The Rottenness of Anger (Jonah 4)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.080 Let's turn our attention to Jonah, Chapter Four. If you have one of 2 00:00:04.120 --> 00:00:08.990 the black bibles from the back cart, you'll find this chapter of the Bible 3 00:00:09.189 --> 00:00:15.109 on page seven hundred and seventy five, seven, seven five. All right, 4 00:00:15.150 --> 00:00:22.339 let's give our attention to God's word. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly and 5 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:28.059 he was angry and he prayed to the Lord and said, Oh Lord, 6 00:00:29.620 --> 00:00:33.539 is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That 7 00:00:33.859 --> 00:00:37.810 is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you 8 00:00:38.049 --> 00:00:43.369 are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding insteadfast love and 9 00:00:43.570 --> 00:00:48.890 relenting from disaster. Therefore, now, oh Lord, please take my life 10 00:00:48.929 --> 00:00:53.799 from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. 11 00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:02.280 And the Lord said, do you do well to be angry, Jonah went 12 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:04.829 out of the city and sat on the sat to the east of the city 13 00:01:04.870 --> 00:01:08.269 and made a booth for himself there, and he sat under it in the 14 00:01:08.349 --> 00:01:14.870 shade till he should see what would become of the city. Now the Lord 15 00:01:14.989 --> 00:01:19.019 God, appointed a plant and made it to come up over Jonah that it 16 00:01:19.099 --> 00:01:23.060 might be a shade over his head to save him from his great discomfort. 17 00:01:23.060 --> 00:01:30.060 So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came up 18 00:01:30.099 --> 00:01:33.689 the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it 19 00:01:33.810 --> 00:01:38.530 withered. When the sun rose, got appointed a scorching east wind, and 20 00:01:38.730 --> 00:01:42.450 the Sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and 21 00:01:42.569 --> 00:01:46.650 he asked that he might die and said it is better for me to die 22 00:01:46.810 --> 00:01:52.280 than to live. But God said to Jonah, do you do well to 23 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:56.640 be angry for the plant? And he said yes, I do well to 24 00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:01.310 be angry, angry enough to die. And the Lord said you pity the 25 00:02:01.390 --> 00:02:05.909 plant, for which you did not Labor, nor did you make it grow, 26 00:02:06.390 --> 00:02:08.629 which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And 27 00:02:08.789 --> 00:02:13.710 should I not pity Nineveh, that great city in which there are more than 28 00:02:13.710 --> 00:02:16.780 a hundred and Twentyzero persons who do not know their right hand from their left, 29 00:02:17.300 --> 00:02:23.780 and also much cattle sends the reading of God's word, may bless it 30 00:02:23.860 --> 00:02:28.379 to us. You may be seated if you don't know the story of Jonah. 31 00:02:28.419 --> 00:02:31.330 You could probably pick up most of the details just here from chapter four 32 00:02:31.449 --> 00:02:35.930 to get a sense of what's going on, but I will remind you just 33 00:02:36.050 --> 00:02:39.969 a little bit, to maybe connect a few dots. First of all, 34 00:02:40.370 --> 00:02:46.520 Jonah was appointed for something. That appointing is a word that comes up a 35 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:52.719 lot. In Chapter Four, God appointed a plant, or at least it 36 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:53.919 comes up twice, I should say it. Maybe not a lot, but 37 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:58.360 it comes up twice. It got appoints a plant, the plant grows, 38 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:02.150 it covers him. We read that God appoints a worm who attacks the plant. 39 00:03:02.909 --> 00:03:07.150 Here's a third one. Got Appoints the scorching east wind to bear down 40 00:03:07.669 --> 00:03:13.259 the sun, to beat down on the head of Jonah. God appoints these 41 00:03:13.300 --> 00:03:15.740 things and there have been other appointings in the book as well. There was 42 00:03:15.939 --> 00:03:21.939 an appointing of us, of a tempest, another wind that came upon the 43 00:03:22.020 --> 00:03:25.620 sea. There was an appointing of a fish that swallowed Jonah. But the 44 00:03:25.699 --> 00:03:30.009 whole book, the whole book of joining Jonah, begins with an appointing, 45 00:03:30.889 --> 00:03:37.090 the appointing of Jonah. Jonah was appointed to go to this great city, 46 00:03:37.129 --> 00:03:40.330 Nineveh, that we just read of, this city of confused people. That's 47 00:03:40.370 --> 00:03:45.199 how we might describe, though, the idiom that use there at the end 48 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:47.479 of a hundred and twenty thousand people that don't know their right hand from their 49 00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:50.840 left, they don't know up from down, they don't even know what they're 50 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:55.789 doing. They're confused people, a sinful people, a mixed up people. 51 00:03:55.949 --> 00:04:00.310 There they are a mess. And Jonah is called to go to this city 52 00:04:00.389 --> 00:04:04.509 and to preach to them and tell them that the Lord's wrath is coming if 53 00:04:04.590 --> 00:04:10.300 they stay in their sin. And Jonah, instead of saying yes, sir, 54 00:04:10.580 --> 00:04:14.620 which is what you say to a King, a commander, to God, 55 00:04:15.699 --> 00:04:19.620 he says I'm out of her and Jonah Fleece. Jonah gets on a 56 00:04:19.660 --> 00:04:24.930 boat, he tries to flee the opposite direction from Nineveh to go to Tarshish, 57 00:04:25.649 --> 00:04:30.250 many many miles away. Instead of crossing the land to go to Nineveh, 58 00:04:30.370 --> 00:04:33.610 he crosses the sea. or to go to to go to Nineveh, 59 00:04:33.649 --> 00:04:39.519 he crosses the sea to go to tarshish. Well, Jonah fails in this 60 00:04:39.720 --> 00:04:45.399 task and through a series of events, he eventually does wind up in Nineveh 61 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:53.029 and does preach to them, but his heart isn't perfect yet. At least 62 00:04:53.029 --> 00:05:00.189 Jonah, in some ways is still confused or still frustrated or, we can 63 00:05:00.230 --> 00:05:06.660 say with certainty, still angry. Jonah is not just angry. What does 64 00:05:06.740 --> 00:05:14.259 the Bible say exceedingly angry. We have more coarse words from this which I 65 00:05:14.300 --> 00:05:19.459 won't use now. But Jonah is really mad, really really mad, and 66 00:05:24.529 --> 00:05:29.569 God points this out to him. Sometimes God points things out to us. 67 00:05:30.850 --> 00:05:31.649 We don't always like it, and a lot, a lot of times it 68 00:05:31.730 --> 00:05:36.360 has to do with our anger. I saw a funny picture of a of 69 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:43.959 a Chihuahba with its skin pulled back in, its eyes bulging and its teeth 70 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:47.319 bear. That's little needly teeth go like this. It's the captain says, 71 00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:55.990 I'm not angry. Right. Maybe you've said, though, those very words 72 00:05:56.149 --> 00:06:01.430 in a moment of anger. I'm not yelling, I'm not angry, you're 73 00:06:01.470 --> 00:06:12.540 not. Jonah is angry and the Lord asks this very pointed question. Twice. 74 00:06:12.819 --> 00:06:17.610 He asks it. Do you do well to be angry? It reminds 75 00:06:17.649 --> 00:06:27.730 me of of the Lord's question to Adam, Adam and Eve. Did you 76 00:06:27.810 --> 00:06:33.000 eat of the fruit or de Kine? Where's your brother? These questions that, 77 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:36.040 of course, the Lord knows the answer to, but they're asked to 78 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:41.920 us in this very pointed way to knock us off our high horse, to 79 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:46.120 make us think about what is going on in our hearts. Do you do 80 00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:53.990 well to be angry. Well, Jonah thinks the answer is yes, yes, 81 00:06:54.069 --> 00:06:56.589 I do well to be angry. How dare you talk to me that 82 00:06:56.750 --> 00:07:04.860 way? and well, it's often difficult to see our own anger, and 83 00:07:04.980 --> 00:07:13.980 I think that's why I'm God points that's out for Jonah. It's often not 84 00:07:14.100 --> 00:07:23.370 hard to see other people US anger. Right, Jonah looks ridiculous, especially 85 00:07:23.410 --> 00:07:33.480 here in verse two. He's exceedingly angry, he's displeased exceedingly. He goes 86 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:39.920 out and he says to God, a Lord, is this not what I 87 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:43.680 said? I told you this was going to happen. I knew that you 88 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:49.310 were slow to anger and merciful and gracious and abounding in steadfast love and relenting 89 00:07:49.389 --> 00:07:54.670 from disaster. Just kill me now. All right, you look at this 90 00:07:54.870 --> 00:07:58.579 and you say, what is the matter with you? All right, this 91 00:07:58.779 --> 00:08:03.980 is like saying you know your your your your your rich uncle gives to you 92 00:08:03.180 --> 00:08:07.100 a bajillion dollars. You say, I knew you were gonna do this and 93 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:11.980 now I'm going to have no want for the rest of my life and I'm 94 00:08:11.019 --> 00:08:16.209 going to have everything I could ever imagine and I'm so mad at you. 95 00:08:16.370 --> 00:08:24.769 What except riches? We know even those can be a wait and a burden. 96 00:08:24.810 --> 00:08:28.240 Right, scripture talks about that. There's even maybe, even in that 97 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:33.799 situation, you might have some sort of reason in which to say thank you, 98 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:39.840 uncle, but no, thanks, but not. There's no qualification, 99 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:45.750 no pot visible way in which we might want to say I don't think I 100 00:08:45.830 --> 00:08:50.149 should have the mercy of God. There's no situation in which you would want 101 00:08:50.149 --> 00:08:56.740 to sidestep God's abounding insteadstat steadfast love and say, well, you know, 102 00:08:56.100 --> 00:09:00.340 that might be a little too much for me. You know right. There's 103 00:09:00.340 --> 00:09:03.659 no situation in which you would not want God to be slow to anger or 104 00:09:03.779 --> 00:09:09.210 relenting from disaster. And yet that's exactly what Jonah says. Why? Cause 105 00:09:09.250 --> 00:09:16.850 he's angry. He's really, really angry. And not only does he confess 106 00:09:16.129 --> 00:09:22.129 that this is why he's upset, which again is irrational, but he says, 107 00:09:22.730 --> 00:09:26.440 oh Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better 108 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:31.759 for me to die than to live. That's how much he hates what God 109 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:39.789 has done, which stems from who God is. It's a really strange irony 110 00:09:39.870 --> 00:09:46.870 because of course Jonah is praying to this God. He believes in him in 111 00:09:46.990 --> 00:09:50.309 a way, he trusts him, he's talking with him, he's complaining with 112 00:09:50.389 --> 00:09:56.100 him, he's arguing with him, and yet at the same time he he's 113 00:09:56.220 --> 00:10:03.940 acting in this terrible way. So God says, do you do well to 114 00:10:03.100 --> 00:10:09.850 be angry? Is this good for you, Jonah, this anger that you're 115 00:10:09.929 --> 00:10:15.690 holding on to, this bitterness, this rage over these good things that I 116 00:10:15.889 --> 00:10:18.809 have done, is is this good? So simple question. Do you do 117 00:10:20.730 --> 00:10:24.759 well? Is it for your wellness? Is it for your health? Is 118 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:28.559 it for your blessing? Is it for your happiness for you to be angry? 119 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:35.200 Well, Jonah thinks so, and so he goes outside. The city, 120 00:10:35.110 --> 00:10:41.789 sits outside, makes a booth for himself and, strangely, it says 121 00:10:41.950 --> 00:10:45.389 he sat under the shade till he should see what would become of the city. 122 00:10:46.710 --> 00:10:50.659 I'm not sure entirely how to read that, you know, as Jonah 123 00:10:52.379 --> 00:10:58.580 sort of holding out hope that God might relent from his relenting. Maybe I'm 124 00:10:58.620 --> 00:11:03.019 not sure, or maybe God or maybe Joanah is just still really mad. 125 00:11:03.580 --> 00:11:07.049 I'm just going to watch him do it. I'm just going to watch him 126 00:11:07.049 --> 00:11:09.009 be gracious. He's already said he was going to do it. I'm just 127 00:11:09.049 --> 00:11:11.169 going to watch it. You know, he's going to stew over it. 128 00:11:11.450 --> 00:11:16.490 Maybe it's something like that. Whatever it is, he's clearly still has a 129 00:11:16.009 --> 00:11:24.200 really bad attitude, and so the Lord helps him in a couple ways. 130 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:30.720 First, the Lord gives to him something he doesn't deserve, well, a 131 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:33.509 lot of things he doesn't deserve. He gives him life. He allows Jonah 132 00:11:33.509 --> 00:11:37.149 to live another day, another moment. WHO GETS to speak to a king 133 00:11:37.429 --> 00:11:43.950 like that and live another moment? Right, not in the ancient Near East 134 00:11:43.990 --> 00:11:48.100 anyway. When to go before the Lord, God of the Universe, and 135 00:11:48.220 --> 00:11:52.820 to talk to him like this? WHO GETS TO LIVE? Well, Jonah 136 00:11:52.899 --> 00:11:58.899 does. Many of us do and have. Not only does God allow Jonah 137 00:11:58.899 --> 00:12:07.690 to live, God, in the Amazingly Merciful Way that he does and is, 138 00:12:07.409 --> 00:12:11.850 he appoints a plant and makes it come up over Jonah that it might 139 00:12:11.929 --> 00:12:18.000 be a shade for him, to save him, write this Exalted Language, 140 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:28.320 to save him from his discomfort. Poor Jonah, right, this poor Jonah. 141 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:33.750 So Jonah gets some shade and he's so happy, exceedingly glad. He's 142 00:12:33.789 --> 00:12:37.990 just out of his boots, right. He's so happy for this shade that 143 00:12:39.110 --> 00:12:45.139 he has. God has done this amazing thing. He has shade. But 144 00:12:45.259 --> 00:12:48.620 of course God not only gives him the shade, but God uses the shade 145 00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:54.340 to teach him the lesson, and so he appoints this worm. This is 146 00:12:54.379 --> 00:12:58.330 one of the great ironies of Jonah. God is a pointing as I mentioned 147 00:12:58.370 --> 00:13:03.009 at the beginning, all of these things and creatures, and throughout the book, 148 00:13:03.009 --> 00:13:07.090 all of them. Yes, sir, yes, sir, yes, 149 00:13:07.169 --> 00:13:11.250 sir. Right. The worm abeys God instantly, the FICI obeys God instantly, 150 00:13:11.330 --> 00:13:16.080 the with the wind obeys God instantly. Jonah, it's a big mess. 151 00:13:16.120 --> 00:13:22.399 This is a good reminder to us of how deep the problem of sin 152 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:26.840 goes in our hearts. The animals, the things of nature, they don't 153 00:13:26.840 --> 00:13:31.990 have any problem doing the will and the bidding of God. And yet the 154 00:13:31.509 --> 00:13:35.590 the the ones who were made in the image of God and called to be 155 00:13:35.909 --> 00:13:43.100 his, his viceroy, is his under Shepherd's, his kings over the creation, 156 00:13:43.779 --> 00:13:50.500 can't pull it together. This is what sin does, this is how 157 00:13:50.620 --> 00:13:52.940 far deep it goes. And then Jonah, remember, is not just another 158 00:13:54.259 --> 00:13:58.009 person made in the image of God. He is a prophet of God, 159 00:13:58.490 --> 00:14:03.690 one of the chosen people of Israel who's been specifically called and commissioned and equipped 160 00:14:03.049 --> 00:14:11.279 to preach. And even Jonah struggles. No wonder you, and I struggle 161 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:16.360 too. So Jonah and we, together with him, are complainers and whiners 162 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:22.000 and were angry. And God appoints a points of worm who attacks the plant 163 00:14:22.120 --> 00:14:28.389 and it withers. God's great sovereignty. The Sun rises. God appoints a 164 00:14:28.549 --> 00:14:33.629 scorching east wind and the sun to beat down on the head of Jonah so 165 00:14:33.789 --> 00:14:39.100 that now he was faint. Does God bring things into our lives? Does 166 00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:43.940 he work providences to teach us, to shape us, to change us? 167 00:14:43.980 --> 00:14:50.340 Yes, yes, he does. It does that with here, with Jonah. 168 00:14:50.659 --> 00:14:54.769 Well, Jonah's response to the Lord is not thank you, Lord for 169 00:14:54.889 --> 00:14:58.929 the plant. I trust you, now that it is died, that you 170 00:15:00.049 --> 00:15:03.610 have a good reason for this, and I put my life in your hands. 171 00:15:03.049 --> 00:15:07.840 Please a point another plant that I might be saved from my discomfort. 172 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:13.440 But no matter what, it is your will be done. No, that's 173 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:18.960 not what he says. He says kill me now. It is better for 174 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:24.230 me to die than to live. Thinking about anger again, have you noticed 175 00:15:24.309 --> 00:15:28.429 how anger and not only is irrational, like we were thinking about a moment 176 00:15:28.509 --> 00:15:35.190 ago, but it also is once it gets going, it has this excessive 177 00:15:35.190 --> 00:15:39.539 character to it and which it gets annoyed by the by the littlest things. 178 00:15:39.659 --> 00:15:43.179 Right, everything's exaggerated. Right. Maybe when Jonah wasn't angry, he would 179 00:15:43.179 --> 00:15:46.580 have been that's a bummer. Of the plants gone. I'll go find some 180 00:15:46.779 --> 00:15:50.450 shade, I'll go see what I can do about this, or maybe even 181 00:15:50.490 --> 00:15:52.649 pray and ask God for something. But no, when you're in anger, 182 00:15:52.850 --> 00:15:56.490 everything is you know, I gotten, but my button this big. Right, 183 00:15:56.769 --> 00:16:02.129 everything's this big, everything is exceedingly terrible, right. And so this 184 00:16:02.289 --> 00:16:07.279 plant dies in he has no shade, poor Jonah, and he says kill 185 00:16:07.399 --> 00:16:11.279 me now, I can't take another thing. It's all over. And that's 186 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:15.480 what he wants. And so God asks him again. Do you do well 187 00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:19.470 to be angry for the plant? Yes, I do well to be angry, 188 00:16:19.629 --> 00:16:25.190 angry enough to die. Are you not listening to me, jold? 189 00:16:25.669 --> 00:16:33.100 Calm down, and the Lord says it hits at home. You pity the 190 00:16:33.419 --> 00:16:37.580 plant and yet not a hundred and Twentyzero people who don't know their right hand 191 00:16:37.620 --> 00:16:45.980 from their left. Jonah, come on, perspective. That's what a lot 192 00:16:47.019 --> 00:16:51.370 of the book of Jonah is about. It's about perspective. It's about learning 193 00:16:51.450 --> 00:16:56.049 to see things not from our myopic, self centered perspectives, but from the 194 00:16:56.210 --> 00:17:03.559 perspective of God, who is great and powerful, capable, gracious merciful. 195 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:11.759 Just Jonah thinks he's going to flee from the presence of the Lord, that 196 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:14.759 he's going to get out from gonder God's thumb and he's going to do his 197 00:17:14.839 --> 00:17:19.630 own thing. No, he's not. We might deceive ourselves for a time, 198 00:17:19.750 --> 00:17:25.910 even as Jonah did. This was not my insight, but it was 199 00:17:25.950 --> 00:17:30.700 pointed out in a commentary to me about how quickly Jonah finds the ship, 200 00:17:30.819 --> 00:17:34.180 almost by accident. Right at the beginning. He it says that he arose 201 00:17:34.299 --> 00:17:37.700 to go, or I'm sorry, he rose to flee to Tarsha's from the 202 00:17:37.700 --> 00:17:41.339 presence of the Lord. He went down to JOPPA and found a ship like 203 00:17:41.460 --> 00:17:45.849 it's almost just easy for him. This is what happens sometimes when we're in 204 00:17:45.930 --> 00:17:52.410 the midst of sin. The the the opportunities for sin just open up. 205 00:17:52.730 --> 00:17:56.890 This commentator, I'm forgetting his name, all of a sudd I think was 206 00:17:56.930 --> 00:18:00.759 Hugh Martin. He writes at about anger. He says if a if a 207 00:18:00.839 --> 00:18:03.640 boy, and I'm paraphrasing and probably messing it up a little bit, but 208 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:07.279 he says if a boy is in a playground in these angry all of a 209 00:18:07.319 --> 00:18:12.150 sudden there's rocks everywhere that you can throw right there's Sirt of like opportunities for 210 00:18:12.309 --> 00:18:18.710 sin when you are desiring to sin. They sort of present themselves everywhere. 211 00:18:18.750 --> 00:18:22.589 And Jonah has finds the ship, he gets on the ship and he thanks 212 00:18:22.710 --> 00:18:26.579 everything is fine. He thinks it's going to work out, of course, 213 00:18:26.619 --> 00:18:32.940 until it doesn't. But you know what, imagine for an instance, that 214 00:18:32.980 --> 00:18:36.740 it's something else had happened to Jonah, that the wind never came, that 215 00:18:36.859 --> 00:18:40.660 the sailors never were afraid, that he was never saved, and so on 216 00:18:40.700 --> 00:18:44.569 and so forth. Imagine that he made his journey to Tarsha's and he settled 217 00:18:44.609 --> 00:18:47.890 down and he lived the rest of his life there, under the care of 218 00:18:47.970 --> 00:18:55.880 the world, away from God. Did Jonah Wind? Would Jonah have succeeded 219 00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:00.279 in that case? Would Jonah have done well, as God puts it in 220 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:07.119 Chapter Four? Of course not. Jonah was away from the place of Blessing, 221 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:10.789 away from the presence of God, away from everything, away from the 222 00:19:10.829 --> 00:19:15.910 one who holds all happiness and and truth and beauty. And ultimately, Jonah 223 00:19:15.910 --> 00:19:21.029 would pay for his sins, as we all will. No matter how, 224 00:19:21.150 --> 00:19:23.269 even if God allows us to live in our sin to our very last day. 225 00:19:23.940 --> 00:19:27.700 He promises us, as he promised the Ninovites, a coming day of 226 00:19:27.779 --> 00:19:34.259 judgment will come. We can't pretend that things are fine because they seem fine 227 00:19:34.339 --> 00:19:40.130 to us. And just as that storm came for Jonah, it will come 228 00:19:40.329 --> 00:19:48.170 for all who remain in their sins. So Jonah's angry, angry enough to 229 00:19:48.329 --> 00:19:53.279 die, and God is helping to wake him up, he's giving him perspective. 230 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:59.640 You can't get away from God. His judgment is coming. It's either 231 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:04.119 judgment or blessing, one or the other. We can have blessing by relying 232 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:08.869 in his mercy, by relying in His forgiveness, by trusting in God who 233 00:20:08.910 --> 00:20:12.589 is gracious and merciful and slow to anger. But if we flee from that, 234 00:20:14.589 --> 00:20:18.670 where do we wind up? Like Jonah in chapter four, or or 235 00:20:18.789 --> 00:20:23.740 like Jonah on the boat, or like Jonah in the seat in chapter four, 236 00:20:26.140 --> 00:20:32.819 it's Jonah angry, Jonah consumed, Jonah Irrational, Jonah lashing out at 237 00:20:32.859 --> 00:20:37.730 the only one who has any hope of saving him. And this, I 238 00:20:37.769 --> 00:20:42.450 want to point out to you, is the rottenness of anger. He eats 239 00:20:42.609 --> 00:20:48.930 away at us. It takes away the things that are healthy in us, 240 00:20:48.730 --> 00:20:55.240 the things that are good in us. Jonah wants to die. Jonah is 241 00:20:55.400 --> 00:21:03.839 not doing well. A life well lived is a life lived in God. 242 00:21:04.269 --> 00:21:10.589 It's a life spent meditating on his word and on his promises and resting our 243 00:21:10.750 --> 00:21:15.390 hearts and ourselves and him in His mercy, in His grace, rather than 244 00:21:15.470 --> 00:21:21.180 lashing out at it because we want our own ways. A life well lived 245 00:21:21.380 --> 00:21:26.980 is resting in it, wanting his ways. And if you doubt the goodness 246 00:21:27.019 --> 00:21:32.059 of the Lord, all you have to do is read Jonah for the way 247 00:21:32.180 --> 00:21:34.210 that he teaches, the way that he shapes, the way that he's using 248 00:21:34.609 --> 00:21:44.170 his awesome power to do only good things, to change the hearts of stubborn 249 00:21:44.529 --> 00:21:49.359 stubborn people to come unto him, warning them of the wickedness of anger and 250 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:55.319 sin, telling them about the judgment to come, but offering them the hope 251 00:21:55.440 --> 00:22:03.230 of salvation. A life well lived is not lived in anger and selfishness and 252 00:22:03.470 --> 00:22:08.950 pride. A life well lived is not one going after our own desires and 253 00:22:10.069 --> 00:22:15.339 our own plans, but it's living in God, in His grace and in 254 00:22:15.420 --> 00:22:21.180 His mercy. And when we live in his will and we understand his will, 255 00:22:21.220 --> 00:22:26.579 we come to see God's perspective on things, not just that he's bigger 256 00:22:26.700 --> 00:22:30.690 and stronger and more powerful than us, is it's makes clear here in Jonah, 257 00:22:33.210 --> 00:22:37.529 but that he is very, very gracious and merciful, that God pities 258 00:22:37.569 --> 00:22:45.440 us and he pities the nation's he pities the world so much that he sent 259 00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:52.359 his only son into that world to die for people like Jonah and the Ninovites 260 00:22:52.799 --> 00:23:03.109 and the sailors and me and you. He sends his only son, to 261 00:23:03.230 --> 00:23:08.430 be born of a woman under the law, to suffer under the curses of 262 00:23:08.509 --> 00:23:15.660 this life, miseries, a wretched death on a cross death. For a 263 00:23:15.819 --> 00:23:25.299 time, Jesus, the son of God, underwent separation from God, he 264 00:23:25.420 --> 00:23:29.690 underwent pains of Hell and judgment, all these things that are promised to the 265 00:23:29.730 --> 00:23:33.609 Ninovites if they don't repent, to the sailors, to Jonah, to us, 266 00:23:33.650 --> 00:23:40.769 Jesus undergoes all of that because of his great love, and that's why, 267 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:48.119 trusting in him and trusting in His grace, we neither flee from him 268 00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:51.359 and say no, I'm going to do my own way in my own things, 269 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:56.269 nor do we come to God in our own righteousness and say we'll all 270 00:23:56.349 --> 00:23:59.269 do it all for you and then you can be pleased with me for my 271 00:23:59.390 --> 00:24:04.589 good service. No, we go to God for his graciousness, in Jesus, 272 00:24:04.829 --> 00:24:11.900 trusting in him and saying you clearly are a gracious God, you have 273 00:24:11.299 --> 00:24:17.099 pitied us, you have loved me, and so I stand in you, 274 00:24:18.740 --> 00:24:22.259 in your character, in your promises, in the work of Jesus Christ for 275 00:24:22.460 --> 00:24:27.250 me. And because I stand there, and because I'm standing in you and 276 00:24:27.329 --> 00:24:32.130 I'm trusting in you, instead of running away when you tell me to do 277 00:24:32.250 --> 00:24:34.769 something, no matter how hard it is, no matter how difficult it is, 278 00:24:37.049 --> 00:24:41.960 I'm going to say yes, sir, I'm going to do your bidding, 279 00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:45.599 I'm going to do your will, I'm going to follow your ways because 280 00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:51.720 I belong to you, because you are a gracious God and merciful, and 281 00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:56.829 you have captured me in your love. Because he loved us. We love 282 00:24:56.910 --> 00:25:04.390 him and we serve him and follow him. Beloved anger and many other sins 283 00:25:06.549 --> 00:25:11.779 thinking about anger now. Anger will take all that away from you. If 284 00:25:11.819 --> 00:25:14.779 you allow it to sit, if you allowed to sleep, if you allowed 285 00:25:14.859 --> 00:25:19.500 to rot your heart, it strips it away a little by little by little. 286 00:25:21.450 --> 00:25:26.049 It makes you say and do irrational things. It makes you accuse God 287 00:25:26.130 --> 00:25:30.609 of terrible things, it denies you the very hope of your salvation, because 288 00:25:30.650 --> 00:25:38.680 anger is rooted in selfishness, in pride, in idolatry. Don't do that. 289 00:25:41.160 --> 00:25:47.160 Instead, trust the one true living God who has presented himself here in 290 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:51.670 Jonah in and all the scriptures, particularly in the person of Jesus Christ, 291 00:25:51.710 --> 00:25:56.549 as Truly Gracious, as truly merciful, and is one to and trust your 292 00:25:56.710 --> 00:26:03.380 whole life in him. If you do that, you will do well. 293 00:26:04.579 --> 00:26:06.099 Let's pray