The Hope of Repentance (Jonah 3)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.120 --> 00:00:05.559 If you're able to remain standing, please do otherwise, feel free to sit 2 00:00:05.639 --> 00:00:11.310 down and we're going to turn our attention now to Jonah, Jonah Chapter Three. 3 00:00:13.789 --> 00:00:18.190 So God has sent his profit to go and preach to the city of 4 00:00:18.190 --> 00:00:26.179 Nineveh. His Prophet refused. God send a storm, which eventually resulted in 5 00:00:26.260 --> 00:00:32.820 Jonah's drowning, but Jonah cried out to the Lord for Salvation in the Lord 6 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:41.250 saved him. Then now, in Jonah chapter three, Jonah is on the 7 00:00:41.289 --> 00:00:47.770 dry land, out of the water, safe and ready to preach. So 8 00:00:47.969 --> 00:00:52.079 God gives him the command again, and we read what happens Jonah Chapter Three. 9 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:56.920 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying 10 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:00.039 arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it 11 00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:06.430 the message that I tell you. So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, 12 00:01:07.109 --> 00:01:11.430 according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city. 13 00:01:11.590 --> 00:01:15.549 Three days journey and breath. Jonah began to go into the city, 14 00:01:15.670 --> 00:01:21.420 going a day's journey, and he called out yet forty days and none of 15 00:01:21.459 --> 00:01:26.379 us shall be overthrown. And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called 16 00:01:26.459 --> 00:01:32.140 for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the 17 00:01:32.260 --> 00:01:37.010 least. The word reached the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne, 18 00:01:37.409 --> 00:01:44.129 removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes, and 19 00:01:44.290 --> 00:01:49.319 he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh. By the decree of the King 20 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:56.120 and his nobles, let neither man nor beast heard, nor flock taste anything. 21 00:01:56.200 --> 00:02:00.319 Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast becuther 22 00:02:00.510 --> 00:02:06.870 covered with sackcloth and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn 23 00:02:06.989 --> 00:02:09.310 from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who 24 00:02:09.469 --> 00:02:15.550 knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that 25 00:02:15.710 --> 00:02:20.060 we may not perish. So when God saw what they did, how they 26 00:02:20.180 --> 00:02:23.460 turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he said he 27 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:30.129 would do to them and he did not do it. Praise God. Please 28 00:02:30.169 --> 00:02:38.889 be seated. Want to talk to you today about the surprising power of God's 29 00:02:38.930 --> 00:02:45.240 grace. We think about surprises. We often think about things that we don't 30 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:49.039 expect. Right. I tell you a quick story. When my brother was 31 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:53.800 on his honeymoon, he and his wife were walking across a street. They 32 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:57.560 were in a crosswalk. There were people coming from the other side and one 33 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:01.590 of these people a man, and when he reached my brother swung hit his 34 00:03:01.830 --> 00:03:07.949 nose and broke it. He had no idea who he was. My brother 35 00:03:07.030 --> 00:03:12.349 didn't he never figured out why this happened. He just sort of stood there 36 00:03:12.469 --> 00:03:15.620 with a bloody nose and then went to the emergency room or something like that, 37 00:03:16.020 --> 00:03:19.780 and that's the end of the story. There's there's no other ending to 38 00:03:19.900 --> 00:03:23.139 that. It was just a surprise out of nowhere. We still don't know 39 00:03:23.379 --> 00:03:29.969 why that happened. Sometimes surprises are like this. They come out of nowhere, 40 00:03:29.969 --> 00:03:34.569 we don't expect them. But there's another kind of surprise. Sometimes we're 41 00:03:34.569 --> 00:03:38.569 surprised by things that we should expect. So another walking story. At our 42 00:03:38.610 --> 00:03:43.879 old house, my kids and I you used to walk down to a basketball 43 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:46.520 court that was on the corner at the end of the street so they could 44 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:50.240 play. It was really close and it was right along this one stretch of 45 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:53.719 sidewalks. So We'd do this, sometimes several times a day and we knew 46 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:58.870 this path well. We'd play Games, talk things like that, but occasionally 47 00:03:59.030 --> 00:04:02.349 I would get stratt distracted. I'd be talking, playing, maybe even reading, 48 00:04:02.830 --> 00:04:08.870 and then whack, I get hit out of nowhere. Well, of 49 00:04:08.949 --> 00:04:14.460 course it's the same branch that is always there every time. Right. I 50 00:04:14.659 --> 00:04:20.500 should have expected this surprise, and yet didn't. Sometimes we're surprised by things 51 00:04:20.540 --> 00:04:26.250 we can't expect. Sometimes we're surprised by things that we can expect and even 52 00:04:26.370 --> 00:04:30.889 should expect, but don't, and Janah three has a lot of these kinds 53 00:04:30.930 --> 00:04:36.170 of surprises. One I want to focus on today is this surprising power of 54 00:04:36.329 --> 00:04:42.839 God's grace. God's grace is in many ways to be expected, as will 55 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:46.560 read in Jonah Chapter Four. Jonah will say, I knew that you were 56 00:04:46.600 --> 00:04:50.800 a gracious God, Merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and 57 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:56.269 relenting from disaster. And yet something about him is sort of frustrated by this. 58 00:04:56.509 --> 00:05:00.829 His expectations, although he knew this, were we're not. Something turned 59 00:05:00.870 --> 00:05:06.620 out different. We sing about God's amazing grace, right, we can also 60 00:05:06.660 --> 00:05:14.699 seeing and wonder at his all powerful grace. The power of God's grace is 61 00:05:14.860 --> 00:05:18.180 one of the most important aspects of his grace and it's worth spending time thinking 62 00:05:18.220 --> 00:05:24.569 about. Sometimes, when people hear the word grace, they think of maybe 63 00:05:24.610 --> 00:05:29.689 a little girl of a summer dress and soft braids, and that's true. 64 00:05:30.649 --> 00:05:33.889 Grace has a sweetness to it, doesn't it? A loveliness to it, 65 00:05:34.009 --> 00:05:38.759 a gentleness to it, in such a way that we may our daughters after 66 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:45.759 after grace. But grace is not weak. Grace, like a wind, 67 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:50.709 can cool your face with a soft breeze, but grace can also power a 68 00:05:50.949 --> 00:05:59.389 wind farm or move an armada of ships across an ocean. Because grace is 69 00:05:59.389 --> 00:06:03.620 an attribute of God, who is powerful. Grace is always able, grace 70 00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:09.660 always does its work. Why? Because God does his work. You remember 71 00:06:09.660 --> 00:06:12.660 what Paul says about the grace of the Gospel. He says it is the 72 00:06:12.899 --> 00:06:17.889 power of God. Why is grace powerful? Because it is of God. 73 00:06:18.050 --> 00:06:24.730 Why does grace always accomplish what it sets out to do? Because God sets 74 00:06:24.769 --> 00:06:29.410 out to accomplish what he wants to do. And you see the power of 75 00:06:29.529 --> 00:06:34.000 God's grace here in some wonderful and memorable ways in the story of Jonah. 76 00:06:35.480 --> 00:06:40.680 One way you see it is the dramatic sending of this word to the people 77 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:46.319 of Nineveh. God speaks to this Prophet and sends him and nothing is going 78 00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:53.110 to stop God from getting that Prophet to that city so that he could announce 79 00:06:53.230 --> 00:07:00.069 this coming judgment and the corrodlary corollary a hope of salvation. Nothing was going 80 00:07:00.189 --> 00:07:03.660 to stop God from doing what he desired. From the storm to the sailors 81 00:07:03.779 --> 00:07:09.980 to the fish, God proves himself sovereign, doesn't he? Jonah says, 82 00:07:10.019 --> 00:07:13.740 I want alert work according to my will, do things according to my way, 83 00:07:14.060 --> 00:07:17.529 and God says, I don't think so. Sometimes this happens in our 84 00:07:17.569 --> 00:07:20.610 life, right we say I am going to flee from the presence of the 85 00:07:20.730 --> 00:07:26.610 Lord and God says, I don't think so. Have you ever found yourself 86 00:07:26.689 --> 00:07:32.439 in the that kind of position? I hope so. It's hard, but 87 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:40.560 it teaches us great things. The power of God one is one reason this 88 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:44.279 can be held very beneficial for us to know, as as we think about 89 00:07:44.279 --> 00:07:48.750 our own evangelistic efforts. When Jesus gave us our great commission to arise and 90 00:07:49.029 --> 00:07:54.430 go, he says, go therefore and make disciples of the nations, go 91 00:07:54.670 --> 00:07:59.899 and preach to the Ninavites and the Tucsonaans and to everyone else. What does 92 00:07:59.939 --> 00:08:05.220 he say before that command? Before that command in Matthew Two thousand and eighty 93 00:08:05.259 --> 00:08:09.379 says all authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to me. And 94 00:08:09.500 --> 00:08:13.129 then after that command he adds these words. Behold, I am with you 95 00:08:13.209 --> 00:08:18.769 always to the end of the age. Those are powerful words. Those are 96 00:08:18.089 --> 00:08:22.490 the words of a commander, of a King sending people out on a mission. 97 00:08:24.129 --> 00:08:28.680 Those are the words of God. So that means when we go to 98 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:33.440 tell people about Jesus, to invite them into discipleship, to train them in 99 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:37.440 their faith, we are not doing something we think will be a good idea, 100 00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:41.429 we're not doing something we're not sort of recommending a book that we happen 101 00:08:41.549 --> 00:08:48.509 to enjoy. We are obeying the marching orders of our divine commander, even 102 00:08:48.549 --> 00:08:52.389 as Jonah, in chapter three, not chapter one, but in chapter three, 103 00:08:52.789 --> 00:08:58.500 obeyed the orders of his divine commander, knowing that the one who scents 104 00:08:58.820 --> 00:09:05.379 sends him is not weak. He's seen that, he's experienced that as he 105 00:09:05.539 --> 00:09:11.009 was drowning in the water, as he was swallowed by the fish, as 106 00:09:11.049 --> 00:09:16.570 he heard these Pagan sailors, and chapter too, calling out and praising and 107 00:09:16.769 --> 00:09:22.649 sacrificing to Yahwe the God who controls and rules and made the sea and the 108 00:09:22.690 --> 00:09:28.480 dry land. So here one way we see the power of God's graces in 109 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:35.159 the sending of his word, Jonah is sent forth and eventually he does go. 110 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:39.870 But the power of God's grace extends not only to getting the word to 111 00:09:41.149 --> 00:09:46.590 people, but also in changing people by that word. In other words, 112 00:09:46.629 --> 00:09:50.269 God only not only controls the sea and the dry land, but also every 113 00:09:50.389 --> 00:10:00.340 human heart. Jonah's heart was changed. Something happened in him, and there's 114 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:05.500 no reason to think that it's because he was eventually drowning that he called out 115 00:10:05.539 --> 00:10:09.409 to the Lord. Obviously God used that, but there were a number of 116 00:10:09.570 --> 00:10:13.490 other things that should have happened that Jonah's heart sort of should have been changed, 117 00:10:13.610 --> 00:10:18.330 humanly speaking, why didn't Jonah feel the pressure of the other sailors and 118 00:10:18.450 --> 00:10:24.559 change his heart? Then? Why didn't Jonah feel the pressure of of of 119 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:28.399 his own confession and in the hypocrisy when he says on the boat God made 120 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:33.720 these things, and yet I'm pure fleeing his presence. That didn't change his 121 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:39.789 mind. It didn't change his mind when they were tirelessly trying to save his 122 00:10:39.070 --> 00:10:43.669 life. It didn't seem to even change his mind when he says might as 123 00:10:43.710 --> 00:10:50.419 well just throw me overboard. Why did it change his mind when he was 124 00:10:50.500 --> 00:10:54.419 drowning? Well, obviously God was using these events in this way, but 125 00:10:54.980 --> 00:11:01.299 ultimately it was God who was using these events. God was changing him, 126 00:11:01.299 --> 00:11:07.490 God was working in him. Jonah was very stubborn, but eventually God changed 127 00:11:07.570 --> 00:11:15.690 him and he cries out, not to himself in chapter two, but to 128 00:11:15.809 --> 00:11:20.639 God. He doesn't put his hope in vain idols or in vain Jonah's he 129 00:11:20.759 --> 00:11:26.919 puts his hope in the Lord for seven, as we have thought about many 130 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:30.519 times, of chapter two, when my life was fainting away, I remembered 131 00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:35.590 the Lord and my prayer came to you. Salvation, Jonah says, belongs 132 00:11:35.789 --> 00:11:39.990 to the Lord, and that's why he called out to him. Why? 133 00:11:39.110 --> 00:11:46.110 Because God's grace is powerful. Salvation is powerful because God is powerful. Some 134 00:11:46.340 --> 00:11:52.139 people, some people like to think that God is powerful over everything except the 135 00:11:52.179 --> 00:11:58.820 human heart, and that's simply not true. Imagine this, okay, imagine 136 00:11:58.899 --> 00:12:05.570 that you're washing your hands and you want to direct you the water to one 137 00:12:05.769 --> 00:12:09.850 side of the sink or another. The littlest people here can think about this 138 00:12:09.929 --> 00:12:15.009 right. We've all stood in front of the sink and washed our hands and 139 00:12:15.129 --> 00:12:18.480 and move the water this way or that way. How much effort does that 140 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:22.879 take you to do to move the water to this side of the sink or 141 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:28.000 that that side of the sink not much right. Or here's another example. 142 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:31.950 I when it's summer and it's hot, not so much when it's raining, 143 00:12:33.070 --> 00:12:37.590 but maybe a month ago. I love to go outside and water the plants 144 00:12:37.629 --> 00:12:39.750 and ever since I was little, and I still enjoy this, I love 145 00:12:39.909 --> 00:12:45.299 putting my thumb right over that I don't know what you call that, or 146 00:12:45.340 --> 00:12:48.940 wherever the water comes out the end of the hose and right and you move 147 00:12:48.980 --> 00:12:50.779 your thumb this way in the water shots that way, you move your thumb 148 00:12:50.860 --> 00:12:54.340 that way in the water shoots that way. You can shoot it strong, 149 00:12:54.659 --> 00:12:58.460 you can spread it out wide up into the trees or right in front of 150 00:12:58.539 --> 00:13:01.929 you, just moving your thumb around over the end of the hose. It's 151 00:13:03.009 --> 00:13:05.929 fun, cools you off. It's an enjoyable thing. It's an easy thing 152 00:13:05.049 --> 00:13:16.559 to do. Well, the Bible says in Palm in there, I'm sorry, 153 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:22.360 in the proverbs, that God moves our hearts just like that, like 154 00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:28.710 it says the stream running in the and God moves the human heart. Actually 155 00:13:28.789 --> 00:13:35.870 doesn't say the human heart, he says the heart of kings. God can 156 00:13:35.990 --> 00:13:41.019 move the heart of a king like stream like a stream of water in the 157 00:13:41.100 --> 00:13:48.419 hand. It's not an amazing thing. Some of us are stronger than others. 158 00:13:48.460 --> 00:13:50.580 Right, some of us have stronger wills than others. Are Kings, 159 00:13:50.700 --> 00:13:56.450 our leaders are commanders. It has been said by many that those who ruled 160 00:13:56.529 --> 00:14:01.250 best are those who rule themselves. Some of US have a weak wills, 161 00:14:01.769 --> 00:14:07.529 but others of us have strong wills, unbendable wills, unbreakable wills by human 162 00:14:07.610 --> 00:14:13.840 standards. But we know from the words of scripture and the stories in our 163 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:18.799 own lives that even the hearts of kings can be easily moved by God. 164 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:24.990 Proverbs two and twenty one. The king's heart is a stream of water in 165 00:14:24.029 --> 00:14:30.230 the hand of Yahwe, he turns it wherever he will. And isn't that 166 00:14:30.470 --> 00:14:37.350 exactly what we're seeing right here? The King of Ninaven, this great king 167 00:14:37.549 --> 00:14:43.659 of this great city, of a great people that are currently conquering armies and 168 00:14:45.019 --> 00:14:52.860 nations and cities that are known for not being pushovers, for destroying all who 169 00:14:52.009 --> 00:14:56.490 they set their eyes on. And yet with a single prophet, a single 170 00:14:56.889 --> 00:15:01.970 begrudging Prophet of God, God is able to move the heart of this wicked 171 00:15:03.090 --> 00:15:07.720 king and this wicked people so that the whole city, down to the animals, 172 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:13.399 are repenting. But the animals need repentance. But the king calls them 173 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:16.840 all into this work. The whole city, the whole people, are going 174 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:22.750 to get down on their knees, even literally, it says. He rises 175 00:15:22.909 --> 00:15:28.509 up from the throne and puts himself down in ashes. What do you do? 176 00:15:28.230 --> 00:15:33.470 What did you do the last time you dealt with ashes? You probably 177 00:15:33.470 --> 00:15:37.860 did everything you could to avoid getting them on you. Why? Because they're 178 00:15:37.899 --> 00:15:43.419 dirty, they're really, really messy. This king stands up from his throne 179 00:15:43.779 --> 00:15:50.129 and sits down in ashes. He covers, he soils himself, he puts 180 00:15:50.250 --> 00:15:56.889 sackcloth on himself, he removes his robes, he issues a decree, he 181 00:15:56.090 --> 00:16:03.529 calls everyone. No one's eating, no one's drinking. Why? Because we're 182 00:16:03.570 --> 00:16:07.720 facing impending doom. But this is what a good king does when his city 183 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:15.320 is under attack. But notice, instead of strengthening themselves, instead of building 184 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:19.750 up their resources, making them stroll stronger, manning the walls, getting the 185 00:16:19.870 --> 00:16:23.750 armies ready, what does he do? They go to a play lease of 186 00:16:23.830 --> 00:16:32.029 weakness. They deprived themselves of food and water. Instead of rising up to 187 00:16:32.190 --> 00:16:37.139 his throne and calling his nobles to Himself, he steps off of his throne 188 00:16:37.179 --> 00:16:42.779 and him, with his nobles, call all the city into repentance, repentance 189 00:16:44.259 --> 00:16:47.100 that he knows is necessary. And you hear it in his decree. He 190 00:16:47.210 --> 00:16:52.129 says we need to turn from our evil way. He knows that what they 191 00:16:52.169 --> 00:16:56.210 have been doing is not right and that they are going to be judged by 192 00:16:56.250 --> 00:17:03.200 it and judged for it, and he knows that no amount of posturing or 193 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:11.039 strengthening or armies is going to with stall forcedall, not sure what the right 194 00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:17.789 word it is, pulled off this attack. Nothing will keep back the hand 195 00:17:17.910 --> 00:17:21.670 of the Lord, the hand of Yahway, when he sets to do his 196 00:17:21.829 --> 00:17:26.789 holy will. So what option does he have? What option do you have 197 00:17:27.430 --> 00:17:33.900 when the Lord says I am coming in judgment for your sins? Bargaining, 198 00:17:36.099 --> 00:17:42.779 no gift giving. Know all you can do is what the king does hear 199 00:17:44.650 --> 00:17:51.130 repent of your sins and say perhaps the Lord will turn from disaster, perhaps 200 00:17:51.210 --> 00:17:56.890 he will be gracious. That's all that we can rely on when we find 201 00:17:56.970 --> 00:18:04.839 ourselves sitting in the ashes of our sin and the coming judgment of God. 202 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:10.039 That's all that we can do. All that we can do is rely on 203 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:18.950 God's grace and God's grace is powerful. It's even so powerful that he can 204 00:18:18.109 --> 00:18:26.220 both enact justice and grace at the same time, that God cannot just look 205 00:18:26.259 --> 00:18:30.900 of the other way at an evil city, at an evil king, and 206 00:18:30.019 --> 00:18:33.779 sort of pat them on the back and say now, now, I guess 207 00:18:33.819 --> 00:18:37.900 everything that you've been doing is just fine. No, God still will have 208 00:18:37.140 --> 00:18:42.569 his justice, he still will have his judgment, and yet somehow he can 209 00:18:42.609 --> 00:18:48.890 also have grace, he can also have forgiveness. That's how powerful grace is, 210 00:18:49.769 --> 00:18:55.799 that's how almighty God is, and that's why the king of Nineveh was 211 00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:59.720 right, and the people, from the greatest to the least, were right 212 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:07.960 to turn away from their sins and turn unto the Living God, because just 213 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:12.950 as because God's will, because God's grace is powerful. The how did all 214 00:19:14.029 --> 00:19:17.910 that happen? How do you have one of the most evil, wicked kings 215 00:19:17.990 --> 00:19:22.589 and all of history with a heart like this all of a sudden, but 216 00:19:22.710 --> 00:19:29.380 a prophet walking into town with his hands in his pockets saying everybody, you 217 00:19:29.420 --> 00:19:33.460 should be over with God's going to overthrow the city, and they all turn 218 00:19:33.660 --> 00:19:44.329 like that. How can you have weak preaching and then hearts change powerful grace? 219 00:19:44.369 --> 00:19:48.529 I don't know how else the power of God's grace working through his word. 220 00:19:51.130 --> 00:19:53.440 This is what Paul says. He says to the Corinthians. I didn't 221 00:19:53.440 --> 00:20:02.160 come preaching of great sophistry and amazing words and Fine Art. I was clear 222 00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:07.549 about the Gospel. I preached that. I preached Christ in Him Crucified. 223 00:20:07.190 --> 00:20:12.630 And Look what the Lord has done. The power of the Gospel is unto 224 00:20:12.789 --> 00:20:18.670 salvation, he says in Romans to those who believe. Does what Paul Prays 225 00:20:18.789 --> 00:20:22.299 for it. When he prays, he prays and asks for prayer that the 226 00:20:22.980 --> 00:20:26.460 doors would be open for the work of the Gospel, that Christ would be 227 00:20:26.500 --> 00:20:33.299 at work, as in his preaching, and we see that happening here. 228 00:20:33.380 --> 00:20:37.529 It's an amazing thing when God sends out his word, when he commands as 229 00:20:37.569 --> 00:20:41.809 a great and Almighty King for the Gospel to go forth. It doesn't go 230 00:20:41.970 --> 00:20:48.410 out into the void. God's not a blogger with no followers, just typing 231 00:20:48.490 --> 00:20:55.279 away and hoping maybe someone will hear posting into the void, or even he's 232 00:20:55.279 --> 00:21:00.640 not a basketball coach or a CEO or a commanding father or even a king. 233 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:06.869 Sometimes leaders have authority to direct and send out their words and they are 234 00:21:06.950 --> 00:21:11.549 heated in the way even is, the King of Nineveh does. But the 235 00:21:11.710 --> 00:21:18.549 power of a human word is always very limited. We are always very limited. 236 00:21:18.420 --> 00:21:23.579 That's why our will and our word as only goes so far. This 237 00:21:23.779 --> 00:21:27.940 week I was reading the meditations of Marcus Aurelius. He is, was one 238 00:21:27.980 --> 00:21:34.450 of the Roman emperor's and I guess from what we know, or what we 239 00:21:34.529 --> 00:21:37.289 think we know, that these things were just things he sort of wrote to 240 00:21:37.369 --> 00:21:42.450 himself and then eventually have been published and republished and republish. There's a lot 241 00:21:42.450 --> 00:21:45.650 of wisdom in there, a lot of foolishness too, but one of the 242 00:21:45.769 --> 00:21:53.039 wise things he notice is is the weakness of humanity. I think he even 243 00:21:53.079 --> 00:21:59.359 eventually says something like turn not to humanity for your strength. Remember who's saying 244 00:21:59.480 --> 00:22:03.990 this? One of the Great Roman emperors, and part of his argument is 245 00:22:04.069 --> 00:22:11.069 this. He says he I think he says something like what doctor, what 246 00:22:11.309 --> 00:22:18.339 doctor WHO's contracted his brows over his own patience, has not eventually died himself? 247 00:22:18.700 --> 00:22:25.619 What great hero and Victor who has conquered armies and slaved men does not 248 00:22:25.740 --> 00:22:30.730 eventually himself get slain? He gives a number of examples like this, examples 249 00:22:30.769 --> 00:22:34.250 of people who exert all kinds of power and will and do good in this 250 00:22:34.369 --> 00:22:41.569 world and then eventually are gone. That's it. Now he takes that and 251 00:22:41.849 --> 00:22:48.519 thought and in ways that I wouldn't recommend. But his observation is correct, 252 00:22:48.599 --> 00:22:53.039 isn't it? He's speaking the words of ECCLESIASTES. Vanity of vanity is all 253 00:22:53.160 --> 00:22:57.750 this energy, all this effort in proof it's gone. This is life under 254 00:22:57.789 --> 00:23:03.230 the Sun. So don't trust it. Don't trust in the power of kings, 255 00:23:03.309 --> 00:23:07.509 don't trust in the power of people. Our word, our wills are 256 00:23:07.789 --> 00:23:15.339 very, very limited, but not so with God. The power of His 257 00:23:15.460 --> 00:23:19.099 grace, as we see here in Jonah three, can accomplish everything that he 258 00:23:19.299 --> 00:23:25.740 sets out to do. The human word is one thing, the divine word 259 00:23:25.900 --> 00:23:32.009 is another, and it always, God always accomplishes what he desires. We 260 00:23:32.130 --> 00:23:37.049 need to remember this when we consider God's command to us to go and make 261 00:23:37.170 --> 00:23:41.720 disciples, to arise and go forth to another. Will we be like Jonah, 262 00:23:41.799 --> 00:23:45.920 refusing and trusting and even angry at the mercy of God, or will 263 00:23:45.960 --> 00:23:49.599 we remember that when God sends forth his word of grace, it goes forth 264 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:56.190 with power, that it's issued with a kingly command and it's accompanied with God's 265 00:23:56.230 --> 00:24:03.109 kingly energy. What are the ways in which we are trusting and not trusting 266 00:24:03.269 --> 00:24:07.069 God? What are the ways in which we doubt him in his power? 267 00:24:11.140 --> 00:24:15.220 What about you? Isn't that a good question to ask? Wouldn't that have 268 00:24:15.299 --> 00:24:19.140 been a good question for Jonah asked at the beginning of this book? Think 269 00:24:19.180 --> 00:24:25.009 about that. What if Jonah had reflected and taken to heart the very message 270 00:24:25.049 --> 00:24:30.970 that he was called to preach about the power of God? First, I 271 00:24:30.009 --> 00:24:34.609 think he would have more greatly feared the Lord. Instead of casually looking for 272 00:24:34.690 --> 00:24:38.880 a ship, he would been looking for lightning strikes. Right, you don't 273 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:42.880 flee the presence of the Lord, simply walk out and say I'm just not 274 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:47.920 going to do that. You don't do that when you understand and you believe 275 00:24:48.680 --> 00:24:53.910 really deep down and the power of God. Jonah seemed to think, like 276 00:24:55.029 --> 00:24:56.549 we all do when we set out on a path of sin, that God 277 00:24:56.670 --> 00:25:02.589 simply doesn't care or that he's unable to do anything about our sin. But, 278 00:25:02.789 --> 00:25:07.420 as we see here, he does care and he is able. If 279 00:25:07.460 --> 00:25:11.140 Jonah had reflected on the power of God more, perhaps he would have changed 280 00:25:11.220 --> 00:25:15.539 his mind given more weight to the command that he had been given. But 281 00:25:15.660 --> 00:25:19.859 when we think about the power of God's grace, and particular, I also 282 00:25:19.900 --> 00:25:23.849 think that if Jonah had trusted more in the power of his grace, he 283 00:25:23.930 --> 00:25:29.049 would have liked the Ninovites, had a much better response to the evil inclinations 284 00:25:29.130 --> 00:25:33.329 of his heart. As you're thinking about the things that you fear, the 285 00:25:33.450 --> 00:25:37.640 sins that you love, the things that you struggle with, think about the 286 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:40.599 Ninovites. When the Ninovites heard the word of the Lord. Did they run? 287 00:25:40.680 --> 00:25:42.839 Do they flee the presence of the Lord? That they decide they're going 288 00:25:42.839 --> 00:25:47.319 to just keep doing what they're doing because maybe God doesn't care or maybe he 289 00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:52.430 can't do anything about it, like Jonah did? No, they stopped right 290 00:25:52.549 --> 00:25:56.829 in their tracks, dead in their tracks. What about those times when you 291 00:25:56.950 --> 00:26:00.990 feel like you don't have the will power to stop in your tracks, to 292 00:26:02.190 --> 00:26:07.019 turn from your evil ways? What will you do? I would encourage you 293 00:26:07.019 --> 00:26:12.500 to trust in the power of God's grace when you find you have no will 294 00:26:12.779 --> 00:26:18.890 power, no power of the will trust and the will of God. In 295 00:26:19.130 --> 00:26:25.970 God's will power, it's much stronger than yours. You can rely on it, 296 00:26:26.130 --> 00:26:30.930 as we see here. And we see that. And why does God 297 00:26:30.009 --> 00:26:36.119 give it that to us because he's gracious. There is this power in His 298 00:26:36.359 --> 00:26:41.279 grace. So ask yourself what is stronger? My flesh or God's spirit? 299 00:26:41.960 --> 00:26:48.390 My Sin or the blood of Christ, my lust's or God's love? The 300 00:26:48.549 --> 00:26:53.950 answer is obvious in every question. God. God is stronger, God is 301 00:26:55.029 --> 00:27:00.349 more powerful, he is stronger than anything, and that includes when he is 302 00:27:00.390 --> 00:27:06.220 acting according to His grace. How is it that God can both have justice 303 00:27:06.380 --> 00:27:14.299 and grace at the same time? How? Because it is almighty power. 304 00:27:14.819 --> 00:27:18.930 He sends his own son into the world to be born of a virgin. 305 00:27:19.609 --> 00:27:30.119 Power to live a perfect life of righteousness, power to go to a cross 306 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:42.160 willingly, power to die for our sins, power to defeat our sins and 307 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:52.230 death itself and rise again from the grave in glorious resurrected life. Power. 308 00:27:55.190 --> 00:28:00.259 God exercises this power through the work of his son on the Cross and in 309 00:28:00.660 --> 00:28:06.059 that and as he hangs there and as he dies there, he takes on 310 00:28:06.299 --> 00:28:08.660 the sins of the world in such a way that God is not going to 311 00:28:08.940 --> 00:28:14.809 overlook the atrocities of the Ninovites or the evil things that you have done, 312 00:28:15.170 --> 00:28:21.609 but he will take them on himself. He will put them so much he's 313 00:28:21.650 --> 00:28:25.890 not overlooking them. He's putting them so much under his sight that he is 314 00:28:26.130 --> 00:28:33.799 there on the cross bearing them. That's how God deals with our sins. 315 00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:40.440 He takes the penalty of death that is owed to us, all of us, 316 00:28:40.839 --> 00:28:44.990 and he puts it on himself so that then he can extend, on 317 00:28:45.109 --> 00:28:52.069 the basis of that this offer. Trust in me, trust in my death, 318 00:28:52.150 --> 00:28:57.099 and you will not have one yourself. You will have forgiveness of your 319 00:28:57.140 --> 00:29:00.819 sins. You will, instead of have the punishment for sin, death, 320 00:29:02.180 --> 00:29:07.819 you will have the reward for life, life, the reward for righteousness, 321 00:29:07.660 --> 00:29:15.170 life. God tells us that His grace can cover all sin. It can 322 00:29:15.289 --> 00:29:18.529 remove it as far as the East is from the West. That's power. 323 00:29:18.410 --> 00:29:22.410 He can conquer and subdue your heart. He can provide you, as first 324 00:29:22.450 --> 00:29:29.519 corinthians thirteen says, a need to a way of escape from every temptation. 325 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:36.799 This power of God's grace has testified about again and again and again, visibly 326 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:42.589 demonstrated in the resurrected resurrection of Christ from the dead, where he rose as 327 00:29:42.589 --> 00:29:48.430 a conquering king, and it's through that grace that we and everyone else in 328 00:29:48.549 --> 00:29:55.299 the world are saved. The Cross and the resurrection of particular, is the 329 00:29:55.380 --> 00:30:00.460 certification of the power of God. What other proof do you need of God's 330 00:30:00.660 --> 00:30:06.500 great will power, of the power of His grace? Jesus didn't rise from 331 00:30:06.500 --> 00:30:10.329 the dead as a neat trick. He rose from the dead as one who 332 00:30:10.329 --> 00:30:18.250 had conquered death himself. Ever since the fall of mankind and to sin, 333 00:30:18.369 --> 00:30:23.240 those who have been saved have been saved by God's grace, have been saved 334 00:30:23.240 --> 00:30:27.720 by his powerful grace, by the work of the son who has brought all 335 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:33.359 these things to completion. That's good news for you. It's good news for 336 00:30:33.480 --> 00:30:38.430 us that, by the power of His grace, grace is accomplished and these 337 00:30:38.549 --> 00:30:44.869 things come to us, they come to you even to day in the preaching 338 00:30:45.109 --> 00:30:51.779 of God's Word, in his divine word. Acts for thirty three tells us 339 00:30:51.819 --> 00:30:56.900 that after the resurrection, the Church began in its work of evangelism, it 340 00:30:56.019 --> 00:31:00.380 began its great commission. And we read an act that, with great power, 341 00:31:00.619 --> 00:31:06.609 the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, 342 00:31:07.170 --> 00:31:12.089 Great Power, and it goes on and says, and great grace was upon 343 00:31:12.210 --> 00:31:18.680 them. All that work continues to day in the Apostolic Church, and that's 344 00:31:18.680 --> 00:31:22.960 important because it means you don't have to wait for the power of God to 345 00:31:22.039 --> 00:31:26.359 manifest itself in your lives. You don't have to sit around and wait for 346 00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:30.039 God to show up. You don't need to wait to be thrown into a 347 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:36.869 sea before you've confinally trust in God, before you finally bring to him your 348 00:31:36.950 --> 00:31:41.589 rebellion, in your sin and receive from him his goodness and grace. Because, 349 00:31:41.589 --> 00:31:47.220 as in the preaching of Jonah, as in the preaching of the apostles, 350 00:31:47.259 --> 00:31:52.500 as in the preaching of this church, God is present, he is 351 00:31:52.619 --> 00:31:57.019 active, he is alive, his word working like a sword dividing the heart. 352 00:32:00.339 --> 00:32:02.650 So you can trust him for that. That's what I'm saying. You 353 00:32:02.730 --> 00:32:07.170 can trust him that his divine word is at work and hold fast to that 354 00:32:07.329 --> 00:32:12.809 hope that he is offering in you blab it. Don't trust in your own 355 00:32:12.890 --> 00:32:17.119 power, trust in his and wherever you have doubts, wherever you have sin, 356 00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:22.039 give those to him as well. Is The power of God s grace 357 00:32:22.119 --> 00:32:30.950 surprising to you? It may be. Sometimes surprises me. Sometimes I doubt 358 00:32:30.029 --> 00:32:35.910 God's willingness or his ability to help me, to help those people I love. 359 00:32:37.309 --> 00:32:42.589 But this is a problem in us, not in him. You don't 360 00:32:42.589 --> 00:32:46.819 need to be surprised at His grace. You need to trust it. Let's 361 00:32:46.859 --> pray