1
00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:02,720
For Abel, would you please 
remain standing for the reading 

2
00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:06,440
of God's Word this morning I'll 
be reading from the book of 

3
00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:10,120
Jonah, chapter 2, beginning with
verse one. 

4
00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,360
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord 
his God from the belly of the 

5
00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:22,040
fish, saying, I called out to 
the Lord out of my distress, and

6
00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:25,560
he answered me out of the belly 
of shale. 

7
00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:31,200
I cried, and you heard my voice,
for you cast me into the deep, 

8
00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:35,480
into the heart of the Seas, and 
the flood surrounded me. 

9
00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,280
All your waves and your billows 
passed over me. 

10
00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:45,320
Then I said, I am driven away 
from your sight, yet I shall 

11
00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:47,840
again look upon your holy 
temple. 

12
00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,440
The waters closed in over me to 
take my life. 

13
00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:58,240
The deep surrounded me. 
Weeds were wrapped about my head

14
00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:02,120
at the roots of the mountains. 
I went down to the land whose 

15
00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:07,200
bars closed upon me forever. 
Yet you brought up my life from 

16
00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,800
the pit. 
Oh Lord my God, when my life was

17
00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,040
fainting away, I remember the 
Lord, and my prayer came to you 

18
00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:19,040
into your holy temple. 
Those who pay regard to vain 

19
00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,160
idols forsake their hope of 
steadfast love. 

20
00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:27,360
But I, with the voice of 
Thanksgiving, will sacrifice to 

21
00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:31,000
You what I have vowed. 
I will pay. 

22
00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:37,360
Salvation belongs to the Lord. 
And the Lord spoke to the fish, 

23
00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,760
and it vomited Jonah out upon 
the dry land. 

24
00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:45,960
This is the word of the Lord. 
You may be seated. 

25
00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:51,880
I want to begin this morning 
with a bit of a thought 

26
00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:55,720
experiment. 
If you are trapped in the belly 

27
00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,960
of a huge fish, what would you 
do now? 

28
00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:04,360
Just go with me on this? 
How would you pass the time? 

29
00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,600
Would you panic? 
Would you poke the sides of its 

30
00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:17,280
stomach to try to get you out? 
Or would you build a fire like 

31
00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:20,880
Pinocchio to try to get it to 
sneeze you out? 

32
00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:25,080
Well, this fall we're working 
our way through the Old 

33
00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:30,400
Testament book of Jonah. 
It's incredible story about a 

34
00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:35,040
prophet, one of the 12 minor 
prophets, the last 12 books of 

35
00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:39,120
the Old Testament between the 
turn the page to the New 

36
00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:43,000
Testament. 
What we've learned is that Jonah

37
00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:49,120
was a prophet called by God. 
And see, all of God's prophets 

38
00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:51,320
were called to speak to his 
people. 

39
00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:57,200
The minor prophets called to 
speak to his people, Israel. 

40
00:02:58,640 --> 00:03:02,480
But Jonah, Jonah was given a new
assignment. 

41
00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:08,920
Jonah wasn't just called to 
speak to Israel, but he was 

42
00:03:08,920 --> 00:03:12,640
called to speak to Israel's 
enemy, Nineveh. 

43
00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,840
Jonah hated Nineveh and so he 
wanted nothing to do with God's 

44
00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:24,800
mission and he ran from it and 
so doing he wanted nothing to do

45
00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,360
with God and he ran from the 
presence of the Lord. 

46
00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:34,800
And so God sent a storm after 
Jonah and then he said a great 

47
00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:38,680
fish. 
Last week we looked at Jonah one

48
00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:43,960
verse 17 and the Lord appointed 
a great fish to swallow up 

49
00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,520
Jonah. 
And Jonah was in the belly of 

50
00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:50,800
the fish 3 days and three 
nights. 

51
00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:56,160
And what we saw last week is 
that there is something greater 

52
00:03:56,160 --> 00:04:00,600
than Jonah here. 
That just as Jonah was in the 

53
00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:05,840
belly of the fish for three days
and three nights, so Jesus 

54
00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:12,280
Christ the Son of God was 
crucified and he died and he 

55
00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:17,200
spent three days in the tomb, 
and on the third day he rose 

56
00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:20,600
again. 
That all who trust in his name 

57
00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:24,760
would have life. 
There is something greater than 

58
00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,080
Jonah here. 
But what we will see this 

59
00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:33,000
morning is that there is more to
the story than Jonah being 

60
00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:40,240
swallowed by the great fish. 
What we will see is that Jonah 

61
00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:44,840
will then move on to tell us 
what happened inside the fish. 

62
00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:50,880
Something that anyone with even 
a little bit of curiosity would 

63
00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,560
wonder, what was Jonah doing for
those three days? 

64
00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,520
But what we will see is that the
book of Jonah not only gives us 

65
00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:04,680
a glimpse inside the fish, but 
more importantly, the book of 

66
00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:07,400
Jonah gives us a glimpse inside 
of Jonah. 

67
00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:15,040
We'll see the heart of a man, a 
man who has come to the end of 

68
00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:19,480
himself because they're in the 
belly of the fish. 

69
00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:24,520
Jonah did something he had not 
done since the beginning of the 

70
00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:31,920
book. 
Jonah stopped running and he 

71
00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:38,640
finally prayed, and they're 
imprisoned by a fish. 

72
00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:46,160
Jonah faced his own rebellion 
against God and to discover the 

73
00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:52,720
freedom of repentance that 
repentance that I want us all to

74
00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:58,480
see this morning. 
First way is this repentance 

75
00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:02,160
confronts the depths of our 
depravity. 

76
00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:07,720
I want you to look with me at 
Jonah chapter 2 Jonah 2 verse 

77
00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:12,840
one we're told that then Jonah 
prayed to the Lord his God from 

78
00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:17,600
the belly of the fish saying I 
called out to the Lord out of my

79
00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:22,320
distress and he answered me out 
of the belly of shale. 

80
00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:28,200
I cried and you heard my voice 
to the bulk of this chapter is 

81
00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:33,440
written in the form of poetry 
and it's bookended by two verses

82
00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,920
that are prose, their narrative 
to tell the story. 

83
00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:40,560
And so chapter 2 begins with 
verse one. 

84
00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:43,600
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord as
God from the belly of the fish 

85
00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:47,720
and it ends in verse 10. 
And the Lord spoke to the fish 

86
00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,560
and it vomited Jonah out upon 
the dry land. 

87
00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:56,680
Everything in between these two 
verses is Hebrew poetry. 

88
00:06:57,480 --> 00:06:59,760
And if you're reading along in 
your bulletin this morning, you 

89
00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:01,960
can't really see it what we've 
printed there. 

90
00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:05,720
But if you're reading in a 
Hebrew Bible, or really any 

91
00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:09,320
English translation, you'll see 
that these verses have been set 

92
00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:11,880
apart. 
It's a poem. 

93
00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,040
In fact, it's a poem that's been
so beautifully and intricately 

94
00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:20,120
written that it's often called 
the Psalm of Jonah. 

95
00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:29,080
And for these verses, Jonah is 
calling out the Lord. 

96
00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:33,000
He's crying out him in poetic 
fashion. 

97
00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,800
And just as many skeptics have 
doubted that Jonah was really 

98
00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:42,760
swallowed by a big fish, many 
skeptics doubt that Jonah could 

99
00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:46,560
have written this poem. 
They say it's too beautiful. 

100
00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,440
It's too well written. 
There's no way Jonah could have 

101
00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:55,400
actually written it, especially 
from the belly of a fish. 

102
00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:59,840
You see, just like there's 
something greater than Jonah 

103
00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:03,520
here, there's something more 
than poetry here. 

104
00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:09,360
See, not only is this the Psalm 
of Jonah, but it's his prayer. 

105
00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:15,600
It's a prayer of praise. 
It's a prayer of confession. 

106
00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:23,640
It's a prayer of repentance. 
What we see is that in this 

107
00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:31,120
moment, Jonah is both literally 
and spiritually at the lowest 

108
00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:37,520
point of his entire life. 
And this descent has been 

109
00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:43,320
happening since Jonah chapter 1 
and Jonah one verse 3. 

110
00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:50,000
We're told that after God told 
Jonah to get up to arise and go 

111
00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,480
to Nineveh, Jonah went down. 
He descended, he went down to 

112
00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:59,400
Joppa, and then we're told he 
went down to the ship to flee 

113
00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:03,880
from the presence of the Lord. 
After God sent the storm after 

114
00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:06,000
Jonah. 
We're told that Jonah then went 

115
00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:10,720
down further into the ship into 
its innermost parts to sleep it 

116
00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:15,840
off. 
Jonah was on a downward spiral 

117
00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:21,000
of sin and rebellion. 
Many ways. 

118
00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,320
It's why we say that we hit rock
bottom. 

119
00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:33,360
Jonah was confronting the depths
of his own depravity from the 

120
00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:39,600
belly of a fish. 
Verse 3 Jonah says, you cast me 

121
00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:43,880
into the deep, into the heart of
the Seas. 

122
00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:48,720
The flood surrounded me. 
All the waves and your billows 

123
00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:52,320
have passed over me. 
You hear the language. 

124
00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:58,880
This was both literally true for
Jonah, that he had been thrown 

125
00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:00,920
overboard into the middle of a 
storm. 

126
00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:03,120
Can you imagine what that must 
have been like for him? 

127
00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:09,440
Thrashing about in the waves, 
gasping for breath, his head 

128
00:10:09,560 --> 00:10:14,960
going underwater? 
But Jonah's also beginning to 

129
00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:19,240
understand that this is who he 
is spiritually before God, 

130
00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:26,160
running away from him. 
He's flailing his arms, running 

131
00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:31,200
from the presence of the Lord, 
descending deeper into his own 

132
00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:36,480
deprivation. 
Now, when we use the term total 

133
00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:42,680
depravity, what we mean by that 
is that as human beings, it's 

134
00:10:42,680 --> 00:10:45,480
not as if that we are utterly 
sinful. 

135
00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:51,560
It's that no, we are totally 
depraved, and that every part of

136
00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:56,600
us is affected by sin. 
It affects our hearts and our 

137
00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:03,080
desires, beckoning us to go 
after false gods and all of 

138
00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,760
their empty promises. 
But it doesn't just affect our 

139
00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:11,720
hearts, it affects our bodies. 
That because of the fall, we 

140
00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:15,880
experienced the frailty of human
life, even death itself. 

141
00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:22,680
And it affects our minds. 
It clouds our judgement, it 

142
00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:28,480
prevents us from seeing God 
rightly and causes us to rebel. 

143
00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:31,200
This is exactly what we see in 
Jonah. 

144
00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:42,000
Jesus said that whoever sins as 
a slave to sin, this is what 

145
00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:49,760
total depravity describes, that 
we are in bondage to sin and 

146
00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:53,680
this is sins. 
Great irony that we think when 

147
00:11:53,680 --> 00:11:57,720
we run from God and all those 
commandments, that that is where

148
00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,880
freedom was found. 
That when we see God as some 

149
00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:05,920
kind of totalitarian dictator 
trying to push his thumb against

150
00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:09,080
us and we think it's better for 
us to go our own way. 

151
00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,680
We think it's freedom, but it 
only leads in slavery and death.

152
00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:20,640
But here, as Jonah confronts the
depths of depravity, he sees sin

153
00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:26,360
for what it truly is. 
More than that, Jonah says not 

154
00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:30,280
only has he descended into this 
belly of the fish, but Jonah 

155
00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,800
says he's gone down into the 
belly of shale. 

156
00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:38,640
And what does that mean? 
That phrase, the belly of shale,

157
00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:44,560
is unique only to Jonah. 
The word shale isn't, but for 

158
00:12:44,560 --> 00:12:46,880
him to put it with the word 
belly. 

159
00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:51,880
Now clearly Jonah is playing off
of where he currently finds 

160
00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:58,840
himself in the belly of a great 
fish, but he's recognizing that 

161
00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:02,800
far worse, he's descended the 
belly of shale. 

162
00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,640
The word shale throughout the 
Old Testament refers the 

163
00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:11,160
dominion of death in this 
language that led many people 

164
00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:15,800
over the centuries to ask a very
important question about Jonah's

165
00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,880
story. 
Did God send the fish after 

166
00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:24,960
Jonah out of his judgement or 
out of his mercy? 

167
00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:34,200
Was the fish an act of God's 
judgement to go after Jonah, To 

168
00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:38,400
say to Jonah, you can't run from
me, I am the one true God and I 

169
00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,400
must pour out my wrath upon sin 
and rebellion. 

170
00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:48,480
Or was it God's rescue? 
Did God send the fish after 

171
00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:53,040
Jonah because of his mercy? 
Was Jonah's language here that 

172
00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:57,400
leads many people to say it must
be judgement that Jonah has 

173
00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:02,320
descended to the depths of 
shale, to death itself. 

174
00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,920
And throughout the beginning of 
Jonah's prayer, he's confronting

175
00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:13,760
his own sin and rebellion and is
recognizing that he is enduring 

176
00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:16,560
the very judgement that he 
wished upon Nineveh. 

177
00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:22,720
I want you to hear that Jonah 
wanted God's judgement for 

178
00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:28,600
Nineveh, and now God's judgement
had come for him. 

179
00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:38,040
But the story doesn't end there.
Second, repentance not only 

180
00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:43,040
calls us to face our own 
depravity, but it invites us to 

181
00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:46,640
turn to the mercy of God. 
Look with me, verse 4. 

182
00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:54,080
Then Jonah says, I'm driven away
from your sight. 

183
00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:57,480
I think Jonah's choice of words 
here is significant. 

184
00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:03,320
Jonah has been purposely running
away from the sight of God, but 

185
00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:08,400
notice how he puts it. 
I have been driven away from 

186
00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:15,960
God's presence. 
God has given Jonah exactly what

187
00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:20,760
he wanted and it's led to his 
own self destruction. 

188
00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:26,120
Apostle Paul in the book of 
Romans describes this in this 

189
00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:29,640
way. 
Romans one verse 21, he says, 

190
00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:34,120
for although they knew God, they
did not honor him as God or give

191
00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:39,200
thanks to him, but became futile
in their thinking, and their 

192
00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:43,560
foolish hearts were darkened. 
Doesn't it sound like Jonah 

193
00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:48,440
running away from God, his 
foolish heart become darkened? 

194
00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:51,400
But if we're honest this 
morning, doesn't it sound like 

195
00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:54,960
us when we rebel against God 
too? 

196
00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:58,840
And then listen to this in 
Romans one verse 24. 

197
00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:03,240
Therefore God gave them up, and 
the lust of their hearts to 

198
00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:07,600
impurity, to the dishonouring of
their bodies among themselves, 

199
00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:10,920
because they exchanged the truth
about God for a lie and 

200
00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:13,720
worshipped and served the 
creature rather than the Creator

201
00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:16,240
who is blessed forever. 
Amen. 

202
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,760
This is one of the greatest acts
of judgement that God could give

203
00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:29,920
us, that He would leave us alone
to our own sin, that he would 

204
00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:35,160
allow our sin to consume us, to 
eat us alive. 

205
00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:41,600
And This is why the great fish 
was not only an act of God's 

206
00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:44,760
judgement, but was also an act 
of God's mercy. 

207
00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,480
Because God didn't leave Jonah 
alone. 

208
00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:58,200
God didn't leave Jonah alone. 
He sent a storm after him, and 

209
00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,000
then he sent a great fish after 
him. 

210
00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,400
And so here is Jonah, the end of
verse 4. 

211
00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:10,560
Notice what he says. 
I'm driven away from your side, 

212
00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:15,839
yet I shall again look upon your
holy temple. 

213
00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:24,160
That's one of two yet 2 yet. 
And Jonah's prayer, and both are

214
00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,119
beautiful evidences of his 
repentance. 

215
00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:31,320
Jonah says, Yet I shall again 
look on your holy temple. 

216
00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:35,000
Some have suggested that this is
Jonah and all of his confidence,

217
00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:39,160
knowing that some point he's 
going to be rescued, that he's 

218
00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,200
going to live. 
At some point he's going to get 

219
00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:46,280
out of the fish, and one day he 
will look at the temple again. 

220
00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,600
But really, throughout the Old 
Testament, this language of 

221
00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:54,520
looking on the temple is used as
a metaphor for prayer. 

222
00:17:54,520 --> 00:18:00,360
Let me give you an example. 
This is Psalm 186IN my distress,

223
00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:02,840
I called upon the Lord to my 
God. 

224
00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:05,480
I cried for help from His 
temple. 

225
00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:10,200
He heard my voice. 
My cry to Him reached his ears. 

226
00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:13,080
Jonah will use this kind of 
language again. 

227
00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:18,360
And Jonah 2 verse 7, Jonah says,
when my life was fainting away, 

228
00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,720
I remember the Lord and my 
prayer came to you into your 

229
00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:26,600
holy temple. 
So what is happening here? 

230
00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:34,760
Well, Jonah the rebellious 
prophet has finally stopped 

231
00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:39,320
running and he's turning back to
the Lord. 

232
00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:48,640
Jonah is praying Lord his God 
and looking upon his face, 

233
00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:56,080
gazing upon the temple and 
setting his sights on the mercy 

234
00:18:56,080 --> 00:19:01,920
of God. 
This is the very definition of 

235
00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:07,120
repentance. 
Now when I use that word 

236
00:19:07,120 --> 00:19:11,280
repentance, I wonder how it 
sounds to some of you. 

237
00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:17,880
If you've grown up around 
Christianity, it's possible that

238
00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:24,240
you associate repentance with 
legalism, or you associate it 

239
00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:29,600
with hypocritical Christians who
tell people to live one way 

240
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,040
while they do the exact same 
thing. 

241
00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:40,400
Or maybe for you, it brings up 
images of televangelists and TV 

242
00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:44,320
preachers telling people to 
repent. 

243
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:53,160
I don't know how that word comes
to your ears, but I want you to 

244
00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:57,600
hear this morning that what we 
see in the story of Jonah is 

245
00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:03,240
that repentance isn't 
legalistic, it's not inherently 

246
00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:09,080
hypocritical, and it's anything 
but restrictive. 

247
00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:16,280
Now what we see in Jonah's story
is that repentance leads to 

248
00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:21,000
freedom. 
Notice what Jonah says in verse 

249
00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:25,160
5. 
The waters closed in over me to 

250
00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,520
take my life. 
The deep surrounded me. 

251
00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:32,880
The weeds were wrapped about my 
head at the roots of the 

252
00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:35,560
mountains. 
I went down to the land whose 

253
00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:40,560
bars closed upon me forever, yet
you brought up my life from the 

254
00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:43,520
pit. 
Oh, Lord, my God, did you hear 

255
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:45,440
it? 
It's the second yet. 

256
00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,440
And notice the imagery that 
Jonah is using in his prayer. 

257
00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:53,520
He's saying here I am in the 
belly of the fish. 

258
00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,520
And it's not just that I'm 
trapped inside a fish's stomach,

259
00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:01,440
but seaweed is wrapped itself 
all around me. 

260
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:07,120
Can you feel it wrapped around 
my limbs and around my neck? 

261
00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:11,400
It's choking me out. 
Not only that, but he says he's 

262
00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:14,680
gone down to the depths of the 
mountain, to this land whose 

263
00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:17,600
bars closed upon me. 
It's the image of a prison. 

264
00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:23,240
Jonah is recognizing that his 
sin has become a prison to him. 

265
00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:32,360
His rebellion has enslaved him. 
I want you to think about your 

266
00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:38,240
own rebellion, those times that 
you are tempted and even give in

267
00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:44,200
to run from God. 
I once met with a man who'd 

268
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,440
become addicted to online 
gambling. 

269
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:54,000
He'd been trying to beat it for 
over a decade, and you know what

270
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:58,440
he told me? 
He said, I don't even want to do

271
00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:06,120
it anymore, but I can't stop. 
This is what all sin is like for

272
00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:08,400
us. 
It entraps us. 

273
00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:11,520
It enslaves us. 
It puts us into bondage. 

274
00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:15,480
It wraps around our limbs and 
our necks and holds us down and 

275
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:22,160
becomes a prison to us. 
And so repentance is not 

276
00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:28,240
restriction, it's freedom. 
It's liberation. 

277
00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:35,840
It's when we stop running from 
God and run without abandoned, 

278
00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:39,120
right? 
The mercy of God. 

279
00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:43,920
And if one of the greatest acts 
of judgement that God could give

280
00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,840
us is to abandon us to our sin, 
then one of His greatest acts of

281
00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:54,560
mercy is to break us down in 
order to bring us back to 

282
00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:58,440
himself. 
This is exactly what he's done 

283
00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:02,840
with Jonah. 
He's brought Jonah to the end of

284
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:09,800
himself in order that he could 
truly begin to see the holiness 

285
00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:14,680
and mercy of God. 
One of the other minor prophets,

286
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:18,720
Hosea, puts it this way. 
Hosea 6 verse one. 

287
00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:26,960
Come, let us return to the Lord,
for He has torn us that He may 

288
00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:31,480
heal us. 
He has struck us down and He 

289
00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,920
will bind us up. 
After 2 days He will revive us, 

290
00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:40,880
and on the third day He will 
raise us up that we may live for

291
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:45,000
him. 
Do you hear Jonah's story here? 

292
00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:55,080
God struck Jonah down in order 
to raise him up, and after three

293
00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:58,880
days in the belly of the fish, 
he delivered Jonah. 

294
00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:05,040
But do you also hear it, that 
there is something greater than 

295
00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:08,160
Jonah here, even in the book of 
Hosea? 

296
00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:17,320
He struck down his own son to 
heal us, and after three days he

297
00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:21,400
rose him from the dead. 
That we could have life. 

298
00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:28,360
The only way for us to truly 
receive the glory of the gospel 

299
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:36,960
is for us to confront our sin, 
but also to run to the arms of 

300
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:41,680
Jesus. 
And this is what true repentance

301
00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:44,320
is. 
You see, Jonah's problem 

302
00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:47,200
ultimately was not that he 
thought he was superior to 

303
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,040
Nineveh. 
That's just a symptom of a much 

304
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:54,200
deeper disease. 
Now, ultimately, Jonah's problem

305
00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:58,720
is that he no longer viewed 
himself in the shadow of the 

306
00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:05,800
holiness of God, so now all he 
could see was himself and see 

307
00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:09,040
the people around him. 
That's known as the sin of 

308
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:12,920
comparison. 
And if you're like me, you do it

309
00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:17,040
every day. 
We are so prone to compare 

310
00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:19,000
ourselves to others. 
Why do we do that? 

311
00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:23,040
I think we do that because if we
search hard enough, we'll find 

312
00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:25,240
some people that we think are 
worse off than we are. 

313
00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:31,360
But you see, comparison always 
leads to moralism. 

314
00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:37,880
It leaves us stuck in our sin. 
We might turn from our sin, but 

315
00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:40,400
we never turn around to actually
look at God. 

316
00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:44,880
We only look at ourselves. 
We look at the people around us.

317
00:25:46,360 --> 00:25:49,360
The 19th century English 
minister JC Rile put it this 

318
00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:50,960
way. 
He said let her let us never 

319
00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:55,200
measure our religion by that of 
others and think we are doing 

320
00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:57,000
enough. 
If we've gone beyond our 

321
00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:01,520
neighbors. 
So many of us think that that's 

322
00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:06,080
what Christianity is. 
And so for us, repentance just 

323
00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:09,640
looks like turning from our sin,
looking at ourselves, looking at

324
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,040
people around us thinking we're 
at least we're not as bad as 

325
00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:16,320
they are, and eventually turn 
right back to our sin. 

326
00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:22,560
But genuine repentance is what 
we see after Jonah says the 

327
00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:26,000
word. 
Yet genuine repentance is 

328
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:31,440
turning from our sin and turning
to the mercy of God in Christ 

329
00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:35,160
Jesus. 
In our church, we hold to a 

330
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:41,000
confession to to a way of 
thinking about what we believe 

331
00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:44,160
that's been passed down from 
generation to generation. 

332
00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:47,800
That means we believe that we as
a church are rooted and those 

333
00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:49,760
who've gone before us. 
It's called the Westminster 

334
00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:53,120
Confession of Faith. 
At the end of the confession, 

335
00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:54,800
we're given the Shorter 
Catechism. 

336
00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:58,600
Now catechism is just a way to 
teach us what it is that we 

337
00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:00,440
believe through a question and 
answer. 

338
00:27:01,360 --> 00:27:03,440
If you think that sounds 
archaic, let me just tell you, 

339
00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,360
you're being catechized every 
single day by the world around 

340
00:27:06,360 --> 00:27:09,240
you. 
You're being shaped and formed. 

341
00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:17,800
Westminster Shorter Catechism 
infiltrates all of that and 

342
00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,960
helps us understand not just 
what we believe, but why. 

343
00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:27,400
Question 87 asks this question. 
What is repentance unto life? 

344
00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:32,080
Here's the answer. 
Repentance unto life is a saving

345
00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:36,160
grace, whereby A Sinner, out of 
true sense of his sin and 

346
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:41,200
apprehension of the mercy of God
in Christ, does with grief and 

347
00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:48,000
hatred of his sin, turn from it 
and unto God with full purpose 

348
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:50,120
of an endeavor after new 
obedience. 

349
00:27:50,120 --> 00:27:53,800
Did you hear it? 
The two steps of genuine 

350
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,600
repentance. 
It's not just turning from sin, 

351
00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:04,880
but it's turning to God and His 
sovereign mercy, driving down 

352
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:07,760
only by grace to walk in new 
obedience. 

353
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:13,800
So the third thing that Jonah 
and his prayer from the belly of

354
00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:18,240
the fish teaches us, repentance 
is a saving grace. 

355
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:22,200
Jonah concludes his Psalm by 
describing what this genuine 

356
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,520
repentance looks like In verse 
8. 

357
00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:27,680
He says those who pay regard to 
vain idols forsake their 

358
00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:31,760
steadfast love. 
Jonah's point is that the false 

359
00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,680
gods that we turn to ourselves 
and other people, the 

360
00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,440
affirmation that we might seek 
in the world around us, can 

361
00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:43,040
never deliver on its promise. 
And so we might try to turn from

362
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:47,800
our sin into these idols. 
And when we do, we turn our back

363
00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:52,160
on the only one who has promised
to love us to the end with a 

364
00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:55,760
never giving up, never stopping,
always faithful and forever 

365
00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:58,680
love. 
He goes on in verse 9 and says, 

366
00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:02,640
but with the voice of 
Thanksgiving, we'll sacrifice to

367
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:06,600
you what I have vowed I will 
pay. 

368
00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:11,600
This is Jonah now turning to 
God, turning to his mercy and 

369
00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:16,880
grace, and now endeavoring to 
follow after God and his 

370
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:21,920
commands and new obedience. 
But I want you to notice the 

371
00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:27,160
language that he chooses. 
Jonah says I will sacrifice to 

372
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:31,520
you. 
Would I have vowed I will pay? 

373
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:34,680
I don't think these words are an
accident. 

374
00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:38,960
So we had already seen this kind
of behavior earlier in Jonah. 

375
00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:43,960
One, not from Jonah, but from 
the pluralistic Pagan sailors 

376
00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:49,960
who in the middle of the ocean 
found themselves praying to the 

377
00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:55,320
one true God and making 
sacrifices and vows to him. 

378
00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:02,640
Even in Jonah's prayer of 
repentance, he's still comparing

379
00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:06,680
himself. 
He's comparing himself to the 

380
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:10,480
Mariners. 
Some have said, well, he must be

381
00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:12,880
comparing to them because he 
says, well, their repentance 

382
00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:14,680
can't be genuine. 
I'm going to do better. 

383
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:18,720
Others have suggested no, he's 
pointing to the Mariners 

384
00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:21,160
repentance because that becomes 
the model for him. 

385
00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:24,600
But either way, this is what I 
want you to see. 

386
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:29,840
Even in Jonah's repentance, he's
comparing himself. 

387
00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:34,640
And look, I don't want to give 
it away, but do you know how the

388
00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:39,960
story of Jonah ends? 
After Jonah is finally delivered

389
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:43,880
from the fish, After Jonah 
finally preaches to Nineveh, 

390
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:47,240
after Nineveh repents and God 
have mercy on them. 

391
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:53,680
Do you know what Jonah does? 
He gets angry enough to die and 

392
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,000
he ends up right back where he 
started. 

393
00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:00,480
And I can't help but think of 
the words of our confession of 

394
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:05,120
sin. 
We need to repent of our own 

395
00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:10,200
repentance. 
We need our tears to be washed. 

396
00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:15,880
Because in case you might not 
yet understand what true 

397
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:21,800
repentance is, repentance is not
something we can do on our own. 

398
00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:32,400
Repentance is a saving grace. 
Even God works repentance into 

399
00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:36,120
our lives. 
Because you and I cannot save 

400
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:40,600
ourselves. 
If you don't believe me, just 

401
00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:44,960
listen to the last words of 
Jonah's prayer, the end of verse

402
00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:47,480
9. 
Jonah proclaims salvation 

403
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:55,040
belongs to the Lord. 
You cannot save yourself any 

404
00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:58,040
more than Jonah could get 
himself out of the belly of a 

405
00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:03,040
fish. 
Salvation belongs to Lord. 

406
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:06,880
He is the one who saves his 
people. 

407
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,040
And if you still have a hard 
time believing that, just look 

408
00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:13,840
at what happens next in verse 
10. 

409
00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:21,880
God save Jonah by commanding the
fish to vomit him out on dry 

410
00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:26,440
land. 
Salvation belongs to the Lord, 

411
00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:31,840
and He will stop at nothing to 
rescue his people. 

412
00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:36,760
He sent a storm and a fish to 
save Jonah. 

413
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:44,360
He sent a rebellious prophet to 
save Nineveh, and he sent his 

414
00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:48,880
own son Jesus Christ to save you
and me. 

415
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:58,720
And so repent, Repent every 
minute of every day. 

416
00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:02,920
Repent. 
The first theses of Martin 

417
00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:06,960
Luther's 95 theses that he 
nailed to the door of the church

418
00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:09,480
in Wittenberg, Germany, said 
this. 

419
00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:13,880
When our Lord and Master Jesus 
Christ said repent, he intended 

420
00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:17,040
that the entire life of 
believers should be repentance. 

421
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:21,480
And if that sounds like a drag 
to you, let me suggest that 

422
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:24,840
you're still not understanding 
repentance for what it really 

423
00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:28,000
is. 
Because what Martin Luther meant

424
00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:31,240
was not that the entire life of 
believers is just trying to get 

425
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:35,120
out of your own sin. 
Now what he meant is that the 

426
00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:40,360
entire life of believers should 
be 1 of running to Jesus, 

427
00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:47,240
running to Jesus of every minute
of every single day. 

428
00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:50,920
And is there not a more glorious
life than that? 

429
00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:59,320
And so repent this morning, if 
you've been trying to get 

430
00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:04,200
yourself out of your own sin and
just like Jonah found it to 

431
00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:08,800
enslave you, you've never turned
to Jesus Christ as your Savior. 

432
00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:12,000
Repent. 
Turn to him alone. 

433
00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:16,360
His arms are open wide. 
They're spread out on the cross.

434
00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:19,480
He died and rose again for your 
salvation. 

435
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:24,760
And this morning, if you are a 
follower of Jesus, repent. 

436
00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:29,360
We need the good news, the 
gospel, every single moment of 

437
00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:36,360
every day, and just like Jonah, 
to stop running from God and 

438
00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:43,199
instead to turn from our sin to 
look on the face of our Savior 

439
00:34:43,199 --> 00:34:46,800
Jesus and run to him. 
Let's pray. 

440
00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:51,080
Father in heaven, we pray that 
you would enable us to live 

441
00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:56,520
lives of repentance, that we 
would turn from our sin and turn

442
00:34:56,520 --> 00:35:01,320
to you, Lord Jesus, and in 
walking with You that we would 

443
00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:06,720
walk in new obedience. 
We thank you that repentance is 

444
00:35:06,720 --> 00:35:10,000
a saving grace. 
So we pray that by your 

445
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,640
sovereign grace this morning, 
you would work through your Holy

446
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:18,520
Spirit to work repentance deep 
into our hearts and bring us out

447
00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:23,800
of the darkness and into the 
marvelous light of walking with 

448
00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:26,560
you. 
We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.

449
00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:28,040
Let's stand and let's sing 
together.