Sunday Sermon: Hope for a Suffering Christian - April 12, 2020

The implications of the story were to Empty Us Of Discouragements, Anger, Bitterness, And Anxieties That Consumes Our Lives

1. Jonah was torn and consumed by the political and unjust system of his days until he became a prisoner of his frustration, but God reignited his faith the 3RD day in the belly of the whale

2. The 3RD day is when the body is expected to decay and be corrupted. Jesus promised not to allow us to be tempted more than we can bear, or allows us to die in our dilemma. He promised to open our graves, raise us from your situations, and we will live.

3. In the text, Jesus foretells the deliverance of the church as life from death to the intent that we might believe and be hopeful.

The Lessons We Can Draw From The Text

The first lesson we can draw is Not to normalize sin because it has dire consequences.

1. Sin is a transgression of the law. We can’t break the law to enforce it, or use our offenses as defenses to justify sinful behaviors.

   1. Jonah, blinded by Satan and his frustration about God’s mercy, normalized disobedience as a justification for not preaching to Ninevites.

   2. He became a prisoner of his frustration in the belly of the whale, deep in the darkness part of the ocean by seeking his own will to be done as opposed to God’s will.

2. Jesus said an adulterous generation looks for something outside God’s will, which infidelity against the one you are married to, in this case the will of God preaching of word of God is very important to affect behavioral changes.

   1. With our world is in the belly of Coronavirus, the preaching of word of God become very important to affect behavioral changes

   2. Jesus died so that we don’t normalize our sins –

   3. Rom. 1:20-28: - For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, … so that they are without excuse:

      1. 21 … when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, … but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

      2. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, …

      3. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies …

      4. 26 … their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

      5. 27 … the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly …

      6. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient

The second lesson we can draw from the text is that It Is Not The Water Outside That Sinks The Boat, But The One Inside. Like Jonah in the ship, sin is the biggest threat to our safety and salvation that we face today

1. Sin must be dealt with and thrown overboard through repentance in 4 – distinct ways to ensure safety and salvation. There must be:

   1. A willingness to pay the ransom.he sailors travelling with Jonah willingly lightened the ship. Jonah in this instant was a type of sin just as Jesus became sin for us.

   2. Honest assessment to identify the sin threatening our peace & safety.

   3. A sincere confession of the sins – Jonah did

   4. A remission of the sin as a ransom for live in baptism

2. Jonah was thrown overboard as ransom for the lives of the sailors, just as Jesus was buried in the heart of the earth for our sins today.

The third lesson is that God Will Not Let Us Die In Our Dilemma If We Return To Him. The concept of regeneration is to die to sin so that we may have a new and better beginning.

1. If we repent from our sins, God will revive our faith, raise us up the 3RD day, and we shall live. The 3RD DAY, is significant because it is when the dead body begins to decompose or decay.

   1. Act 2:26-27: - Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover, also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

   2. God did not allow Jonah to die in his frustrations, rather used the occasion to reveal His mercy that Jonah may realized it was Satan who was insinuating rebellion against God. If God allow Jonah’s wish, the people of Nineveh and Jonah will perish in their sins, but through God’s wisdom, Jonah and the Nenevites were saved.

2. Moreover, Jesus humiliated Satan openly by:

   1. Denigrating the power of death when He kept Jonah alive in the belly of the Whale. Not every day that you catch a Whale, and someone walks out alive. God did it to make a point that death has no power over us

   2. 1 Cor 15:55-57: - O’ death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

      1. 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

      2. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Exposing the ignorance of seeking self-interests ishness to the intent that we may not normalize our sins – The hope of the suffering Christain is that when you are faced with difficult life challenges, Jesus will be your peace in the storm, in your frustration, or dilemma. He will open your prison doors, and empty your prison houses of frustrations, hopelessness, discourage, fear, and anxieties, if you will return to Him like Jonah did. Jonah remember the Lord when his own wisdom and schemes failed him and turned his face toward God’s temple

The bible gave us the way back to God. The pathway to home is in Act 2:38: Repent, Baptize, & Be filled w/ Holy Ghost.