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Hope in the Darkest Place

Jonah: God’s Matchless Grace
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Pastor Jojo Ma

 

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.

“When through the deep waters I call thee to go, the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow; For I will be with thee thy trouble to bless, and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.”

1) Do you believe in miracles?
2) Do you see a picture of death?
3) Do you hope in the Lord of life?

1) Do you believe in miracles?
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.

Do you believe in the miraculous? Is the account of Jonah being swallowed by a great fish…fact or fiction, miracle or myth?

It's a worldview known as “naturalism” or “materialism”: matter and nature are the fundamental realities, not God. The world consists of matter, energy, and motion. The physical is the most basic and deepest structure. Everything builds up from these basic, material things.

C.S. Lewis: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

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.

Church, glorify God with your mind. Learn to defend the faith. Engage with people respectfully and lovingly but truthfully. Don’t let them bully you around with their naturalism. Everyone has pre-commitments, everyone sees the world through some lens, everyone bows to some authority. Christians happen to fear the Lord, submit to His Word, and see the world through His eyes. We are not ashamed of this.

1 Cor 1:20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

2) Do you see a picture of death?
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.

Rev 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

17 …Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Matt 12:39-40 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, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Without a doubt, verse 17 is a picture of death, both physical and spiritual death. It's a frightening portrait. But fear is not the victor in God's story. Rebels and sinners like Jonah and like us will praise God for His glorious grace.

3) Do you hope in the Lord of life?
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.

Make no mistake: it is God sovereignly doing this, doing this to ultimately rescue and redeem a wayward son. He will make Jonah miserable, and He will teach Jonah important lessons, and He will draw Jonah back to His arms of salvation.

What has God “appointed” in your life that has made you to feel “swallowed up”? Could it be that God has made life hard and miserable to draw you to Himself again? He did this to Jonah, He certainly can do this in your life. If you are struggling spiritually, if you feel distant to God, it's time to turn from the darkness and put your hope in the Lord of life.