The Moment of Crisis, Part 2

TD Green or even the belly of a fish course or obedience see that Jesus went into the belly of the fish for you is what will create desire God's not just offer obedience. Several all the kind of obedience. The goal of every sermon that I have a bridge is not to tell you. Don't be like Jonah Goldberg sermon is to help portion gone through the motions that we would they say sometimes just suck it up and do it will transcendent light pastor JD Greer turns to the book of Jonah.

To illustrate this point. He's reminding us that just because we do what God asked clearly mean that were acting from a heart of obedience. Another thought-provoking message from our castaway series in the book of Jonah.

Don't miss the message by revisiting previous broadcasts online or downloading the free unedited message transfer. They're all available@jdgreer.com. Now here's dating with the message he's titled the moment of crisis. Jonah 117 the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.

Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights just to review a quick general driver got disobedient. God told Annette about it and want to go to Godzilla storm to just about kill everybody on that boat so they take Jonah and they throw him overboard. Jonah hits the water. The water goes. Call Jonah thinks everything is cool when all of a sudden out of nowhere this huge fish comes swallows up Jonah is about to take him to the bottom of the ocean for three days and three nights now, you may look at that at first and say why is it that God is doing that. It seems like Jonah had only learned his lesson right and you get thrown overboard. All the sudden the storm dissipate you think Jonah had gotten the point, but you're about to see her in a moment.

Jonah had not gotten the point, God had not fully gotten his attention, yet what you're seeing here is not meanness it's mercy because Glisson God is relentless in pursuit of those that he loves okay chapter 2 verse one then Jonah prayed to the Lord is God from belly to fish with no swallow after three days and three nights.

Then he finally is broken down, which gives you a picture of the depth of struggle that Jonah is in with obedience to God because what God had asked Jonah to do went down to the core of who he was right. So Jonah finally turns in repentance and you will see that in verse three I will show you in the next several verses. Three things that Jonah's repentance was built upon which every forever.

Penance is always built on these three things okay verse three you cast me into the deep into the heart of the seas and the flood surrounded me all your waves and your bill is passed over me that I said I'm driven away from your sites, the waters closed in over me to take my life. The deep surrounded me.

Weeds were wrapped around my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever. Here's the first thing Jonah realizes puts into an expression write this down on the futility of life without God you realize is one the futility of life without God.

Jonah was finally in a place of absolute hopelessness, believes he says like change or wrapping around his head.

The bars like a prison closing around him forever and that's what it takes for lot of people to finally have their foolish pride shattered.

Whatever it is. Listen. Repentance always begins in a note of despair and it is God's mercy that shows it to you before you die. You see, there is a time coming when you will stand before God and in that moment, if you stand before God and you were not right with him you were not in fellowship with him, then everything you've accomplished everything all your career, how good your marriage was how well your kids turned out the matter how many praises you receive what accomplishment you achieve.

It's all meaningless.

If you die go to hell.

Verse seven when my life was fading away.

I remember the Lord my prayer came to you. It came into your holy temple. It was interesting to me is that Jonah is celebrating what's this is deliverance. Before he gets out of the belly of the fish you want to know why you know why there is a greater deliverance, the deliverance from bad circumstances is the deliverance from sin. Verse eight goes to pay regard to vain idols for for the grace that could be theirs.

This is the key verse Jonah scholars to be remarkable is happening. Members God applied idolatry to the sins of Jonah.

Jonah acknowledges that his sin was birthed in idolatry. All sin begins in idolatry.

That is what somebody who repents understands this is number two, they realize the emptiness of idols. They realize the emptiness of idols, but I don't listen. I was anything you love more than God. Trust what a God or you crave more than God. What has the most weight in your life. What is the one thing you look into the future like that's gotta be there in order for me to be happy.

That's what your idol is it me do some for Martin Luther, the great German reformer. Here's what he says in his larger catechism is whatever we look pretty good things and for refuge in every need. That is what is meant by God, whatever you give your heart and entrust your being that I say is really your God, what is it that you look to your life as the primary source for good things. What is it that you could live without. Is it is a marriage is it success is that your kids turning out okay living close to you and Avina really happy family not argue those bad things course, not idolatry is when a good thing becomes an ultimate thing when website is when a good thing becomes a God thing becomes a bad thing. It's when you take something to get so much weight so much worthiness that it matters more to you than the presence of God.

What are you envious of, but others have, that you will have what you are not worried about late night. One day you will lose what you you better about having lost the back of your life what you most bitter about having lost chances are it's connected to an idol was the one thing you say without that life is not worth living. That's your idol refuge see that word with your statement refuge where you go for refuge when major top 40 you turn for comfort food. The opinions of others. It's cold there to be. Tell yourself you will be some good person here diverse marital because of that return big maybe.

Maybe money about this shopping you'll depress what you meditate with plastic enough that I give her.

She will fix my house in a joking but I cannot. That's the way that you deal with life. You just build more junk because you know that when you got new stuff in your hand, your habits will allow you the latest fashion on your okay I can handle a me know where you turn for refuge, where you turn for comfort. It's what a good thing becomes an ultimate thing right God thing. That's idolatry you give your heart to them.

You got a process of in the tragedy. Jonah says is that when you do that you force fits the grace that could've been yours. Your forfeited tragedy is when you give yourself to what I God's love is compassion. Was there everything that you were looking for was there but you forfeited it, and you gave yourself to what I you have to earn God's steadfast love. It was a gift. It was a gift he gave you because you overflows with you because your child, you forfeited Jeremiah the prophet said in another place to another people. This essentially the same thing. I love that you're my 230 my people have committed two evils.

One is foreseeable. They forsaken me, the fountain of living water. Number two, they have hewn for themselves cisterns but hold the water now. A cistern is not like brother and sister and its sister to myself. Cistern is a little little well they would dig to hold rainwater pieces.

Here's the tragedy okayed the first problem is that there was a fountain of living water that bubbled up from the earth that was clean and pure and satisfied and never made for circuit and them because they were so thirsty they dug for themselves. These muddy nasty cisterns which water is the problem. The reason they went to the second is because of the first reason some of you were so given to sensuality so addicted to money so addictive the people's opinion is because you have forsaken the fountain of living water. The second evil grows out of the first evil and I can stay up here all day long and preach to you about the stupidity of the second evil but until you come back to the first.

It will never work because you have divorce yourself from ever flowing love God is what your heart crave so many other things your soul starving is make sense in Jonah chapter 4 he's going to use a word for God that I love is the Lord is compassionate in Hebrew. That is the work right hand. Rachel literally means from the womb is a feeling that to me to be condescending you single people, but you really have a hard time understanding until you have had kids of your own. When I was one of my kids and their cry really hurt both forcible. 9/10 times might describe it is actually ridiculous and nothing but drama. Okay, but that one out a 10 time that there really hurts when you look at them is apparent.

There is something inside of you that is an emotion that you never really felt before that says I would to anything to take that pain out of your body and put into mine if I could in his right hand is compassion Genesis.

That's the kind of love that God has for you is a it is in fact what we have for our children is a pale comparison of it is is the all satisfying love. By the way, if you have pleasant memories of your childhood. It's almost always tied to that kind of love coming from your parents because I was love your experience and if you're disappointed in your childhood is because your parents didn't do that for you if what you were longing for your parents. They gave it to you then you work were blessed by that.

They took it from you and your your embittered by what the point is, it was supposed to be a shadow of the love of your heavenly father for you see the fountain of living water.

In Genesis the tragedies that you force you walked away from it.

Everything that you were looking for was in it.

Why why do you forsake love.

Why, what are you going digging wells. What you looking for is not in romance the arms that you were looking for in romance were his arms front told your lonely, discontented, bitter, single people become lonely, discontented, bitter married people we sin in our offices getting counseling because love it will divorce on a spouse was in the love of God. It's not in the affair.

It's not in the new marriage. It's not been at the top your class. If not, get the highest paying job. It's not at the top of the corporate ladder before the Forbes magazine article I wrote my entire life, the latter success. What if I was leaning against the world building is not a new hobby. It's not a drug or a fling with the secretary it's in right cam of God. That's what you're looking for is not 1/3 element with the voice of Thanksgiving, I will sacrifice to you what I have found I will pay salvation belongs to the Lord. Some scholars say this is the most important personal Bible.

I'm actually quite a brutal because this is repeated in Revelation, and it summarizes the entire plot line of the Bible.

Repentance comes from knowing number three that salvation belongs to the Lord.

You see, you can generally say there are three different kinds of people in the world there are in religious people. There are religious people and Christians are irreligious people. There are religious people in their Christian irreligious people believe any salvation religious people believe they need salvation, but believe salvation belongs to them. Christians know they need salvation.

Salvation comes from God that salvation is a gift that God gives salvation is not in us. Salvation is something that our heavenly father gives to us out of his heart and not because of our merit. So in Revelation basalt, we will sing for eternity is salvation belongs to the Lord. We will walk around heaven. The Bible says with his name on our four head and on her hand, not my name and I will grant him a list of things awesome things I did tell me Jenny, but I will close awesome stuff. I did my own name and all my competence written down. His name is written on their because I will say salvation will, so here it was his grace. It was his compassion. Salvation belongs to the Lord he did for me what I could do for myself when I was so far gone. He gave me what Christians are called grace which you've already heard. Grace is undeserved gift from an unobligated giver is something entirely that comes as a gracious act of God. Salvation belongs to God. See when you get that it will produce three things and you to open. Jonah gets one of them. He totally misses the first, it creates and you forcible humility and confidence, humility and confidence receipt. The gospel is the only place we really get both of us. Everybody else will have one of those you know that you're not worthy. You know that you messed up you don't really think about yourself. You have humility but no confidence. You know you like, you know, I'm not sure from a good habit about your God is pleased with me, your humble but not confident or you got people who are confident but not humble like outright. There is a God, he certainly had with me and also saw Saunders also all of the boys. I just meet, so there confident with her not humble. The Gospels produces both confidence and humility says I know the depth of my need and I understand the depth of his love.

When you understand the depth of your need about the depth of your love produces both humility and confidence because you realizes I've often explained to you that the gospel is that you are more wicked and undeserving than you probably ever imagined, but more loved and accepted in Christ than you ever dared to hope that produces humility and confidence. I Jonah gets that you see that this prayer, but there's 1/3 thing that Jenna Doug gets which is what the rest the whole book is about really that his passion the gospel is supposed to produce in you a passion for God love for God and a passion, grace, and generosity toward others. When children get that Jenna can emerge from the belly of the fish is really fully surrender to God's will, but he still hates the Ninevites and he still Bitterroot God is good all day. He is does he want to go back to the belly that fish, but he is not to be happy about, which is supposed to give you a picture of most religious people right.

We know it's stupid to run from God what I just don't know. Waiting to get around it.

But see in your heart you never learn to love like God loves if I could speak this way. There's almost like what I would consider Christianity 1.0 and a 2.0, okay. Christianity 1.0's when he realized on the run from God and so you surrender to God, you, I really I mean really, how can you win against God, that's 1.0. I realize I need God's grace in the office.

It is a gift 1.02.0 is where you recognize the greatness of God's grace and that's where you really start to change. There is a point where you surrender to God because you feel like you have to most religious people of gotten that. But then there's a point where you start the love like God loves you start to do what God does because you desire what God desires and that comes when you understand the doubt and the beauty of God's grace to you both and explain God is not just after obedience in your life is a whole new kind of obedience. It wasn't obedience at times I desire you do what God does because you love what God loves you because you're afraid of the belly of the fish. That's why you read the book of Jonah in two ways. This is real quickly. I you read it in writing what we call the existential way exit stencil means about you right now in this moment existentially. You realize that your Jonah your Jonah. And just like God was pursuing Jonah God is pursuing you. You read about, but there's a much more importantly to read Jonah and that is what we call the messianic way where you realize that Jesus is Jonah because Jesus watch would be everything that Jonah was supposed to be.

Jonah was cast and the CMC became calm.

Jesus was cast out into the sea of God's wrath. And that's he became calm. Jonah spent three days of the bottom of the of the ocean. Jesus was from three days in the tomb under God's wrath, and then he would emerge victorious in the resurrection right everything that Jonah does wrong. Jesus does right near Jonah ran from his enemies. Jesus ran to his enemies. See when you begin to see that that's in your heart begins to change it about me you Jonah chapter 2. If you read that prayer in order. Sounds really close to Jesus's prayer in Gethsemane, the weeds of sin were wrapping around his hat. He was being taken down to where the bars of death would close around him forever and he would pray my God God, why have you forsaken, but he really was forsaken and you begin to understand less Jesus went through the belly of the well for you. He went through it for you so you would never taste the depth of sin so everything God is doing in your life right now is his mercy and what you should look at his lookout. Jesus went into the belly of the well for you that produces passion in your heart beating in the belly of a fish watch and coarser obedience. Sina Jesus went into the belly of the fish for you.

The real fish is what will create desire in your heart. God's not just after obedience to several new kind of obedience, which is why I've explained you. The goal of every sermon that I ever preach is not to tell you. Don't be like Jonah, you'll see that the goal of every sermon is to help you worship the goal of the lecturers you leave information. The goal of a motivational speech and actions of the goal will serve as a delete overcome with the beauty of who Jesus is and what he did to rescue you, because that is the only thing that creates worship and desire in your heart.

So yes, see that Jonah went to the belly of a fish and be warned city. Jesus went about a fish for you worship. Let the kindness of God leads you to repentance me overwhelmed with his grace toward you to hear.

So we closing the two questions to questions right.

The first, the existential existential question. Are you surrender are you surrender God has brought some of you to this place at this time. In this moment, he is saying to you is time to stop running. Why, why do you keep forsaking him the compassion love that I am extending to you it's time for you stop right now. Surrender. That's one question you surrendered second questions for those you have read full passion for God and for others. I would invite you in this moment to reflect on the beauty of Christ for you to where you care about the Ninevites in your life. The people you hate people. You're jealous of you can't forget that you care about them as much as Jesus cares about dwell on the love of God for you.

Let that freeze love for God and for others in listening series titled how John is like many ways a reflection of our own lives. If you join us late. You can listen again online or download the free message transcripts@jeanniegreer.com Pastor JD, we have finally cast 2020.

Goodbye and we all have high hopes for 2021 so as we look to this year.

A lot of people are setting goals for themselves. Any thoughts for our listeners as their looking ahead and making these planned I will say the one the significant things that I've ever started to do is to take time at the beginning of each year to establish what's important to me and what I think God is leading me in and to chart out a way to grow in those things. One thing is for certain.

If you don't plan you don't take charge of your own life, then everybody else take charge of it for you and so were wanting for you to have is a tool that is helped us in establishing some of these priorities so we got. It's basically a day planner for you. It will help you set health goals relational goals education goals financial goals spiritual goals that will help you grow in your walk with with God. It's not just desiring to be a great spiritual leader that will make you wonder matter how much you desire that small decisions the choice to carve out time to read the Bible, the choice to spend time with that. That friend that can help help you broach to read the right to write books this day planner will help you identify some of these things and what to do to actual work toward those things. I think you'll find it to be a real blessing.

These kinds of things been a real help in my own life. So I don't want you to miss getting this resource if you go to JD were.com you'll find information on their about how you get a hold of this and how we can continue to walk with you in your in your spirit $25 through joining the team, we want to reach more people with gospel centered Bible teaching every day, and while there are so many good gifts that we can give no more important message of the gospel as our way of saying thank you for your one-time donation of $25 for your monthly gospel and exclusive resource 2021, 335335 online JD fear that I'm only benefits for joining us today and tomorrow and I writing right here in Senate life