Grace In The Pit
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Hey everybody my name’s Louis I’m the lead teaching pastor here at City Awakening, it’s great to be with you this morning. Today we’re continuing our series called Runaways: God’s grace in rebellion, it’s a 5 week series on a book of the bible called Jonah which is a book all about God’s grace in rebellion. It’s our 3rd week in this series and so far we’ve seen God’s grace pouring out on Jonah despite his rebellion, and God’s grace pouring out through Jonah to other people. The book of Jonah’s all about God’s grace, and today we’ll see Jonah finally reaches the end of himself, he finally hits rock bottom in his life. Now it’s in situations like that, situations where it feels like we’ve hit rock bottom or are facing a situation beyond our control, that we’ll sometimes get angry and frustrated with God, sometimes feeling like God’s wanting to break our knees. But what if it’s not that?..What if God’s not wanting to break your knees, He’s wanting to bend your knees?..What if God’s not wanting to break your knees, He’s wanting you to bend your knees?..In today’s text we’re gonna see Jonah’s knees don’t break, they bend. His knees don’t break, they bend to God in prayer, and God’s grace is right there to meet him on his knees. God’s grace is right there to meet Jonah in the rock bottom pit of his life, and that’s what we’re gonna talk about today. We’re gonna talk about how God’s grace is always there for knees that bend, so let’s turn to Jonah 1:17-2:10 and get into it. The title of today’s message is Grace in the pit. There’s grace in the pit, grace in the rock bottom pits of life. God’s grace isn’t there to break your knees, it’s there to bend your knees. There’s always grace for knees that bend.
Context:
Here’s your context. In Jonah ch.1 we learned God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach against the brutal Ninevites, but instead of going Jonah runs from both Nineveh and God. Jonah hates the Ninveites, he wants nothing to do with the Ninevites, so he climbs aboard a ship sailing in the complete opposite direction of Nineveh, roughly 2000 miles west of Nineveh to a place called Tarshish. But God sends a massive storm to bust the ship up a bit, and that storm’s an act of God’s grace for Jonah to get his life back on track again. So the storm comes, the ship starts falling apart, the sailors start freaking out, and Jonah tells them to throw him overboard because the storm’s his fault, it’s the result of his sin. At first the sailors don’t do it, but as the storm gets even more fierce they finally toss him over, the storm stops, the sailors start worshiping God for sparing their lives, but Jonah’s now left stranded at sea, and we’ll pick it up from there.
The Word:
Jonah 1:17-2:10 states this, “And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.”
It’s safe to say Jonah’s not having a very good day, he’s not having a whale of a time. I mean if you think you’re having a bad day, try sailing through a cat 5 hurricane, being thrown overboard, and getting swallowed up by Shamu...It’s not a very good day for Jonah right now, at least that’s the way it appears, but there’s grace in the fish. Last week we learned there’s grace in the storm, well there’s grace in the fish too, and just like the Lord caused the storm, the Lord caused the fish to swallow up Jonah. The text says the Lord appointed the fish to swallow up Jonah, but it’s another act of grace to save Jonah’s life, to save him from drowning. What kind of fish was it? Most scholars assume it’s a whale because whales like a Blue Whale or Sperm Whale could swallow a person whole, but the truth is we don’t know. What we do know is this great fish, is an act of God’s great grace. It’s an act of grace to save Jonah’s life. There’s grace in the fish.
Again vs. 17, “And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” Now this is where some people get a little hung up. They listen to a national geographic scholar or a skeptical college professor saying, “It’s not true, didn’t happened, Jonah couldn’t have survived in the belly of a whale for 3 days. So don’t believe it, don’t trust the bible.” But there’s two problems with this thinking. First it has a small view of God that doesn’t account for the possibility of miracles. Is this a highly unusual event? Yes, I’ll give the skeptical professor that one. But just because something’s unusual doesn’t mean isn’t true, especially if you believe in God and the possibility of miracles. I mean if you believe in God and the possibility of miracles, if you believe God’s powerful enough to create protons, neutrons, electrons, the complexity of genetic codes, and hold it all together so perfectly so it can sustain life, then surely God’s able to sovereignly control His creation in ways that are miraculous to us. Surely God can do miraculous things like Jonah surviving in the belly of a whale. See the bible teaches us that God’s sovereign, meaning He’s powerful enough to rule and reign over every aspect of His creation. We’re seeing this happen throughout the book of Jonah where it’s God who’s controlling the storm and appointing the fish. God sovereignly ruling over his creation is a major theme in the book of Jonah, it’s a major theme of the bible.
Jonah 1:5, “The Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea...”
Jonah 1:17, “The Lord appointed a great fish...”
Nehemiah 9:6, “You have made heaven with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you PRESERVE all of them.”
Colossians 1:16-17, “For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him ALL THINGS hold together.”
That last one is talking about Jesus, it’s talking about how Jesus is the creator of all things, he’s the one who’s holding all things together, and this is where the 2nd problem comes in for those who want to discredit the story of Jonah. It’s because Jesus himself said and taught it was true. Jesus, the most influential person in human history, who’s influence is so great that most of the world has divided its history into two parts because of him, (BC) Before Christ, and (AD) Anno Domini the year of the Lord. Jesus says it’s all true in Matthew 12:38-40, “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, ‘Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.’ 39 But Jesus answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish...” Jesus is referring to Jonah as a real historical figure who went through a real historical event. He says Jonah’s a real prophet who literally survived 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of a great fish, and to discredit it happened is a problem because it discredits Jesus. It means you think you’re more intellectually elite than Jesus who’s able to run intellectual circles around you, me, and all our skeptical professors without even breaking a sweat. But we have no room to discredit Jesus on anything because he’s never been wrong about anything, not even the timing of his own death and resurrection. So I’m going with Jesus on all this, I’m saying it’s all true, it really happened, and the fish is a miraculous act of God’s sovereign grace to save Jonah. It’s God’s version of an 8th Century BC Uber.
Ch. 2:1, “Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish...” Jonah bends his knees. The text says Jonah prayed to the Lord, meaning Jonah bends his knees. God’s grace doesn’t break Jonah’s knees, it bends his knees in prayer. You’ll actually see Jonah praying two types of prayers in this section, he prays a thankful prayer and a distressful prayer. The prayer we’re talking about now is a thankful prayer which is interesting because he’s sitting in the belly of a fish, most likely a whale. How many of you’d be praying a thankful prayer in that situation? I mean he’s sitting in temperatures between 108-115 degrees, having gastric juices washing over him bleaching his skin, and the place smells worse than an outhouse at the park. It smells like a fishing boat full of dead fish. So speaking for all the fellow sanitizing germophobes, I’m not thanking God in that situation...I’m not...I mean some of you won’t even touch a fish, try being in the belly of a fish...I’m just being transparent here, I’m not thanking God in that situation, and the chances are you wouldn’either, you know how I know? It’s because we fail to give God thanks in situations that are far less worse than this...We fail to give God thanks in situations that are far less worse than what Jonah’s facing...In situations far less worse than this we’ll accuse God of wanting to break our knees, instead of bending our knees. But Jonah doesn’t accuse God of breaking his knees, he bends his knees praying a thankful prayer to God. Why? Why does he pray a thankful prayer in this situation? The text tells us.
Again vs. 1 states, “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.’” There’s the reason Jonah’s able to praise God, to pray a thankful prayer to God. It’s because Jonah prayed a distressful prayer to God and God answered that prayer through the fish. Jonah’s realizing the fish is an act of God’s grace used not to punish him, but to save him. The fish is an act of grace, it’s an answered prayer for Jonah. I’m sure Jonah wasn’t expecting God to save him through a fish, a fishing boat maybe, but not a fish. It’s what happens when we pray sometimes. Sometimes God answers our prayers in ways we don’t expect or ask, and it can be frustrating when that happens. But whatever God sends is always what’s best for your life. You might think you know what’s best, but God always sends you what’s best, and what I want you to see more than anything is God’s grace is still being poured on Jonah despite his sin. God’s still willing to listen to Jonah’s prayers despite his sin, despite his rebellious running. It’s because sin won’t ever prevent God from listening to the cries of a person who repents, and bends their knees in prayer...Sin won’t ever prevent God from listening to the cries of a person who repents, and bends their knees in prayer. God’s grace isn’t there to break your knees, it’s there to bend your knees. There’s always grace, for knees that bend.
Vs. 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.’” Jonah was literally drowning. He says the waters closed in over him, the weeds were wrapping around his neck like chains, he was literally suffocating, literally drowning, but God brought his life up from the pit, and saved him. Jonah’s inviting us into his struggles and pains, and pointing us to what got him out of his struggles and pains. What Jonah’s doing is very different than what we do in the social media bubble we live in today. We live in a social media bubble that publicly declares our wins, pleasures, and best days through selfies, but privately conceals our failures, displeasures, and painful days to ourselves. We tend to be open about our good days, but isolate ourselves in our painful days. My hope is that City Awakening will be a place where you can break your social media bubble, talk about your hurts and pains, and our response would be to point you to the grace of our sovereign Lord Jesus as we lovingly walk with you through the rock bottom pits of your life. Jonah’s inviting us into the rock bottom pit of his life, and he’s pointing us to what got him out of it. He says it’s the Lord that brought his life up from the pit. He prayed a distressful prayer, and God answered him.
Vs. 7, “When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” Jonah says salvation belongs to the Lord, meaning he couldn’t do anything to save himself physically or spiritually except rely on God’s grace. God’s grace is the only thing that could save him physically from the situation he was in, and save him spiritually from the eternal punishment he deserved because of his sin. God could’ve let Jonah die in the sea, and He would’ve been perfectly just in doing so because of Jonah’s sin. But instead God chose to extend grace to Jonah giving him a chance to repent, call upon His name, and be saved. The text says he remembered the Lord, but it took him hitting the rock bottom pit of his life, just like it takes some of us hitting the rock bottom pit of our lives before we’ll finally turn to God. God’s grace might be doing that for some of you right now. He might be allowing you to hit the rock bottom pit of your life not to break your knees, but to bend your knees like Jonah, and there’s always grace for knees that bend. You can’t always fix your problems, but you can bend your knees in prayer and talk to God about your problems. You can’t always fix your problems, but you can bend your knees in prayer and transfer the burden of your problems to God. You can’t always fix, change, or overcome your problems, but you can bend your knees in prayer, receive God’s grace to make it through your problems, and receive God’s grace for eternal salvation. There’s always grace for knees that bend.
Vs. 10 states, “And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.” The fish obeys God better than Jonah...The fish obeys God better than the prophet...The fish and pretty much everything else in the book of Jonah’s doing what it’s supposed to do which is obey God, everything except Jonah. God speaks to the fish, the fish obeys, and vomits Jonah out its mouth which is nasty. Only thing worse than throwing up, is being thrown up. It’s just nasty, and if the fish is a whale I’m praying, “Really God? You couldn’t have sent me through the blowhole? I’d prefer the snot over vomit!” But there’s grace in the vomit...In fact scholars believe it’s God showing disgust toward Jonah because after all God did for Jonah, his heart’s still hardened toward the Ninevites. He preached to himself salvation belongs to the Lord, but he’s still not willing to preach it to the Ninevites. So the vomit’s God’s disgust toward Jonah’s hardened heart, but God’s grace is still working allowing him to live, to arrive on dry land. It’s because God’s grace isn’t done working on Jonah, which we’ll see over the next few weeks.
The Big Idea:
Let’s get to the big idea. Here’s the big idea. God’s grace isn’t there to break your knees, it’s there to bend your knees. There’s always grace for knees that bend...There’s always grace for knees that bend, and God’s grace is always willing to meet you in the rock bottom pit of your life. Jonah bends his knees when he hit the rock bottom pit of his life, God saved him, and his declaration to us is salvation belongs to the Lord. The question we need to ask ourselves today is who’s the Lord he’s talking about, who’s the Lord that saves? Who’s the Lord that saves Jonah and can save us? To find out we need to read the words of Jesus a little further in Matthew 12.
Again Matthew 12:40-41 states, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth...behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” Jesus says something greater than Jonah’s here meaning he’s the greater Jonah...Jesus is saying he’s the greater Jonah and Jonah’s life was really pointing to him. I wrote a few things down so you can see it, so you can see the Jonah and Jesus parallels, and see how historically 800 yrs later Jesus comes as the greater Jonah.
Jonah thought he was greater than others and wouldn’t sacrifice his life for Ninevites, but Jesus is greater than others and sacrificed his life to save others.
Jonah didn’t want to forgive his enemies, but Jesus came to offer his enemies forgiveness.
Jonah ran disobediently from God’s will, but Jesus ran in perfect fulfillment of God’s will
Jonah ran from the presence of God, but Jesus came to bring us the presence of God.
Jonah was a sinner who ran from God, but Jesus is the God who runs after sinners.
Jonah helplessly sleept in a boat and couldn’t command the storm to stop, but Jesus peacefully sleept in a boat and was able to command a storm to stop.
Jonah was thrown in the sea to save a few, but Jesus was thrown on a cross to save many
Jonah spent 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the fish because of his sin, but Jesus spent 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the earth to die for our sin.
Jonah rose from the pit of death on the 3rd day declaring salvation comes from the Lord, but Jesus rose from the pit of the grave on the 3rd day proving salvation comes from Him because he is the Lord.
Jonah cried out to the Lord, but Jesus actually is the Lord.
Jonah was a sinner, but Jesus is the sinless savior.
Jonah was sent to Nineveh to save a few people from ONE nation, but Jesus came to this world to save many people from EVERY nation. Revelation 7:9 promises that when Jesus returns there will people worshiping him from every nation, tribe, and tongue, and here we are today in 2018 nearly 2,000 yrs after that promise was written with roughly 10,000 of the world’s 17,000 nations, tribes, and tongues filled with people worshiping Jesus. Jonah was sent to Nineveh to save a few people from ONE nation, but Jesus came to this world to save many people from EVERY nation, and it’s happening!
I want you to see it, I want you to see Jesus really is the greater Jonah! He said something greater than Jonah is here, and he’s that something greater! The book of Jonah shows us who the real savior is, it’s not Jonah, us, or anyone else, it’s Jesus. Jonah needed a savior, Jesus is that savior. You and I need a savior, Jesus is that savior. Jonah said salvation belongs to the Lord, Jesus is that Lord. Jesus is that Lord and he came not to break our knees but to pour out his grace so we could bend our knees, cry out to him from the rock bottom pit of our sinful depravity, and receive even more grace for our temporal and eternal salvation. Jesus is always willing to give grace to any knees that bend. Communion reminds us of this, it reminds us that we need a savior, Jesus is that savior, and he’s always willing to give grarce to any knees that bend..............
At this time let’s go ahead and have those serving communion start passing the plates. Anyone who’s willing to repent of their sins and believe Jesus is their savior who died for their sins is able to participate in communion, and as the plates are being passed take a piece of bread, take a cup, and hold onto it. Jesus told us to do this, to celebrate communion in remembrance of him, and on the night he was betrayed he was gathering with his friends, he took the bread at the table, gave thanks for it, broke it saying “This is my body which is to be broken for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you eat it, do so in remembrance of me and what I’ve done.” When supper was ended he took the cup, blessed it, gave thanks for it and said “This cup is a symbol of my blood which is to be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you drink it, do so in remembrance of me and what I’ve done.” City Awakening let’s eat, drink, and then take a few minutes to bend your knees in prayer to Jesus, asking him to save you eternally if you’ve never done that before, thank him for saving you eternally if you’ve already done that, and asking him to give you the grace needed to make it through the problems your facing. Let’s eat, drink, and bend our knees to Jesus, then we’ll worship.