Peter Tan-Chi - Be Broken, Be Blessed - Part 2
So glad you're watching the Great Commission Church of Christ come back to change lives for eternity because I promised you this was part two of our series on brokenness and we've been talking about the deeds of some biblical characters and our entire series is about ordinary people. People But We Have an Extraordinary God God uses ordinary people to make them extraordinary through the process of brokenness Please say it with me: Brokenness Brokenness is something we don't really understand but it is important and necessary Last Sunday, a quick review we talked about "Broken, Blessed" Do you still remember? "Be Broken, Be Blessed" It's counterintuitive to be broken, be blessed we throw away broken things we throw away broken things but God is saying I really can't use you until you are broken so to God and Words, Brokenness is a Blessing.
If you respond correctly here are two verses that I hope you will remember. Please read them: For thus says the Most High, the One who endures forever, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the highest The most holy place dwells with those who are contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and the heart of the contrite. Remember? I said God lives in two places. First, where does the supreme and everlasting God live? I live in the most high and holy place. This is the first place. Jesus said our Father who is in heaven. The second place: also dwell with those who are contrite and humble in spirit. The word contrite has the meaning of brokenness. Experience oppression, broken heart, brokenness.
What does that mean? Humility, repentance, you realize: Lord! I really need you. When you surrender your will to the will of God, you will experience brokenness. People who are not broken are full of ego. They are unwilling to surrender their will. Brokenness says: Lord! I believe that Your will is best. I surrender my own agenda. I surrender my will. I surrender my plan and that is brokenness. The Bible tells us to live with those who are contrite and humble in spirit. What is the purpose of humility? Everyone, look at these blessings. First, it revives the spirit of the humble and the heart of the contrite. How many of you often feel tired and exhausted? Raise your hands. Have you ever felt discouraged?
Here's the secret. Come to God with a broken and humble heart and say, Lord, I'm tired. I want to give up. People here are exhausted and tired. It's because they serve God in their own power. When you serve God in your own scheme of things, you get tired, you get exhausted. When you serve God with the right motives, it's not about impressing people because you're lowly. You are not trying to bring glory to yourself, but to bring glory to God. I can almost guarantee you this: You come to Him and God says: I will live with you. I will revive your spirit. I will Revive Your Heart That used to be my experience: When I hear criticism, When I hear people complaining, When I hear people being frustrated it's contagious, it affects me, you know what I do? I came to God and I said: Lord! I come to you, it's not me, it's you.
Once you humble yourself I guarantee you His promise: I will revive you. I will revive your spirit. I will revive your heart. The second blessing, I want you to remember that the first blessing is intimacy with God "I will live with you" You will experience His presence How can you ever feel weary when you experience His presence? How can you be discouraged? Another blessing that I would love for you to experience is bearing fruit. Let us read together: I say to you truly, truly, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only one. If it dies, it bears many grains. This is a parable. You have to ask Die to yourself like a grain of wheat, once it falls into the ground it dies and its hard shell is shattered by new life.
Many Christians are full of self. You need to learn to die if you die, the Bible says. There will be life and more fruit, so these are blessings. Why is this series important? We're going to talk about biblical characters and you're going to notice something, guys, when you look at the biblical characters you're going to notice that they were normal people in fact they were imperfect people and you're going to see their faults but God used them but What is the process? The Broken Process Today we are going to discuss this biblical character. What is his name? Jonah What do you think of when you think of the word Jonah? The word Jonah has an interesting meaning. It means dove, flying. I don't know why his father named him dove. Maybe Jonah was gentle, I don't know. Let's look at his character.
Now the outline is so simple. The book of Jonah has four chapters. There are actually no chapter divisions in the original text of the Bible. So let me give you a brief overview. You will learn: Broken, Blessed. You will learn from the book of Jonah. Learn this broken process What is this broken process? You will learn the following: First, you will notice that God takes the initiative. God is always active. God is always active in your life. Second, you will learn that God does not let us go. God pursues us. Brokenness is initiated by God. Third, God is patient. For me, there are many ways to outline the book of Jonah.
Last night, Mike did a great job outlining the book of Jonah. Mike, where are you? Mike outlines it as CCCC Chapter One: God Calls Chapter Two… Don't worry, what's the next C? ah! God corrects, corrects. The third C is God gives people a chance. Fourth, God is gracious. Am I right? Professor Mike Yes, but since my mind is simple I would tell people: Just remember this: Brokenness is a process Say it with me: Brokenness is a process It is a lifelong process God will break us, believe me it is A life long process, there are no shortcuts and sometimes it's painful but it's necessary so let's see how God worked in Jonah's life. Are you ready?
Okay, what's the first point? Just one takeaway: Brokenness is a Process How do you see God at work? You see Him being proactive. You see Him pursuing us and breaking us. You see Him being patient. Well, let's read: The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying: Arise and go to Nineveh, the great city; Cry out to the inhabitants thereof because their evil has come before me The first thing I want everyone to notice: God Takes the Initiative: The Word of the Lord God always takes the first step in your life and mine Why? Because God loves us He loves you so much He takes the initiative God loves the people of Nineveh: Go to Nineveh, the great city. God calls Nineveh a great city. God also calls it a wicked city.
You see, Nineveh is known for its wickedness. And famously if you read history you'll notice something about Nineveh that they would pull out the tongues of those victims. Can you imagine pulling out your tongue? They'll chop off your legs, chop off a hand, and leave you with a hand. They 'll shake your hand. They want to see you die a painful, slow death. These are some evil people, and they'll skin you off. Skin to their walls to show you that the enemies of the Ninevites would be treated like this so it was very cruel so God said this nation was going to be judged so who am I going to send?
Who is God sending? Jonah. Why did God choose Jonah? Let me tell you why. Because Jonah needed to repent too. You see, God loved the people of Nineveh, but He also loved Jonah. God could have chosen anyone else, but He chose Jonah. Let me tell you why. Do you want to know why? But before I tell you why a lot of people... I remember going to a seminary and one of the teachers surprised me that the teacher was no longer in the seminary, but the teacher said, not in my class, not in me At that time but when my daughter was enrolled in a few classes the teacher said the story of Jonah is not actually true it's like a fable like a fictional story you know why this is completely wrong?
Let me tell you why. Because Jesus talked about Jonah. Jesus talked about what happened to Jonah. If Jesus believed Jonah's story, why don't we? Do you understand what I'm saying? It's a powerful story because the story of Jonah is not about Jonah. The story of Jonah is about God and how He loves us and how He wants to shape us. Now let me give you a little background on Jonah. In 2 Kings Chapter 14 the Bible tells us that in the days of King Jeroboam II he took back the borders of Israel. As the Lord, the God of Israel, everyone reads: By His Servant Jonah Jonah is a real person, the son of the historical prophet Amittai... In other words, Jonah's father is a prophet. Obviously this family has such a heritage. They are prophets, so Jonah must Know the Lord, amen?
But you know the Jonah I know. Jonah is just like you and me. Although we may know the Lord, we don't always obey. Do you know why? Let's examine it. But Jonah got up and fled to Tarshish. God told him to go to Nineveh. What did Jonah do? But Jonah got up and fled to Tarshish to hide from the presence of the Lord. I ask you, are you a prophet? Are you running from God? So he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he gave the price of the ship and got into the ship to go to Tarshish with those on board to hide from the LORD. In order to show you that this book was written by a Written by a well-educated person. Look at the grammar here. The grammar is full of picturesque words.
God told him: Go to Nineveh and do my work. Do you know what Jonah did? He went down to Joppa, mind you, down to Joppa, found a boat to Tarshish, paid the fare, and went down. In other words, the image of Jonah. When you run away from God, you basically On the way down, you're heading toward self-destruction. So here's a picture of what Jonah did. Here's a map. Jonah was here in Israel, and God told him: You go to Nineveh. Nineveh is in what is now Mosu, Iraq. Er, that is Nineveh, which was founded by Nimrod. It was a big city. If you have time, go to eastern Germany and visit the museum there. There is a museum in eastern Germany. It is very famous. If you go to the London Museum, you will see many of these. These are true stories, okay?
Nineveh was a real place but Jonah loved Israel he loved his country so he didn't go to Nineveh he went down to Joppa you know Joppa was a port city so he got on an amazing cruise ship not Alaska Cruise ship, but it was a cruise ship he wanted to go to Tarshish, which is modern Spain look! He was going to Spain, amazing guy, which was the furthest known at that time that Jonah could go. Let me ask you, if you were God, what would you do? Is it possible that someone like Jonah exists today? You know the Lord, but because you don't like His commands, you don't like His will for your life. You know Jonah has two problems.
First, he doesn't like God's command to save Nineveh. He doesn't like it. You know why? Jonah had a second problem. His problem was not only related to God's word and God's will. His problem was his view of God himself. He didn't understand how a righteous and holy God could not judge Nineveh. Why? A good God and a loving God will not save Israel or destroy Israel's enemies. You must understand that the Assyrians of Nineveh were already a threat to Israel at this time. They were enemies of Israel. The scriptures we need to memorize are very important. Wonderful I told Pastor Rich the scripture we were to memorize said: Love your enemies Jonah can't reconcile God's righteousness, God's justice and God's love It's impossible, God you are righteous so to Jonah.
It might be as simple as God, you are righteous, boom! Destroy the bad guys! Jonah couldn't understand: How could a just God want to forgive sinners? Do you understand this question? Don't just blame Jonah. Just look at us, our problem is this. When God gives us instructions and you somehow can't reconcile it, people who aren't broken, you know what they do? They choose their own way You do your own thing, the broken ones surrender their own will They say: Lord! I don't fully understand what you're doing, but I trust you.
Do you see a difference? The unbroken proud man will judge God's will and say it doesn't make sense because it doesn't make sense and I won't follow it. The broken man says: Lord, I don't understand your will but it is clear: I trust you, I Surrender my will this is brokenness, I remember a couple this girl came to my wife she said I want a divorce how many of you have been married less than seven years? Please raise your hands. Those who have been married for less than seven years. Those who have been married for less than seven years. Please raise your hands. I am asking you today. Okay, how many of you have been married for less than ten years? All those couples who have been married less than ten years, stand up, stand up, be reminded!
Stand up, those who have been married for less than 10 years, stand up, those of you who are sitting, I am looking at you now, those who have been married for 10 to 20 years, stand up, no, keep standing, those who are married, keep standing, those who have been married for 10 to 20 years Years, stand up! OK, stand up, I'm looking at you. Those of you who have been married for 10, 20, 30 years, stand up! Standing up is amazing! Those of you who have been married 30 to 40 years, stand up! Those of you who have been married for 30 to 40 years, you're pretty much excluded from this example, but the reason I want you to stand up is simple.
By the way, those of you who have been married for forty to fifty years, stand up now, and say You're scholars when it comes to this topic, but the reason I want you to stand up is because all of you will admit, especially those who have been married for less than seven years, that there comes a point in your marriage where you feel like you've made a mistake. Feel like something is wrong that makes you so angry that you want to do something? separate. Am I right? Yeah look at me now: your mind starts thinking: God... God is love, because you love me, you want me to be happy, and since I'm not happy, it must be your will for me to get divorced.
Do you understand this kind of thinking? Jonah was one of those people who was rationalizing. Now listen to me. A broken man says: Lord! You know very well. The Bible says God hates divorce. The Bible is very clear: What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. If you have experienced brokenness, you say: Lord! You know my situation. I am not happy, but Lord! I will find my happiness in you. Do you want to applaud? You applaud your husband now. Now the husband stays, the wife stays. But listen to me: He who has experienced brokenness will say: Lord! You must have a purpose in this marriage. Maybe you are building my character. My husband is so unreasonable and my wife is so selfish.
But Lord, you are changing my character. Okay, Lord! I'm going to play with you, brokenness... your broken heart has to be surrendered to God because God is going to fix your broken life now but if you don't bring your brokenness to God and you try to work your way through it you will become Gotta be more broken and it doesn't do any good, you know? Got it, thank you. Now, single people stand up. Do you think that's the end of it after I talk about marriage? Single people, stand up, there are all single people here, stand up. By the way, we have many beautiful and handsome single people in CCF. Praise God! Just look around. Let's look around, okay, these people are single.
Now single people, another true story. The Bible tells us, don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Don't marry someone who doesn't believe in Jesus. Why? This is to protect us. But, because you work in an office, you meet someone, and that person is a really good person, and he gives you attention, and you see he has three M's. Do you know what those three M's are? Money money, he has a mansion Mansion and he has a Mercedes Benz and he has all these qualities and you start thinking, Lord, Lord, Lord, you want me to be happy, ah! Therefore, Lord! Oh God! This is it! he came! Lord, I've been going to singles camp for a long time! No one has shown up yet Lord I'm past menopause I'm just giving you an example so what do you do?
You compromise and you make a decision now because no broken people don't trust God no broken people think God doesn't know what He's doing you see no broken people don't really believe God has your best interests at heart but broken Men have surrendered to their mastermind! I know you love me. I know you want the best. If you want me to be single for the rest of my life, Lord! It doesn't matter. You know why? Because you love me and you know what's best. The second principle of being single: Have you got your parents' consent? The first is: Are they believers? Yes or no? Article 2, the Bible says: Get your parents' blessing.
Now what should you do if your parents don't agree? You start thinking: My parents are old fashioned and they don't understand modern times they don't understand, I'm financially independent and in fact I'm old so my parents might really be wrong I think they are wrong, they are What should you do if you are single because you are spiritually immature? You compromise. My experience is that every time you run away from God's word and you disobey God, a storm is coming. Singles, are you listening to me? May God bless you! Please take a seat!
Now this guy disobeys God, you know what happened? However, Jehovah, God will not let us go. He is not only proactive, but he will also pursue us. Jehovah caused a strong wind in the sea, and the sea became so violent that the ship was almost destroyed. Then the sailors were afraid, and each one cried out to his own god. They threw the cargo on the ship on In order to make the ship lighter in the sea, everyone pays attention: But Jonah has gone down to the bottom and is lying down asleep. How can Jonah sleep? Let me tell you, when you are running from God, when there is sin in your life and you become apathetic, you cannot even pray. Yet the greatest comfort is that God will seek us out. You may run from God, but God will pursue you.
Every time you disobey, Brings a storm I promise you: every disobedience brings a storm But not all storms are due to disobedience Do we understand? Every time you sin, every time you disobey God, there will be storms in your life. But not all storms are because you sin. Got it? But with all disobedience, as a rule storms will come sooner or later. The Bible talks about big storms. I learned certain lessons. People who disobey don't just bring storms to themselves. You affect those around you. That's why I warn All fathers I warn all leaders if you disobey God you will endanger your loved ones, why?
Look at this story the sailors got scared and the ship was almost wrecked they threw away the cargo that's why I tell people don't partner with someone who doesn't love the Lord If you are in a business partnership and your partner cheats, lies God wants to punish you Partner, you are his partner, you will be involved. These are biblical principles. If you understand biblical principles, you can avoid unnecessary storms. There is no promise in the Bible that says you will not encounter storms. But the Bible promises that if you walk with Him. Your Life Will Be Stormproof There is a big difference between these two: Stormproof vs. Not Stormy Jonah.
God loved Jonah so much Jonah thought he could run away from God Some of you are thinking… right now You are here but your heart is far from God and I tell you: God loves you and He will not let you go because He loves you. You know, the Bible gives us wonderful promises and let's read them: And the captain came to him and said to him: You Why is this, O sleeping man? Get up and call on your God! You know this. Everyone prays to their god, except who? Jonah Or maybe your God cares about us so that we don't perish Oh my God! God really loved Jonah. God couldn't let Jonah sleep. In the middle of the storm, he was sleeping. Could you turn to the person next to you and say: Wake up! Wake up! I hope you're not sleeping, wake up!
Notice what is being said here. The people on the boat said to each other: Come, let us cast lots and see for whose fault this disaster will come upon us. Oh my gosh. Jonah was thinking: I could hide. But then they got this crazy thing. I want to know who gave them this idea. We came to cast lots. So they cast lots and cast out Jonah. In Filipino, he said: He is dead. Do you think you can escape? God will not let you go! Do you think you can escape? I'm telling you, in all my experiences God loves you, and if you belong to Him and you disobey Him, He won't let you go. If you don't belong to Him, that's a different story. They said to Him pay attention: Tell us, for whom is this calamity befalling us? Various questions What is your profession? Where are you from? What is your country? Which tribe do you belong to? Imagine he was interrogated Who are you? What do you do? Is it you who caused this trouble for us?
Now tell us the truth! You know, Jonah admitted that I was a Hebrew... I'm sorry you're not just a Hebrew, you're a prophet but he can't say I'm a... Hebrew, Hebrew, if I Say I am a pastor running away from God and you are a prophet? No, no, just a Hebrew. You see, he lost his identity. He forgot who he was. Everyone look at me if I ask you: who are you? What would you say? Don't say... you have to say the following Don't just say I'm a Filipino who are you? You must say I am a child of God who are you? Next, who are you? You must say I am an ambassador for Jesus. Who are you? louder please! I am an ambassador for Jesus. Who are you? I'm a servant of the King of kings. That should be your answer.
Hebrew. I'm just a Hebrew. It's vague, it's really vague. I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. Sorry! Can you see it? What you declare does not match your heart, and what you declare does not match your actions. There are so many Christians today. You ask them what they believe. I believe in the Lord. He is the King of kings. OK, do you obey Him? Do you see our problem? Brokenness is a process. Christianity is a process in which God builds our character. Jonah needed to be broken. He needed to learn who God is. And they were greatly afraid. They said to him: How could you do this? How can you do this?
Have you ever met a Christian and you observed their behavior and you were shocked and you saw your children and you asked them how could you do such a thing? What a Wife Will Tell Her Husband If a wife thinks her husband is being unfaithful, how can you do such a thing? Do n't you think about it? You know what a husband would say? I'm not thinking I'm just feeling and you know our problem is we don't really think, do we? Jonah's Question They already knew that he was hiding from the Lord because he told them, so they asked him, What shall we do to you to calm the waves? This is because the waves are getting more and more turbulent. Your disobedience will bring a storm. Do you know why? God promises you: He will discipline those whom the Lord loves.
Do you know what this is said in the Bible? Are you sure this is in the Bible? That's what the Bible says. I can show you this verse. Let's read it together. For whom the Lord loves, He disciplines and scourges every one He receives as a son. Qualification: Whom the Lord loves. Do you belong to God? He loves you and you disobey Him? He will discipline if you are not disciplined please read that whole chapter in Hebrews you do not belong to Him that is why I believe in the safety of believers that is why I know that if anyone really knows the Lord God will discipline him because the Lord loves him and the Bible tells us about Jonah, do you know what happened to Jonah?
Jonah said, "You picked me up and threw me into the sea. You know, I've been thinking, why didn't Jonah just jump into the sea"? Just commit suicide. Let me tell you why, because Judaism prohibits suicide because they believe that your life and your body belong to the Lord. You are not free to end your life. So Jonah said: Just throw me into the sea and the sea will become calm. Everyone reads: I know that you are experiencing this strong wind because of me. This tragedy happened because of me.
You see, brokenness is a process. Can you start to take responsibility? Jonah didn't blame others. Jonah didn't say, Lord! It's your fault because when I went to Joppa there was a boat going to Tarshish so it was your will there was a boat I had managed to buy a ticket for you see Lord it's your fault if there is no ticket if I wouldn't go to Tarshish without a boat. No, no, no. Circumstances will never say it's God's will. It's our problem. Jonah said: It's me, it's my fault. God is at work, but those people try to sway The oars were trying to bring the boat to shore, but they couldn't because the waves were rolling against them more and more.
You see, these people were Gentiles. These Gentiles had a better idea. They didn't want to kill Jonah, so they wanted to avoid throwing Jonah into the sea. But they can't and you know why? God is searching, God is pursuing Jonah. God wants you to learn a lesson. The Bible tells us that God is at work in the process of brokenness, but we must cooperate with them. Then we call on the Lord and say: O Lord, we beg you not to This man's life cost us death. Don't hold innocent blood against us. For you, the Lord, do what you will.
Notice this man begins to pray. Do you know who they pray to? In Hebrew there are different words for Lord, there are different words for God but the word used here is a very specific word it is LORD in all caps and we only see this in the Hebrew Bible and that is God The name is God's own name like, for example: Pastor, there are many pastors but when you say Pastor Peter who are you referring to? My God has many names, Elohim Well, God has different names but when you say Yahweh you are not referring to other gods but God who reveals himself to his people this is my name God says: Yahweh Yahweh is my name. The name is so holy that the writers of the Bible were so in awe that they wouldn't even call the name Yahweh. They changed it to Adonai because the name is so holy. It's like when you're with the president of the Philippines and you just call him president.
You wouldn't call him: Rod, how are you doing? No, no, what do you say when you see the president in the White House? Mr. President, you can't say Donald. How about you, Donald? no no. So did God. But you know, what happened affected them. I don't know what Jonah told them, but notice what they did. So they lifted Jonah up and threw him into the middle of the sea. And the waves calmed down, wow. oh! miracle! When Jonah was thrown into the sea, the roaring waves of the sea calmed down. What a wonderful miracle! Those people had a great fear of the Lord and they saw the connection. Wow! This guy is a true prophet of God. God is real, Yahweh is real. Offer sacrifices to Yahweh and make vows.
You know what happened? Because of Jonah's foolishness, the sailors converted. They believed. They began to preach the gospel. They acknowledged Yahweh as God. They made sacrifices. What did Jonah do? Sleeping, not praying Where is Jonah now? You know, it's amazing. Isn't it amazing that God can use our stupidity to do something good? God seeks us. The Bible tells us, everyone read: God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Notice this amazing promise. We know that God causes all things to work together for good and for bad. They can be turned into good things, with one condition: For those who love Him or two conditions: And for those who are called according to His purpose...
Can I know what God's purpose is? Can you tell me God's purpose? Please tell me what is the verse after verse 28? louder please! I'm not asking that. What's the verse after that? What does the scripture say? Ah, you're right, it's verse 29. But what is verse 29 about? For whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. You see, God's plan is broken so that you and I can become like Jesus. So as God is at work in your life, you may encounter financial storms. Storms, marriage problems I don't know, sickness, cancer whatever it is, don't think God is against you if you belong to Him you have to accept it by faith: Lord! I don't understand it but I know you love me and you have a purpose for me and you want me to be like your son.
Ladies and gentlemens, this is what I've always said: You have to know the Bible. You have to learn to see things from God's perspective. Illness, Cancer It's a bad thing, I know it's a bad thing, but if you really believe that our life on earth is just a dot, if you draw a line from here to America, symbolizing eternity, from here, you stretch a rope from here to America, just For example, assuming this is eternity, what does our entire life on earth look like? Let me tell you, a billion years is just a point when you compare it to eternity. Eternity is a long time and God wants to prepare you for eternity. God is not preparing you for the earth because the earth is going to be destroyed.
The earth is temporary. My heart is sad. We have employees who have cancer. We have pastors' wives who have cancer. I want to pray for them. My heart is sad for them. But I am amazed by their attitude. I am amazed by Gina's attitude. I am amazed by Kat's attitude. Amazing her husband is Owen and I'm amazed at Paige's attitude and he's our head of IT you know, she has cancer brain cancer, lung cancer, but you know when I talk to them they're at peace, why? Why are they safe? Because they know God loves them and God has a divine purpose. Do I believe in healing? I believe in healing, I pray for healing, but whether it's healing them now or healing them in eternity, no matter what happens, are you willing to trust God? That is brokenness. Brokenness is your surrender: Lord! May your will be done, not mine.
Are you broken? Jonah needed to be broken. The Lord arranged for a big fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the belly of the big fish for three days and three nights. You see how patient God is. Jonah, you are a tough guy! Don't you want to pray? You really don't want to ask me to help you? OK! Throw you into the sea and God commands fish! fish! Come on! The fish is coming! There were all kinds of fish human sized, a typical whale, and another kind of whale oh my god! So this story could happen, right? It's actually impossible, it's a miracle! It does happen, doesn't it? Okay, so if people say this couldn't have happened and there's a record of that, a record of history, that man is still alive.
Anyway, the Bible tells us that Jonah prayed to the Lord, his God. Where did he pray? From the Belly of the Big Fish Where did you first see Jonah pray? Not on the boat, in the belly of the fish. It's called five-star hospitality. I can't imagine the smell. I can't imagine the slime. Ouch! But maybe with air conditioning, poorly regulated air. Can you imagine how bad that smell would be? I think if you were in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights, what word would be used to describe you? Trouble, Trouble, Jonah said: I called to the Lord when I was in trouble. What can you learn about God from this? Patience. He seeks you?
Listen to me. No matter how stubborn you are, I'm telling you that God loves you and He won't give up on you. I know some people give up on others. No matter how stubborn you are, give up! But God said: You keep running away? I'm after you! Don't you like this storm? Do n't you like being thrown into the sea? Well, I put you in a six-star facility. It's called the Fish Belly Suite. The pain lasts for you to notice. God whispers to us in our joys. He speaks to us in our consciences but shouts in our pains. This is A megaphone He used to awaken the deaf world. Do you know what happened to Jonah? God never gives up, remember? He initiated it, God followed closely, and God was so patient.
What happened? Jonah learned his lesson. At the end of chapter 2, look at his prayer. But I will offer you a sacrifice with a voice of thanksgiving. The vows I have made, I will repay, Lord! Okay, okay, I'm OK! I will do what I promised you. Salvation is from the Lord. This is a wonderful truth. Notice the grammar here. It literally means: Salvation belongs to God. Tell your neighbor: Salvation belongs to the Lord but you. Need to go through this: Was the true broken Jonah broken? What do you think? Do you think he is broken? How many of you say he has been broken? Please raise your hands and listen to me. Brokenness is a process. God is breaking us. Then the Lord commanded the fish to spit out Jonah on dry land. You know, I have asked a brother to come and follow. We share his testimony about brokenness Let's welcome Mike How Michael was broken by the Lord.
Praise to God! Mike! Praise God! We will pray for Mike later. You can see the process of brokenness. Sometimes it's real financial storms. Sometimes it's relationships. Sometimes it's health. I don't know what you're going through. But only when you surrender to the Lord can brokenness become positive among us. Some of you are still resisting God. You are fighting against Him. But I want to comfort you. God will pursue you. God is patient. He will not give up on you. The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time and said: You see that God will come again. Over and over again, do you know why? God gives us opportunities again and again.
Isn't it amazing that God gives us opportunities again and again? Praise God! Let me tell you, I have failed many times before God but He keeps giving us opportunities. You get up! It is exactly the same command to go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to the inhabitants the word that I command you Jonah, do what I want you to do and go to these evil people. Then Jonah arose according to the word of the LORD, go to Nineveh, have you seen this broken process? Jonah now obeyed. Before he ran away, now he obeyed. Nineveh was a very large city. It was obviously a big city. It was three days' journey. Jonah went into the city one day and declared: He has done the most amazing thing.
Preach eight words, only eight words, wait for forty days, and Nineveh will fall! What kind of information is this? I can almost predict that there was no true love when Jonah said this. He simply said, in forty days, you will be dead! You're all dead. In forty days, you're all going to be dead. I mean this is the way to deliver the message. You know why? The Bible tells us, and you'll learn later, that He didn't really like these people to repent. So the Bible tells us, God did something amazing and the people of Nineveh believed! How amazing! What a crazy story. This was a servant of the Lord, and he disobeyed and then he obeyed, remember?
Be broken to be a blessing to the people, He became a blessing The people of Nineveh repented and they proclaimed a fast Unbelievable! They knew how to fast and put on sackcloth. Putting on sackcloth was a picture of repentance. From the greatest to the least. From the greatest, which was the king, to the least. This news reached the ears of the king of Nineveh and he alighted from his throne. They took off their royal robes, put on sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. This is true and real repentance. The Bible tells us that God looked at their behavior and saw that they turned from their evil ways, so God changed his mind from bringing the calamity he said on them.
You see God has a change of heart because people change, these people repent and the calamity is coming, ladies and gentlemen I don't know what calamity is coming in your life but I tell you one thing if you are like Nineveh Like people, you know you're doing something wrong. God is speaking to you today and I'm telling you, repent and change. The Bible says, this happened. Now you feel like this is the end of the book of Jonah. This is chapter 3. We should stop here for the last verse. If you were Jonah, would you be happy? certainly! Hallelujah! But Jonah wasn't happy that's why you need to understand that brokenness is a process you would think Jonah was broken yes part of it but brokenness is a process God wants the heart not just the outside Acts that he wants Jonah's heart to be really broken because Jonah is still in the process of not only being broken.
What's my proof? Very simple. This upset Jonah greatly. Chapter 4, he got angry. It was crazy. What was wrong with Jonah? He prayed to the Lord, for the second time O Lord, was this not what I said when I was in my own country? To prevent this I fled to Tarshish, for I know that you are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Full Quotation of God's Revelation from Exodus Chapter 34 Jonah Knows God Jonah knew that God was gracious and merciful and was not easily angered. Jonah said, This is exactly why I don't want to go to Nineveh, because I don't want you to forgive them. Do you understand Jonah's heart? It's still hard. I realize God is looking for your heart, not just your actions.
You see, Jonah was doing well. He went to preach, but he got angry. Do you know why he got angry? Because God saved that nation. Did you know that historically, Nineveh was spared and did not suffer judgment for two hundred years and then it was destroyed but God gave them two hundred years of grace but Nineveh was ultimately completely destroyed but God was The merciful generation God spared them so Lord, please take my life now! Because I'm better off dead than alive. This guy is suicidal. Can you imagine? He wants to commit suicide. Why? There is something wrong with his heart. God said: Is it reasonable for you to be so angry? Can you see the tenderness of God? Child, why are you angry?
You know, if I were God, if I couldn't send a whale to eat Jonah, who was already on dry land, you know what I would send? What could eat Jonah alive? Python, a python. Let's send a python to go and eat Jonah. No, God didn't do that. Gentle, you know what God did? God's plans are amazing. What has He ordained? Let's take a look. Jonah came out of the city. He sat outside the city and watched. He built himself a tent there and sat in the shade to see what would happen to the city. Do you know what Jonah was hoping for? Can you guess what he's counting on? What was he counting on? Fire, fire came down and destroyed the whole city, but it didn't happen.
The Bible tells us: God arranged for a plant to be gentle, God was so patient. The Lord God arranged for a castor plant to happen. It was taller than Jonah, and a shadow covered him. Jonah rejoiced greatly because of the gourd plant. Then God arranged for a worm to bite the gourd plant, and the plant died the next day. When the sun rose, God arranged for a scorching east wind. See the power of God and the tenderness of God to break Jonah's heart. The sun scorched Jonah's head and made him faint. He prayed for death. Please see his prayer. It is very dramatic. I am better dead than alive! Are you glad that God doesn't always answer your prayers? I'm glad because sometimes you pray some stupid prayers. God doesn't always answer your prayers.
Do you know why? He loves you. Look at the tenderness of God. God said to Jonah: Is it right for you to be angry because of this gourd? He said: It is reasonable for me to be angry even to the point of death! Here comes the point! The Lord says: Everyone read with me with emotion. Now God is speaking. Read together, says the Lord: You did not plant this castor, nor did you cultivate it. It happened in one night and died in one night. You know what God is saying? Do you care about this plant? Do you care for this plant? Is it so important to you? By comparison everyone reads Shouldn't I Have Compassion for Nineveh? Why? There are more than 120,000 people in this big city who cannot tell the difference between their left and right hands, and there are many livestock.
Do you know what God is saying? I cherish the people, 120,000 people. This may refer to children who do not know the difference between left and right hands, or it may refer to adults who do not understand the truth. But God is saying, I cherish people Jonah, you cherish plants, there is something wrong with your heart. I believe there's a lot of Jonah among us today you I don't care about people, really you don't share the gospel you don't try to do it intentionally you know why? Because we care about the wrong things. Jonah is caring about the wrong things, himself, his comfort. Do you know why the book of Jonah ends here? Did you see that ending?
That's an interesting ending. It ends with a question mark. Shouldn't I have mercy on Nineveh? Why is there no ending? Because God purposely asked Jonah, Jonah learned his lesson. Why do I know he learned his lesson? He was broken because he wrote about his own failures. He was transparent. He didn't hide his mistakes. But he left blanks. Why? I want you to fill it out because you and I have to learn not to be like Jonah, you have to know that God loves those who are not broken, listen to me all you care about is yourself and you don't care about the lost and I pray that you and I will Be Broken May you learn to grieve. You learn to be sentimental about God's sad things. You learn to love what God loves. You learn to care about what God cares about.
I need to understand God's heart. Broken people don't know God's heart. We don't love people, nor do we. Caring for the lost remember? I challenge you to just consider bringing one person to every service bring one person to share the gospel with one person often If you don't care you won't do it If you care you will do it We need to pray: Lord! Break me so that I know your heart. You know how God used Jonah? Jonah was used mightily by God. I tell you why, He not only saved a Gentile nation but God used Him to fulfill His own prophecy Let's read this together Jesus answered them and said: A wicked and adulterous generation asked for a sign other than the sign of the prophet Jonah, no more signs were shown to them.
The context here is, people said: Why should we believe in you Jesus as the Messiah? Why should we believe you? Jesus said: A wicked and adulterous generation asked for a sign. But Jesus said there would be no sign for them except the sign of the prophet Jonah. What was the sign of the prophet Jonah? The miracle is this: Jonah was in the belly of the big fish for three days and three nights. The Son of Man... Who is the Son of Man? Jesus So the Son of Man will be in the earth for three days and three nights.
What is Jesus talking about? His death and resurrection Jesus said the miracle was this: In the day of judgment, the people of Nineveh will rise up to condemn this generation. There will be a day of judgment because the people of Nineveh repented when they heard what Jonah preached. Behold, here is a man greater than Jonah! Who is greater than Jonah? Jesus Jesus is saying: Will you repent? You see Jonah's message is about the heart of God the God of God He loves you He wants to break you let's bow our heads there are some of you here today you don't have the heart of God but you will like Jonah you have run away from God, you are running in the opposite direction if God is speaking to you and you want to repent like Jonah.
Can you please stand up? Praise God. Yeah, stand up, you're like Jonah, you identify with Jonah, storms are coming into your life and you realize these storms are not coming to destroy me, they are coming to break me, to repent if God is in the You speak, please stand up and I'm going to ask the pastors and group leaders to come up to the front and pray for you. So I'm going to ask the pastors and the teachers and wives to come up and they're going to pray for you. There are others who may not be like Jonah, you're like Nini. Like a small person, you don't know the Lord yet but there are storms in your life and you say, this sermon reminds me that I need to repent.
If you need to repent, please stand up and praise God. Stand up and don't be too proud because God loves you and me. Please, pastors, prayer leaders, small group leaders, come forward and help pray. Is there anyone else while you are bowing your heads? I will be praying for you. If you need any other prayers, we have pastors and leaders. If you need any other prayers, we have pastors and leaders. They will be here to pray for you. They will be here to pray for you. If you are a small group leader, I Want you to come forward voluntarily We may need more prayer warriors Those of you who are standing up You can join me in praying this prayer Pray like this:
Lord Jesus I'm like Jonah I'm running away from you my heart No, Lord, you want my heart like for Jonah, you are not satisfied with outward obedience but you want inward obedience. So Lord Jesus, here I am. Please help me to cooperate with you as you break me. I surrender to you Lord Jesus I thank you the Christian life is such a process you break us every moment of every day you break our idols no matter what they are as long as they are bigger than you Lord our prayer is You want to break it so that CCF church members and all Christians will experience true brokenness. Thank you for reminding us that you can use imperfect people but you want us to work with you. So I pray for everyone here. Lord, those who heard the message Jonah preached repented. But Lord, you are alive today. You are the greatest miracle. I pray now that all of us will know you and accept you as their Lord and Savior.
If you haven't met Jesus Jesus said He is the miracle He died and rose again. Why don't you pray this prayer:
Lord Jesus, you are the proof that God loves us. You died and rose again from the dead. Lord Jesus, I come to you and I surrender my life to you. I trust you as my Lord and Lord. My Savior, please come into my life and change me. I accept your gift of forgiveness of sins. I accept your gift of eternal life. We all pray in the name of Jesus! Amen! Amen!