 So there’s more than an elephant in the room… there’s a Blue Whale that could swallow 40 elephants…
When it comes to protest there are countless causes to become advocates of give your life to but at the end of the day they are all the "little fish" in the big pond of life... Sometimes people aren’t protesting and making a lot of noise about their issue but our actions declare what we think the most important things in life are… In life the whale is Jesus Christ and He wants to consume all the other protests and movements and causes that people give themselves too… Christ not only consumes and dwarfs them but He shines a holy light upon each of them that declares whether or not the movement itself, even as a small fish, is worth fighting for at all… Some battles for justice are worth fighting and some are not truly battles for justice at all… Until Christ shines His light on the cause and purges out all of the man made elements of sin within it, whether they know it or not, some people are fighting with a perverted view of their own issue… Revelation 3:18 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. For the last message of our last series of 2017 I truly want you to leave this place encouraged… I want you to leave with a proper view of the 2017 you leave behind AND a clear vision of the 2018 that lies ahead of you… I want you to know the movement to end all movements… It’s worth the fight of your life and once you get it you can receive the truth about the smaller movements of our lives… If you couldn’t tell already we are going to talk about Jonah… Matthew 16:1-4 1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; 3 and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." And He left them and departed. When Jesus was asked to give a “Sign of the Times” to those wanting Him to prove that He was who He said He was He first told them that they should be able to read all the other “spiritual signs”… Then He said the only sign He would give them is the sign of Jonah and today we are going to look at what that sign truly was… Jonah 1:1-17 1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me." 3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 4 But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish." 7 And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, "Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?" 9 So 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, "Why have you done this?" For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?"--for the sea was growing more tempestuous. 12 And he said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me." 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, "We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man's life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You." 15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows. 17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Jonah is a man on the run… Jonah 1:3 He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Once you have been in the presence of the Lord many of us can’t imagine being anywhere else but even those who try to escape can’t… This gives me peace as a year comes to an end and I think of all the losses and friendships that are broken and folks who have left the church… You can’t escape God and true love isn’t as easy to come by as people think… Jonah 1:5 says that everyone is freaking out except Jonah… Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. Running from God and sleeping well will never last… eventually we all wake up and that dream of a life ignoring God turns into a nightmare… Jonah 1:5 5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. Fear is what causes people to cry out to their gods… They’re gods are little fish that they turn into their big fish for fear of living without purpose and passion in life… What ships have we sailed that we’ve turned into the end all and be all of our lives?… We must save the ship and we must get to our destination and we have more to accomplish… They begin to throw everything they consider of less importance overboard and for so many people God and the bible and church were thrown overboard at a young age… We see where that initial spiritual throwing overboard leads in Verses 8 and 9… Jonah 1:8-9 8 Then they said to him, "Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?" 9 So 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." Jonah and his God become the reason for the suffering of all the others and their little fish gods… How many movements blame the Christian view of life and truth and love for the struggles they experience and the battles they are fighting in society… One of the hardest things to overcome is the initial time of things actually getting better when we throw God and the things of God and the people of God overboard… The winds ceased and the boat stabilized and there was peace and joy… When we choose to live without God and His rules and regulations initially we feel liberated and that liberation turns into liberation movements… But what we see as freedom is rally bondage and after a certain amount of time we realize that the promise of more and more freedom turned out to be a lie… There is always another storm… In 2018 I want to tell as many people as I can about what they’ve thrown overboard and why I brought it back to them… That is the storm of the unsaved and let’s refocus on the storm of the saved which is Jonah in the story… Jonah 2:1-10 1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish's belly. 2 And he said: "I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me. "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice. 3 For You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, 'I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.'5 The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head. 6 I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God. 7 "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple. 8 "Those who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord." 10 So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Jonah had been saved from the treacherous waters but because he chose to go backwards he found himself drowning… Jonah 2:3 3 For You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me. Sometimes the worst of circumstances we face as Christians are actually the best thing that could have happened to us… Jonah 2:6-7 6 I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God. 7 "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple. It was in his most desperate place that he called out to God and God heard… God heard but He didn’t send him a miraculous trip to dry land… He sent Him a whale that forced him to sit in one place and that place was filthy and stinky and uncomfortable… But even though in that fish Jonah was uncomfortable he was also protected from the raging overpowering sea that would have killed him… Some of us need to thank God as we finish 2017 that we are in an uncomfortable place rather than drowned at the bottom of the ocean somewhere… This perspective is the difference between the big fish and the little fish… Jonah 2:8-9 8 "Those who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord." 10 So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. The little fish movements that people give their lives to cause them to forsake mercy and go down with the ship… The big fish movement says Lord the ship can’t save me only You can and I’d rather be saved through the most uncomfortable of situations than perish in one the endless storms of life… Matthew 7:24-27 24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” The storms are coming for everyone and they don’t ever stop… Jonah 3:1-10 1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you." 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. 4 And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk. Then he cried out and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. 8But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? 10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. In 2018 I believe we can see people repent and turn to God like never before… It’s possible and God wants us to be a people of hope and faith and love… Repentance is the criptonite of sin... it renders sin powerless and reverses the process of death… Repentance also allows us to see the truth about the little fish… The little fish movements of life have to be viewed in light of the big fish… The pursuit of the little fish movements of life, if there is one, must be inline with all that makes up the big fish… Coexist the little fish looks like this when swallowed by the big fish……… Equality the little fish looks like this when swallowed by the big fish……… Astrology the little fish looks like this when swallowed by the big fish……… Let’s close with the warning for the big fish believers… Jonah 4:1-11 1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.2 So he prayed to the Lord, and said, "Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!" 4Then the Lord said, "Is it right for you to be angry?" 5 So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. 6 And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. 7 But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. 8 And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live." 9 Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, even to death!" 10But the Lord said, "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left--and much livestock?" Jonah is actually upset at the grace and mercy God has shown to the people of Ninevah… Are we as big fish believers actually hoping for the grace and mercy of God to touch the lives of sinners or do we want them to be judged?… Do we want our fellow Christians to be judged or do we pray for God to be gracious and merciful with them?… This is something I’ve struggled with… The infinite love of God and the preacher who wants people to understand the seriousness of sin and disobedience to God… I’m praying for the heart of God to be alive in me… The real “Sign of the Times” is and always has been and always will be the infinite love of God… Unending grace is a reality but it must become “costly grace” to those who receive it and the grace that transforms... Do you know what Jonah’s name means?… “GRACE”!!! The story of Jonah doesn’t seem like it but it is a story of the grace of God on the believer and on the unbeliever… Romans 9:14-16 14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. We can never forget about the love and mercy and grace of God… Matthew 16:4 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." And He left them and departed. Even at this time when it didn’t look like it, Jesus was offering grace to the wicked and perverse… As your 2017 ends I want you to know that God has offered you grace for all 365 days of 2017 and all the days that you’ve lived before that… In 2018 God wants you to experience His love and grace in a way that compels you to live and honor the cost He paid to give you that grace…
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