South Woods Baptist Church

Some of the choruses and hymns of recent years seem to imply that man takes the initiative in seeking after the Lord. It is as if He is hiding from us or at best, almost frantically waiting for us, while we make up our minds to come after Him. God is viewed without sovereignty. Man takes on the role of sovereign over his own world.

While this may be popular poetry, it is poor theology. For the Bible knows no God who shares His sovereignty or who impotently awaits the lordly decisions of humanity. The Bible declares a God 

 ...who sits above the vault of the earth,

And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,

Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain

And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

He it is who reduces rulers to nothing,

Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.

Scarcely have they been planted,

Scarcely have they been sown,

Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,

But He merely blows on them, and they wither,

And the storm carries them away like stubble (Isaiah 40:22-24).

This does not sound like a God who frets over what we will do or how we will respond to His tender pleas! Instead, He is a God who does what He pleases and acts according to His good purposes, even in the work of reconciling men to Himself. Without such a God, then poor, depraved, spiritually-dead sinners could never know the peace of being reconciled to Him.

The British poet, France Thompson, wrote an epic poem known as "The Hound of Heaven." In it he pictures someone fleeing God like a Jonah, only to find that the Lord patiently and triumphantly pursues him until the wayward one rests in the Lord. Some of the lines may help us feel the divine heartbeat which pulses in our text.

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;

I fled Him, down the arches of the years;

I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways

Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears

I hid from Him, and under running laughter.

        Up vistaed hopes I sped;

        And shot, precipitated,

Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,

From those strong feet that followed,

        followed after.

But with unhurrying chase,

And unperturbed pace,

Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,

        The beat-and a Voice beat

        More instant that the Feet--

'All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.'

'Naught shelters thee, who wilt not shelter Me.'

'Lo! naught contents thee, who contentst not Me.' 

[quoted by O. Palmer Robertson, Jonah: A Study in Compassion, 15-16].

Patiently, deliberately, the "Hound of Heaven" pursues the rebel until he knows the rest of redemption in Him. All who have come to Christ have come because He pursued you. As our Lord declared, "All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out" (John 6:37). Yes, the sinner comes, willingly and freely, but only because the "Hound of Heaven" has first done the secret work of bringing the sinner to Himself. Just as the Lord pursued a rebellious Jonah and pagan sailors in a raging sea, He pursues sinners until they know the peace of being reconciled to God through faith in Christ.

Do you know that reality of being pursued by the Lord? Let us consider this truth as it is illustrated for us in our text.

I. He arrests our rebellion

In studying the book of Jonah, you almost want to subtitle it: "Jonah: A Case Study of a Rebel." Few personalities in the Bible attain the stature of rebellion which is evidenced by Jonah! He rebelled against his calling. He rebelled against the word of the Lord. He rebelled against the disciplining hand of the Lord. You almost wonder how far he could go. But we find his rebellion arrested by the Lord. Enough was enough!

We must also consider that the sailors were rebellious as well. No, they were not running from a calling and ministry as Jonah. But their own hearts were rebellious against God and how He had revealed Himself in conscience and nature. We see this by their pitiful pleas with their community gods as the storm's intensity squeezes them. How dare they call upon a vain statue or stone image or planetary body and expect to have an answer! Their own consciences would testify that these images could not be the true God and Creator of the world. Creation itself had testified to them over and over of Gods "invisible attributes...eternal power...and divine nature," yet they had rebelled against this revelation so that they might pursue their own course of sin (Romans 1:20).

Whether a man is a religious rebel like Jonah or pagan rebels like the sailors, he is a rebel nonetheless. And as a rebel he places himself in the way of God's judgment. As Paul stated, "And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things" (Rom. 2:2). So how does the rebel turn from his rebellion? It comes about by a divine work arresting our rebellion and bringing us into a right relationship with God through Christ.

1. Fear of God

Do you suppose that the sailors of Joppa who admitted Jonah to their ship had any desire to know God during their trip? Was there some altruistic feeling within the crew as though they had a sense of destiny in meeting God? These were just sailors, going about their normal course of livelihood. They had no thoughts of God. They had no interest in turning from their sin. They were simply continuing on with life as though God really did not matter. We must not become so focused on God snaring Jonah that we overlook the wonderful truth that He was pursuing the unbelieving sailors.

Is this not the same pattern of most people? Few people give thought to their relationship to God. Even fewer have an interest in turning from sin and living in devotion to a holy God. The record of Heaven is clear as expressed in Psalm 14:1-3.

The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; there is no one who does good. The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

And as Psalm 36:1-2 adds: "Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For it flatters him in his own eyes, concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it." The sinner has no thought of divine judgment. He, instead, relishes his sinfulness, finding pleasure in the fact of his sin.

Then the Sovereign Lord enters in! Men who had "no fear of God before his eyes" were seized with a fear of God! "Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, 'How could you do this?' For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them." First it was the great  storm that frightened the men (1:5). But now they came to discover the reason for the storm, that it was sent by the Lord because of the rebellion of Jonah. They understood for the first time in their lives that there is a God in heaven who rules over the affairs of men; that all of creation exists at His pleasure. Jonah's testimony of fearing "the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land," had found its mark in the hearts of these men. They realized that they faced the strong judgment of God. Now they "became extremely frightened!" This was no ordinary fear caused by bad weather. It was a fear that gripped their souls. It was a fear of standing before an angry God without a mediator.        

Have you known something of this fear in your own life? Paul knew it when the Lord revealed Himself to him on the Damascus road. Peter knew it when he witnessed the Lord calming the raging seas, so that he cried, "Depart from me! For I am a sinful man!" Fear of the Lord seems to inevitably precede faith in the Lord. It is through a reverential fear that we run to the Lord for mercy.

2. Admission of guilt

Jonah had dodged guilt on his trip. He ignored the storm by sleeping in the hold of the ship. It was only when he was confronted by the perplexing questions of the captain and sailors that Jonah came to terms with his guilt. It is interesting that the Lord used the questions of unbelievers to speak to His child concerning his own sin and rebellion. The questions probed the depths of Jonah's emotions. They wrenched his soul, especially when the fearful sailors asked, "How could you do this?" 'How could you, in light of the reality that you know the Lord God who made the sea and dry land, how could you attempt to do something so foolish as run from Him? How do you think that you can outrun His wrath? Since He is Lord of heaven and earth, how do you supposed that you can escape His presence, even by going to Spain?'

When Jonah dropped his excuses and quit his running, he came to terms with his guilt. He did not think the Lord owed him anything either! He even declares, "...for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you." Jonah understood that others were affected by his rebellion. I think it is important to see the change that occurs at this point. Earlier, Jonah had no concern for the pagan people of Nineveh. Now he faces the reality of his sin: that it is not done in a vacuum. Sin has a permeating effect upon all the people around you. He is willing to sacrifice himself to save the sailors from the terror of this divinely orchestrated storm.

The Lord God brought Jonah face to face with the guilt of his sin. No more excuses. No more running. Though God might justly take Jonah's life in the angry jaws of the sea, he will hide no longer. He comes clean before God.

Have you come to a similar reality? Have you realized that you do not exist for your own pleasure, that your sin deserves God's severest judgment, that you have no more excuses left before a holy God? When the Lord pursues us, He brings us to the dust of humility before Him. As long as we think that God owes us something or that we can talk our way out of divine judgment, we will never know the peace of Christ on our lives. It is when we are brought low, to a point of despair, that grace comes to lift us up.

II. He brings us to desperation

As long as a sinner thinks that he can save himself by his own effort, he will not look Godward. Man naturally has a self-dependence, especially when it comes to eternal things. That is symptomatic of the Fall. Ask a dozen people on the streets about how they can have a right relationship to God and three-fourths or more will say through their own effort.

But this is where the divine pursuit aims the arrow of desperation at all of our efforts. God works to bring us to a sense of desperation. We see this clearly in both the sailors and in Jonah.

1. Sense of hopelessness

The sailors showed more compassion for Jonah than Jonah was willing to show to the masses of Nineveh. In a sense, he was shamed by his lack of compassion while pagan men were willing to risk their lives for his safety. They asked the question, "What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?" When Jonah told them to throw him into the sea, they balked. They had a respect for Jonah; not because of anything that Jonah had done to impress them, but because Jonah belonged to the Lord God. For this reason, they were unwilling to throw him overboard. They thought that something could still be done to alleviate the dangers of the storm of God's anger.

So we find them exerting all the self-effort they could manage. "However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them." All the desperate attempt to circumvent God's judgment was futile. They rowed with all their might but could not get away from the storm which God had aimed at them. Here we find the evidence of hopelessness. When all of man's efforts are exhausted and they come to the end of themselves, then they discover that man has no hope in himself before the judgment of God.

Until a person sees that he cannot save himself from God's judgment, he has no motivation to flee to the Lord for refuge from the storm of God's wrath. That is why conviction of sin becomes so intense by the work of the Holy Spirit. He presses the reality of our separation from God so that we realize that our hands are empty and useless in putting us into a right relationship to God.

The Psalms speak to this truth over and over. They help us see our desperate condition before God and our own helplessness unless God comes through. For instance:

My soul waits in silence for God only;

From Him is my salvation,

He only is my rock and my salvation,

My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken (Psa. 62:1-2).

 

To Thee, O Lord, I call;

My rock, do not be deaf to me,

Lest, if Thou be silent to me,

I become like those who go down to the pit (Psa. 28:1).

 

Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord.

Lord, hear my voice!

Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

If Thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

But there is forgiveness with Thee,

That Thou mayest be feared (Psa. 130:1-4).

Do you know that reality of having discovered your own helplessness before God, casting yourself upon His mercy, and discovering that He meets you with abundant forgiveness? 

2. Death to self

Surely we see a death taking place in the rebellious Jonah! Not that Jonah died physically when he spent three days in the fish's belly; though that is a popular idea among some commentators. But Jonah died to his own self-will as he resigned himself to be cast overboard the ship on behalf of the crew. "Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you."

Jonah had been quite self-centered when God called him to Nineveh. But the hand of divine discipline upon him had brought him low. He finally discovered the vanity of self-centeredness and the futility of running from God. Jonah saw only one way out: death.

The question we have to ask is whether Jonah had in mind a type of suicide, an escapism, through the hands of the sailors or if he had accepted the reality that God was judging him and there was no way out. I believe he accepted God's judgment which to him meant death. And he did so willingly after the Lord had made him willing! The running was over. He committed himself to the Lord, being ready to face death in the angry sea.

Jonah died to himself, for he declares in the fish's belly, "But Thou hast brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God" (2:6). He died and was raised up again so that he might serve the Lord.

The sailors encountered a death as well. For their lives were as good as dead in the midst of the raging storm, when God intervened in mercy. They died to the idolatry which had been their lifestyles. They died to the self-effort to remedy their standing with God. Having served their own desires, they now "made vows" to the Lord as those who would follow Him. Their death was a radical change; a turning away from one life and the embracing of another.

Is this not what happens when the Holy Spirit raises us from spiritual deadness and gives us new life in Christ? Do we not die to our old life so that we might walk in newness of life? When Jesus spoke to people about following Him, He said that they must die to their self-centered ambitions, die to their idolatry, die to their vain efforts. "If any man wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). The cross was not an adornment but an instrument of death. When we embrace the realities of the cross of Christ, we are impaling our own fondest ambitions. A radical change occurs because we have died and been raised to newness of life.        

Have you died to yourself and to your vain ambitions? Do you live as one who is alive from the death by the mercies of the Lord (cf. Romans 6:1ff)? Paul lived in this reality as a Christian so that he could say, "I die daily" (I Cor. 15:31) and "Consider yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:11). That is a Christian: one who has died to the world and is now radically alive by the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.

III. He reveals Himself

In the midst of God pursuing religious and pagan rebels, He reveals Himself. There was no voice out of heaven. There were no messages in the clouds. But at the moment of Jonah being cast into the sea, this unrelenting, violent storm stopped! The sailors did not see a figure or the Divine Spirit, but they saw God through the work He did.

1. As Sovereign Judge

There is a fascinating shift in the praying of the sailors as recorded in the first chapter of Jonah. In verse 5, we encounter them crying aloud to their own, personal god or gods. We find the ship's captain exhorting Jonah to "call on your god; perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish." The emphasis was upon a god of their own making. They had no knowledge of Jehovah, the Lord God of heaven who created the sea and the dry land. They did not know the covenant name of God, which your translations show by the use of 'LORD' in capital letters.

But look what happens in verse 14. "Then they called on the LORD and said, 'We earnestly pray, O LORD, do not lets perish on this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us; for Thou, O LORD, hast done as Thou hast pleased.'" What an amazing confession we see coming from their lips! They are acknowledging that the Lord alone is the One who is eternally existent. He is the One who has no beginning and no end. He is the One who judges the actions of mankind according to His own righteousness. He is the One who does as He pleases since He is the only Sovereign in the universe. All of these things are evidenced by the words they prayed. God had shown Himself to these men, men who had not sought Him. He revealed Himself as the Sovereign Lord, who rules and reigns over all His creation, doing as he pleases. As the only true God, He alone has the right to judge humanity and He does so in righteousness. The sailors' fear of God's judgment is evident in their prayer.

Jonah's sermon was not very long, but it was quite effective! These sailors did not have the advantage of being raised in the Scriptures or attending regularly to the exposition of God's Word, yet God revealed Himself to them with clarity and accuracy. They had no point of reference to come to such theological revelations on their own! God showed Himself to them. Truth came alive in their own minds, being evidenced in the way they prayed.

This is precisely what Jesus explained in John 6:44-45. "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me." Does Jesus mean that God pulls us aside and has a chat with us? Certainly not. But our Lord clearly teaches us that when a person comes to Christ by faith, they do so because they have "heard and learned from the Father." God has revealed Himself and the redemptive work of our Mediator to the mind of all who believe. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration. Truth we have heard over and over suddenly becomes alive to us! It is not just words on a page but living truth that breathes life into us. Do you know this revelation of God in Christ?

2. As Merciful Redeemer

With fear and trembling, the sailors cast Jonah into the sea, trusting in the Lord God for mercy upon both Jonah and themselves. "So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows." Was this just an act of superstition? Did the sailors simply add the Lord God to their list of gods? Now they "feared the Lord greatly." The fact that they followed by offering a sacrifice and making vows, points to salvation having taken place. The testimony of this book is that while Jonah was fleeing the Lord's evangelistic assignment in Nineveh, God works even his disobedience to accomplish His sovereign, merciful purpose in the salvation of these sailors. The Lord's great mercy as the only Redeemer of sinners is displayed by these pagan men, casting themselves upon the Lord for forgiveness and justification (v. 14) and a commitment to follow after Him as those changed forever (v. 16). After revealing Himself as Sovereign Judge, the sailors now discover the Lord as Merciful Redeemer.

Has the Lord revealed Himself to you through His Word as the only Redeemer of sinners? Have you cast yourself upon Him, by faith, trusting in the merits of the crucified and resurrected Lord Jesus Christ?

May He, the great 'Hound of Heaven,' pursue you to the death of your own vain ambitions, to the newness of life in Christ.