from mere outward compliance to inward conversion in the Book of Jonah challenges us to look long and hard in the mirror and to say wait a minute am I the recipient of a second chance of course you're the recipient of many second chances hey man you're the recipient of many second chances this is the story of Scripture second chance after second chance after second chance after second chance after second chance after second chance the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time the Jonas story and the Peters story are everybody's story because we all need a second chance this morning we had a baptism and Kibby got a second chance can you say Amen you look at that Andres looking at the wave that's coming he's terrified I'll show you something very interesting notice the glasses on my face Andre saw something that I didn't see look at the second baptism where the glasses go donated them to the ocean that's alright they said they're going to buy me a new pair just kidding there's a baptism these guys got a second chance twenty nine years young raised my good seventh they have in his home went through a circuitous path I'm not going to go into the details here I don't want to embarrass them but their story is no different than your story your story could be told in such a way that you would be hugely embarrassed but you got a second chance we get to look at Jonah's embarrassing story and learn hey wait a minute that guy got a second chance we get to read Peters embarrassing stories in fact I got a second chance if Tiberius gets a second chance and Andre gets a second chance we all get second chances this is the story of Scripture because Yahweh is the God of second chances we have entered Jonah's chapter Jonah chapters 1 & 2 we are now poised to go into Jonah chapters 3 & 4 but we can't even get that Jonah chapter 3 unless the fish regurgitates Jonah if the fish swallows Jonah there is no second chance and there is no chapter 3 and 4 and friends you've never been in the belly of a fish but we have all been and some of us might here today be in the Feli of a bish in a difficult awkward uncomfortable embarrassing humiliating situation perhaps known only to you and your spouse perhaps known only to you and God but some situation that you need to be extricated from some situation that you need to be rescued from some situation in which you would do well to not be looking down on those around you but up to Yahweh and say salvation is from Yahweh God I need a second chance I need another chance at this the whole world knows they need a second chance this is why the cover of almost every men's magazine or women's magazine just the new you eight weeks to a new you new year new you why does everybody want a new start because inside of us Christian or non-christian all of us know that we have at some level fallen and come short of the glory of God and God extends His grace not only to Israel not only to Judah but even to Nineveh God's second chances are for everyone and I wonder if there's anyone here today who's in the midst right now of a significant need of a second chance amen amen some of you are on a second marriage that first marriage didn't work out for it so you got a second marriage summer on a third marriage some of you are on your second a third child and you made a lot of mistakes in that first job thought let's try that again some of you're on your second and third churches some of you have been rebaptised re-baptized some of you have filed bankruptcy God can work with your second chance he can work with where you are he can work with second marriages he can work with drug addicts he can work with rebab his ins he can even work with multiple children God can work with your second chance but I'm begging you and I'm begging myself don't just come with an outward compliance come with your heart come with your heart of hearts and say salvation is from Yahweh so anybody here today that needs a second chance right now second chance raise your hand nice and high anybody right now you're in the need of a you need a second chance yeah I need one father in heaven you were the God of second chances you know us better than we know ourselves you love us more than we could ever love anything your has said to us is immeasurable unfathomable and today I pray that our hearts my heart would be melted by that has said by that mercy by that forgiveness by that magnanimity may we not doubt for a moment that if the Sun has risen your mercies are available they are fresh and there's a second chance waiting at the door of this day to begin anew and to begin with you we respond to you Yahweh the second chance God let everyone say Amen

Channel: Kingscliff Church

Views: 11,427

Rating: 4.8319325 out of 5

Keywords: Kingscliff SDA Church

Id: bqrlYwKoUbY

Length: 60min 16sec (3616 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 18 2017