The Providence of God

How's everybody doing tonight? Guess we'll leave it there. Well, after this morning, I had the privilege of going out with Chip and his family, and Bryson and Bree, and just had a great time with them. I had a wonderful time, enjoyed talking with them, talking with them over lunch, and also had a wonderful time walking around Charlottesville, Virginia. It was great. It was great. I made a joke. I don't know if you're all going to laugh about it, but I'm going to say it anyway. We were there in Charlottesville, and I said, I wonder if they wouldn't mind if I go get my Maryland Terrapin shirt and wear it here in Charlottesville. And once I said that, for some reason, Chip and Bryson kind of moved away from me. I don't know why, but I guess that's because they don't like the Maryland Terrapins, and that's fine. I don't think I mentioned that. My wife and I, are both from Maryland. My wife is from Baltimore, Maryland, and I grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland. And I'm a die-hard Maryland Terrapins fan. And I love the Terrapins. But we do have five wonderful children. The oldest is six years old. The youngest is six months old. Oldest is Zanelle. Mikayla, Zianna. So we started off with three girls. And then the Lord, the Lord came through for me. And we were blessed with Matthew Jr. and Zachariah. So we've got the Old and New Testament with my boys going there. And I love them to death. And I know they're having just a wonderful time with their cousins tonight. I didn't share with you what I do. I'm the Director of Urban Ministry at First Baptist Church of Durham. I've been on staff for going on two years, two years now. I learned this week, and I knew this going in, that when they first brought us on, the leadership was a deacon-led church. with committees, and so they brought me on for a two-year trial. They also brought on the college minister for a two-year trial. During that time, there was a transition to elder rule, and they came back after the two years. We met with the elders, and they wanted to bring us on indefinitely to spend the rest of our time until the Lord takes us home. to minister there. So we're excited about this opportunity to minister in downtown Durham. First Baptist Church is in the heart of the city. It's in the heart of the city. And most of the people that go to First Baptist, where Bryson and Bree will be joining us when they move on down, most of the people commute in. Usually about 30 to 45 minutes for men and women have to commute in. And so one of the things we're working on as a church is just working on community. Working on how we can strengthen the relationships, the bond between one another within the body. And so we're working on these things also. But our focus there in the city is to call people to Christ Lordship. Call people to live on his lordship in every area of their lives. So that's our number one thing we want to do. We want to be intentional about that. The second thing is that we want to provide for the city is what we call life skill development that will enable individuals or empower individuals to not be dependent so much on the government to live, but they're empowered to live. And so we do things, we want to give them skills to build them up from a biblical worldview. And so one of the things we do is we teach a course, it's called Jobs for Life. And Jobs for Life is a job skills training course that teaches soft skills like resume writing, interview skills, how to look for a job, but everything is done from a biblical worldview. We lay down, you know, what does the Bible say about work? What is the purpose for work? Why did God create you? What is your motivation for working? And it's to glorify God. And so that's one area that we're focusing on as we minister there in the city. And so, should we come across your mind, I'd ask you to pray for us. Pray for us as we minister there in the city that God would bring about great fruit, that people will turn away from dealing with things like alcohol and drugs and gangs, teen pregnancy, just everything. They would turn away and they would turn to Christ and to live for His glory. And so with that on my mind, that's why I love the book of Jonah. I love the book of Jonah because it was Jonah's call to, as we talked about this morning, to go to the Ninevites. It was his responsibility to go to these people and to proclaim to them that their wickedness had come up before God. That's exactly what we want to do. That's what we want to do. And so tonight we're going to continue in the book of Jonah. Open up your Bibles to Jonah, chapter one, chapter one. We're going to finish a few verses in chapter one, and then we'll go through chapter two. And we're going to continue with unpackaging this historical account. of Jonah's rejection of God's plan to get the most important message to the Ninevites that they would ever hear. You remember that Jonah was to go and to declare their wickedness had come before God. Remember Hebrews 10 31 says it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. It is a dreadful thing. You remember this morning we ended with the sailors unable to row back to the sea, to the shore. After Jonah had told them to throw him overboard, the sea was growing more and more violent. This morning I read Revelation chapter 7 verse 9. I'm going to read it again. It says, After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands, the Ninevites will be a part of that great multitude. What an amazing thought that when you and I are standing around and worshiping God, there are going to be some Ninevites there. And we'll say that story, John, man, it was a true story. The Ninevites are here. They're worshiping the Lord. be praised. And so tonight I want us to leave here with two things that we can leave here praising God that he chose that he has chosen to use us in his eternal plan. That we can praise God that he's chosen to use us in his eternal plan. One, we can praise God because before the foundation of the world, he chose to save our souls. And two, we can praise God that he chose to use us to reach the nations. And the second thing I want you to leave here tonight, praising God that you and I have the privilege to pray at any time in any place about anything. We can praise God for the privilege of being able to to pray. Remember, Jonah, because of his rebellion, is experiencing the providence of God firsthand and in his own disobedience, remember, Jonah is running from God's command. He boards a ship to Tarsus, there's a raging storm, the lock falls on Jonah, and the sailors' decision, decide to throw him overboard. And this leads us to verse 15, let's pick up in our story. Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. The raging sea grew calm. That's what it says in the NIV, and so when it says grew calm, it's as if the storm calmed down over time. If you have ESV or KJV, it says the sea ceased from its raging. If you have NAS, it says the sea stopped in its raging. The sea stopped. I think the best way of understanding what happened to the sea is to understand what the word ceased means. That word means to stand. or to take one's stand. It's talking about something that is moving and goes from a position in which it ceases from whatever it's doing. And so this raging sea, from a human perspective, it is out of control. But from God's perspective, He has everything in absolute and complete control. And so what happens to the sea When Jonah is thrown overboard is that the sea stands still. The sea stands still, meaning the sea immediately stops moving. This violent sea, this raging sea, the moment Jonah is thrown over immediately stops. And so it's best to understand that the sea did not over time grow calm, but it immediately stopped. Another reason I think this is the best way to understand what it means by ceased is if we look at what it says in verse 16. At this the men greatly feared the Lord and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. What is the this that caused them to fear? The this. I think the this is that the storm immediately ceased. If that storm over time calms down, It's probably going to be no real reason to fear the Lord. It's just another storm. It just calms down. But this raging storm immediately ceases, and this causes them to be in awe of Jonah's God, or to fear Jonah's God, which in turn led them to offer a sacrifice or make vows. Now, we do not know what kind of sacrifice or vow that was made. It doesn't tell us. But a vow was a commitment to personal service or a promised gift. I don't know what they used. Remember, they threw everything overboard. I'm not sure exactly what they used, but all we know is that they made a vow. After what these men had endured, after praying and seeing that their own gods could not act on their behalf, they give honor to the God of heaven who made the sea and the land. Now we can ask, did these men continue in their worship of God? Do not know. Did they add Yahweh to their other gods? We do not know. We're only left to imagine what happened to these sailors. But I can imagine, as they're in the boat, what the conversation was like as they head back to Tarsus. They're heading back with no cargo. So imagine what they're talking about. This is the final information concerning the ship and the sailors. The next verse takes up what happened to Jonah. It says in verse 17, but the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. And so the Lord's power is no longer on display for the sailors. The sailors are on their way. But in the case of Jonah, God is not finished with him. Even though Jonah may have thought that since the ship could not get him away from the Lord's plan, maybe by being thrown overboard, this would get him away from God's plan. So maybe Jonah has two options here. Option number one, to get away from the plan of God, is to board the ship. Option number two, possibly, possibly, could be thinking, I get thrown overboard, I drown. Remember, Jonah's human plan is for the message to not get to the Ninevites. But God's plan is for the Ninevites to hear this message through the mouth of Jonah. And so, since this is true, God provides a great fish. Once again, the will of God thwarts the plans of men. Everything in this story is obeying God except for Jonah. The wind, the sea, the lot, And now a great fish obeys. And Jonah is inside this fish three days and three nights. Let me say this about the great fish. This fish is part of the story, but it's not the main part of the story. I know for you all, this story of a great fish swallowing this individual does not bother you as a body of believers. It doesn't trouble you all at all. It's amazing, if God wanted to use a shrimp or a catfish or a goldfish to swallow Jonah, he could have done that also. But he chose to use a great fish. But it is a true story, because a satisfying proof of truthfulness for Jonah being swallowed is Jesus' statement in Matthew 12, verse 40. It says, whereas Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Jesus Christ was fully God, therefore, he could not lie at all. This amazes me that of everything that could have been written about Jesus Christ. But what he said and what he did, this statement about Jonah is recorded. You remember in John 21, 25, John said Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. He says, if every one of them were written down. Amazing, the Holy Spirit leads Matthew and Luke to record Jesus' youth of Jonah's story as an example of what would happen to him. Jesus' statement settles the issue. So Jonah has a new ride. This ride that Jonah has is picked out for him by God. From Jesus' statement in Matthew, we learn that Jonah would be in the fish for three days and three nights. And at some point during this time, Jonah offered a prayer. It is a prayer that we find in chapter two, verses one through ten. And let's just take some time and unpackage the prayer of the prophet. And understand that Jonah is writing this account after the fact, not during the fact, but after the fact. So let's look at this prayer. Let's look at the place of the prayer, the place of the prayer we find in Jonah two verse one. It was inside the fish from inside the fish. Jonah prays to the Lord, his God, Jonah's prayers inside the fish. This is the first time we have recorded that Jonah prayed since he ran from his assignment. You remember, there's no mention of prayer for wisdom and direction when he was given the command. There's no mention of prayer when he was on the ship. He was just asleep. There's no mention of prayer before he told the sailors to throw him overboard. But now that he is inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord, his God. One of the things we can do is to keep the communication with our Lord, who is the maker of heaven and earth open. And one of the ways you have to do that is to fight in our own lives against sin. But you and I have this wonderful privilege to communicate with God, just as we just did in this room here. And we should continue to use this great privilege to speak with God daily, moment by moment. Understand that seeking the face of God, God does not get frustrated or upset that we come to him. He is gracious and compassionate. He wants us to come to him. And so we have the privilege of coming to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And so let us pray and not lose heart. One of the things I would encourage, as you do here tonight, which is a wonderful time, is to continue to gather together as a body and pray. It's a wonderful time to pray together, to lift up the request of the body to the Lord. Well, what's the point of the prayer? The point of the prayer comes in a few verses. We see it in verses two, verse seven, and also in verse four. We'll go to verse two and seven. Verse two says, he said, in my distress, I called to the Lord and he answered me from the depths of the grave. I called for help. You listen to my cry. Verse seven, when my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. If we were to lump these two verses together, Jonah here is speaking of his life coming to an end. Now, for he says here, the depths of the grave, the situation that Jonah finds himself in, he believes that he is going to die. The depths of the grave is the place of no return. It is the heart of the grave. It is the place in which Jonah feels totally separated from the Lord of both heaven and earth. Then in verse four, we says, I said, I have been banished. or some translation may say cast out of, or driven from your sight. Yet I will look again toward your holy temple. When he says there he's been banished, what he's saying is, he's talking about a physical sense and also a spiritual sense. What he's saying is that the relationship between God and Jonah had gone from being close and intimate to one that no longer felt close, but was distant spiritually. and also physically, since Jonah had chosen not to go where the Lord commanded him to go. The prophet of God would have known the need for obedience to God's commands and the outcome of those who disobeyed. And so Jonah is experiencing here firsthand the consequences of his disobedience. Jonah's disobedience wreaks havoc on his relationship with Yahweh. It has gone from an intimate relationship to one that is distant, and it needs to be healed. And so it says Jonah prays toward the Holy Temple. And so the point of Jonah's prayer is that he feels as though his life is about to end, and he has been banished from God's sight. And so the place of the prayer is in The belly of the fish, the point of the prayer, is that Jonah believes his life is about to come to an end. Let's look at the direction of the prayer. The direction of the prayer is also in verses 4 and 7. For he says, toward your holy temple, toward your holy temple, at the end of both verses 4 and 7. Why did Jonah direct his prayer toward the holy temple? You remember that it was David's desire to build the temple. In 2 Samuel 7, verse 1 and 2, it says, After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, he said to Nathan the prophet, Here I am, living in a palace of cedar while the ark of God remains in a tent. Nathan replied to the king, Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it. For the Lord is with you. That night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, And so it's David's desire to build a temple for the Lord. That's what he wants to do. But the word of the Lord comes. And David is going to learn that he's not going to build the temple, but it's going to be his son. Verse 12 and 13 of chapter seven, when your days are over and you rest with your father, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you who will come from your own body and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. David dies, Solomon takes the rule, 1 Kings 2.12. So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David and his rule was firmly established. You remember Solomon's rule is established and Once all of his enemies are at peace, listen to what it says in 1 Kings 5, verse 3 and 5. You know that because of the wars raged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side and there is no adversarial disaster. I intend therefore to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God. As the Lord told my father, David, when he said, your son, whom I will put on the throne, your place will build the temple for my name. And so the desire that David had to build a temple would not be done by David, but by his son, Solomon. Solomon's enemies are at peace with him. And so Solomon now moves forward with the building of the temple. In 1 Kings 6, verses 11-14, the Lord speaks to Solomon about the temple. The word of the Lord came to Solomon, as for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, carry out my regulations, and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to your father. And I will give among the Israelites, and I will live among the Israelites, and will not abandon my people Israel. So Solomon built the temple and completed it. I'm going to read that verse again, those last two verses, very important. Verse 13 and 14, God says, and I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel. So Solomon built the temple and completed it. The building of the temple took seven years. We learn that from 1 Kings 6.38. This is a beautiful building. It's a beautiful building that is complete. But all it is, is a building made by skilled workers. Until something very important arrives in the temple. The arrival of the Ark. In 1 Kings chapter 8 verses 1 through 7. Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel. all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families to bring up the Ark of the Lord's Covenant from Zion, the city of David. All the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanem, the seventh month. When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the Ark and they brought up the Ark of the Lord. The priest then brought up the Ark of the Lord's Covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple. the most holy place and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles. And so now the ark is in the temple. First Kings chapter eight, verse 10 through 13, when the priest withdrew from the holy place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord and the priest could not perform their services because of the cloud for the glory of the Lord filled this temple. Then Solomon said, the Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud. I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever. And so God is dwelling with his people there in the ark is in the temple. In first Kings, chapter eight, verse 27 and 30. Listen to what Solomon prays about the temple. But will God really dwell on earth, the heavens, even the highest heavens cannot contain how much less this temple I have built. Verse 28. Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy. Oh, Lord, my God, hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day. This place of which you said, my name shall be there so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. And so Solomon's prayer is that the Lord would hear the prayers of his people when they pray toward the temple. In Psalms 11 verse 4 it says, the Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord is on his heavenly throne, he observes the sons of men, his eyes examine them. Jonah directs his prayers to the Holy Temple because it is the place that the Israelites knew the Lord dwelled and would answer prayers. And so in verses 4 and verse 7, at the point when he feels as though his life is ebbing away, when he feels as though the Lord has separated himself from him, by God's grace he is reminded that he can pray toward the Holy Temple. He can pray toward the Holy Temple. And the Lord said that he would hear and that he would forgive because that is the place in which God dwell. Remember to pray. Remember, you and I pray to the maker of heaven and earth, we pray to the good shepherd. Remember that we pray to the one in whom the earth is the Lord and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. Remember, we pray to the king of glory, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Remember, we pray to the one in whom nothing is impossible. We pray to the one who said pray and do not lose heart. But the great thing for you and I is that we do not have to pray toward the temple. We do not have to pray toward the place where bulls and goats were sacrificed. We pray to Christ. We pray to the one who was sacrificed once for all, the just for the unjust. And so you and I have free access anytime, anywhere to the throne of grace, as it says in Hebrews 10, 19 through 22. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way open for us through the curtain that is his body. And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience. having our bodies washed with pure water. And so we should boldly go to the throne. Boldly go to the throne and call upon the Lord. And also remember this, that the spirit intercedes for us with groans and words that cannot be expressed. Romans 8, 26. Well, the content of the prayer is in verses 3, 5 and 6. Jonah records his experience in the sea. before he was swallowed by the great fish, it is an experience that he would know nothing about had he obeyed the Lord. The Lord would not allow Jonah to drown, but brought him to the point in which he thought he would die. From these verses, we learn that Jonah was not floating on the sea and then swallowed by a great fish. Jonah was in the deep of the sea. He refers to the deep many times in this prayer. Jonah goes from a raging sea to the heart of the deep sea. He says in verse 3, you hurled me into the deep. He says, you did this. Into the very heart of the seas and the current swirled about me. All your waves and breakers swept over me. Jonah is at the mercy of the sea. There's nothing he can do. Verse 5, the engulfing waters threatened me. The deep surrounded me. Seaweed. Picture this. Seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down. The earth beneath barred me in forever. Jonah thinks he is going to die. What does he mean by the earth beneath barred me in forever? At the end of verse 6, it could mean that his experience in the deep sea seemed like it lasted a long time. Or it could mean that he believed that he was going to die in the deep sea And the grave, and that would be his grave. But I think both are possible. Both are true. And so we have the place of the prayers in the fish. The content of the prayer is that Jonah is in the deep. And the direction of the prayer is toward the holy temple. Kind of wonder how many times it ran through Jonah's mind, I should have obeyed God and gone to Nineveh. But I love verse six. It says, but you brought my life up from the pit. Oh, Lord, my God. Verse six reminds me of Ephesians chapter two, verse four. It's a very chip like Ephesians, we were talking, especially the but God. After Paul describes the brave state of every individual versus one through three, he begins verse four with, but God, but God being rich in mercy. And here we have another, but God moment. Jonah experienced the power of God in the ships and in the depth of the sea, but he also experienced the mercy of God. But you, but you brought my life up from the pit. Oh Lord, my God. It is a sovereign Lord who must intervene and bring Jonah up from the pit or Jonah would die. The Lord has a long track record of bringing folk up from pits. The most important pity has brought many of us up from this sin. And so God, who is holy and gracious, merciful, kind, just and loving, is also a father who disciplines his children. And so Jonah here is being disciplined. In verse 7, Jonah stated that as his life was ebbing away, he prayed and the Lord remembered him. Verse 8, he stops talking about himself and he talks about those who cling to worthless idols. He uses the word cling. The word means to keep or to guard or to protect. It's something that individuals trust in, to protect them. And he says those who trust in these idols to protect them forfeit the grace that could be theirs. Maybe he was speaking of the sailors, not sure. How do those who trust in idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs? Well, the Lord clearly stated in Exodus 20, to the Israelites, you shall have no other gods before me. Grace can only come to those who turn away from whatever it is they trust in. The Lord is a jealous God and requires total allegiance. and to hope that something man-made can protect or guard an individual is worthless. Idols are false, empty hopes, and those who trust in them will forfeit the grace that could be theirs. Amazing, the only way in which people will know that idols are worthless is when those who have been trusted in Jesus Christ tell them. Anything or anyone that people are trusting in, rather than Jesus Christ, is an idol. And they forfeit the grace of God that could be theirs. And so, one of the things you and I must do is to go and to proclaim to people to turn from worthless things, as Paul had to do in Acts 14. To turn from these worthless idols and trust in the living God. Verse 9, But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you what I have vowed, and I will make good salvation comes from the Lord. Verse 9 ends with Jonah having repented of his sins and fulfilling his vow to proclaim to the Ninevites that salvation comes from the Lord. Jonah has experienced salvation firsthand and must go and proclaim to people who trust in idols that their wickedness has come up to the Lord. So we have in verse 10, and the Lord commanded the fish and it vomited Jonah on to dry land. The importance of the fish in this story, the great fish was the sanctuary in which God did his discipline work on Jonah. The fish was the means that God used to get Jonah to the Ninevites. Ultimately, Jonah and the great fish would be used by Jesus to illustrate the time he would spend in the earth. And so chapter two gives us a glimpse into the heart and mind of God of how serious he is to get the message to the Ninevites through his chosen messenger. Jonah prays and repents of his sins, rejecting to take the message to the Ninevites and the Lord sends Jonah a second time. The Lord has called everyone who has turned from idols and trusted in Jesus Christ to have his heart and mind for the lost across the street and the state and across the sea. The Lord will accomplish his plan. Next week, we'll look at the compassion of God on displace the Ninevites should it be the Lord's will in chapter three. Let's pray. Dear Father, no longer do we have to offer bulls and goats. But you came once for all, the just for the unjust. As Paul said, a righteousness from God. We thank you for Jesus Christ's perfect life. We thank you that he fully obeyed the law. We thank you that he was the perfect sacrifice. for our sins. We thank you, dear Father, that the grave could not hold him, dear Lord. Amazingly, Jesus knew the grave could not hold him. Jonah did not. He thought he was going to die, dear Lord, there in the deep. But you knew that you would rise. And because you got out of the grave, dear Father, we have new life today. And so we thank you. And so we ask, dear Father, that you would enable us to praise your name for choosing to save our souls. And we would praise your name for allowing us to be used for your glory. We would praise your name for the privilege we have to pray and to call on you. We ask, dear Father, that we would trust you the rest of this week. May your will be done, for this we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.