JONAH: The Way, We Can Know God

 The Way, We Can Know God Jonah 1:4-10 Church - two weeks ago we began a study in the book of Jonah, we made two broadly sweeping observations about this book that I’ll recap in a moment, and then we’ll make a 3rd today about how we can know God in our time. But I want to first talk about why we study Scripture; it’s so key and so central here that it deserves frequent mention. In a society and world which is so increasingly polarized and confused, at each others necks, and in near-constant disagreement never more has a scriptural understanding been so helpful. Notice I didn’t say a scriptural view, because scripture doesn’t provide a way of knowing the world, rather scripture provides the accurate view of life and God, our interactions in life clouds the truth - and so scripture is more than a key to understanding what’s happening, it’s the transcendent truth, that when studied, gives something more important than a better understand of life - it brings truth and so when we read Philippians 4:7’s encouragement to have a peace that surpasses all understanding and realize it’s from the fuller immediate context of 4:4-7: Philippians 4:4-7 (ESV) 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And so, we come to scripture to know God, and rejoice, not to better understand life, though a more fully understood life may be a byproduct, but so that we can know God, and church - we’ll see things in this story that point to a need for a fuller knowledge of God that, spoiler alert, we get all because of Jesus. Jesus, who is so much more than “a what would he do bracelet”. So much more than a model of how we should act. So much more than someone who makes us feel good – Jesus, who is redeemer and the way we can know God. As we’ve studied Jonah, this has been our consistent approach - how can we learn more about God and gain more clarity regarding our Lord (Jesus) in these passages? What do we learn about Life and Godliness here - what does this book and what do these passages mean, and why has God recorded them for all time in the 66 books of His scripture? This is what we set off for as we weekly study the Word of God, it’s am impactful exercise it should excite us that we get to carefully look to what God has recorded for us, for all time - and so we do. LIST: 1. Jonah’s is a wild story: 2. Short but attention getting: 3. Points to knowing God: 1. We’ve noted about Jonah that it’s a crazy story - but the story isn’t meant to detract, rather to amplify. 2. We’ve noted that the book has great fanfare around it, but it’s only 4 chapters long. 3. We’ll note that Jonah was written in a time where people didn’t yet have the scripture we have, where they didn't yet know God the way we CAN know Him - and I hope to land to that point today. The Way, We can Know God. Before we turned here to the Old Testament, we studied through God’s character - and will for us in Romans and 1-2 Corinthians - and then we stopped, to walk with Christ. We saw some of his harder teachings, times when people followed and times when people fell back (John 6:66) because - we wanted to see God’s character and God directly dealing with the failure of man’s obedience in the OT, we wanted to see how God’s redeeming agent for the World (Jesus) would deal more directly with sinners - and how Jesus’ is different than God’s interaction with man. We’ll see that here today - we’ll see God mixing up life, to get at and transform His. We’ll be left with some questions that we cannot resolve, we’ll have to trust God with them, and that may be better for us - because it has to do with how we know God - faith. Jonah is the only book of Prophecy that starts immediacy with the command of God, to Go. Jonah, the only prophet told to GO to gentiles, now hasn’t. He's boarded a boat going way far from where he was supposed to; the map behind me keeps you mindful of that. Jonah 1:4–6 (ESV) 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. 5 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. 6 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.” God in this story is telling a story - and He does so THROUGH real life. So this book is difficult because of that, but also easier because of that. This is not a story that replays itself, I should not expect to experience these things just because I’ve read them, however there are tenants here that may remain true, how God deals with sinful humanity how sinful humanity deals with God - and at the same time, we see this story pointed to in the New Testament. In the book of Matthew, Jesus compares Jonah’s story and experience with His own: Matthew 12:39 (ESV) 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. And if we believe scripture is ultimately of God, 2 Timothy 3:16, then we begin to understand and see that this OT scripture and story that God is engaging in with Jonah will be used to more clearly show the story of His son, this book that starts with God’s command to GO and bring a message of repentance, is one that is paving the way for Jesus own story - and like Jesus ultimate experience with the rough sea sleeping on the boat with people who needed to meet God and learn to trust God… Matthew 12:41 (ESV) 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. It’s as though God screams forward into time through this story now in Jonah “will you NOT see my Gospel” But church - we can, and I pray we will, this is how we know God! We see His truth cast all through time, realized fully on Christ and in faith, we trust Him, the person and work of Jesus to redeem us to God. It’s as though Jesus points back and says - do you not see the gospel? And so Jonah, is the imperfect picture of Christ, who’ll later deliver a message of repentance that will give a saving knowledge of God to an entire city who will respond, a message that is counter to their entire understanding and way of life - a message that says you understand everything incorrectly - and that same message comes through Christ, but does so perfectly. This boat of men, men who do not know God are seeing him now in their limited ability to see and understand, with the limited revelation that God has given them of himself - is this enough for their salvation: we don’t know. We’ll trust God with that Jonah 1:7-10 (ESV) Jonah Is Thrown into the Sea 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.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Not to press in too hard here on the parallels in the story to Christ own, because we have to realize the comparison breaks down - Jesus was sinless - Jonah, not so much remember the map. And so, we have this period in time, before Jesus came, before much of scripture existed and God is sending prophets, inspiring people to know Him with the ability that they can - and people are seeing Him as powerful, controlling and soon they’ll see HIs grace. So often you hear people characterize the New and Old Testaments like this: Old Testament = Angry God New Testament = Graceful God Rather what we see, is God bringing people to knowledge of Himself - by His grace through their faith in the message he brought to them, and through that time of dispensing His grace through limited knowledge of Him and limited ability for reconciliation He entered into time in His son, The Christ, so that sin could have it’s resting place on Jesus finished work (which looked similar to Jonah’s message of repentance) all the while satisfying so much of the prophecy he laid before himself and fulfilling so much of the foreshadowing that we’d have to recognize His announcement of great news - proclaimed through Jesus who said: John 19:28–30 (ESV) The Death of Jesus 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. The story foretold through the prophets and writers of the Old Testament, lived out on earth after 400 years of silence through Jesus God’s Christ who would bare and make payment for the sins of those who God sent him for as announced to Mary: Matthew 1:21 (ESV) 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” And so, then now Jesus will save His people - are you His, make it so this morning, this is how we can know God. Then church - as you know God, and know him more fully, not by casing lots to know his will, but rather by reading Scripture, by prayer and time in quite fellowship with Him, as you discern the Holy Spirit now in you - not available before the life and fulfilled work of Christ but present in an among those redeemed by Christ - you can more fully know God than anyone who lived before Christ. JONAH: What Then Is It Pastor John Weathersby Transcend Church 5 of 5 Sunday 9/17/2017