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His Love is Deeper Still

Jonah: God’s Matchless Grace
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Pastor Jojo Ma

 

1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, 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 flood surrounded me; all Your waves and Your billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am driven away from Your sight; yet I shall again look upon Your holy temple. 5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet You brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple.”

Disobedience leads to prayerlessness, prayerlessness leads to sinful wandering, and sinful wandering leads to trouble.

In the deep waters of desperation, in the depths of a dark and lonely place, Jonah is learning that God's love is deeper still. In the words of Corrie Ten Boom: “There is no pit so deep, that God's love is not deeper still.”

I.          A Humbled Man
II.        A Prayerful Man
III.       A Renewed Man

I.         A Humbled Man
He had deserted God, but God had not deserted him. He was faithless toward God, but God was faithful toward him. He did not want God, but God still wanted him. God's love is stronger than anything, even our rebellion. God's love is deeper still.

“…deeper still then goes the anchor…” [Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor, Matt Boswell]

“Sometimes the very best thing that can happen to us is the very thing we most dread, for the simple reason that it strips away our self-reliance, humbles our pride, and removes from us every other hope save that of God. Sometimes this is what it takes for us really to pray.”

II.        A Prayerful Man
1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, 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 flood surrounded me; all Your waves and Your billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am driven away from Your sight; yet I shall again look upon Your holy temple.”

1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and He answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice.”

Ps 34:6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.

1 Sam 1:10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.

Lam 3:54-56 Water closed over my head; I said, “I am lost.” I called on Your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit; You heard my plea, “Do not close Your ear to my cry for help!”

3 For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all Your waves and Your billows passed over me.

Jon 1:15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.

Wayne Grudem (on the Doctrine of Concurrence): “The providential direction of God did not force the sailors to do something against their will, nor were they conscious of any divine influence on them. Indeed, they cried to the Lord for forgiveness as they threw Jonah overboard (1:14). What Scripture reveals to us, and what Jonah himself realized, was that God was bringing about His plan through the willing choices of real human beings who were morally responsible for their actions. In a way not understood by us and not revealed to us, God caused them to make a willing choice to do what they did.”

Acts 2:23 This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

Acts 4:26-28 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place.

No matter your situation, embrace that God is totally sovereign, holy, just, and good. As you run the race and fight the good fight, cling to these attributes of God in your life. Bow to God's sovereign and good purposes in your hard circumstances. Trust Him for His grace.

III.      A Renewed Man
5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet You brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

3 For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all Your waves and Your billows passed over me.

What is the unifying, all-important factor to Jonah's spiritual revival and renewal? It's the Word of God. It's the Hebrew Scriptures, and in particular, the Psalms.

Ps 18:4-6 4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; 5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. 6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached his ears.

2 Tim 3:14-15 14 But as for you [Timothy], continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Church, it is the influence of God's Word that turns our hearts back to God in prayer. It is always true that “…faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” [Rom 10:17] If you want to experience God's grace, if you want to return to the Lord, if you want to be renewed in your mind, open the Scriptures. 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to You.

4 I am driven away from Your sight; yet I shall again look upon Your holy temple. Also, v7 ends with the words “into Your holy temple.” Why did Jonah think of God's holy temple?

Jesus is the final sacrifice, the Lamb that was slain, once for all, to bring us to God. Jonah looked to God's holy temple, we look to Jesus, the true and better temple.

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.

Embrace that God is totally sovereign, holy, just, and good. Learn to surrender your heart to His good rule over your life. Remember the priority of God's Word in spiritual renewal. And no matter your lot in life, no matter how deep your sin or how hurt you are, believe His gospel is good news and His love is deeper still.