WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:04.200 I grew up as what I call a church rat, and what that means 2 00:00:04.280 --> 00:00:08.279 is that your parents served in church probably every service that there was, and 3 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:12.439 you were left to your own devices. And so me and my brothers and 4 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:16.760 some of my cousins we would just like prowl the hallways. And when this 5 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:19.839 church started, it was over at the community center. I'm probably pointing in 6 00:00:19.879 --> 00:00:24.079 the wrong direction, but it's in the community center there in Fife. And 7 00:00:24.440 --> 00:00:26.719 church would end, and my dad was a part. I don't know, 8 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:29.320 I think might have ran it, but the setup team and the tear down 9 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:33.560 team, and nobody wants to do that job, but it's a tough job. 10 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:36.600 But we did that. Every single Sunday. We would cruise in. 11 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:40.640 My mom was a part of the worship team, and church would end and 12 00:00:40.759 --> 00:00:44.039 nobody would come and get us, so they just let us out and me 13 00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:48.280 and my cousins would start running around the parking lots. And there was a 14 00:00:48.439 --> 00:00:52.880 fountain that is there and people would throw their change in it and just hope 15 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:56.799 for something amazing, and me and my brothers would promptly jump in there after 16 00:00:56.840 --> 00:01:03.280 service and scoop all that up. The Lord. Yeah, I did not 17 00:01:03.400 --> 00:01:10.359 tithe off it. The abundance of the Lord shall make one rich. Hallelujah. 18 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:14.079 Well, I got caught, and after you get caught, you get 19 00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:17.560 made part of the setup team, or sorry, the tear down team. 20 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:21.040 My job from then on out there was this big carpet that we'd roll across 21 00:01:21.079 --> 00:01:23.359 the gym floor and we'd put the chairs on it, and mine and my 22 00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:29.319 brother's job was to roll that carpet up every Sunday. And I hated it, 23 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:34.359 but now I look back fondly at it. And so after first service, 24 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:37.439 honestly, I got a little bit emotional. And the word that the 25 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:41.840 Lord keeps giving me this phrase leaning into legacy, and I think that might 26 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:45.719 resound with you guys, but it's just cool. It's cool to see what 27 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:49.120 God does in our life that he doesn't give up on us. I'm so 28 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:52.000 grateful he didn't give up on me, guys. I was that kid. 29 00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:55.640 And I don't know if you guys know this, but we had a youth 30 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:00.159 camp that New Horizon put on. We joined several other churches and I I 31 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:02.359 surrendered my life to Christ at that camp and that was when I got the 32 00:02:02.359 --> 00:02:06.359 call of God on my life, and it was just wow. Sorry, 33 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:10.080 I'm getting a little choked up. The nineties were a really weird time in 34 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:14.159 church. There was a we joke about it now and you see it all 35 00:02:14.199 --> 00:02:17.840 these videos on YouTube, you see it on Instagram or whatever platform that you 36 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:21.840 use, and it's like Benny hen with a lightsaber with his towel and whole 37 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:24.840 sections are falling over. And it was a little bit weird time in church. 38 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:28.639 But I can tell you I encountered God in a real and powerful way 39 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:31.759 that I'll never forget, and was overpowered by his presence in a positive way 40 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:36.240 and just touched me forever, change me forever. So parents, get your 41 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:42.039 kids in church. Make church valuable. There's no baseball game that's more important. 42 00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:45.400 There's no job that's more importance. I'll tell you this. I know 43 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:49.039 I'm a pastor, but we've made our kids quit jobs like they can't stop 44 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:52.479 scheduling on Sunday, you're out. We do church as a family. We'll 45 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:54.879 never put God before being in the House of the Lord, so you won't 46 00:02:55.080 --> 00:03:00.639 regret it at all. Let me pray and let's dive the word God. 47 00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:02.560 Thank you for the opportunity to be here, Thank you for your word that 48 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:07.599 it is a life to us. We thank you for that incorruptible seed that 49 00:03:07.719 --> 00:03:10.759 goes into our heart and that it bears fruit. And we invite the Holy 50 00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:15.120 Spirit into this room, into our life, who is our comforter, who 51 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:17.240 is our guide, who leads us to the place of truth, into a 52 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:21.719 place of repentance. And so we just open up our heart up to you 53 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:23.400 God. We say, we want to be who You've called us to be. 54 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:30.080 In Jesus' name. Everybody said a men, A men. I'm going 55 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:35.840 to teach on Jonah this morning, and Jonah is one of the most misunderstood 56 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:39.319 books in the Bible, and to prepare myself for it, I had to 57 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:46.120 make sure that I watched the veggietail version of Jonah first. Has anybody seen 58 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:49.120 that, y'all is wild? I don't know. If it's been a while, 59 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:51.800 you should go back and watch it again. But that starts off, 60 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:54.520 and here you have Jonah cruising down to the ship because of the word of 61 00:03:54.520 --> 00:04:00.240 the Lord comes to him. And Jonah's this almost English looking vegetable. I 62 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:03.039 don't know how that's possible, but it is. He's got a monocle on 63 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:06.560 his eye. He's very distinguished. And he gets off and into the boat 64 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:10.879 and then the whole story kind of goes on. He gets thrown in. 65 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:13.599 He says, you have to throw me over, and they do, and 66 00:04:13.639 --> 00:04:17.160 then all the other vegetables stand there and watch, and then this giant whale 67 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:23.120 comes out of nowhere and swallows him, and Jonah is lamenting inside the whale 68 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:27.639 with his monocle, and then out of nowhere the choir shows up like a 69 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:30.959 whole, like full on sister act. There's an old movie for you, 70 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:34.160 Like the choirs there in white robes, they're singing, they're dancing, they're 71 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:38.639 doing their thing. And then Jonah gets spit up onto the shore and I'm 72 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:42.279 like, wow, this is wild. He gets the ninevia and the thing 73 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:46.079 that they needed to repent for these Assyrians, these people in history who have 74 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:48.399 done some pretty horrible things. But in the Veggietail version, they had a 75 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:53.000 problem where they had this thing where they like to slap people with fishes, 76 00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:59.439 and so in a Veggietails version, he says, stop it, stop slapping 77 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:04.600 people with fishes. And so one of the challenges of reading the Bible and 78 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:10.639 studying the Bible is that you often have to unlearn things that you've been taught, 79 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:14.800 and it's really challenging. Sometimes you read something and you'd heard it. 80 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:16.399 It taught a certain way when you were a kid. And you know, 81 00:05:16.439 --> 00:05:19.879 when I grew up, before everything was on video, we had flannel graph 82 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:26.519 boards, and every character looked the same. It was like Joseph had a 83 00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:29.120 cot of many colors. You just take the color thing off and then you 84 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:32.360 give them a staff and then he's Moses right like you like, it was 85 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:36.399 like like legos or something. You only needed a couple of figures, and 86 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:41.920 which is truly incredible. But there's times when you go back and you read 87 00:05:41.959 --> 00:05:45.240 as an adult and you're like that, that's not at all what I was 88 00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:47.959 taught. And Jonah is one of those books. And so it is truly 89 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:51.240 one of the greatest books in the Old Testament in my opinion. And I'm 90 00:05:51.240 --> 00:05:55.560 not helping my cause any but if you remember the movie Shrek, when he 91 00:05:55.639 --> 00:06:00.600 describes himself, he says, ogres are like onions. Right, we have 92 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:05.120 layers. There are incredible, incredible layers to the Book of Jonah. And 93 00:06:05.160 --> 00:06:11.480 so I want to start out with talking through a few common misconceptions of what 94 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:15.319 Jonah is. And the very first one is that Jonah is a children's book. 95 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:19.199 It maybe gets taught to children all of the time, but it is 96 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:24.879 not a children's book. I read this one book that it was a children's 97 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:28.439 book, and in it they represented Jonah as a prophet who had a huge 98 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:31.439 heart for the Ninavites, that he was so sad at the sin that was 99 00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:35.240 in their life, and it ended with him going to Nineveh. Of course, 100 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:39.639 they had to leaf off the fourth chapter because that would really mess with 101 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:44.120 their whole supposition that he was this incredible guy. And the truth is Jonah 102 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:48.639 was the opposite. He disliked them so much that he fleed the opposite direction 103 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:54.360 and said he would rather one hundred thousand men, women, children, and 104 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:59.600 cattle not receive the grace of God than him go there and bring a message 105 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:03.160 of hers. He did not love the Ninavites. He couldn't stand them. 106 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:08.240 The second thing that people say is they'll say it's a story about a guy 107 00:07:08.759 --> 00:07:14.040 getting eaten by a whale. It's not a story of him being eaten by 108 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:17.160 a whale. If the Hebrew word for there is actually dag, it just 109 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:20.680 means great fish. That could mean a whale, but really it just means 110 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:25.720 a great fish. The whale is only mentioned nor The Great Fish is only 111 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:29.959 mentioned twice. Chapter one and verse seventeen it says that the great Fish was 112 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:32.480 sent by God, and then chapter two and verse ten, the great Fish 113 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:38.160 is commanded by God to spit him out. That's it. See only two 114 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:42.399 mentions in the entire four chapters and that entire scroll. Those are the only 115 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:47.639 time the Great Fish is mentioned. It is a side character to the story. 116 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:51.079 The best way that I could present it is if you're thinking about how 117 00:07:51.160 --> 00:07:56.759 Jesus rides into Jerusalem and he before he gets there, he says to his 118 00:07:56.839 --> 00:07:59.879 disciples, I want you to go into town. I want you to find 119 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:03.720 a cult, and you're going to find one that has never been written before. 120 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:07.160 And if they ask, you, tell those people the Master has need 121 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:11.199 of it. Which is an incredible story all in itself right. And so 122 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:16.879 the disciples bring that back. And then Jesus rides this into Jerusalem and the 123 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:20.040 people are shouting Hosanna, and they're waving the stuff, and they're laying their 124 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:24.079 coats down, and they say, surely this is the Son of God. 125 00:08:24.360 --> 00:08:28.120 It would be like reading that story and walking away with going, man, 126 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:35.200 what a great story about a cult. It's not a story about a whale. 127 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:39.320 The whale just happens to be in it. Another objection that people have 128 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:43.039 to the Book of Jonah, or a misconception, is they believe that Jonah 129 00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:48.639 wasn't real. Also incorrect. Jonah was real. He was also a real 130 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:52.720 prophet. You could read about him in Second Kings, chapter fourteen and verse 131 00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:54.840 twenty four. We won't turn there. But he's during the reign of an 132 00:08:54.840 --> 00:09:01.159 evil king named Jereboam. And the truth is he was a pop prophet, 133 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:05.840 which is rare, Like it's rare to be a popular prophet, like most 134 00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:09.039 of them are hated. Great, the prophet's come into town, like nobody 135 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:13.759 was excited to see him. Could you imagine like being like the prophet comes 136 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:18.440 to town and you're like a priest of bail, I just leave, like 137 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:22.759 we're gonna die today, Like something bad is gonna happen. Right, nobody 138 00:09:22.840 --> 00:09:26.080 was excited when the prophets came to town. It meant that somebody was going 139 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:30.360 to take a step of faith. It meant something crazy was gonna happen, 140 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:33.240 that God was gonna show up. And a lot of the Israelites spent a 141 00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:35.480 lot of their time not so sure. They wanted to get that close to 142 00:09:35.639 --> 00:09:39.879 God, because when they did, stuff happened. And the prophet comes to 143 00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:45.720 town and he is a popular prophet. He prophesies that the border of Israel 144 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:50.200 will expand. It is the only time in Israel's history outside of Solomon, 145 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:54.639 that the border actually expands closer to what God said that they would be able 146 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:58.399 to have. And so King Jereboam said, you're all right, you can 147 00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:01.879 stick around. And then at the same time, there was another prophet who 148 00:10:01.879 --> 00:10:05.519 lived in that same era to Amos, and he said, Jerreboem, you're 149 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:11.120 gonna die by the sword. And Jereboam said, ISRAELI isn't for you. 150 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:15.120 Get out of here. So he got kicked out and sent the other way. 151 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:18.679 So he was real. He was a prophet, and he was a 152 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:22.720 popular prophet. It's also mentioned by Jesus. Jesus mentions the sign of Jonah 153 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:28.240 as he's talking to the religious people, and that in their day that even 154 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:31.279 the people of Jonah during his time would celebrate what Jesus was doing. He 155 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:35.200 also said to them he compared in the same way that Jonah was in the 156 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:37.720 belly of a whale for three days and three nights. So the son of 157 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:43.679 Man shall also be speaking of his own death in his time inside the grave, 158 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:46.799 so we know that Jonah was a real person. And the last is 159 00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:52.120 that it's just a story. Theologians use fancier words. They'll say it's a 160 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:56.919 narrative, And I'm okay theologically if you believe that it's a narrative, as 161 00:10:56.039 --> 00:11:01.919 long as it's not because a miracle took place. That's where I wrestle with 162 00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:05.399 it because people will say, but yeah, but the region, the whales 163 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:09.679 can't live there, the whales can't live there. It can't be true. 164 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:13.639 Then, like do you read your Bible? Have you not read your Bible? 165 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:18.519 If you haven't settled that miracles are something that God gives us as signs 166 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:22.759 and wonders should follow us as believers as we present the gospel. People get 167 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:26.440 healed, people get delivered, people get set free. It is a power 168 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:31.600 of God unto salvation. It's a good thing. We should desire those things 169 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:35.279 inside of our life. I settled this with Genesis chapter one and verse two, 170 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:39.240 or sorry, Genesis chapter one. In chapter two, if you can 171 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:43.240 believe he said, let there be light, and there was. If you 172 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:48.039 can believe that, why can't you believe that God can take a great fish, 173 00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:52.960 swallow a human being, sustain the human in it, and sustain the 174 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:58.919 whale wherever it goes. I've just settled that in my heart. I know 175 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:01.879 there are those that don't believe that, but I just believe in a God 176 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:05.360 of miracles. He's done too much for my family. He's due a ton 177 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:09.799 too much for me. I've seen too much people. I'm grateful for the 178 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:15.080 power of God. So I believe it's more than a story. So let's 179 00:12:15.080 --> 00:12:18.399 get into what Jonah is really about. The story of Jonah is a story 180 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:26.000 of race, grace, and divine divine commission. Divine commission. All of 181 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:30.039 us have been given a commission to go into all the world and to preach 182 00:12:30.120 --> 00:12:33.480 the Gospel. And so Jonah is given sort of a type of what you 183 00:12:33.559 --> 00:12:35.639 and I have been given by Jesus. He said, all authority has been 184 00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:41.600 giving in to me, and you go and baptize people into the Father, 185 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:43.440 the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For going to all the world and 186 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:48.679 preach the Gospel, making disciples of everyone. Jonah is given a divine commission. 187 00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:52.639 It's a divine commission. It's called the Great commission because it's divine. 188 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:58.039 It's great because it was given by the divine and so you and I have 189 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:03.440 been given that exact same one. It's a cautionary tale of what happens to 190 00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:11.000 people or people groups when they start thinking of themselves as special over some other 191 00:13:11.399 --> 00:13:16.120 group of people. Israel was a covenant people. They had covenant laws, 192 00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:20.919 and in the process of that, they struggled with this idea of exceptionalism that 193 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:26.399 they were clean and others were dirty. You see, just because God had 194 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:30.759 a plan for the Israelites and the Jewish people didn't mean that God didn't love 195 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:33.960 the Gentiles. That's you and I, we're the Gentiles. He had a 196 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.080 plan for the Gentiles, and it's found in Jesus after the Cross. In 197 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:43.440 the Book of Acts, Paul said, Hey, this gospel is now going 198 00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:46.480 to the Gentiles. We live in the time of the Gentiles. God has 199 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:52.320 entrusted you and I with a furthering of the Gospel to all around the world. 200 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:56.639 And He still has a plan and a heart for the Jewish people. 201 00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:58.759 In Romans chapter eleven, it says that they would redeem it and they would 202 00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:05.320 be Jesus following people. So it doesn't mean that he loved them less or 203 00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:07.960 that he loved them more. God loves all of us. He cares about 204 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:11.240 all of us. And if we give into an idea of my group is 205 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:16.440 more exceptional than another group, then you limit God's ability to use you to 206 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:22.480 reach that group, and we start to look like Jonah. It's a cautionary 207 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:26.840 tale of what happens when we try and be the dispensers of God's grace to 208 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:31.840 those who we think deserve it. What a dangerous place to be to where 209 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:35.879 you look at others is their sin is too great and the things that they've 210 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:39.759 done are unredeemable. Y'all, friends, I got good news for you. 211 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:43.840 We don't clean up to come to Jesus. We go to Jesus because He 212 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:50.519 is good, not because we're good. I've been made the righteousness of God 213 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:56.879 in Christ Jesus. It isn't my righteousness, it's his. He gave it 214 00:14:56.919 --> 00:15:01.759 to me, and I am in Christ, Oh Man. Every good and 215 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:07.480 perfect, acceptable thing, everything that I have is because of Jesus. And 216 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:11.279 Jonah looked at a group of people and said they're unredeemable because of the sin 217 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:15.639 that they've done, these great calamities that they've caused on other cities. And 218 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:20.600 he decided that the dispenser of God's grace himself, that he would not be 219 00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:26.519 a part of God's message. It's a cautionary tale of what happens when God's 220 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:31.559 people stop caring about the divine mission of God of going to all the world. 221 00:15:33.639 --> 00:15:37.720 There's an undercurrent in America right now of isolationism, to think that our 222 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:43.159 problems are so great that we need to focus inward and not worry externally about 223 00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:48.200 other people. The problem with that is we never advance the kingdom when we 224 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:54.440 believe that what we have is not enough. When we believe that what we 225 00:15:54.559 --> 00:16:00.039 have is not enough, we believe in scarcity. I've got to hold back. 226 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:07.200 I gotta hoard what I've been given. There's nothing about that scripturally that 227 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:10.320 you can find anywhere. Jesus said to the woman who gave two, might 228 00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:15.200 she gave more than all, y'all Because she gave all, I'm not telling 229 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:18.519 you to empty everything that you have. What I'm saying is, don't get 230 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:21.919 so focused on what you don't have. Look at what you do have. 231 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:26.240 Because the little that we do have in the hands of Jesus, he makes 232 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:30.840 it a lot. I can't help but think about the story with the five 233 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:34.039 fishes and the five loaves, and Jesus is in the wilderness and he's done 234 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:37.720 an amazing miracle and the peoples are following him and emptied out the city. 235 00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:41.840 And he looks at the disciples. This is hilarious, and he's like, 236 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:45.679 how much money we all got? And they told him not enough. So 237 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:48.279 he says, well, aren't you gonna buy food for all these people? 238 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:51.879 And the disciples are freaking out and they bring them a little boy. They're 239 00:16:51.879 --> 00:16:53.639 like, well, this kid's got some loaves of bread and some fish. 240 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:57.000 Like who's the disciple that they put bored to have to do that? They're 241 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:00.320 like, John, he likes you, best you do it. John's like, 242 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:04.119 hey, Jesus, I know it's not enough to feed five thousand. 243 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:07.960 But and then Jesus takes the little that this boy offered, he breaks it 244 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:14.640 and multiplies it, and he does much. I don't know what God has 245 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:18.160 given you. We are not limited to just resources. You have influence, 246 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:22.960 you have time, You have stewardship over something that God has given. You. 247 00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:27.640 Return that to him and he will take your little and he will turn 248 00:17:27.720 --> 00:17:34.480 it into a lot. Jonah was guilty of all three of these cautionary tales. 249 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:40.119 We can see in his life the area is to where he fell short, 250 00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:42.960 where he wanted to be the dispenser of God's grace and wanted to decide 251 00:17:44.039 --> 00:17:48.720 who was worthy of forgiveness and who wasn't. In Jonah, Chapter one and 252 00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:51.680 verse one, we're gonna read a few verses and they'll put them up there 253 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:55.119 on the screen for if you don't have your Bible. But it says now 254 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:56.279 the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of him, mindse 255 00:17:56.519 --> 00:18:02.079 saying, arise God, nin of it that great city, and call out 256 00:18:02.119 --> 00:18:06.119 against it, for their evil has come up before me. But Jonah rose 257 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:08.519 to flee to Tarshish from this presence of the Lord. And he went down 258 00:18:08.599 --> 00:18:12.920 to Joppa and found a ship that was going to Tarshish. So he paid 259 00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:18.000 the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away 260 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:22.880 from the presence of the Lord. We all know the truth is that we 261 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:26.559 can never get away from the presence of the Lord. No height nor depth, 262 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:30.759 nothing shall separate me from the love of God. Where his love is, 263 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:37.279 his presence is, where God is his love is, God is love. 264 00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:40.880 But I know in the story it says In his mind, Jonah felt 265 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:45.079 like he could flee the presence of the Lord. Jonah believes in the grace 266 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:49.640 of God, but he also believes that they are unworthy of it. Jonah's 267 00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:52.839 struggle, which is something all of us have to guard against, is that 268 00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:59.400 Jonah had a justified offense. We wrestle with this idea of God's mercy and 269 00:18:59.400 --> 00:19:03.759 God's jefe, which is truly what the story of Jonah is all about. 270 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:08.440 Jonah had a justified offense. The Assyrians are evil people. If you read 271 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:11.759 history, I'll let you do it on your own and have time for it. 272 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:15.000 They're one of the most barbaric and cruel civilizations to have ever existed. 273 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:19.079 The things they did after they conquered a city, it is absolutely horrible, 274 00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:25.319 truly terrible evil. And Jonah says, those people are not worthy of your 275 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:29.759 grace. He had an offense that in his mind was justified. You ever 276 00:19:29.799 --> 00:19:33.799 have somebody wronged you and you didn't deserve it? Isn't it in those moments 277 00:19:33.880 --> 00:19:37.160 that we desire the justice of God for their life and the mercy of God 278 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:44.599 for ours. I know nobody likes to hear that I'm guilty. I want 279 00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:47.319 others to get what they deserve, but I want the grace of God for 280 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:51.839 myself. Judge me based off my intentions, not the things that I do. 281 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:56.319 But that's not the way that it works. Aren't you glad that Jesus 282 00:19:56.359 --> 00:20:00.759 never said you get what you deserve. I'm so grateful for it. I 283 00:20:00.839 --> 00:20:03.400 have to remind myself of it. I am grateful that I don't get what 284 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:07.000 I deserve, but my flesh doesn't always feel that way. I'll put it 285 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:10.839 in a super easy illustration we've all experienced. You're driving down the road, 286 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:14.279 maybe you're on I five, and the person behind you is riding up behind 287 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:15.759 you, and you're like, man, I'm in the slow lane over here, 288 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:18.440 go around me, and they next thing you know, they cut over 289 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:22.599 and they just floor it. And then a mile down the road you see 290 00:20:22.599 --> 00:20:25.720 their car and they're pulled over by the police. You're like, that's what 291 00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:30.799 you get, right, Something inside you feels a little bit good about that. 292 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:34.000 We shouldn't be the kinds of people that hope others get what they deserve, 293 00:20:34.119 --> 00:20:38.400 because that's the kind of person that Jonah was. I want you to 294 00:20:38.440 --> 00:20:41.279 put yourself in the position of the sailors on the ship. That's kind of 295 00:20:41.319 --> 00:20:45.400 interesting if you think about this story from their perspective. You're hanging out at 296 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:49.319 the docks in this distinguished gentleman with a monocle, who we're to believe Vegietails, 297 00:20:49.799 --> 00:20:52.759 shows up at the dock and says, I want to go to Tarshish. 298 00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:56.400 Tarshish is way out there. They believe. It's somewhere around Spain, 299 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:00.079 anywhere from twelve months to get to to eighteen depending on who you talk to. 300 00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:03.559 With the kind of boats that they have, it is way Not only 301 00:21:03.640 --> 00:21:07.480 is it the opposite direction, it's way out in the middle of nowhere. 302 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:11.079 When people would say we're going to Tarsha should be like us saying we're going 303 00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:15.519 to timbucktoo, just means you're out in the middle of nowhere, right, 304 00:21:15.880 --> 00:21:18.599 And so that's what he decides to say. Okay, well, we're sailors, 305 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:22.039 we're gonna go there, and they pack up their journey. They've got 306 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:25.480 all of their supplies, they're loading it up, and they get out and 307 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:29.400 they launch into the waters and aways out there they get I have no idea 308 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:32.759 far or how far they got, but far enough that they feared for their 309 00:21:32.759 --> 00:21:37.319 lives. When a storm, a generational storm came out of nowhere. They're 310 00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:41.160 mining their business. These are professional sailors. They've probably been sailing since they 311 00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:47.319 were young children, and now they're out in the seas and suddenly a storm 312 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:52.400 comes up that is unlike any storm they've ever seen before. Y'all, when 313 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:56.599 the professionals get nervous, we should be nervous too. If you've been on 314 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:59.039 a plight before, and all of a sudden, you see the steward is 315 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:00.559 doing this back to buckle up. I'm like, oh, help me, 316 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:04.960 Jesus, I am tightening that thing down, because when the professionals are nervous, 317 00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:10.160 we all should be nervous. And that's what's happening. It's that level 318 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:14.119 of a storm. The wind is howling, the waves are crashing over, 319 00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:17.480 They're not able to steer anymore. They got to bring the sail down, 320 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:21.000 and they start to cry out and say, who has offended their God? 321 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:26.240 And this where's this passenger? I don't understand. And somebody goes in underneath 322 00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:30.799 the ship and this guy's asleep. He's asleep in a generational storm. I 323 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:34.079 lived in Oklahoma for a little time and the thunder would hit and the house 324 00:22:34.119 --> 00:22:38.559 would shake. I didn't sleep through that junk. Woke me up, terrified 325 00:22:38.599 --> 00:22:42.279 me. If you've ever been in a tornado, warning, it's scary stuff. 326 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:45.720 This guy's asleep. They wake them up and they say, a ri 327 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:49.400 I's, oh sleeper, how can you sleep during this time? And they 328 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:52.680 bring him out and they do this thing to where they basically roll some dice. 329 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:56.759 They call it casting lots. It's just this thing that's all throughout the 330 00:22:56.759 --> 00:23:00.920 Bible, and they cast lots and the lots show up. That is the 331 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:04.000 one that messed up. And these guys worship the God of the sea, 332 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:10.000 and Jonah says, it's because of me. I worship Yahweh, the one 333 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:12.599 true God. He invokes the covenant name of God, who is the god 334 00:23:12.680 --> 00:23:17.000 of the ocean, who is the God of the land, and who is 335 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:22.119 the God of the sky. He's saying, he's a god over everything. 336 00:23:22.920 --> 00:23:26.880 He's over everything. Now these people are freaked out because they don't know what 337 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:30.000 to do because this man has offended the god who they believe is in charge 338 00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:34.640 of their god, like their god is middle management. You made the CEO 339 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:38.839 mad. So they say what do we do? And he says, you 340 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:48.279 gotta throw me overboard. What a weird response. I'm gonna be honest with 341 00:23:48.279 --> 00:23:51.839 you. If I'm in the boat, I'm tossing him right quick, like 342 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:57.160 sorry, Deuce is Jonah. We'll pour one out for you later. But 343 00:23:57.240 --> 00:24:02.400 they didn't. They said you would make us a murderer. And they begin 344 00:24:02.519 --> 00:24:04.839 to row even harder. And they rowed because they didn't on it. They 345 00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:11.400 had more compassion for Jonah than Jonah had for one hundred thousand lost souls. 346 00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:18.000 The pagans who he despised, are doing everything they can to save his life. 347 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:22.039 Who don't know Yahweh, the God of all. Finally they stop and 348 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:26.759 they pick him up and they throw him into the sea, and they say, 349 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:32.240 Yahweh. They actually used his covenant name. Don't hold this man's blood 350 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:38.279 against me so powerful. And then imagine being in the boat and the sea 351 00:24:38.359 --> 00:24:44.359 is raging and he hits the water and everything's calm. That freak me right 352 00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:48.640 out. Wouldn't know what to do with that didn't taper off. It says, 353 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:55.319 the seas became still and as they're watching this man drown. According to 354 00:24:56.119 --> 00:24:59.720 the chapter two of Jonah, it says that as he was about to drown, 355 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:03.319 the god rescued him, and the way that he rescued him was a 356 00:25:03.319 --> 00:25:07.799 great fish. Because you imagine being in the boat, You're like, this 357 00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:10.920 dude's gonna die. I don't know what he did to his God, and 358 00:25:11.319 --> 00:25:14.839 he's about to drown. A fish comes up and swallows him. I'd be 359 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:15.720 like, I don't know what that did. That guy did, but he 360 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:22.319 done messed up. Truly incredible. And here's the coolest part of this entire 361 00:25:22.359 --> 00:25:26.759 It's actually one of my favorite parts of this entire story because it's so amazing, 362 00:25:26.759 --> 00:25:30.839 because this is just how cool God is this group of pagans. After 363 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:33.799 he's swallowed by this great fish. The Bible says that they made an altar 364 00:25:34.039 --> 00:25:41.200 and sacrificed to Yahweh and repented and called upon his name man. Even in 365 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:45.880 Jonah's mess ups, his mistakes, God still used him, even a people 366 00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:51.920 group that he didn't even like. God's will would not be subverted, even 367 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:55.960 in his disobedience. And then Jonah chapter two comes and I'm gonna cruise through 368 00:25:55.960 --> 00:25:59.880 this and Jonah chapter two comes, and you see that Jonah's inside the belly 369 00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:03.160 of this great fish, and it says he begins to pray this prayer, 370 00:26:03.160 --> 00:26:06.920 and the prayer on the surface looks really spiritual, looks really good. It's 371 00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:11.720 actually in the same shape poetically as the Book of Psalms and the way that 372 00:26:11.799 --> 00:26:15.119 David did. But the difference was that when David wrote his Psalms, when 373 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:17.920 he cried out to God, it was always with a heart of repentance. 374 00:26:18.200 --> 00:26:22.559 It was never with an expectation that he didn't do anything wrong. But in 375 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:27.240 chapter two, Jonah talks about himself in his prayer twenty three times in eight 376 00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:32.960 verses and in only three phrases that he mentions what God did for him. 377 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:37.039 And before he says what God did, he makes the focus on himself. 378 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:41.519 He says, I called upon the name of the Lord. Can I ask 379 00:26:41.559 --> 00:26:45.400 you to do something just for a moment, Not to put any guilt and 380 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:48.319 condemnation on you, but would you analyze your prayer life? How much of 381 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:53.480 it is about you? Man? I'm guilty. I got needs, I 382 00:26:53.519 --> 00:26:57.000 got stuff, I got family, I got four kids, I got a 383 00:26:57.039 --> 00:27:02.519 young adult and three teenagers. I have mercy on my soul. Like this 384 00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:07.000 gray hair came. I mean, it happened that quick. I pray. 385 00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:10.680 It's like, Lord, bless my family, bless my kids. How much 386 00:27:10.680 --> 00:27:14.400 of your prayer is for a dispossessed people group that you'll never meet, and 387 00:27:14.440 --> 00:27:18.680 you've never seen how much of your prayer is for those who can never add 388 00:27:18.680 --> 00:27:21.559 anything back into your life. We'll never have a word of wisdom or a 389 00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:23.799 prophecy to give you, but that you would pray for them because you've been 390 00:27:23.799 --> 00:27:30.359 given a divine commission. You can't always meet people where they're at physically, 391 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:34.440 but spiritually we absolutely can. A discipline is maybe in your prayer journal or 392 00:27:34.440 --> 00:27:40.880 through your prayer list, add in things that have absolutely nothing to do with 393 00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:45.240 you. I'm so grateful there's been people who prayed for me. I had 394 00:27:45.240 --> 00:27:48.599 a guy stop me and said, you've been on my heart for the last 395 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:52.680 ten days. I've been praying for you. I was like, Wow, 396 00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:56.319 no reason to think of me. They just pray, and because of it, 397 00:27:56.599 --> 00:28:00.559 my life has been impacted. And I had no idea. Let's be 398 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:07.440 those kinds of people. So we move into chapter three and Jonah reluctantly obeys 399 00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:11.920 God gets to the point where God says to him. He says, Jonah, 400 00:28:11.079 --> 00:28:15.240 only say what I tell you to say, y'all, if you're a 401 00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:18.519 prophet and you're in that bad of a spot where God says don't say anything 402 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:22.480 extra. That's a bad place to be. It says that he walks a 403 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:26.039 day, in a day's journey into the city, and he only says eight 404 00:28:26.079 --> 00:28:30.599 words. He says, forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown. That's 405 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:33.480 it. And right there is the greatest revival, the fastest revival that's probably 406 00:28:33.480 --> 00:28:37.440 ever hit us. Eight words, five Hebrew words. That's it. That's 407 00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:41.279 all he says. And it says he begins to sweep through the people, 408 00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:44.640 and they begin to pray, they begin to fast, They sit in sackcloth, 409 00:28:45.079 --> 00:28:48.920 sackcloth and ashes, which is a Jewish tradition, and yet here they 410 00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:52.240 have the people of the Ninavites doing the exact same thing. It gets to 411 00:28:52.279 --> 00:28:55.200 the king and it's such an amazing thing. He says, Let this be 412 00:28:55.319 --> 00:28:59.519 the decree that none of us will eat and drink. That maybe the Lord 413 00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:08.400 will read relent. He fasted for a maybe for a maybe church is doing 414 00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:14.440 prayer and fasting coming up, even if it's just for the Maybe it's worth 415 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:17.839 it that the Lord might relent on our nation for a Maybe I'm willing to 416 00:29:17.880 --> 00:29:25.680 suffer a little bit of indignity, a little bit of hunger, so Jonah 417 00:29:25.759 --> 00:29:30.039 in chapter four then moves out of the city. The whole place is starting 418 00:29:30.079 --> 00:29:33.240 to come before the Lord. They're doing their thing, and the Bible says 419 00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:36.160 that Jonah went east and he goes up until like the high places, so 420 00:29:36.200 --> 00:29:38.880 that he can watch the city because he was waiting for God to destroy it 421 00:29:41.160 --> 00:29:45.279 in the same way that the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorro, which would have 422 00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:48.720 been familiar to him as a Jewish person. That that's what he's expecting, 423 00:29:48.759 --> 00:29:52.839 that the fire of God would come down and consume these people that he disliked. 424 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:56.880 And it picks up in verse one it says, but it displeased Jonah 425 00:29:56.920 --> 00:30:00.880 exceedingly. That actually rate there. That's the Hebrew word raw, which means 426 00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:04.559 evil. In other words, Jonah displeased that what the Lord was doing was 427 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:11.720 evil, and he was angry. He received the grace and mercy of God 428 00:30:11.720 --> 00:30:15.440 in chapter two, but now he's calling that same grace and mercy evil because 429 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:21.480 it's for a group of people that he doesn't like. Oh Lord, is 430 00:30:22.039 --> 00:30:25.640 this not what I said when I was yet in my country? That is 431 00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:27.599 why I made haste to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are 432 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:33.839 gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding and steadfast love, 433 00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:38.079 relenting from disaster. This is a powerful section of scripture because this is almost 434 00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:44.440 word for word what Moses said, when the glory of God is passing in 435 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:48.400 front of him and he sees the backside of God and it messes him up 436 00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:52.880 for days, he says this exact same thing. It becomes a Jewish prayer 437 00:30:52.920 --> 00:30:59.960 that they pray regularly all the time because Moses interceded for the nation of Israel. 438 00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:04.039 And here we have Jonah who's called to go to the nations, and 439 00:31:04.119 --> 00:31:10.039 he refuses, and he takes that exact same phrase that brought grace to Israel 440 00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:12.680 and said, I knew that you would give this to the nations, so 441 00:31:12.720 --> 00:31:18.160 I went the other way. Just a slap in the face of the grace 442 00:31:18.519 --> 00:31:21.400 and the goodness of God. And yet God still loves him and doesn't give 443 00:31:21.480 --> 00:31:25.920 up. This was so astounding. If we're all should be grateful, I'm 444 00:31:25.960 --> 00:31:29.920 not God. We all should be grateful. You're not God. People don't 445 00:31:29.960 --> 00:31:33.559 do something like that, like nobody will miss you. We were just gonna 446 00:31:33.559 --> 00:31:36.640 move on, but God didn't. In fact, the Lord grows up a 447 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:40.240 shelter in a shade behind him to help him be out of the sun. 448 00:31:41.759 --> 00:31:45.759 Because the Lord loves him so much that even in his rebellion and even in 449 00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:48.200 his heart heartedness, he still has a heart for Jonah, and he has 450 00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:53.440 a heart for his people. The divine commission is for you and I to 451 00:31:53.519 --> 00:31:57.000 go to people, groups that we may not understand, that may not look 452 00:31:57.079 --> 00:32:00.799 like us, that may have different customs, they just don't fit into the 453 00:32:00.839 --> 00:32:06.519 mold of Western thinking. We are called to go to that group. Sometimes 454 00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:10.319 that's financially, sometimes that's leveraging influence, and sometimes that's showing up and being 455 00:32:10.359 --> 00:32:14.640 there. I would invite you to show up on a trip overseas. I 456 00:32:14.759 --> 00:32:20.039 promise you it will change your life forever, forever. Yes, it's an 457 00:32:20.039 --> 00:32:23.079 investment, but it's one that is worth it. As I close, my 458 00:32:23.160 --> 00:32:29.160 prayer is not that you would feel shame or that you would feel guilt, 459 00:32:29.640 --> 00:32:35.440 but that the Holy Spirit would enter into your life and produce a conviction to 460 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:40.279 fulfill the divine commission. A conviction, Hype just passes in a moment, 461 00:32:40.680 --> 00:32:45.599 shame goes away. But if we can have a conviction, this house has 462 00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:50.920 a conviction. It's a conviction and I pray that that same one would go 463 00:32:51.240 --> 00:32:55.279 into your heart when I ask you seven questions that are contemplative, and I'm 464 00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:59.319 not going to really teach through them, but there are lessons that we can 465 00:32:59.400 --> 00:33:02.680 learn from here, and I believe that at least one of these will land 466 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:07.359 on your heart. You just pick one and then meditate it on it this 467 00:33:07.480 --> 00:33:12.000 week and ask God what he would have you do. The first question is 468 00:33:12.039 --> 00:33:15.799 this, have you ever wanted your way over God's will? In what ways 469 00:33:15.960 --> 00:33:22.440 are you resisting God's will? Number two is are you inclined to settle for 470 00:33:22.519 --> 00:33:28.519 the comforts of what is familiar to you over the cost of going to people 471 00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:35.759 and places that are unfamiliar to you or even foreign to you, especially those 472 00:33:35.799 --> 00:33:42.759 that are perceived as enemies? Number four? Have you ever questioned in your 473 00:33:42.839 --> 00:33:49.359 mind the justice and the mercy of God? Number five? Is it possible 474 00:33:49.480 --> 00:33:54.839 for you to know about the character of God but not show the compassion of 475 00:33:54.880 --> 00:34:02.079 God? So many Christians that are educated beyond their obedience level. We know 476 00:34:02.160 --> 00:34:07.200 the character of God, we call him good, but curse those around us. 477 00:34:07.400 --> 00:34:08.000 I don't all. I said I was gonna teach on this, but 478 00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:12.960 this just resounds in my heart, the way that we talk to one another, 479 00:34:13.320 --> 00:34:16.159 the way that we talk about each other. We know the character of 480 00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:21.320 God, the goodness of God, the grace of God, the mercy of 481 00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:25.639 God. But what comes out of us is death and not life. I 482 00:34:25.639 --> 00:34:29.480 don't want to be that. I don't want to be the one that joins 483 00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:32.280 in in the gossip and treats another group of whatever political party you don't like. 484 00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:36.400 Is if they're filled with the devil and evil, that as a child 485 00:34:36.559 --> 00:34:38.159 of God, and He as a plan for their life and they just need 486 00:34:38.199 --> 00:34:44.360 to get to Jesus. If you ever question in your mind the justice and 487 00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:46.280 mercy of God, is it possible to know the character of God and not 488 00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:51.079 show the compassion of God? At number six, do you sometimes care more 489 00:34:51.119 --> 00:34:58.800 about your earthly desires over eternal destinies? Number seven? What do you truly 490 00:34:58.840 --> 00:35:04.079 want more? A comfortable life in your nation or the spreading of the Gospel 491 00:35:04.079 --> 00:35:09.320 to all nations. Let's remember what the scripture tells us. For I'm not 492 00:35:09.360 --> 00:35:13.880 ashamed of the Gospel, because it's the power of God that brings salvation to 493 00:35:13.960 --> 00:35:17.920 everyone who believes. I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who 494 00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:22.039 live but Christ who lives in me. I am not the master of my 495 00:35:22.119 --> 00:35:29.519 own life. I declared him Lord and him Savior. His words, his 496 00:35:29.639 --> 00:35:36.679 commands hold weight because He's Lord and He's Savior. Salvation is the greatest gift 497 00:35:36.719 --> 00:35:39.400 that we can share with another human being. I'm gonna end with a story. 498 00:35:40.199 --> 00:35:44.440 I was young in ministry, came out of Bible College. I went 499 00:35:44.440 --> 00:35:46.239 over to Sedan. It was a country that was at war at the time. 500 00:35:46.599 --> 00:35:50.280 Honest I didn't have any business being there, but I was there and 501 00:35:50.480 --> 00:35:52.400 in my mind and coming, I'm gonna We're gonna heal people, people are 502 00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:55.679 gonna get born again, Miracles are gonna happen, crusades like, I'm just 503 00:35:55.800 --> 00:35:59.639 all fired up. I'm ready to do this thing. And we end up 504 00:35:59.639 --> 00:36:04.000 in the middle of this area. It's miles off the road. There's kids 505 00:36:04.039 --> 00:36:07.159 who had never seen white people before. Like, honestly, children were fainting 506 00:36:07.199 --> 00:36:10.079 when we got there, and I'm like, the power of the Holy Ghost 507 00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:14.280 has come. No, They've just been told their whole life that the white 508 00:36:14.360 --> 00:36:16.199 monster would come and eat them. We were the Boogeyman and I didn't know 509 00:36:16.280 --> 00:36:21.480 that. And so we go to this area seventeen years they'd live off the 510 00:36:21.599 --> 00:36:24.440 road with no connection to what was going on. And our interpreter said, 511 00:36:24.519 --> 00:36:28.159 hey, Jeremy, there's a termite mound there. We're outside the market. 512 00:36:28.159 --> 00:36:30.920 They're about seven eight feet tall. They're these huge type deals, and I 513 00:36:31.000 --> 00:36:34.480 climbed up the back of that and he said, you're gonna preach the gospel. 514 00:36:34.519 --> 00:36:37.599 And I was like, I've dreamed of this moment. This is this 515 00:36:37.719 --> 00:36:39.559 is it as a pastor, as a young minister. I'm like, yes, 516 00:36:40.079 --> 00:36:44.840 finally, like all the stories I've read, I'm living it out and 517 00:36:44.880 --> 00:36:49.039 I'm standing up there and I'm declaring the goodness of God and I'm declaring that 518 00:36:49.360 --> 00:36:52.400 it must be born again. I'm doing my whole thing through an interpreter, 519 00:36:52.719 --> 00:36:55.039 and I give an altar call and like four or five people come forward, 520 00:36:55.039 --> 00:37:00.280 and I was a little disappointed. I thought the whole market, the city 521 00:37:00.320 --> 00:37:07.159 would empty. John the Baptist Incarnate has alived. And a man came forward 522 00:37:07.159 --> 00:37:10.320 who was very old, And it turns out he was only forty, but 523 00:37:10.400 --> 00:37:15.360 he had lived a very hard life and he looked like he was eighty five. 524 00:37:15.639 --> 00:37:19.280 Just an unhealthy it just a hard, hard life, and he had 525 00:37:19.320 --> 00:37:22.239 a growth on his side that was the size of a cantalope. It was 526 00:37:22.360 --> 00:37:24.920 just massive and he had to support it. I don't want to groscery. 527 00:37:25.039 --> 00:37:28.880 I just want you to understand the magnitude of what this man is living with 528 00:37:29.280 --> 00:37:30.800 in an area where there's just not medical help for him. And I came 529 00:37:30.880 --> 00:37:34.199 up to him and I said, man, I pray for healing for you. 530 00:37:34.760 --> 00:37:37.559 And so I laid hands on him and we prayed for healing, went 531 00:37:37.599 --> 00:37:40.119 through this whole thing. And I looked at him and I pointed at it, 532 00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:43.559 and I said, how do you feel? Is the pain gone? 533 00:37:43.960 --> 00:37:45.599 And he looked at me. I'll never forget it. He looked at me 534 00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:50.679 with confusion in his eyes. This was such a monumental moment from my life. 535 00:37:51.039 --> 00:37:57.039 It just changed me forever. He looked at me with confusion, and 536 00:37:57.719 --> 00:38:00.880 the gist of it was, why do you care about that? And he 537 00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:05.760 said this to me through the interpreter. The whole that I've felt in my 538 00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:09.639 heart, my entire life has finally been filled. He had given his life 539 00:38:09.639 --> 00:38:17.519 to Jesus. All I cared about was signs and wonders and how I looked 540 00:38:19.039 --> 00:38:22.800 in the story that I was going to tell later, I'm a footnote in 541 00:38:22.840 --> 00:38:24.199 that man's story. He may not even he'd not remember. In me, 542 00:38:24.480 --> 00:38:28.639 some guy came and preached the gospel. It gave my life to Jesus. 543 00:38:28.639 --> 00:38:31.360 He's probably not alive anymore, to be honest with you, but he turned 544 00:38:31.400 --> 00:38:36.079 his life over to Jesus. Number underestimate the power of salvation. It's it. 545 00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:40.320 Jesus is the prize. Jesus is the goal. He's the way, 546 00:38:40.559 --> 00:38:44.599 the truth, and the life, and he is the only way that we 547 00:38:44.719 --> 00:38:49.760 enter into heaven. And we've been given a divine commission to preach the Gospel 548 00:38:50.039 --> 00:38:54.559 to every living thing. And we should not stop or give up no matter 549 00:38:54.559 --> 00:39:00.559 what happens in America, no matter how bad things get. Every where we 550 00:39:00.599 --> 00:39:05.599 go, every place our foot is. We are going to preach Jesus in 551 00:39:05.679 --> 00:39:10.440 our workplace and our families in another country. Wherever we go, his name 552 00:39:12.039 --> 00:39:19.079 will be proclaimed. God. I pray for my friends. Thank you for 553 00:39:19.119 --> 00:39:22.239 the gift that you've given us in salvation, that you came to set the 554 00:39:22.239 --> 00:39:24.880 cap to free healed the broken hearted, to give recovery of sight to the 555 00:39:24.880 --> 00:39:29.239 blind. God, we thank you for all the things that you've done for 556 00:39:29.320 --> 00:39:31.119 us, But most of all, we thank you for Jesus, we thank 557 00:39:31.159 --> 00:39:35.639 you that you loved us in our mess, in our disaster, and that 558 00:39:35.719 --> 00:39:38.840 you called us righteous, that you made us better than we could ever be 559 00:39:39.000 --> 00:39:45.440 ourselfs and help us never ever take for granted the gift that is salvation of 560 00:39:45.519 --> 00:39:50.920 being right and spending eternity with you. Thank You for sending us a savior 561 00:39:51.239 --> 00:39:54.519 who knows what it means to suffer, who was tempted and beaten and broken, 562 00:39:54.760 --> 00:39:59.639 but went to the cross willingly and rose for the dead from our justification, 563 00:39:59.719 --> 00:40:02.119 for our sins, not for what he could benefit, but to bring 564 00:40:02.280 --> 00:40:07.639 us back in right relationship with you. Thank you God for the miracle and 565 00:40:07.719 --> 00:40:12.639 the gift of salvation in Jesus' name, Amen.