Alright, a very good morning to all of you and also those who are streaming on YouTube. When I came in, Nicole reminded me the last time I was here was almost two years ago. And back then, when Victoria and I came, we were a couple. But we are no longer just a couple; we are a crowd, a small crowd of three alright. The Lord has blessed us with a son. Lucas is turning one soon, and we have been longing to bring him to meet with all of you. But due to our circumstances, it’s quite unfortunate. But nonetheless, the word of the Lord takes precedence over our desire to worship. So let us turn to the passage that was read to your hearing in the Old Testament book of Jonah. And before that, let us turn to God in prayer. Let us pray.

“Our Father in heaven, we recognise that we are worshipping You in a very limited fashion, but we thank You that the Holy Spirit is not limited in His power and He’s not bound by restrictions and He can still visit our hearts. O Lord, we pray that You would enlighten us to Your truth wherever Your Word is heard. O Lord, grant us understanding and also grant us the willingness to submit to Your Word, all these praying and ask in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Now whenever we talk about Jonah, we can’t help but think about the big fish. Alright so probably when pastor was reading verse 17, straight away caught your attention alright God prepared a great fish. But so often this fish steals the limelight of this book that we fail to see the wonderful theme behind it, the wonderful God that is greater than this great fish. Now another thing to bear in mind is when we approach this book, we are not to dismiss it as a legend or it’s just a myth. Or some Christians would even believe that it is like Pilgrim’s Progress, it is an allegorical literature alright. It is stories containing spiritual lessons.

But instead, we ought to approach it as how our Lord Jesus Christ approached it as a historical narrative alright. We see this in the gospels when Jesus Himself affirms the historicity of Jonah. And therefore, we are to take it as actual events happening to actual people in actual history. Now this book is also quite unique alright. If you read all the prophetic books like the eleven minor prophets, we would see that the prophecies are the main message of the book. But this book is unique that it contains narratives and only a eight-worded sermon by Jonah. And so how do we know? Now where can we find the message of this book alright? I would like to say that the message of this book is actually found in the life of Jonah alright. The life of Jonah is the message.

So what I would like to do this morning is to consider just the first three opening verses, and I would like to do so by asking three questions to help us through. And we want to try and find three things about Jonah. Alright the first thing is about the person. Who is this person? Secondly, about his call. What was he called to do? And thirdly, how did he react? What was his reaction? Alright so question one, who is this person? Let us look at verse 1: “Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying”. Now we might just quickly glace through and miss a point here alright, and the point is “the word of the LORD came to” alright. And this tells us that Jonah is a prophet alright he’s a messenger of God.

And we actually commonly find that in the starting of most prophetic books. Now if you’ll just turn two pages forward to the book of Micah, we see that in verse 1. Micah 1:1- “The word of the LORD that came to Micah” alright. And then we see that also in Joel, in Hosea alright. So these are common, commonly found in the prophetic books. And this indicates that they are prophets alright. The word of the LORD came to the prophet, and he is called to deliver a message on behalf of God, to be His spokesperson. And what else can we know about the prophets in the Old Testament?

Now when a certain people or certain kings in the Old Testament would like to inquire about the LORD, they usually look for the prophets alright. Especially before they want to go to war, alright they come to the prophets. Should I go to war? And they would ask the prophets to inquire of the LORD. Alright so the prophets have a certain access alright to the LORD. And Amos 3:7 tells us: “Surely the LORD God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.”. Now so apart from being a messenger, they have communication, and they are privileged to know God’s revelation first-hand alright. So this is a privileged man. Jonah was a privileged person to be the servant of the LORD, to be called the servant of the LORD. He is able to communicate with God and know God’s revelation first-hand.

Now apart from knowing that he’s a prophet and that he is the son of Amittai, this book doesn’t tell us much about his background- where he’s from or what times does he live in. But we are thankful that we have another reference to Jonah in the book of Second Kings alright. If you’d turn with me to Second Kings verse 14. Second Kings verse 14, beginning with verse 23 (Mistakenly mentioned “verse”, supposedly “chapter”). 2 Kings 14:23. Now before I read, I would just like to give you a quick sketch of Israel’s history. Now, most of you would recall that King Saul was the first king of Israel alright. It was a united kingdom and then followed by King David and then King Solomon, his son.

And the nation grew tremendously in the land of Canaan because the LORD was with them and they were conquering the lands. And it reached to its fullest extent during King Solomon’s period alright. But towards the end of Solomon’s reign, he became an idolater because he had many wives, and they turned his heart away. And God pronounced judgement upon him and his nation that the kingdom will be split into two- the Northern Kingdom called Israel or Samaria, and the Southern called Judah. And it is with this context, let us read Second Kings chapter 14, beginning with verse 23. Now it reads: “In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah (which is the Southern Kingdom), Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, became king in Samaria (which is the Northern Kingdom), and he reigned forty-one years.

And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; and he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam (alright this is a different Jeroboam. This is the Jeroboam I, who was also the first king of Israel or the Northern Kingdom), the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He restored (which is King Jeroboam II restored) the territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel”. Now the Hamath was part of the territories of the Israelites during the glory days of Solomon. But God used Syria, their enemy to take it away from them because of their wickedness alright. Now notice who was the prophet during this time. He spoke, “through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Hepher.”.

Now Gath Hepher is slightly north of Nazareth in the Northern Kingdom, where Jesus grew up. Alright I’ll continue reading in verse 26: “For the LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter; and whether bond or free, there was no helper for Israel. And the LORD did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. (Verse 28) Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam (II), and all that he did—his might, how he made war, and how he recaptured for Israel, from Damascus and Hamath, what had belonged to Judah—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?”.

Now if you read through the book of Kings and Chronicles, you would usually see a pattern that usually when a wicked king is reigning, they bring God’s judgement upon them. And when they have a righteous king, they are blessed by the LORD. But in the midst of moral darkness and wickedness of King Jeroboam II, God did something unusual. He brought blessings in the form of expansion and repossession of the land. And in verse 27, God did it because He had pity on them, and “He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash”. Now, Jonah, we said that he’s from Gath Hepher in the Northern Kingdom, was part of Israel. He’s an Israelite, and he had an unusual experience of preaching blessings during times of wickedness. And he too was a recipient alright, being one from the Northern Kingdom.

Prophet Amos who was also serving during the period records that Israel was experiencing economic prosperity alright. Their beds were made of ivory. They were eating lamb, they were eating steak. They were singing with instruments, they were drinking wine from bowls. And so there are two things we can note about Jonah. Firstly, Jonah is a servant of God whom the LORD has revealed Himself to. Secondly, Jonah is an Israelite who experienced God’s mercy and grace although they did not deserve it. Now onto the next question, what was Jonah called to do? Now let’s turn back to our passage in Jonah 1:2. Let’s look at verse 2: “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”. Now we have in this verse the city that Jonah is to preach, and it’s Nineveh. Now, where is Nineveh?

Nineveh is the capital of Assyria, and they are the enemies of Israel. They are located at the northeast of Israel, and they are called a great city. And they are great in so many ways. They are great in geographical size. Alright if you read down in the chapters, it says it takes a three-day journey alright to travel through that city. Alright one day’s journey is about thirty kilometres, so three days is about ninety kilometres. And that is how big this city is. It is great in population. In Jonah 4:11, the last word of the book tells us that there are hundred and twenty thousand who cannot discern from their left and right, and it is believed that they are children. Hundred and twenty thousand children. Imagine how many people they would have.

They are also great in military strength alright. Assyria was a growing empire. And down a few decades, they would come to take Israel into exile in 722 B.C.. And the other thing to note is that they are also great in the degree of wickedness. Now Assyria is one of the most violent and cruel empires of ancient times. Now, what I am going to read might be a bit disturbing for some of you. But after capturing their enemies, they like to instil fear. The Assyrians would cut out the legs of the people and leave them with one arm. Now why one arm? It’s to shake their hand- to shake their hand in mockery.

And they would even pull out the captives’ tongues and stretch their bodies on ropes that they might flay- flay them alive and put their skin all over the city to warn those who plan to revolt against them. There’s also records that said that when the Assyrian army comes and surrounds a city, the people would rather commit suicide than to be captives. Now such is the place that Jonah was called to deliver the message of God. And their sins were so serious that their wickedness has came up before the LORD, and it means God’s immediate judgement is awaiting them. Their sins are ripe for destruction, and the Judge of all nations is saying to them enough is enough. And we see that, see a parallel in Genesis 18 and 19 when Sodom, Gomorrah’s sin was also brought up before the LORD.

And what did He do? He rained brimstone and fire and wiped them out completely. Now, this call to Jonah to Nineveh was an unusual call. It was unusual for Hebrew prophets to be sent to a pagan land, to a Gentile city. And even more shocking, to warn them of their sins. But such is the call of prophet Jonah. Now let’s consider how did he react. Third question, how did Jonah react? Verse 3: “But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.”. Now here we see the response of Jonah, and it is also quite shocking. How could he run from the LORD? How could he disobey the Almighty?

Now if you disobey a king, at the very least you will be put into prison, and most likely your head will be chopped off. But Jonah dared to disobey the LORD. And where was he fleeing to? He fled to a place called Tarshish. Tarshish, according to scholars, is located in the west alright near to Spain, and it is known to be the furthest place in that known world. When Jonah was called to go to northeast; he ran to west in Tarshish. And two times it mentioned Jonah was fleeing from the presence of the LORD. And it means he does not want to go. He is rejecting his call entirely. He wants to be in a position where he can, that is impossible for him to physically be in Nineveh. He fled as far as he could go.

And furthermore, we see that he paid for the fare. Now for such a long journey, we can imagine how much it would cost. But no, it wasn’t a hindrance to him. And how did he travel? He travelled by ship. Now the Jews have no love for the sea. Now if you read in the Psalms, they always described their troubles in terms of water alright the water is covering over me, I’m drowning. Alright they have no love for the sea, but yet it did not stop Jonah from running. Alright. there’s something in him that is so motivated that he was willing to disobey and go through all these inconveniences. So here is a person of immense privilege, one who serves the Most High, who was given a clear call alright to arise to go to Nineveh. But he chose to run from God.

Now, what went wrong here? What was Jonah’s problem? Was it cause because he was afraid of the Ninevites? Maybe, because they’re cruel. You have heard many things about them, but it wasn’t the main problem. Now the main issue was actually revealed by Jonah himself. Now turn with me to Jonah chapter 4. Jonah 4:2, now here we are given a window into the heart of Jonah. Jonah 4:2- “So he prayed to the LORD, and said, “Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.”.

Now it was not the distance that was too far that sent Jonah running. It was not the Ninevites that were too cruel for him that he did not want to go. But it was God’s mercy towards Jonah’s hated enemies that sent Jonah running. Now Jonah anticipated God’s mercy upon them. Otherwise, why would He send him? He could have just destroyed it without sending His prophet. And Jonah knew the LORD so well that he knew the heart of God that God was a “gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm”. Now we said Jonah was called for an unusual commission, but it is without unusual preparation. Alright don’t forget, Jonah lived in Israel. And what did they experience? They experienced God’s compassion upon them.

And Jonah was prepared. He was prepared, but he forgot who he was. He forgot he was a recipient of grace. Now Jonah knew God. He understood God has a compassionate heart towards sinners. But Jonah did not share it. Now I’m not sure if we Christians already realise that we are looking in a mirror. Alright if you have not realised, don’t worry. I brought a PCR test kit to help us. Now PCR, we are using the three questions that guided us through this passage and to ask ourselves three questions as well. P, what kind of person are you before the Lord? C, what are you called to do? R, what is your response? What kind of person are you before the Lord? You and I who have professed to be Christians, we are also privileged people just like Jonah.

And we can claim Jonah 4:2 as our own testimony alright: “I know that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm”. Now because we are undeserving people who have received and experience God’s forgiving kindness and mercy, and we have the privilege to know the Lord personally through the Lord Jesus Christ. So in so many ways, we are like Jonah. We are recipients of grace, and we know the Lord personally. Now, what are we called to do? Do you know what you are called to do as Christians? Now back in the days when I was courting Victoria, she told me a very confusing statement. She said sometimes my no means yes, and my yes means no. I was like: Ah, how am I supposed to know? So complicating.

And now that we are married, and one of the books that was recommended to me makes so much sense. And the book is called “The Complete Husband” by Lou Priolo. And if I recall correctly, the opening chapter is entitled “I Wish She Came With A Manual Like My Car”. Now imagine how easy it would be to live with your wife or your husband who comes with a set of instructions of everything you need to know about them. It’s all in that book- how to keep them happy, how to keep them functional. And it’s furnished with data like product information, proper maintenance, and directions how to read the gauges (emotional gauges and the temper gauges). Wouldn’t it be so easy and we can live peacefully with each other and especially a section on how to troubleshoot when there is problems.

Now here’s the good news. There is no doubt we can never fully understand God, but God has given us a manual. And we don’t need to guess whether His yes is no or no is yes. He has made it very clear in His Scriptures, and His Scriptures is able to make us wise unto salvation and also for holy living. And we are thankful that God is not temperamental. He does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and what is written for us is constant. And on top of that, he has given us a Helper alright, the Holy Spirit to help us to understand His Word. He has given us servants to expound His Word to us. And what more can we ask for?

Now the Word of God has already come to us alright. And all the commands and instructions are written clearly. Now the problem is: Do we know them? Do you know what you’re called to do? Now probably straight away you think of Matthew 28:19-20, the great commission alright to “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”. Alright this is the great commission.

Now not all of us might be called to be missionaries like William Carey to India, like Adoniram Judson to Burma, or those in our times like Andy Hamilton or Mark Acsay to Thailand. But we are all called to be God’s gracious witness in whatever roles that He has given us. Now consider Ephesians chapters 4, 5, and 6. Now, these are practical instructions of how we as individual members of the church ought to conduct ourselves as husbands, as wives, as parents, children, masters, and slaves. And we are instructed to walk in a manner worthy of our calling as the body of Christ on this earth. Why? Because it reflects the gospel. Now maybe we should ask Woei Shyong to continue his series for the next few weeks to show us what is being taught in Ephesians chapters 4, 5, and 6. 

Now the Bible is full of commands and full of instructions that the Lord is calling us to obey. And that leads us to our last question: How have you respond? How have you responded to all these instructions and commands of the Lord? What is your response to God who calls us to be gracious witnesses in this world? Do we share God’s righteous heart towards sin that has kept so many in bondage and has blinded them towards the truth? Now I think our problem is not that we don’t know the commands, but we are like Jonah. The problem is our heart. We have a heart problem, and our heart is constantly resisting God’s call to us. And like Jonah, we run away. We run away to our comfort. Now turn with me to Acts chapter 17. Acts 17:16.

Acts 17:16- “Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.”. Now here Paul was in Athens, and they are an idolatrous city full of idols. And as we were going through a Bible study in our church, and one of the brothers lamented over the fact that every time we get to visit religious places like Batu Caves or like the Chin Swee temple in Genting and when we see all these idols, what do we do? We usually take out a camera, we take selfie, we take wefie, we take a group photo.

But how many of us are like Paul who was provoked, who had a heart because he understood what sin has done to all these people that sin has blinded their eyes and his heart is longing for them to worship the true and the living God? And that led him to preach the gospel to them and he proclaimed the gospel to them. Now not only idolatry we see around us. We see moral corruption. We see the LGBTQ movement. How many of us move around all these blindly without any feelings? How many of us are moved- moved with compassion for these people who are blinded in their sins? Now, do we share God’s righteous heart towards sin that justice must be served and something must be done? Or how about in another passage in Genesis 18? Let’s turn to Genesis chapter 18.

Genesis chapter 18, reading from verse 20. Genesis 18:20- “And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood before the LORD. And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?

Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?””. Now here we know that Abraham would continue to negotiate or to bargain with the LORD. Fifty righteous, forty-five, forty, thirty, all the way until ten. Now this shows us the heart of Abraham alright when he knew that God was going to bring judgement upon Sodom and Gomorrah. And what did he do in verse 22? “Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood before the LORD.” Abraham pleaded with God, pleaded for God’s mercy upon those who are going to perish. Now how many of us plea with God for our non-believing friends?

How many non-believing friends, family, strangers, or even enemies who has wronged against us are found on our prayer list? Now we said we are indeed privileged people. We are privileged to have direct access to the throne of grace. How many names do we bring to God, or our prayers filled with my own wants? God, I want that You remove the pandemic so that I can travel again, so that I can see my friends, I can go out and dine. It’s all about, is it all about self? Do we share in the compassion of Christ who had pity for us while we were still sinners? Now do you share the heart of our gracious God? Now we might be here in church actively serving, but we can be running from the Lord because usefulness in kingdom work does not mean grace in your heart.

There is this danger of being like the Pharisees. Now they know the words of God. They know it very well and they are very religious in doing it. And oftentimes they do beyond what is required. But what did the Lord say? Their hearts are far from Me. They are physically there, but their hearts are running away from God. Now it can happen to us too. Our head is filled with knowledge and filled with commands and instructions. Our hands are busy serving, but our heart is not engaged. Now we can be running from the Lord and doing all these things deceiving ourselves because our heart is so deceitful. May the Lord search our hearts and make known our ways and help us. So I hope by now you would be able to see that there are so many tendencies for us to run from God.

Now is there hope? Is there hope for us? Is there hope for runners like Jonah? Now the good news is there is hope. There is hope in this person who received the Word of God, who was called to go on a mission to a place where He will be despised, rejected. And He is called to bear the griefs and sorrows and to die for the sins of those who have transgressed the ways of the Lord, a Lamb to the slaughter. Now how did He respond? How did our Lord Jesus Christ respond? He struggled. He did struggle, but He did not run. He said: “Father if it’s Your will, take this cup away from Me. Nevertheless, not My will but Yours be done.”. He humbled Himself. He became obedient to the call of God, obedient to the point of death.

So why? Why so? So that runners like you and I can receive grace, can be restored, can be forgiven. Now the very gospel message that we Christians are called to preach and proclaim is the same message that we need every day. Let us not forget that we are sinners saved by grace. We are privileged to understand God who are called to go to preach the good news to fellow sinners. But let us not run from our call, but let us run to Christ and seek for His grace. Now to my non-believing friends. Fortunately or unfortunately, this PCR test is also for you. And I pray it will be uncomfortable, that the Holy Spirit will make it uncomfortable for you until you find your peace with God.

Now according to the Bible, there are only two kinds of person before God- those who have put their faith in Him and those who have not. And the Bible describes unbelievers as those who are in darkness, who are lost, who are enemies of God. And what is God calling you to do? Now turn with me to Acts chapter 17. Acts 17:30-31: “Truly, times of ignorance God has overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this (to) all by raising Him from the dead.”.

Now to my non-believing friends, let me tell you of a greater pandemic that has happened to us, and it happened long before Covid-19. It happened right after creation in the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God. And He has brought a pandemic that is greater, that is more contagious. It is one hundred percent contagious. No one is spared from it, and it guarantees one hundred percent death. Now it is none other than sin. And that’s not all. God has appointed a day in which you will be judged, to give an account of everything that we have done. And the Lord then is known as a consuming fire. Now if you do not turn away from Him, you will burn. If you do not repent, you will perish.

Now the question to you is: How will you respond today? Now I urge you while it’s still today and you have this privilege of hearing the gospel call to “seek the LORD while He may be found, to call upon Him while He is near.”. And like the Ninevites and Sodom and Gomorrah, your sins will come up to the LORD. It is just a matter of time. So stop running. Stop running from God because you already are, and recognise your critical condition and raise the white flag. Seek help from the person Jesus Christ who was called to die on the cross but He did not run. He willingly obeyed that you and I might be saved by His blood. Let us close in prayer.

“Our Father in heaven, as we look at Jonah, we see a man running, a man running away from You in disobedience. O Lord, we pray that You would also help us to see ourselves in him. O Lord, we pray that You’ll search our hearts and test our ways. We pray that You’ll make known our sins to us that we might turn to You in forgiveness. Lord, we pray that You’ll also grant us the heart of our Saviour who had pity and compassion upon sinners like us and make us useful in calling the Ninevites of our days to repentance and faith. Lord, we thank You that there is still hope for those who run because Your grace is greater than our ability to run.

We pray especially for those who are still strangers to Your grace that they would see the urgency and that the thought of their sins coming up before You would trouble them and that they would seek refuge in our Lord Jesus Christ. O Lord, we pray that You would help us to continue to meditate on Your words and make our hearts bare before our eyes to see our weakness, to see our sins. O Lord, we seek for Your forgiveness. All these we pray and give thanks in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.