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Ticked Off to the Bitter End · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: I had a fascinating conversation with one of the ladies
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: who works in our sole care ministry before our first
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: service started today. She was expressing gratitude for the opportunity
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: to serve there and gave her an opportunity to meet
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: with different people following our worship service, as they feel
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: free to come in and pray or to talk with
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: individuals about some issue or concern that they're dealing with.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: This particular lady, who was very troubled, sort of burst.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: In the room and the two of them were alone
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: and the lady who had just left our meeting in
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  Speaker 1: the It happened to be this the worship service, the
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: second of the two morning worship service. Her opening words were,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: I am Jonah. I am just like Jonah. I am
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: just like Jonah. And these tears were just streaming down
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  Speaker 1: her face when she realized that.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: What we had been.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Presenting, this from this book that bears Jonah's name, revealed
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: the truth of her own struggles, and she described herself
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: as selfish, self serving, sometimes arrogant. I was moved over
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: the story because of the honesty of that kind of response.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: You see, the Lord has preserved his word to make
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  Speaker 2: us aware.
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  Speaker 1: Of who he is, and then by way of reflection
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  Speaker 1: on that, of who we are. And the beautiful thing
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: about scripture is that there is nothing like it. Only
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: God's word is alive and active, and sharp as a
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: razor edged sword, able to pierce right into the soul.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Of a human heart.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: The poet wrote, who had we Lord? But thee soul
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: thirst to satisfy exhaustless spring. The water's free, all other
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: streams are dry. Never take for granted the privilege of
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: the Bible in your own language. We turn to it regularly,
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: and I often do in my study, almost on tiptoe,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: realizing what a privilege it is to work with the
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: living lines of Scripture. I speak today, I realize to
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: some of you who will find yourself feeling just like Jonah.
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  Speaker 2: So be aware.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: It's not just for you, It's for us, myself included.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: It'll reveal who God is and also who we are.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: I'll be reading from the fourth chapter of this book
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: of Jonah, the last several verses, but we're not through.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: We'll have one more message next week on lessons learned
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  Speaker 1: from a stubborn preacher.
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  Speaker 2: Which certainly was Jonah.
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  Speaker 1: But I'll be reading for you today Jonah, chapter four,
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  Speaker 1: verses five through eleven, from the New Living Translation. And
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: once you find the passage, please stand with one another
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: for the reading of God's word. Remember all other streams
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: are dry Jonah four, verse five.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: Then Jonah went.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Out to the east side of the city and made
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: a shelter to sit under as he waited to see
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: what would happen to the city. And the Lord God
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: it spread its broad leaves over Jonah's head, shading him
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: very grateful for the plant.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: But God also arranged for a worm.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: The next morning had dawned, the worm ate through the
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: stem of the plant so that it withered away, and
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: on his head until he grew faint and wished to die.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: Death is certainly better than living like this, he exclaimed.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: Then God said to Jonah, is it right for you
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  Speaker 1: to be angry because the plant died? Yes, Jonah retorted,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: even angry enough to die. Then the Lord said, you
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: feel sorry about the plant? Though you did nothing to
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  Speaker 1: put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: Nineveh has more than one hundred and twenty thousand people
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  Speaker 1: living in spiritual darkness. The Hebrew adds the line people
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  Speaker 1: who do not know their right hand from their left,
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  Speaker 1: not to mention all the animals.
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: Shouldn't I have compassion.
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  Speaker 3: For such a great city. Abow with me as we pray.
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  Speaker 1: Today, our Father, as we spend just these few moments
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  Speaker 1: in your living word, May we be as open as
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  Speaker 1: the lady who acknowledged I am.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: Jonah, Just like Jonah.
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  Speaker 1: May you speak to us in such a way that
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  Speaker 1: you crowd out all other thoughts, you silence all other voices,
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  Speaker 1: and you make insignificant all other events of this day,
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  Speaker 1: so that we realize you really mean what you say,
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  Speaker 1: because you have written it in such a way that
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  Speaker 1: it penetrates. It digs deep within our souls, cutting down
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  Speaker 1: to where no surgeon's scalpel could ever reach, revealing the
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  Speaker 1: thoughts and intentions of our innermost thoughts and heart. Thank you,
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  Speaker 1: Father for your spirit's work. You take charge of the
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  Speaker 1: truth and drive it home. May I be just as
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  Speaker 1: open as that woman was, and may we all realize
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  Speaker 1: you're talking about us, though you wrote these things centuries ago.
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  Speaker 2: We have our occupations, and we are grateful for them.
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  Speaker 1: We thank you for the salaries we earn, and from
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  Speaker 1: the money we make we give, and we're learning to
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  Speaker 1: be even more generous.
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  Speaker 2: You teach us even that.
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  Speaker 1: Use our gifts today, which we give joyfully and generously,
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  Speaker 1: for the greater cause of Christ. And may this act
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  Speaker 1: of giving help even further to draw us away from
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  Speaker 1: ourselves and into the lives of those we will never meet,
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  Speaker 1: who live in places we will never go, so that
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  Speaker 1: their lives will be changed from a lifestyle.
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  Speaker 2: We would never know.
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  Speaker 1: We commit to you, our Father, these things in prayer,
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  Speaker 1: and these gifts that we give in the name of
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  Speaker 1: Jesus the Immanuel God. With us and all God's people said, Amen,
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  Speaker 1: you may be seated. Jonah was the most successful evangelist
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  Speaker 1: ever recorded in the Bible. That surprises most people, but
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  Speaker 1: no one can compare the numbers of converts in a
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  Speaker 1: really a three day campaign to the numbers that Jonah
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: could name. However, he was also the weirdest evangelist in
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  Speaker 1: all the recorded scriptures. His was the only revival where
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  Speaker 1: the evangelists needed more follow up than the converts needed.
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  Speaker 2: What a piece of work he was.
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  Speaker 1: If there was ever an example in the Bible of
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  Speaker 1: God's message being delivered effectively by one who didn't want
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  Speaker 1: to deliver it, it is Jonah. And by the way,
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  Speaker 1: he never did get the vision that God had who
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  Speaker 1: according to what Peter has written, he's not willing that
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  Speaker 1: anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
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  Speaker 1: Jonah believed just the opposite when it came to the
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  Speaker 1: gentile Ninevites. He was not willing that any of the
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  Speaker 1: Nnovites would live, not even one, but that all of
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  Speaker 1: them would perish.
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  Speaker 2: The reason he was a racist.
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  Speaker 1: He was a prejudiced, selfish prophet.
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  Speaker 2: From the very start.
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  Speaker 1: From the get go, he did not want to be
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  Speaker 1: seen anywhere around the gentile city of Ninevah. But thankfully
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  Speaker 1: God's love and mercy was far greater than Jonah's hatred
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  Speaker 1: and prejudice, and God had his way. He knew what
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  Speaker 1: he was about. What happened made Jonah so angry he
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  Speaker 1: begged to die more than once. You will read in
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  Speaker 1: chapter four in verse three, just kill me now. This
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  Speaker 1: is after the people had begun to change their hearts.
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  Speaker 1: This is after God has said, I'll lift the ban
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  Speaker 1: on these people. I will not bring a chaos over
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  Speaker 1: them and upon them. I will in fact bless them
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  Speaker 1: and forgive them. It was more than Jonah could stand
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  Speaker 1: to hear that. And the Lord said to him, is
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  Speaker 1: it right for you.
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  Speaker 2: To be angry? Jonah?
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  Speaker 1: And you'll remember from our time in that passage last time.
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  Speaker 1: Jonah doesn't answer. He doesn't have an answer. He realizes
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  Speaker 1: when he's asked that question that he simply kicked off.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: He's simply angry about the whole thing. God may have
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  Speaker 1: changed his mind, but let me assure you, Jonah has not.
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  Speaker 1: And of all things, when he makes the prediction that
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  Speaker 1: in forty days, if they don't change, God will bring
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  Speaker 1: a judgment upon them.
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  Speaker 2: They were willing to believe the warning, and they changed.
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  Speaker 1: Jonah decided to build a little lean to. We would
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  Speaker 1: call it a shelter, according to verse five. And he
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  Speaker 1: got under the shelter to break the hot, searing rays
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  Speaker 1: of the Syrian sun as it beat on him. And
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: he sat on the east side of the city and stared.
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  Speaker 4: At the city, tapping his foot, waiting, hoping.
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  Speaker 1: That maybe their repentance would go thin and maybe they
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  Speaker 1: would just turn and reveal that that repentance was a hoax. Nope,
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  Speaker 1: was not to be. So Jonah decides, I'll simply.
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  Speaker 2: Get alone. It's as if.
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  Speaker 1: Jonah is hanging a huge do not disturb sign on
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  Speaker 1: the on the opening of that little shelter. Just leave
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  Speaker 1: me alone, all of you nnophtes.
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  Speaker 2: And you God, just leave me alone.
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  Speaker 1: And there he sits in this tiny handmade shelter, just
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  Speaker 1: to be silent and sullen, as he sulks. Before I
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  Speaker 1: go further, I have to say something about isolation. And
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  Speaker 1: part of the reason is we continue to be shocked
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  Speaker 1: as a nation when there are mass killings, and we
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  Speaker 1: should be how heartbreaking that someone would break into a
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  Speaker 1: synagogue and ly kill whoever the bullet may hit, and
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  Speaker 1: after being captured, make this statement, all of them should
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  Speaker 1: die no remorse whatsoever. Interestingly, the man has been isolated.
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  Speaker 1: When you check, you will find that most who carry
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  Speaker 1: out such horrible acts against humanity often have been living
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  Speaker 1: isolated lives.
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  Speaker 2: They're not involved in.
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  Speaker 1: A healthy social relationship with others. They are certainly not
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  Speaker 1: accountable to a group of people who are there to
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  Speaker 1: help them realize that they're twisted.
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  Speaker 2: In their thinking.
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  Speaker 1: They're alone, all alone, and from that alone comes the
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  Speaker 1: isolationists twisted thinking. It's not original with me. Years ago,
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  Speaker 1: professor of psychology at Stanford University named Philip Zimbardo wrote
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  Speaker 1: an article in Psychology Today titled the Age of Indifference.
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  Speaker 1: In that penetrating article, he puts his finger on the
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  Speaker 1: dangers of isolation. I quote just just a few lines
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  Speaker 1: from Zimbardo quote.
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  Speaker 2: I know of no more potent killer.
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  Speaker 1: Than isolation. There is no more destructive influence on physical
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  Speaker 1: and mental health than the isolation of you from me
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  Speaker 1: and us from them. It has been shown to be
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  Speaker 1: a central agent in the etiology. The word means origin
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  Speaker 1: or cause in the ethiology of depression, paranoia, schizophrenia, rape, suicide,
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  Speaker 1: mass murder, and a wide variety of disease. States close
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  Speaker 1: quote what a statement. It isn't healthy that he gets alone.
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  Speaker 4: Now.
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  Speaker 1: This is not referring to being alone to recharge one's
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  Speaker 1: battery or to pull away from a constant activity of
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  Speaker 1: life so that you could get yourself done together. This
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  Speaker 1: is an aloneness that says, get out of my life.
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  Speaker 1: This is the This is the last stage of Jonah's pouting.
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  Speaker 1: His twisted desire is now to distance himself from all
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  Speaker 1: that's happened. He goes east of the city and sits
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  Speaker 1: down and stares alone with his private thoughts. Still seething
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  Speaker 1: over God's decision to change his plan from catastrophe and
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  Speaker 1: annihilation to divine blessing, Jonah settles into his man made shelter,
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  Speaker 1: succumbing to total selfishness.
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  Speaker 2: Now, then, the beautiful part of the story.
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  Speaker 1: Is that even when he finds his profit in this
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  Speaker 1: state of mind, God graciously and sovereignly.
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  Speaker 2: Moves in to woo him back.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, I found it interesting that Martin Luther makes
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: the statement God begins to play with Jonah as a
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  Speaker 1: mother will play with her distressed child in order to
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  Speaker 1: cheer him.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know that I agree with Luther that God.
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  Speaker 1: Is playing with Jonah, though I understand what he means
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  Speaker 1: by that.
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  Speaker 2: God tries there, one maneuver.
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  Speaker 1: After another to get Jonah to come back, to turn around,
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  Speaker 1: stop the staring and this fitful isolation, and to talk
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  Speaker 1: with him and to reason.
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  Speaker 2: With him.
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  Speaker 1: One of the prophet's rights. Come now, let us reason together,
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  Speaker 1: saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they
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  Speaker 1: shall be as white as snow. Let's reason with our God.
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  Speaker 1: Jonah is in an unreasonable state.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: So what does God do? You have your pen handy.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: Look at the text that we're looking at Jonah chapter four.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: You'll find three things that God arranges, or your bible
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: may read he appoints.
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: You will see them right in the text.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: Verse six, God arranged for a leafy plant.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: Your bible may read a gourd.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: Verse six, He arranged for the plant. How comforting of
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: God to do that. I'll come back to it in
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: a moment. Look at verse seven.
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  Speaker 2: God also arranged for a worm.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: This is an old cut worm that would come and
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  Speaker 1: and and eat into the stem of the plant and
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  Speaker 1: kill it. I'll get to that in the moment. And third,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: you will notice verse eight. As the sun grew hot,
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: God arranged there's the third time. God appointed a scorching
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: east wind to blow across that blistering sands of the
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  Speaker 1: desert east of Neneveh on top of the rays of
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: the sun.
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  Speaker 2: We now have the hot wind.
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  Speaker 1: You see the growing intensity, You see the acceleration of
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: God's plan. That that's how God sovereignly were. He begins
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  Speaker 1: with a comforting maneuver.
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  Speaker 2: Look at what he does.
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  Speaker 1: Back to verse six, he arranged for a leafy plant
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  Speaker 1: to grow there. God didn't have to do that, could
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  Speaker 1: have left him alone in the shelter and turned his
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  Speaker 1: back on him and ignored him. God is no isolationist.
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  Speaker 2: No, not on your life.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: God brought some comfort. How patient of the Lord to
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: do that. He he arranged for a plant. It grew
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  Speaker 1: quickly and spread its broad leaves over Jonah's head, shading
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  Speaker 1: him from the sun. This eased Jodah's discom Look at that,
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: Finally he's grateful for something he hasn't been yet. So
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: finally he's grateful, at least for the plant. You know,
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: Jonah's so negative.
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  Speaker 1: He reminds me of the joke I read about some
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: time ago where there was this farmer who had a
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: neighbor that was the most negative neighbor you could ever live.
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  Speaker 2: Next door to you.
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  Speaker 1: No matter what he did, the neighbor fussed and complained,
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: argued about this, groused about that, And this neighbor was
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: determined to win him over. So he got a brilliant idea.
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  Speaker 2: He bought this.
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  Speaker 1: Incredible dog, wonder dog that could walk on water her.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, So he says to.
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  Speaker 1: His neighbor, he's gonna go duck hunting once you come
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: with me. Sure, we'll probably both die before we get back.
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  Speaker 1: Neighbors say, no, No, you're gonna have a great time.
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  Speaker 1: Come on, get in, puts his dog in the boat
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  Speaker 1: with him, and they go out and they're sitting in
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  Speaker 1: the blind boom boom boom whether they shoot the ducks,
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  Speaker 1: and tells his dog go get them.
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  Speaker 2: Dog walks across the water, comes back with.
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  Speaker 1: The ducks dry as it can be, and the neighbor
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  Speaker 1: says he can't swim Kenny, no matter what, No matter what,
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  Speaker 1: he's gonna fuss. That's Jonah, except for when he's got
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  Speaker 1: a little comfort. And now he's grateful for the plant,
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  Speaker 1: the soulless plant.
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  Speaker 2: He's greatful at least for the shade.
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  Speaker 1: I hadn't planned on the cutworm. But Godhead, God remember,
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  Speaker 1: is at work on Jonah. The plant is just part
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  Speaker 1: of the process. By the way, before I get too
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  Speaker 1: deep in this, he's at work on you and me
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  Speaker 1: as well. And he begins very graciously, almost innocuously, to
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  Speaker 1: soften us, to comfort us, to get our attention. But
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  Speaker 1: He realizes that Jonah is not grateful for God, He's grateful.
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  Speaker 2: For the plant.
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  Speaker 1: So the Lord ratchets up the plan and he sends
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: along a worm.
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  Speaker 2: And what do we read? He arranged for a worm.
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  Speaker 1: And the next morning at dawn, God starts early, doesn't he?
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  Speaker 2: The worm ate through the.
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  Speaker 1: Stem of the plant so that it withered away.
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  Speaker 2: There goes the shade.
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  Speaker 1: And if that isn't enough, notice he tightens the screws
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: even tighter. When the sun grew hot, got arranged for
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: a scorching east wind to blow on.
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  Speaker 2: Jonah.
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  Speaker 1: God moves in mysterious ways. I don't know what the
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  Speaker 1: leaves and the worm and the wind are in your life.
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  Speaker 1: I wouldn't pretend to know, but I know this, He
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  Speaker 1: moves in mysterious ways.
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: His wonders to perform.
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  Speaker 1: He plants his footstep on the sea and rides up
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  Speaker 1: on the storm. Deep and unfathomable minds and never failing skilled,
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: he works together his bright design and carries out his
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: sovereign will.
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  Speaker 2: He's at work in your life. He's at working mind.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: And now that the shade is gone, and now that
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: the sun is hot, now that the east wind is blowing,
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  Speaker 1: maybe this will be enough to break Jonah, because without
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: being broken, Jonah will never surrender his selfish ways, the
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: plant withers away, the sun is hot, beats on his head,
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  Speaker 1: and he grows faint.
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  Speaker 2: And what happens he wishes to die. Death is certainly
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: better than living like this.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: Then God said to Jonah, is it right for you
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: to be angry about the plant?
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: I mean, really, Jonah, is that right?
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: You've reduced your life to the leaves of a plant,
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: unless you think that that might have done it. Jonah's
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: response is yes, yes, even angry enough to die. I
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  Speaker 1: think he shouted that in so many words, so many ways.
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  Speaker 1: He's saying, you better believe it. Well, that was enough,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: enough was enough. Even God's leash has a limit, and
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: he's reached the limit. Here's the heartbreaking reality. At this point,
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  Speaker 1: Jonah isn't even thinking about the change lives of the Ninovites.
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  Speaker 2: So God once more turns there.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: Which was the whole purpose of getting him to come
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: in the first place, is that these people.
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: Might be changed.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: And so the Lord said, And from here on it's
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: a monologue. Jonah says nothing else. The book ends if
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: you will with a death wish that seals Jonah's lips.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: to put it there. You have compassion for the plant
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: though you didn't even plant it.
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: It came quickly and died quickly.
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: But look, Jonah, look at the city. Look at the smiles.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: Look at the change lives from the king all the
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: way to the peasant. Look at the humility of these
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: people who were once arrogant in their wickedness. Look at this, Jonah,
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: Look at this. What a difference, What a change? In fact,
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: let me say something about the number. There's an insight
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: here I don't want you to miss. Nineveh has more
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: than one hundred and twenty thousand people.
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: And I mentioned in the.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: Reading that the Hebrew has the line that these are
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: people who don't know the right hand from their left. Now, stop,
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: if you were sitting at your kitchen table and you
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: are reading your Bible at the end of Jonah, and
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: you come to that line, which the New American standard reads,
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: including that.
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: Who would that refer to?
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: Who would be those who do not know their right
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: hand from their left?
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: Small children is the only answer.
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: Until they're old enough to understand left and right and
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: to understand that concept. Of hands doing what right and
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: left hands do. They're young, so let's understand one hundred
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: and twenty thousand has reference to little children. I agree
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: with Charles Ririy in his footnote in the Study Bible
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: in the New American Standard, where he says this has
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: reference to children. In fact, that puts the number of
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: the people of Nineveh over six hundred thousand.
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: Six hundred thousand, not just one hundred and twenty.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: Is the most significant revival recorded in all the Bible.
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: Look, Jonah, look at that.
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: Look at all of these people, children, younger, older, adults.
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: And now look at them, the change in their lives. Jonah,
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: Look what should we not have compassion? Not on the
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: leaves of a gourd, but on the lives.
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: Of these once.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: Lost souls who existed in darkness and knew nothing but
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: that lifestyle. Jonah, connect the dots.
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: He doesn't.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: I would love to be able to say that there
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: exists a reliable body of literature.
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: Sure that gives us the later years.
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: Of Jonah, where he came to his senses and he
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: realized how shortsighted he had been in selfish and and
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: he chained. But I have no other literary work to recommend,
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: certainly nothing in the Bible. In fact, interesting, the Book
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: of Jonah begins.
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: With the Word of the Lord.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: Where he gave his message to Jonah to get up
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: and go to Ninevah. And the book ends with the
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: word of the Lord as they are at Ninevaha and
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: the lives have been changed. But it ends in sort
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: of an ellipses, just to dot dot dot question mark.
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: It's sort of like the song Peggy Lee made popular.
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: Is that all there is? Joan? Is that all there is?
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: You want to die because a plant died? Let me
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: state it lest anybody miss it. This is the ultimate
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: in a selfish lifestyle. This is the individual who is
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: proud of the license frame that says he who dies
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: with the most toys wins. Really, I will not back
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: off and just be nice and tactful here.
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: I'm going to be direct.
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: It's easy in this day and age to become that selfish.
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: It's easy. Just follow the direction of the majority.
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: Plan for yourself, live for yourself, think of yourself, work
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: for yourself in the sense of your plans, your future,
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: your salary, care a little about those who are lost,
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: and press right on in that lifestyle. And I will
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: tell you, little by little, your world will revolve around
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: sort of an US four and no more. And I'm
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: not too sure about you.
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: Three. It's all about me.
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: How many marriages have broken up because the mate simply
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: did not have room in her life or his life
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: for one other person. How many companies have split apart
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: because there's no sharing here? This is about me, this
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: is mine. We're a selfish body of people. Now let
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: me end on a wonderful note. Turned from Jonah Fod
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: to Philippians too quickly turn what a marvelous contrast. Paul
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: is writing to the people of Philippi, and he turns
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: to the ultimate example of an unselfish lifestyle, but not
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: before he has given this imperative verse three of chapter two.
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: Don't be selfish, don't try to impress others, be humble,
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: thinking of others as better than yourselves.
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: Don't look out for your.
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: Own interests, but take an interest in others two, and
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: then he turns to the ultimate illustration. You must have
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: I love it that.
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: It's the word attitude. It all starts there. Quickly transport
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: yourself to eternity past when there was no earth, when
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: there was no matter, when there was nothing but the Godhead.
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: And in the midst of this eternal setting, the Father,
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: the Son, and the Spirit.
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: Put together the plan.
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: Of eternal decrees, anticipating earth that would come and people
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: who would populate it, and depravity that would captivate it,
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: and the lostness of humanity.
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: That would populate it.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: And the Father and Son and Spirit agreed. However, it
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: occurred in that setting that the Son would lay aside
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: and not cling to all of the glories of heaven
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: and think of what they were, myriad of angels forever.
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: At his beckon call.
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: Co eternal, coexistent with the Father and with the Spirit.
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: Never a hint of sin to deal with, never an
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: ugly caustic comment to listen to, Never mistreatment, only harmony,
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: only the joys of eternal glory in eternity past. And
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: the Son of God agrees to leave that and to
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: come here in our midst, and to be born as a.
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: Human being.
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: Emmanuel God with us and become one of us apart
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: from sin. Now you can read on verse six, though
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: he was God, did not think of equality with God
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: as something to cling to, no selfishness whatsoever. Instead, he
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: gave up his divine privileges, took the humble position of
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: a slave, and.
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: Was born as a human being.
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: He was willing to come and live among us, and
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: if that wasn't enough, when he appeared in human form,
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: he humbled himself in obedience to God, died a criminal's
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: death on a cross, the ultimate in sacrifice as opposed
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: to selfishness. He was willing to die, and as he hung,
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: there was able to say to tell us, ty, it
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: is finished. It is finished, And slumped in death, having
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: paid the penalty for the sins of the world, easy
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: to forget where he once was and now where he is.
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: The beauty of this passage is that he is the
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: example of how to live a life. We are given
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: the opportunity every day with choices. We can choose our
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: own way, or we can think of others. We can
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: do what is only best for us, or we can
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: do with what benefits others. Jonah chose the former, Jesus
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: the latter. As a result, life revolves around the one
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: who gave himself that we might know eternal life. In
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: an amazing he who knew no sin became sin on
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: in him. The lady and Thomas put it well when
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: he said, the life that he lived qualified him for
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: the death that he died, and the death that he
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: died qualifies us for the life that he lived. It
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: would never have been possible had he selfishly clung to
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: the glories of heaven and said I will not go.
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: But from the moment he became.
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: An adult human being on a mission in his ministry,
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: he was maligned, mistreated, hated, despised, and ultimately a man
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: of sorrows and acquainted with grief. I think it's beautiful
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: that the Lord established for the church a memorial to
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: his death. He's called the Lord's Table, where there is
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: a little piece of pastry that reminds us of a
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: body that was given for us, and a small cup
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: of juice that is a symbol of his blood poured
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: out for us to cleanse us from sin. How beautiful
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: that he has us hold those in our hands, and
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: of all things, put them in our mouths and taste them,
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: assimilate them, so that we might truly enter into what
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: it means to remember his death until he returns. Now
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: with me, Will you please right for your sitting, just
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: your heads, close your eyes. I must say to all
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: who are hearing this today that this table is the
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: Lord's table. It's not this church's table. He is the host.
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: You're not coming to our table. We're all coming to
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: his table. But if you don't know the Lord, you
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: have no part in it. How much better for you
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: to receive the Lord Jesus Christ right now. Just acknowledge
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: your sinfulness, your selfishness, a lifestyle of pleasing yourself, and
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: accepting the fact that Jesus can deliver you from that
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: as you trust in him and him alone giveness, and
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: then you'll be able to eat the bread and drink
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: from the cup with us. If you're a believer, make
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: sure that you are walking in the light, even as
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: our Savior is in the light. Before you partake of
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: the bread and the cup, search your heart see if
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: you be in the faith. Dear Father, we thank you
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: for the reminder. If we've had before us during these
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: weeks of study, we've seen a man whose life has
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: revolved around himself and the experience from one miserable event
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: to another. Convince us Lord that that is no way
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: to live. And release our grip on ourselves. I pray
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: break through. And as we taste this bread and drink
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: this juice, remembering our Savior's body and blood, may we
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: deeply give thanks for all he has done for us.
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: Thank You for the cross where we first saw the
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: light and you delivered us from darkness. Our worship is yours,
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: and we pray that it will be meaningful in the
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: name of Jesus.
• 50:50
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 50:52
  Speaker 5: The preceding message, ticked Off to the Bitter End, was
• 50:56
  Speaker 5: copyrighted in twenty eighteen twenty nineteen twenty and the sound
• 51:01
  Speaker 5: recording was copyrighted in twenty twenty five by Charles Arswin
• 51:04
  Speaker 5: Dahl Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted
• 51:10
  Speaker 5: material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.