Latest / HBCWestminster / 6.12.22 Jonah 1:4-17 Pastor Danny Gardner

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6.12.22 Jonah 1:4-17 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  And if you're able to stand in honor of God's word, I would ask you to do that as I read. Jonah 1 and verse 4. But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his God, and they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.
• 0:28
  So the captain came and said to him, What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your God. Perhaps the God will give a thought to us that we may not perish. And they said to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? Of what people are you?
• 0:58
  And he said to them, I'm a Hebrew and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land. Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, what is this that you've done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. Then they said to him, what shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us? For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, pick me up and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea will quiet down for you. For I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.
• 1:29
  Nevertheless, the men rode hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood. For you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you. So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
• 1:56
  And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Let's pray together. Father God, we ask that you would give us strength to endure hardship. Give us the courage, we pray, to face suffering for what it is, a gift from you, which helps to shape our character and helps to create in us a Christlike spirit. Lord, be honored in the preaching of your word as we look to it alone as our source of truth.
• 2:28
  In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Thank you, church. This morning we confront a really tough question. Does God love you so much that he would allow you to suffer greatly? Does God love you so much that he would allow you to endure hardship? As we discuss suffering this morning, let me make clear that I am not saying,
• 3:02
  That every suffering, every amount of suffering, every bit of hardship and trial that you have ever endured is illegitimate. I'm not saying that. Suffering is often, we know, the result of wicked and debauched sinners victimizing others. Let me also state at the outset that I believe that there are real victims. In other words, I do not believe that every bad thing that has ever happened to you is the result of your own sin or disobedience. At times.
• 3:32
  It may be difficult to see the good that God may produce through suffering. When you're walking through suffering, I think it's hard to figure out sometimes why you're having to walk through it. Allow me to start our time with Romans 8.28, and not as a platitude as it is often used, but rather as a healing balm which may help us to understand the theology of suffering. Romans 8.28, and we know that for those who love God,
• 4:01
  All things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. As we know, all translations are also commentaries to some degree. The NIV translation's slight difference, I think, is enlightening. They take a small liberty that may reveal to its reader a new way of understanding suffering. Now that was the ESV, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, right?
• 4:31
  Look at the NIV and the slight difference here, and we know it says that God works, what does it say? In all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. In other words, our suffering, the suffering itself, is not necessarily what is good. You're like, well, wait, is suffering good? Well, no, not necessarily.
• 5:00
  What the scriptures say is that the work of God in suffering is what is good. And look again at Romans 8, 28. We know that God works in all things for the good of those who love him. Our suffering is used by God and God is at work in it. I recommended last week the abolition of man. This week's book recommendation is slightly different.
• 5:30
  A contemporary, an acquaintance of C.S. Lewis named Sheldon Van Auken, wrote an autobiography about how the Lord brought him to faith. He chronicled the difficult transition he made from atheism to faith in Christ through the suffering of his wife by cancer. Sheldon and his wife had determined from a young age that their marriage would be one of nothing but shared experiences.
• 5:53
  From their youth, they determined that they would enjoy every moment of their lives together rather than apart. They would only do things together. They would read the same books. They would watch the same movies. They would listen to the same music. They desired to thoroughly enjoy every aspect of lifelong companionship. And then two things happened to Sheldon's wife. First, she contracted cancer. And second, she heard the gospel and believed.
• 6:24
  And Sheldon's life, he believed, was ruined. She had broken their contract. She had gone where Sheldon felt he could not follow. He had heard of a young theologian and author who professed faith in Christ. A brilliant young author who thought, he thought, if I write this guy a letter, maybe he can explain this now newfound faith that my wife has. And so he wrote a letter to a man named Clive Staples Lewis.
• 6:52
  He determined that maybe C.S. Lewis could explain this newfound faith in God, and again two things happened. His wife eventually succumbed to cancer, and Sheldon eventually gave his heart and life to Jesus. He called this process, his testimony, a severe mercy, which is the title of the book. He said that the Lord brought him to knowledge of Christ in the most severe way, through suffering and hardship. But, he said, without that suffering,
• 7:23
  I never would have come to know him. What an interesting perspective on suffering. Without the suffering that I endured and even the loss of my own wife, I never would have come to know Jesus. And we return again to our original question, does God love you so much that he would allow you to suffer? Notice the word of God in the New Testament, James 1 and verse 2. He says, count it all joy, my brothers.
• 7:54
  when you meet trials of many kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Romans chapter 5 and verse 3, we rejoice in our sufferings. Man, that's tough to swallow. Rejoice in our sufferings? In sickness and pain? Even death? Listen, Dan.
• 8:24
  I mean, I've got the joy of the Lord and all of that and fruits of the Spirit and praise be to God, but rejoice in my sufferings. That is one bridge too far. I am not going to suffer and then pretend like I'm joyful about it. Maybe you read that text, Romans 5 and verse 3, and you think, well, the sufferings that the Apostle Paul is talking about to Rome, maybe those were like diet sufferings, right?
• 8:49
  You got all the great taste, it just is not as filling. Maybe it's diet and it's the light version of suffering. Maybe it's the suffering that we endure when we hit all red lights on the way to work. I can rejoice through those sufferings, but not the real ones. Don't ask me to rejoice in that. What is he actually referring to in Romans 5 and verse 3? Well, the word that he uses there for sufferings is the Greek word philipsis.
• 9:17
  Philipsis, it's the word that was used when olives were put into a press and they would begin to crank down that press and as the press began to squeeze those olives and it would get thinner and thinner and thinner and thinner and tighter and tighter and tighter, the olives would begin to press out their oil. Philipsis, rejoice when you are squeezed like an olive.
• 9:46
  Until the oil comes out. It's real suffering that he's talking about there. Why? Why will we count it joy? Why will we rejoice? And he gives the answer knowing that suffering produces endurance. Endurance produces character. Character produces hope. And hope doesn't put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts. The unfortunate.
• 10:16
  answer or maybe the fortunate answer to our question is yes god does love us enough to allow us to suffer but the good news is not for no reason the lord uses suffering in order to mold us and shape us into his likeness the lord never wastes suffering in the life of the believer this morning we study another
• 10:46
  severe mercy. Because of Jonah's disobedience the Lord poured out on him a wrath that no other human has ever experienced and lived. Have other humans been swallowed by fish? Yes. Anybody ever been spat out alive? No. This has never happened before. Jonah is the only guy who has endured this kind of suffering and lived but it was done in order to produce in him God's desired effect.
• 11:18
  We introduced Jonah last Sunday. If you were unable to join us, I would encourage you to go back and listen to it because that sermon from last Sunday on whatever platform you use, SoundCloud or Spotify or YouTube or whatever, go back and listen to it because that sermon really lays the groundwork for our study. We did host VBS last week. It was awesome. Well over 100 kids, something 125, 130 kids, singing, playing, crafting, learning about Jesus every day.
• 11:48
  You who have worked with kids know that kids can be divided into several basic categories. There are the shy ones. There are the loud ones. There are the smelly ones. There are the funny ones. There are smilers and criers. There are biters. There are sneezers. As I learned the hard way last year, there are spitters. But there's another category that you really have to watch out for when you're working with kids, and those are the runners.
• 12:19
  There are some kids who are just escape artists, and at every opportunity, they will just disappear. And they're remarkable. Every time a door is open, you're just walking in a line, even when they're connected to their little rope. And they're walking in that line, you turn around, and they're gone. You're like, I could have sworn I had 12, and now I had 11. Where's little Timmy? You know, and Timmy is booking it down the street. He's gone. There's a reason. We put up that fencing all around our property during BBS week. It's for the runners.
• 12:50
  One four-year-old little boy this year, just last week, was reluctant to attend VBS, even though his family is heavily involved. He told his dad on the way to VBS the first day, he told his dad, you know, he's in the preschool class. I'm just going to be with my class. And when they're not watching, I'm going to go through the door and say, bye. You always have to watch out for the runners. You'll recall from last week that Jonah was a runner. God called Jonah to Nineveh.
• 13:23
  And when he thought the Lord's back was turned, he pushed his way out the door. Bye. The Ninevites' evil smell had reached heaven's throne. The sewage of their sin had permeated heaven's gates. In short, the Ninevites stunk to high heaven. And the Lord commanded Jonah to tell them to take a bath. And rather than obey, Jonah tendered his resignation as prophet. I quit. He sought not only to flee the presence of God, but also to flee the presence of God's people. He was called the Nineveh.
• 13:56
  A desert city in the middle of the sand, which is why he chartered a boat to go the opposite direction, to get as far away as possible. And we pick up with contrary Jonah. Remember this from last week? But Jonah, but Jonah, but Jonah, sitting in the bowels of a ship, being sailored by a group of spiritually ignorant heathens on its way to Tarshish. And notice in verse 4, the first three words. What are they?
• 14:26
  but the Lord, right? Last week, but Jonah. We said that last week the whole book of Jonah is a fight between Jonah and God, and everything that God does, Jonah has a different idea, a different plan. He is contrary. Jonah takes swings, and we talked about but Jonah, and here we see the first swing back from God, and it lands. God gets in his blows. You'll notice he would not leave rebellious
• 14:56
  Jonah in peace. James Montgomery Boyce, in his commentary on Jonah, says that there are two things which happen to rebellious Jonah that will also happen to any one of us who decides to disobey the Lord. Two things. First, Jonah's course went downhill. To say that it went downhill is probably an understatement. He ends up in a fish, okay? But Jonah's course went downhill. And yet, while he was fleeing the presence of the Lord,
• 15:24
  Jonah himself probably wouldn't have described it that way. To go to Nineveh is the worst thing that could happen, but he had no idea what was in store for him. Beloved church, the way of the Lord, following the Lord, obedience to the Lord is always the way that is up. If you want to take steps up, obedience to the Lord, every step away from the Lord is always down.
• 15:54
  Our way as we are fleeing may look pleasant at the start, just like it probably did to Jonah when he showed up there in Joppa and looked at what he thought was a very large seaworthy vessel. He had no idea how small that boat would become in the middle of the storm. As he looked across the harbor and out into the Mediterranean Sea, it looked very calm. It looked flat. It was a beautiful day to go sailing, but the way was down.
• 16:26
  Proverbs chapter 14 and verse 12, it's one of my favorite verses to quote, especially to young men. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. You may be on the path and you may be looking around and saying, but it's very nice and it's very pleasant and it's very easy, not realizing that the end is destruction.
• 16:49
  We who have kids and grandkids that are growing, we would counsel our kids to follow the Lord from the time of their youth because some of those paths that they may have been on, we may have been on at one point and we can tell them the end of that road is doom. The way of the Lord is always up, but Jonah's course went downhill. But second, there's a more destructive result of Jonah's disobedience. In his book on Jonah, Donald Barnhouse,
• 17:17
  makes a brilliant observation. He notes in verse 3, if you go back up and look at verse 3, halfway into the middle of the verse, it says, so he paid the fare. Do you see that? So he paid the fare. And he notes that Jonah paid the fare in order to flee God's presence. Jonah paid the full price of the ticket to Tarshish. And yet, he never actually made it.
• 17:45
  You notice that? He paid the full price at the beginning. He never made it, and guess what Jonah never got? He never got a refund. Never got his money. He didn't. He paid him to take him to Tarshish. He never made it, and he never got his money back. And notice what Barnhouse says. It's smart. It's always that way. When you run away from the Lord, you never get where you're going. You always pay your own fare. On the other hand, when you go the Lord's way,
• 18:16
  You always get where you're going. And guess what? He pays the fare. You always get where you're going. When you're following the Lord, you always get where he promised you would get. And guess what? He pays the cost. My pastor growing up always used to say this. It's resonated with me. It's stuck with me. I'm quoting him, but I don't think he's the one who made it up. I don't know who made this one up, but I'm going to give credit to him anyway. He says, sin will always take you further than you want it to go.
• 18:45
  It will keep you longer than you want it to stay, and it will charge you more than you want it to pay. When I took that first step into rebellion, I had no idea how far it would take me, how long I would be there, and how much it would cost. Jonah flees the presence of the Lord in ignorance, and for the remainder of the book, he would be forced to sit back and endure the consequences of that rebellion. Consider again, church, the grace,
• 19:16
  that is bound up in that three-word statement, but the Lord. Jonah's story could have been a total of five words long. We didn't need four chapters. Five words would have been enough. God called Jonah, but Jonah. The end. God called Jonah, but Jonah. Five words, that could have summed up the whole thing. Right? Praise God it doesn't end there. But the Lord intervened. Can't you rejoice?
• 19:49
  in the but the lord's in your times of rebellion where even though you rejected him he did not reject you back we asked the lord last week to spare us from the but jonah's in our lives this sunday we praise him for the but the lord's and notice in verse 4 but the lord it says hurled a great wind upon the sea and there was a mighty tempest upon the sea so that the ship was threatening to break up
• 20:13
  The mariners were afraid and each cried out to his God, and they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. These mariners, these sailors, did everything they knew to do. It appears as though they were good at their jobs. They thought, let's start with prayer. Praying to their gods, but you'll notice that clearly did not work. Their gods didn't listen.
• 20:37
  They pray to their gods. When that doesn't work, they begin throwing their precious cargo over the side. Anything that was an encumbrance, anything that was weighing them down, had to go. And you can imagine as they are taking crate after crate and chest after chest and box after box and they are hurling them into the sea and they're watching their treasure sink, they may have been thinking, if only we had a prophet of the living and true God among us.
• 21:07
  If only there was one who could cry out to God on our behalf. If only there was one who would speak the truth and explain to us what's going on. But the truth was, they had such a man. And where was he? In the bottom of the boat, asleep. Verse 6, So the captain came and said to him, What do you mean, you sleeper? We've all prayed to our gods. You're down here. What if it's your God who's going to listen? They're willing to try anything.
• 21:39
  Arise, call out to your God what's wrong with you. Perhaps the God will give a thought to us that we may not perish. And imagine the anger of the captain. He and his men's lives were in peril and there was still one man who had not yet prayed to his God. This one man who should have been praying was sleeping instead. Beloved church, let us not be found sleeping when we should be praying.
• 22:13
  We, after all, pray to the only God who listens. You ever think about that? All kinds of people pray to all kinds of different gods. We've got the only one who actually has ears. Listen to this from Psalm 116. King David, I love the Lord. Because, why do you love the Lord, David? Because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.
• 22:37
  You know, you read all these books about the attributes of God, knowledge of the holy and A.W. Pink's attributes. There's a whole bunch, there's a myriad of books written about the attributes of God, his power and his intelligence and his omnipresence and grace and his mercy and his forgiveness. You know what they always leave out? His ears. You know one of my favorite attributes of God is that he actually listens when I pray. He actually listens when you pray to him, unlike the gods of the nations.
• 23:05
  He says, because he has inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. Why, Danny, will you follow the Lord until the day that you die? Because he listens. What other God does that? None, apparently. All kinds of names were being invoked. All kinds of gods were being called upon that day. Only one God listened. Here we find a boat full of sailors praying to gods who wouldn't listen and the one God who does listen.
• 23:36
  isn't even getting a nod from his own prophet. Verse 7, And they said to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us. Note that our rebellion against the Lord never actually affects only us.
• 23:56
  The destructive power of sin spills over onto the lives of those around us. Family, friends, even strangers who happen to be near. Our own disobedience never only affects us. It will affect those around us as well. I mean, what did these guys do wrong? Nothing. They weren't fleeing the presence of the Lord, and yet they were all going to drown because of Jonah's disobedience. And so they decide to cast lots. And it says in verse 7 that the lot fell on Jonah. Again, the mariners did what they knew to do. Right? I mean, if all else fails, start throwing dice. I don't know.
• 24:27
  They were afraid for their lives. We are going to figure out whose fault this is. Now the scriptures say that God controls every single molecule in the universe. There is nothing from the greatest seismic event to the smallest flutter of a gnat's wing that the Lord does not foresee and ordain. He's in control of all of it. And we may call the playing of cards or the rolling of dice gambling. We might call it gambling because we can't predict the outcome.
• 24:58
  But the Lord knows it was no coincidence when the lot of these heathen sailors fell upon Jonah. Again, as one has said, man may throw the dice, but the Lord makes the spots come up. Man may throw the dice. I mean, they're like, I don't know. We'll just take a shot in the dark. They're throwing dice. But the Lord determined whose number would be rolled. And the number that was rolled was Jonah. So now all eyes are on him. Look at verse 8. They said to him, tell us.
• 25:27
  on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? Of what people are you? He begins being bombarded with questions. Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do for a living? Why are you here? And why were you so eager to get out of town? Why were you willing to pay so much money to get a spot on our boat? Why were you willing to overpay? Because you can imagine him showing up on that day.
• 25:56
  And them being wily negotiators and him saying, I have to get out of town. Well, there's another ship tomorrow. I have to be on that ship. Okay, then they are going to bump up the price. And he was willing to pay. Why were you so eager to leave? They began asking him why. And notice, he knows the gig is up. He decides to come clean. Verse 9, he said to them, I'm a Hebrew.
• 26:22
  I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. And the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, what is this that you've done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. Don't miss the irony here. Jonah was in this spot because of his refusal to go to Nineveh and to preach to pagans. Do you remember that? I'm not doing it, Lord. And yet here he found himself doing that.
• 26:53
  very thing he was fleeing an opportunity to preach to pagans and so he ran the other way directly into a pulpit a band of troubled sailors gathers on the deck of a ship demanding answers to their spiritual questions jonah was going to preach he was being forced to do so by the very pagans he had formerly refused and i would love to know the scriptures never say what nationality these men were but wouldn't it be awesome
• 27:23
  if they were Ninevites. Wouldn't that be awesome? And a little stroke, right? We won't know this side of glory because we can ask the Lord on that day, but wouldn't it be awesome if these were Assyrian sailors demanding answers? And it shows yet again, church, that God's call cannot be denied. His will will always be accomplished. He will always win. And so Jonah says, okay, here's who I am. He even included, he was fleeing the presence.
• 27:54
  of the lord and it says in verse 10 that the men became exceedingly afraid what's interesting is it's stronger language if you just look across the page at verse 5 verse 5 says this tempest comes upon the sea this massive storm comes upon the sea verse 5 says they were afraid but then in verse 10 they are confronted with the presence of god and his prophet and it says they were exceedingly afraid there was something scarier to these mariners
• 28:25
  than a storm at sea which might cause their own doom. And that was being confronted with the presence of a powerful God who was not to be trifled with. Then upon hearing that Jonah was a Hebrew, they asked two questions. Two questions. What did you do? And then they ask in verse 11, what should we do? Look at verse 11.
• 28:48
  They said to him, what shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us? For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. It's getting worse and worse. He said to them, pick me up and hurl me into the sea and the sea will quiet down for you. I know it's because of me that this great tempest has come upon you. These sailors were willing to make whatever sacrifice was necessary in order to appease Jonah's God. What should we do? As we'll see in the remainder of the book, Jonah merely sought the end of his own life. He told them,
• 29:18
  that he himself was the only remaining cargo that needed to be thrown overboard. Can you imagine? Throw me over and the storm will stop. Again, do you think this pleased the captain? Why did you wait until we'd thrown everything else off? There's only one more remaining piece of cargo that needs to go over the edge. There were a hundred different things Jonah could have.
• 29:51
  answered to their question, what must we do? He could have preached a message of salvation, repentance of sin. He could have repented himself. He could have fallen on his knees and begged forgiveness and mercy. But again, he begged for death. He wanted nothing to do with God or his plans. James Montgomery Boyce says this, what begins easily with just a step to the west instead of a step to the east.
• 30:16
  That's what Jonah was called to do. Move east, he decides to go west. It starts very easily, but it soon accelerates into a maelstrom of self-destruction. Even then we find that the sailors were uneasy and not eager at all to kill this prophet of God. Look at verse 13. It begins with what word?
• 30:39
  Nevertheless, they were still reluctant, hesitant to throw him over. No, surely not. We can get out of this. Notice it says, first they rowed. The men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. They rowed with all they were worth, refusing to be rid of him. Then, verses 14 and 15, they called out to God. Therefore, verse 14, they called out to the Lord. O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life.
• 31:08
  Lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, has done as it pleased you. In other words, we recognize that you will not be satisfied, Lord, until you have this man, and so we give you this man. So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. These were experienced sailors who had conquered many storms before, but they concluded, this storm is different. It must be supernatural. And so they chucked him over.
• 31:40
  They rode, they called out to the Lord. When they were confronted, suddenly this massive storm is immediately over. That probably both calmed their hearts, but also probably really made them afraid. Whoa, what kind of God is this? That's exactly what happened. Notice they finally feared the Lord and believed. Verse 16, the men feared the Lord exceedingly. They offered sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
• 32:12
  Throughout the book, God proves his willingness to receive repentant sinners. And these mariners experience the grace of God through this reluctant prophet by rowing, by calling, by fearing and believing. And notice the response of the sailors in the text. It's almost an explanation of their testimony.
• 32:32
  In fact, I believe perhaps a snapshot of just about every testimony of every believer who has ever lived. There was a time, church, where I was rowing against the storm. And the storm got worse and worse and worse until I finally realized I am not rowing my way out of this. I need help. And so I called out. When the Lord revealed himself, I was confronted by the true and living God, and I was afraid.
• 33:02
  When he revealed more of himself to me, grace, mercy, compassion, and love, I believed and I was saved. Bill Curtis describes the sailors' conversion this way. He said the sailors became aware of their inability to save themselves. They recognized they would be held accountable for their own actions. They realized they must do things in a manner which is pleasing to the Lord, and they experienced real, genuine, saving faith.
• 33:31
  Just like the Thessalonian church who turned to God from idols, so did these mariners. And may I ask, church, where are you on that testimony timeline? Are you still rowing against the storm? Have you realized yet that you won't make it on your own? There's no way for you to get out of the storm by yourself. You do not have the power within yourself to save yourself. Do you recognize that you will be held accountable for your own actions?
• 34:03
  that you must do things in a manner which is pleasing to the Lord, have you experienced real, genuine, saving faith? And don't miss this final verse. With this verse, we conclude, and with this verse, we will start next week's sermon, that even when Jonah was discarded by the sailors, he was not discarded by God. Verse 17, the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days.
• 34:33
  And three nights. What a statement again on the sovereignty of God. He controls the fish. There was a fish waiting there at the end of the plank that Jonah was about to step off of. There was a great fish with a great gaping mouth open for Jonah to fall into. I love how Stephen Davey has said it. God had a special fish ready and waiting for his prodigal prophet. Go ahead and jump. I'm ready. Go ahead and jump.
• 35:02
  He was caught by God's fish. You know, I asked last week how many of us had a time in our lives when we determined to go our own way and to flee the presence of the Lord. I asked if that road, do you remember this? If that road didn't end up and you're being swallowed by a whale. Now, as you look back at that time.
• 35:21
  As you reflect on those years, the attitude that you had, the friends that you had, the circumstances of your life at that time, perhaps even the disasters that you experienced, or maybe the disasters that the Lord spared you from. Aren't you thankful as you look back for the whale? You're thankful that the Lord put a stop to it. You're thankful, even though it was difficult at the time.
• 35:48
  And maybe didn't feel good being swallowed by the whale. That maybe it hurt. You might have even called it severe. But now looking back, you can say, you know what? Without that suffering, without that hardship, I never would have come to know him. It may have been severe, but it may ultimately prove to be severely merciful. Lord, thank you for the story of Jonah. God, thank you that we can use this man as an example of what to do and what not to do.
• 36:19
  And God, I pray that you would use whatever circumstances we may find ourselves in, even suffering, that we'd use it for your glory, that you would produce in us some endurance and character and hope. God, that you would not waste suffering in our lives. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.