Latest / HBCWestminster / 7.17.22 Jonah 4:1-11 Pastor Danny Gardner

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7.17.22 Jonah 4:1-11 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  James Montgomery Boyce has said this, There is no greater need in America or in any other part of the world than to hear the clear preaching of the timeless truths of the Word of God. If we would have blessing in our personal lives, it must come by response to the teachings of this book. If we would have blessing in our churches and in our land, the same response is necessary. And so, church, with that book open, would you stand with me as I read from the book of Jonah one final time? Jonah chapter 4.
• 0:30
  verses 1 to 11, and hear the word of God. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you're a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.
• 1:03
  And the Lord said, Do you do well to be angry? Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade till he should see what would become of the city. Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah that it might be a shade over his head to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came up the next day,
• 1:31
  God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, It is better for me to die than to live. But God said to Jonah, Do you do well to be angry for the plant? And he said, Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.
• 1:58
  And the Lord said, You pity the plant for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle? Would you pray with me? And Lord God of heaven, we take comfort in the fact that you know us by name.
• 2:29
  We rejoice that you see our plight and know our hidden faults, and yet you love us anyway. And Lord, keep us from anything which would cause us to think highly of ourselves and lowly of you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Thank you, church. Well, the last time we opened to the book of Jonah two Sundays ago, we discussed the key elements of national revivals.
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  We said that they depend upon the God of second chances. If God's not willing, there are no revivals. We said that they depend upon the truth communicated clearly and unapologetically. We said that they depend upon belief in the God who saves. They depend upon genuine repentance from sin, motivated by genuine guilt over sin. We said finally that they culminate in God's compassion being poured out.
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  We ask this question, can God rescue an entire nation? Yes. He's done it before. He delights in it. But we said not before bringing that nation to its knees. Where there is no repentance, we said, there can be no revival. This morning we allow the scriptures to challenge us with yet another truth. And that is that God does not always give us what we want.
• 3:57
  Isn't that true? Raise your hand if you've ever not necessarily gotten from God what you want. Has that ever happened? And raise your hand if you also think that was probably a good thing. Yeah. Is there anything cuter and also possibly more annoying than a pouting toddler? I suppose the difference between cute and annoying probably lies in whose pouting toddler it is.
• 4:26
  If it's yours, you're probably like, wow, that's annoying. If it's somebody else, don't you just smile and say, oh, how cute? And then you say, well, see ya, that's it. Hope it works out. When those little three-year-olds kick and scream and pout and pooch out their bottom lips, they probably think that they must seem very tough. They probably think that their demands
• 4:56
  must surely be met, and yet it just makes us smile. Seventeen years ago, I told my oldest son, Pearson, that if he was going to ride his little bicycle, that he needed to wear his helmet. He got upset not seeing the reason for the helmet, didn't want to wear the helmet, and so gave me this face. Boom. There he is.
• 5:29
  Man, so cute. Now, in the moment, I probably thought annoying, but I also thought cute enough to take a picture that is forever immortalized in one of his baby scrapbooks. It's one of my favorite pictures we've ever taken of our son, who is now 6'2 and 200 pounds, right? But man, he was so upset, didn't want to wear the helmet.
• 5:54
  From his perspective, he probably thought he seemed quite terrible. I wonder if he wasn't thinking, you know, if I don't get my way, you'll be sorry. If I don't get my way, you will feel my wrath. If I don't get my way, there will be hell to pay. But let me ask you, is that the reality? Which is worse?
• 6:25
  You who have raised toddlers, or maybe you have toddlers, maybe you are in the weeds of parenting right now as you sit here. Let me ask you, which is worse? Giving pouting toddlers what they want or not giving them what they want? If you give a pouting toddler what they want in that moment, you probably solve that moment's problem. But you've also taught them a valuable lesson.
• 6:56
  Right? What lesson is that? I know how to get my way. I apparently run this show. I can make my parents bow to me anytime I want. All I have to do is make that face. I am in charge, and that is a valuable lesson.
• 7:21
  If you refuse to give them what they want, if you stand your ground, if you exert your will over theirs, their screaming and their pouting will probably continue for the moment, but you've also taught them a valuable lesson, that no amount of kicking and screaming will get me what I want. In our text this morning, Jonah throws a temper tantrum. You can imagine the foremost...
• 7:50
  prophet of god on earth making that face that is jonah chapter four that's it a full-grown man a prophet of god the first cross-cultural missionary ever recorded in scripture and the missionary who has preached the gospel message and an entire nation has fallen on its knees the greatest national revival recorded in god's word that missionary makes that face
• 8:19
  In Jonah chapter 4, he throws a temper tantrum. He kicks and screams and pouts and demands his own way. He pooches out his bottom lip. He tells God that if he doesn't meet Jonah's demands, there will be hell to pay. As his face contorts, so also does his worldview. As his countenance twists, so also his view of reality. And God, we find, says, no, you cannot.
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  cute little jonah have your own way and church that's great news because if jonah had gotten his way he is demanding here the condemnation and destruction of a major city that's what he's demanding if he had gotten his way then there would have been hell to pay in fact very literal actual eternal hell to pay he was demanding the eternal destruction
• 9:21
  of a city because he didn't get his way we entered our previous study with all of nineveh repenting from the greatest of them to the least they said from the kings to the kids that would have been a great way to end the book right look back at chapter 3 and verse 10 would this not have been a great ending when god saw what they did how they turned from their evil way god relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them and he didn't
• 9:53
  Do it. The end. That's where it should have ended. With that kind of ending. There shouldn't have been a chapter 4 with that kind of ending. How in the world does chapter 4 begin with a what word? But? That's the most unexpected word in the book. There's this great news. Chapter 4 should not begin with a but. But it does.
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  Chapter 4 and verse 1 says that Jonah was a party pooper. While the rest of the city rejoiced, Jonah pouted. In fact, chapter 4 and verse 1 says, but it displeased Jonah exceedingly. It displeased Jonah exceedingly? The literal translation of that Hebrew phrase would be this. It was exceedingly evil to Jonah. Nineveh repents. There is rejoicing.
• 10:57
  There is mourning over sin. There is celebrating forgiveness. And while that party is going on, they have found freedom from their sin. Jonah calls it exceedingly evil. And verse 1 says that he was angry about it. Anger is the emotion you feel when your opinion of justice has not been met. One has even said that anger fuels almost everything that is ugly in the world.
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  Cursing, envy, vengeance, isolation, violence, divorce, broken friendships are all fueled by anger. Now the scriptures say that there is a righteous form of anger which can actually accomplish the will of God. Not all anger is sin.
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  As when young David heard the taunts of Goliath the Philistine. Do you remember that? Goliath is calling down curses on God's people and even cursing God himself. And young David heard that. He became angry and he decided he would not tolerate it. That was a righteous indignation. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 26 says, Be angry and do not sin. Don't let the sun go down on your anger. There is a righteous...
• 12:23
  form of anger 62 million 62 million american abortions in the past 50 years yeah i'm angry about that i believe that that is a godly anger but listen church that does not give me the right nor the justification to sin there is righteous indignation there is godly anger but that anger can very quickly turn into
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  And the anger which you and I experience probably more on a daily basis, which we feel most often, is probably that unrighteous, even dangerous anger. Like when our expectations go unmet, or our feelings are hurt and we want retaliation, or when we're angry at our brother and we wish evil upon them. And Jesus says that's the same as harboring murder in our hearts.
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  It's the kind of anger that James chapter 1 talks about when it says in verse 19, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger because the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. There is, we find, and we see it on full display in Jonah chapter 4, there is unrighteous and pouty anger.
• 13:48
  which does not accomplish the will of God and actually causes harm, not only to ourselves, but also to those around us. And so the bulk of our text this morning answers the question, what does this unrighteous pouting anger do? And you see first, that unrighteous pouting anger warps our theology. It warps our theology. Look at verse 2. It says, and Jonah prayed to the Lord. Now you may think,
• 14:19
  Well, that's good news, right? He prayed to the Lord. Aren't we supposed to pray? I mean, he was angry and he was upset. I would probably even counsel people to pray. This is now the second time in the book that Jonah prayed. The first time, Jonah prayed the best possible prayer. A prayer of salvation and deliverance, but he prayed it from the worst possible place. Do you guys remember where he was? He was in the belly of the fish. Do you remember that? A great prayer from an awful...
• 14:50
  place this time the second time however jonah prayed the worst prayer complaints against the god who saves from the best place a city that was rejoicing over being forgiven and notice the accusations that jonah makes against the lord you pick up in verse 2 jonah prayed to the lord and said oh lord is not this what i said when i was in my country right i knew this was going to happen he says
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  That's why I made haste to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you're a gracious God and merciful and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting from disaster. Therefore, now, O Lord, please take my life from me. It's better for me to die than to live. The very attributes that we praise the Lord for, Jonah used as bullets.
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  to assassinate God's character. Every song we sing on every single Sunday praises the Lord for His grace. This is amazing grace. This is unending love, His mercy, His kindness, His patience. And yet Jonah throws those very praiseworthy qualities in God's face. How dare you, God, be gracious and merciful and patient and loving?
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  How dare you? And what a powerful lesson this can provide for us. Jonah's theology was complete. It was accurate, right? He knew who God was. He knew the God he was cursing. His theology was accurate. The information was all there. He just didn't want to do anything with it.
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  It was in his head. He would just not let it penetrate his heart. He knew exactly who God was. Jonah could recite all of the creeds, and yet he would not allow it to penetrate his soul. And church, how often is this true in our own lives? How many of our failures are honestly due to a lack of information? Where you could look back and say, you know what? I really honestly didn't know.
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  It was wrong. You could honestly stand before the throne and say, Lord, that was a sin of ignorance. I didn't know. As I look back over my life, you guys, I grew up in the church. I was saved when I was 14. I went to a Christian high school after that. I went to a Christian college. I've been to seminary. I've been through this book many times. I'm going through it with all of you again as we go through Scripture this year. There are not very many times I can think of.
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  Where I sin in ignorance. Most of the time, I know it's wrong. I just want to do it anyway. Most of the time, my spirit is fighting against my flesh and I side with my flesh. That's what really goes on, right? The war that we are waging against our flesh, we don't always win. But that war is not against ignorance all the time. Our theology is accurate. We just don't want to let it go from our head to our hearts.
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  It's like James 1 and verse 22 where it says, Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. If anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he's like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. He looks at himself and then he goes away and at once forgets what he looks like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the scriptures, which are also a mirror for our souls, the law of liberty and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts.
• 18:57
  He will be blessed in his doing. In other words, James says anyone who knows and doesn't do has a warped theology. And beloved church, are you doers? Has your theology gone from your head to your heart? Has your orthodoxy turned into orthopraxy? Make sure, friends, that our unrighteous, pouty anger doesn't warp our theology. But notice second.
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  unrighteous pouty anger warps our joy it actually warps our joy we cannot rejoice when we are angry we begin to rejoice in the judgment of god on others that we would never want for ourselves pick up in verse verse 4 the lord said do you do well to be angry why are you so mad jonah went out of the city sat to the east of the city up there by himself remember the whole city is partying
• 19:59
  rejoicing he leaves the city he goes up on some hillside some bluff overlooking nineveh he makes a booth for himself there like this little ramshackle tent to sit under it in the shade until he could see what would become of the city he is still hoping beyond hope that god will change his mind again and destroy the whole thing he is sadistically hoping for fireworks
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  And so God gives this little gift to Jonah. It's hot up on that hill where Jonah was sitting, and that makeshift booth which Jonah had made wasn't providing enough shade. You'll recall that at the beginning of the story, at the end of chapter 1, when the mariners were terrified for their lives, and Jonah requested to be thrown overboard. Do you guys remember this? It said, chapter 1, verse 17, that God appointed, remember that word?
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  appointed a great fish the great fish comes along and swallows jonah up and here we find that the appointing wasn't done god now appoints a great plant a plant with large and lush cool shady leaves it would provide ample shade a plant we find which would sprout and grow to full size in less than a day
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  Less than a day. Pick up in verse 6. The Lord God appointed, there's that word again, appointed a plant, a tree, and made it come up over Jonah. In one night, can you imagine this miracle? Overnight, this giant tree grows up over the top, and he actually even appointed it to grow over the top of Jonah to provide him comfort. Verse 6 says, so Jonah was exceedingly glad.
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  Because of the plant. Do you know this is the very first time the book of Jonah records Jonah as happy. It's the first time. He wasn't happy over the repentance of the Ninevites. He was angry. The very first time we see a smile on his face is because God appointed a plant. But the Lord was setting him up. This was a setup.
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  Because the Lord's appointing still wasn't done. Look at verse 7. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered. He killed it. He provided it. Jonah's sitting there with a big smile on his face. And then God killed it.
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  Verse 18, the appointing's not done. When the sun rose, and look at the exclamation point that the Lord puts on it, God appointed a scorching east wind and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and he asked that he might die and said, it is better for me to die than to live. How could Jonah rejoice over something so trivial as shade when the souls of men and women were at stake? Nineveh, we find, was rejoicing, but Nineveh was not the only place.
• 23:15
  That was rejoicing. The scriptures say in Luke chapter 15 and verse 7 that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. Nineveh was rejoicing, but where else was there a party going on? Heaven. The Ninevites celebrated and so did the angels in heaven, and yet the prophet of God is sitting there with a frowny face. He went up on the hill and had his own.
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  little pity party overlooking the city and rather than joining the festivities and rejoicing over the forgiveness jonah again despaired for his own life he begins pleading with god again to dispatch him it is better for me to die than to live verse 9 says but god said to jonah now remember in the introduction to the book the entire book is pretty much a dispute between jonah and god it's this fight between god and his
• 24:15
  prophet and i said the whole book can even be outlined using that very simple three-letter word but right it comes up a lot in the book god called jonah but jonah ran but the lord hurled a great wind upon the sea but jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship then the word of the lord came to jonah a second time but it displeased jonah and now here we find the final but of the book
• 24:45
  But God said to Jonah, do you do well to be angry for the plant? Jonah, why are you so mad about so silly a thing? You ever blow up over silly little things that ever happen? I asked my beautiful bride yesterday, Hallie, do I ever blow up over silly things? And she paused for a moment. She said, oh, where to start? I was like, well, how dare you?
• 25:21
  What? Like, what? I said, name me one thing. She said, let's start with your phone charger. Like, what's wrong with my phone charger? She says, you're so weird about it. What are you talking about? She said, listen, I live in a house with a wife and a mom and three sons, all of whom want to charge their phones, none of whom pay attention to where they left their phone chargers. Can I get an amen from the men in the congregation? I have one phone charger. I leave it.
• 25:49
  my bedside table where I plug my phone in overnight it charges there then I use it through the day I don't move it because I know I'll lose it like all the rest of those gardeners do okay they charge their phones wherever they happen to be and then they leave them they forget where they left them but they always know where there's one phone charger available where is that
• 26:10
  It's on dad's bedside table. And so they steal mine. And then when I go at whatever time at night to go plug my phone in, the charger's gone. And I have to search the house doing what they were unwilling to do earlier. And so I have a very strict rule about not touching dad's phone charger. That one, I told Hallie, is completely justified. I said, what else you got? You ever blow up over silly things? You're like, you know what? Honestly, it doesn't.
• 26:41
  really matter it's not really that big a deal but it gets under your skin and you're like you know what right now that is the most important thing in my world this silly phone charger you can imagine the lord's question jonah are you really so mad about a plant in the cosmic scheme from heaven's perspective jonah is the plant really that big a deal and look what jonah says
• 27:15
  You guys all see it? What does he say? Yep. Yes. I do well to be angry. In fact, I'm angry enough to die. I'm angry enough to die. The Lord's question did not have its desired effect. There was no contrition in Jonah's heart. There was only self-centered, worldly shallowness. He showed that he loved plants more than people. He didn't care about mercy.
• 27:45
  He cared only for himself. And the Lord ends the book with a rebuke when he says, you pity the plant, in verse 10, for which you did not labor. So in other words, you didn't work for it. You didn't make it grow. It came into being in a night and it perished in a night. It had the lifespan of a gnat.
• 28:09
  And you're more concerned about a 24-hour plant than you are about the eternal souls of these people. You feel pity on the plant? And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who don't even yet know their right hand from their left? Almost universal agreement from commentators on this. He's referring there, I think, to kids.
• 28:40
  There are children in that city, the Lord is saying. They don't even yet know their right hand and their left. They're still holding up their fingers and saying, which one makes the L? They have no idea. There's a bunch of kids down there, and I'm not supposed to care about them? Their souls last for eternity, Jonah. I mean, there's cows down there. And compared to a plant, cows are more important than a plant. How much more valuable than cows are people?
• 29:14
  What's wrong with you, Jonah? Your unrighteous and pouty anger does not accomplish my will. And in fact, it warps our theology, it warps our joy, it warps our mercy. Well, God said go and Jonah said no. The storm began to rumble and the sailors began to grumble and the sailors said row and Jonah said throw and the fish went slurp and then the fish went burp. And Jonah relented and Nineveh repented. The Lord...
• 29:47
  pleaded, but Jonah receded. Highland, don't be a Jonah. Lord God, I pray that you would make us a people who hear your call and obey, that we would not love plants over people. God, I pray that we would be clear and unapologetic communicators of your truth. And God, again, as we have prayed so many weeks, Lord, we pray again for revival. Use us, Lord, to spark that revival, if it's your will.
• 30:25
  Pray again for our neighbors and friends, our co-workers, our family members who do not know you, that as we communicate the truth in love, that they would fall on their knees and be saved and be liberated from the sin that plagues them the way that we have been liberated from our own sin. God, we rejoice in your name. Amen.