The Sea Points to the Son

Transcript

Welcome to this week’s sermon from Trinity Church in Portland, Oregon. We hope this message inspires you, roots you down deep into the Lord, into His Word, and may His Spirit be your guide as you enjoy this teaching. Thanks for joining us. Here’s the message. Alright, so Jonah 1, verse 11 through 16. Then they said to him, What shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us? For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, Pick me up and hurl me into the sea, then the sea will quiet down for you. For I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you. Nevertheless, the men rode hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life,

and lay not on us innocent blood for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you. So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. The men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows

— Jonah 1

(ESV)

. This, family of God, is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Well as we continue to move forward in our sermon series on the book of Jonah, I want to start first by going backwards. I want to move backwards because for some of you this might be your very first time engaging with the sermon series. Or, if you’re like me, this likely has been a pretty crazy week. You’ve been preoccupied with a thousand other things, and so you’ve probably forgotten where we left off in our story last week. And so it’s never helpful to jump into the middle of a story without remembering where we came from.

Jonah’s Story So Far

So I want to give us just a bit of a summary to catch us up to speed, and I’m going to be super quick here. Jonah is a prophet. And the job of a prophet is to take the words that God has given that prophet, and that prophet is to take those words to God’s intended people. So in this particular case, the Lord commissioned Jonah to go into the great city of Nineveh and call the pagan Assyrian people to repentance. But Jonah, knowing God to be a merciful and forgiving God, knew that God would show them mercy. And since Jonah is somewhat of a nationalist, and because Jonah views the Assyrian people as perhaps the greatest threat to the nation of Israel, Jonah refuses to obey the Lord’s commission, and instead attempted to flee, run from the Lord’s presence and power. He does this by getting on a ship that is set course in the exact opposite direction of where God called him to go.

But the Lord, in His mercy, stops Jonah in his tracks by throwing this supernatural storm. This storm is so severe that even the professional pagan sailors on the ship are afraid for their life. They do everything they can think of to escape death. They pray to their fake gods. They throw their cargo overboard, but every effort fails. And given the severity of the storm, how bad this storm is, the pagan sailors deduce that this storm is nothing short of God’s judgment being poured out on somebody on this ship. And so to try to figure out who is the one responsible for God’s judgment coming upon them, they appeal to luck. They cast lots. And of course, the God who is sovereign over creation controls even the casting of lots and uses it to expose Jonah as the culprit. When they find out it’s Jonah, they wake him up from his deep sleep in the bottom of the ship.

They interrogate him. They ask him all kinds of questions concerning who he is and who is the God that he worships. Jonah then confesses that he’s a Hebrew who serves and fears the God of heaven. But the sailors realize that Jonah has been trying to run from God, and they begin to mock him because of his blatant hypocrisy, and because in their mind they can’t understand how someone who professes to fear God with this kind of power would actually be willing to try and run from him. So this brings us to where we are in our text this morning, chapter 1, verses 11 through 16. And what I want to do this morning is pull our focus onto four sections in these six little verses. I want us to look at the godly grief versus worldly wisdom. I want us to see the ethical dilemma of pagans.

Godly Grief vs Worldly Sorrow

Then we’ll look at the sea’s appeasement, and then finally we’ll see God’s sovereignty in saving sinners. And so if you have your Bibles with you this morning, turn with me to chapter 1, verses 11. We’ll look at godly grief versus worldly sorrow. Then they said to him, What shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us? For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, Pick me up and hurl me into the sea, then the sea will quiet down for you. For I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you. So because the lot fell on Jonah and exposed him as the one responsible for this raging sea, and because the sea continues to become more and more aggressive, the next logical step for these sailors was to ask Jonah, What should we do with you to pacify the God who has sent this storm?

If God is angry with you, Jonah, then what must we do with you to make God become unangry? And you see what’s interesting here is that even pagans understand that when you do something to make God angry, that something must be done to satisfy that anger. In their limited understanding, they at least know that it’s no insignificant thing to rebel against the God of creation. And so Jonah’s response to their inquiry, What should we do? Is really quite simple. Throw me into the sea and the raging sea will cease. Now, why does Jonah say that? The text doesn’t mention anything about the Lord telling Jonah that he should be thrown into the sea. Jonah knew that the Lord was chasing him down because of his disobedience. Jonah was wise enough to know how to make things right before God. And that was to simply repent and obey.

So what’s all of this about? What are the motives behind Jonah’s desire to be thrown into the sea? Is Jonah finally owning his sin? Is Jonah acknowledging the fact that his sin is against the God of heaven and that his sin deserves death? And so he’s just taking the initiative for God? Or is Jonah just so stiff-necked that he’d rather die than bring God’s mercy to the Ninevites? Well, the truth is it’s likely a bit of both of those things. But I don’t think that’s the primary reason for him asking these sailors to throw him overboard. I think the primary reason is that Jonah felt such worldly sorrow that he just didn’t want to deal with this anymore. He’s obviously been found out. He can’t escape the God who is everywhere. He can’t escape the God who knows everything. He tries to sever his conscience by sleeping. God wakes him up.

He tries to run. God sends a storm. He can’t escape the God who is in control of everything. So he continues to suffer the consequences of his sin against God. The sailors, they’re innocent in this matter. They’ve also suffered the consequences of Jonah’s sin. And so he likely feels bad about that. He’s seen the posture of these pagans. He’s consistently been outshined by their character and their conduct. In fact, they’ve already called him a hypocrite. If he was feeling the weight and grief of his sin in the very beginning of this story, how much more is he now feeling the weight of those things? Nothing seems to be letting up. So he’s just done. So his response to just have the sailors throw him overboard is just another attempt for him to run from God. It’s another attempt to run from the consequences of his sin.

This is the ultimate end of severing his conscience. If they throw me overboard, I die. Then I don’t have to feel bad about my grief and anxiety and my sin. So to be sure, this is not Jonah repenting. And how do we know that? Well, not once does Jonah confess his sins before God. Yes, he’s admitted to the sailors, but conveniently only after he’s been exposed. And while it is true that he did feel deep sorrow, he didn’t necessarily feel those feelings of sorrow for the right reasons. And listen, this is also true for us. This is an important reality for us to wrestle with. You can feel bad about the consequences of your sin without actually repenting of your sin. There’s a huge difference between worldly sorrow and godly grief. Worldly sorrow is feeling bad about what you’ve done. Feeling bad about your sin.

Worldly sorrow is feeling shame in the sight of your peers because your sin has been made public. Worldly sorrow is feeling horrible about how other people have suffered because of your personal and private sins. But godly grief is feeling guilt and shame because you’ve sinned against God. And what is oftentimes so challenging about worldly sorrow is that it can look like repentance. It has all the allure of godliness when in reality it has nothing to do with God but you. And you getting caught. So Jonah starts to take ownership of his sin, but not because of his vertical guilt, but because of his horizontal guilt. He feels more guilt for how these sailors have been caught up in this mess and for how his reputation as a Hebrew prophet has been soiled than he does for his own sins against God. And how do we know the difference here with Jonah?

How do we know it’s worldly sorrow and not godly grief? Because Jonah does not do the one thing he should have done. Turn to his God in repentance. He owns up to the sailors, but not the Lord. Psalm 51 verse 4 says,

Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment

— Psalm 51

(ESV)

. So it’s clear that Jonah is only interested in dealing with the fallout of his sin, but not his actual sin. Which is why he asks the sailors to throw him overboard instead of asking God to forgive him of his blatant disobedience. And we need to understand that our sin is first and foremost an offense against God. And if our sorrow and our grief doesn’t begin with God, then we have failed to understand our sin rightly.

The Ethical Dilemma

You see, remorse is not the same as repentance. Remorse is feeling bad about your sin. Repentance is turning to the Lord and turning from your sin. So the sailors have heard Jonah’s solution to the problem. But they actually feel really uncomfortable with that solution. Which brings us to verse 13, the ethical dilemma of pagans. Nevertheless, the men rode hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood. For you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you. So the sailors heard what Jonah was saying, and they understood the implications of Jonah’s solution. However, in their minds, this seemed rather extreme and excessive. To throw Jonah overboard? I mean, they’ve seen the raging sea.

And humanly speaking, they know that if they throw Jonah overboard, he’s done. It’ll kill him. And the sailors have consistently shown that they don’t want anyone on the ship to die. That’s why they’ve been hustling and working so hard together. So they’re not comfortable with Jonah’s response. Their thought process was, the death of Jonah can’t possibly be the only option. And so they think, perhaps if we just apply a little more human effort, maybe if we just worked a bit harder, maybe if we just dig in and try to make our way out of the storm, if we could somehow make it to the shore with enough hard work, then maybe God will see all of our effort and relent from his anger. And is this not the exact same response we hear today? Why would someone have to die to satisfy the wrath of God?

Surely there must be another way. Can’t we just rely on human effort and good works to satisfy the wrath of God? Can’t we just do enough good things to outweigh the bad things? But you see, our human efforts and our good works will never be enough to satisfy the wrath of God. Now, why don’t these sailors just throw him overboard? I mean, why do they feel bad? Why do they try to preserve this life? I mean, up to this point, Jonah has done nothing but bring them problems and grief. This whole situation that they’re in is Jonah’s fault. They’re hustling and they’re afraid for their lives. And Jonah is checked out in the bottom of the ship asleep. They’ve lost their cargo, which means they’ve lost any hope for money and future stability. Jonah didn’t seem to care. He’s not come clean to these men.

So from a human reasoning perspective, throwing Jonah overboard would have been completely justified, and perhaps for some of these sailors, very satisfying. But they don’t want to do it. Why? Well, the reason the sailors were uncomfortable with throwing Jonah overboard is because written on the hearts of all humans is God’s law. Even though they don’t quite fully understand it, their conscience testifies of God’s law, including the sanctity of life. I mean, the book of Romans tells us in chapter 2 that the law of God is written on the hearts of all men. So they know intrinsically and intuitively that human life is more valuable than the cargo that they’ve thrown overboard. That humans should not be simply disregarded or treated as something insignificant. That all humans are worthy of experiencing life and the chance for human flourishing. That’s why they don’t do it. I do find it interesting that these pagan sailors in roughly 700 B.C.

have a better understanding concerning the sanctity of life than our modern and sophisticated culture. I mean, we are supposedly the enlightened ones. Yet somehow, our culture has completely suppressed the truth of God and killed the conscience concerning the sanctity of life that God has written on the human heart to justify the abortion of millions of babies every year. And I find the hypocrisy of our culture so frustrating that our culture that seeks to expose injustice and the murder of innocent people can at the same time, because of their pursuit of radical individualism, justify this unquestionable injustice of aborting innocent babies in the womb. Listen, as Christians, we are justice people. Which means that if we see injustice, we are to be justice oriented and expose it for what it is. But the justice that we seek should be a comprehensive justice. All people, including those in the womb,

and Christians out of all people should be the most comprehensive justice seekers because we serve a God who cares so much for justice that he was willing to give his own life to satisfy the legal demands for justice. So the sailors know that killing someone unjustly is wrong. Their conscience testifies to it. And they don’t want to be held responsible for taking Jonah’s life. And what again is so interesting in this book of Jonah is the consistent juxtaposition between the pagan sailors and Jonah. Listen, Jonah does everything possible to kill his conscience. The pagan sailors, on the other hand, were responding to their conscience by not wanting to kill Jonah. Jonah couldn’t care less about the lives of the Assyrian people dying because of their judgment, because of God’s judgment on them. In fact, Jonah wanted them to die. But these pagan sailors, they try to find another way to keep Jonah from dying in the raging sea.

But as these sailors apply more human effort and strength to satisfy the storm and to find safety from the storm, the sea grows more and more aggressive. They quickly realize that they can’t do anything to save themselves. Their last-ditch effort did nothing in terms of progress. In fact, it seems as though their work has only made the situation worse. And so notice what they do when all else fails, when all their human efforts prove to be futile. They call out to the Lord. They call out to Yahweh, the God of heaven. It’s interesting how quickly the theology of these pagans has grown. You remember just a few weeks ago in chapter 4, the sailors were desperate and afraid, and each one called out to their polytheistic gods, lowercase g. And you remember their impotent gods failed them. Well, here now as they continue to fight for their lives, they call out to the one true God of creation,

the one they’ve just recently become acquainted with, the one who has demonstrated his mighty power to control the raging sea. Another interesting observation is that the very first time in the book of Jonah where we read about prayers being lifted to Yahweh, the one true God, they come from the mouth of pagans, not the prophet. Jonah should have been the one praying. Jonah should have been the one appealing on behalf of the people on the ship. He should have been the one repenting. But he consistently proved to be stiff-necked, and so therefore consistently outshined by the pagans. And what exactly is the content of the prayer of these pagan sailors? Essentially they say, Oh Lord, please don’t hold us accountable for this man’s death. You see, the sailors have finally come to the conclusion that there is no other way for them to survive than to throw Jonah into the sea.

And they don’t want their actions to come back to haunt them. You see, the fear is that once Jonah is thrown into the sea and God is satisfied, then God would later hold them responsible for Jonah’s murder. See, although the sailors have begun to understand certain things about God, they don’t quite understand the grace and mercy of God yet. Their framework for understanding what God is like is still a bit embedded in the context of their fickle and capricious fake gods. So they don’t understand the merciful and gracious God they’re dealing with. So they pray, Don’t let his blood be on us. They actually use the phrase innocent blood because these sailors are still not certain as to Jonah’s guilt. I mean, look at the character of these pagan sailors. They’re cautious about presuming guilt. They weren’t there to witness Jonah’s sin and offense against God.

And they don’t want to inadvertently, unjustly kill the Lord’s prophet. So they’re kind of saying to God, We’re only throwing him into the sea, Lord, because he’s your prophet. And that’s what he told us to do. We’re just hoping that’s what you want us to do. But if not, please don’t hold us responsible. Don’t hold us in contempt for our actions against your runaway prophet. And then these sailors say something so profound. They say, For you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you. Essentially, these men with their limited theology now completely understand the sovereignty of God in this whole affair. They have submitted themselves under the mighty hand of God and have even recognized that to some extent, these men are now instruments in the hands of God to deal with Jonah. The God of heaven, who is sovereign over all creation, does whatever he pleases.

The Sea’s Appeasement

These men, with no knowledge of God’s word, are essentially reciting Psalm 115, verse 3. Our God is in the heavens. He does all that he pleases. Their conscience was holding them back. But despite that, their desire to appease God’s wrath pushes them forward. So they throw him into the sea. And we see that in verse 15 with the sea’s appeasement. So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly. So in the same way the sailors threw the cargo overboard to lighten the load, here now the sailors throw Jonah overboard to lighten God’s wrath. You see, in one sense, the raging storm was an expression of God’s mercy towards Jonah. The Lord powerfully used the storm to stop Jonah in his tracks, to stop him from sinning against the Lord,

because God cared deeply for Jonah. The storm was God’s mercy. But in another sense, the raging storm was actually an expression of God’s anger at Jonah’s sin and rebellion. That’s why when the text says that God hurled the storm, meaning he aggressively threw the storm, like a hunter throws a spear at his prey, it was a very real righteous anger in God’s act of throwing this storm. Now that’s a tough reality for some people to swallow, that God could express righteous anger at the same time express mercy? That’s hard for us to reconcile because we don’t act that way. For us it’s either or. You either get what you deserve, or I’m going to extend you mercy. There’s no both and in this situation. But you see, God is perfect and perfectly balances anger towards sin and at the same time mercy for sinners. It’s easy for people to rock with a God who is full of mercy.

But the righteous anger part, the wrath of God part, that’s a quality most people don’t really want to think about. When they do think about it, they only think about it in negative terms, which is strange if you think about how most people in our culture prize justice. But listen, you can’t have justice without righteous anger. In fact, justice is God’s anger righteously satisfied, rightly satisfied. Because God is holy and righteous, he has to hate sin. Because he is perfect in his judgment of sin, he has to deal with sin perfectly. Because God is infinitely worthy, when we sin and rebel against him, there are infinite consequences that a perfect judge must render. God is perfect and when we sin against him, his righteous anger is aroused and there cannot not be justice. That’s what it means to be perfectly just and that’s what we want in a judge.

We want a judge to execute justice perfectly, not persuaded by his emotions or his perspective or his limited understanding. We want a judge to exercise perfect justice. You see, Jonah understood this. In fact, Jonah has perceived this whole situation not as God’s divine mercy, but only as God’s divine justice, his judgment and wrath, which is one of the reasons why he told the sailors to throw him overboard in the first place. He was attempting to escape the wrath of God, the justice of God. He couldn’t bear the weight of God’s wrath, so if he drowns in the depths of the seas, Jonah assumes he will not have to face God’s wrath for his disobedience. And so, as Jonah is thrown into the sea, the moment his body hits the water, the sea came to a complete calm, meaning that both the winds and the waves

instantaneously stopped. Now, think about the power of God in stopping waves instantly. Here again, you see his power. The one who instantly sends the storm has the power to instantly still the storm. Now, the question is, why does the raging storm instantly cease when Jonah hits the water? Was God’s righteous anger or wrath satisfied when Jonah hit the water? Did the Lord actually want Jonah to die at the hands of these sailors? No. First of all, Jonah being thrown into the sea and dying did nothing to satisfy God’s wrath because we know the story. And if not, spoiler alert, Jonah doesn’t die from being tossed into the sea. And even if Jonah did die a physical death, his death would not be sufficient enough to satisfy the wrath of God. His life is not worthy enough. And secondly, Jonah being thrown off the ship by the hands of these sailors,

it was his own doing. The Lord didn’t tell Jonah to tell the sailors to throw him off the ship into the sea. Jonah told him to do that because Jonah was trying to escape from God. So listen, you really want to know why God stilled the raging sea the moment Jonah’s body hit the water? For us. For us. To point us to mercy. Indeed, this story is not about us, but this story is for us. It’s not only a mirror to help us see ourselves, it’s also a compass that points us forward. And in this particular story, the Lord stills the sea to point us forward to the one who has the ultimate power to still the sea, to satisfy the wrath of God. You see, this is the beauty of God’s word. Though in many ways it’s a historical book that deals with real people and real events,

it’s also a living book that transcends history and moves us towards Jesus. In fact, as I’ve been preaching this over the last few weeks, my hope is that some of you would have heard in the story of Jonah some things that sound familiar because we’ve heard some of these same things as we preach through the book of Mark. In fact, turn with me in your Bibles really quick to Mark chapter 4, verse 35.

Mark chapter 4, verse 35. And as we read this, I want you to pay attention to some of the details and similarities in this gospel narrative. Starting at verse 35. On that day when evening had come, he said to them, let us go across to the other side. And leaving the crowd, they took with him. They took him with them in a boat just as he was. The other boats were with him and a great windstorm arose and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling. That means the boat was about to sink. But he, that is Jesus, was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him up and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? And he woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace be still.

And the wind ceased. That word ceased instantly. And there was a great calm. He said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?

So in Mark’s gospel, Jesus was in the boat asleep, but not because he was running from God in disobedience, but because of the exact opposite. He was sleeping because he was exhausted from faithfully preaching the word of God to all kinds of people, bringing the Lord’s word to bear on people. And Jesus, when he was sleeping, all of a sudden, a sudden and violent storm comes upon them. And it’s so severe that even the professional fishermen on the boat began to panic. They’re afraid for their lives and they do everything they could possibly do, humanly speaking, to survive this storm. And finally, they go and they wake Jesus up and they ask him, Jesus, how could you be sleeping during this life-threatening storm? Do you even care that we’re about to die? And so Jesus woke up and he spoke to the winds and waves

and immediately the storm ceased. And notice, after Jesus demonstrated his divine power over the elements of nature, the disciples were filled with great fear. That means they were exceedingly fearful. Do you see, brothers and sisters, when Jonah was thrown overboard, the God of heaven stilled the sea for one reason only, and that was to point us forward to Jesus, to give us a picture of what is to come, the one who would still the raging sea of sin, the God of heaven who came down from heaven, the one who powerfully spoke creation into existence and spoke creation into submission, the one who would sacrifice his perfect life, the only innocent one would throw himself into the raging sea of God’s wrath to appease God’s wrath for our sin so that we might receive mercy and be saved. You see, what these sailors only saw in part,

we on this side of the cross see in full. The sailors saw the effects of the Lord’s power in the storm, in the sending of it and in the stilling of it. And when they saw what the Lord was capable of doing, they feared the Lord. When the disciples were in the boat with Jesus, they saw the Lord powerfully still the raging storm and they feared the Lord. Do you see the difference there? It’s subtle, but it’s huge. The sailors saw the power of the Lord stilling the sea. The disciples saw the Lord powerfully stilling the sea. They saw Jesus, the Lord, the son of God, the God of heaven come down in human flesh, doing what only God can do by stilling the sea. And that is what caused for the disciples to have great fear. The stilling of the sea in Jonah is a picture of what would come with Jesus.

God’s Sovereignty in Salvation

Now, when the text says they feared the Lord exceedingly, that doesn’t mean that the sailors were simply scared of what God was capable of doing. That word fear is such a bigger and more complicated word. That word is actually translated worship, meaning they greatly worshiped the Lord, the God, the one true God of heaven. These sailors having witnessed the power of God and having been delivered from death have now had a conversion experience. These men have moved from pagan polytheists to worshipers of the one true God, Yahweh. And in the second half of verse 16, we see God’s sovereignty in saving sinners. And they offered sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. So despite Jonah’s indifference towards pagan Gentiles outside of Israel, and despite Jonah’s disobedience in bringing the word of the Lord to pagan people, God’s sovereign work of saving sinners cannot be interrupted.

It can’t be thwarted and it can’t be ran from. God’s sovereign purposes will always be fulfilled whether we are obedient or disobedient. And oftentimes he will use the most unorthodox means to turn unbelievers into believers, including their disobedience. In fact, sometimes when we fail to follow God’s commands, he will send storms and difficulties to discipline us, but also at the same time, bring about his redemption plan for other people. You might think of it this way. Oftentimes when we’re in the cross hairs of God’s discipline, he will use that to lead others to the cross. Which should help you realize something concerning the business of converting people. That it’s God’s business. The Lord is the one who opens up the human heart. He calls us to participate in this wonderful work of bringing the gospel to bear on an unbelieving work, but God does the supernatural work of converting people.

I mean, many of us fail to evangelize people in our world, in our city and in our communities, because we’re afraid that we’re gonna mess things up. We’re afraid that all of it is dependent upon us. We don’t know what to say. We don’t feel like we have the words to say. But brothers and sisters, look at Jonah. Even in his blatant disobedience and obstinance, the Lord saved these pagan sailors. And if God could use Jonah, the stiff-necked prophet, with his lack of words and with his lack of compassion and with his lack of obedience to save people, then God could surely use us as we seek to obey God’s great commission. Now, how do we know that these men had an actual conversion experience? Because they offered a sacrifice to the Lord. But more than that, they made vows, which means they made a commitment

to continue offering sacrifices to the Lord. Now, some would look at this whole situation and say, well, they only converted because they thought they were gonna die. I mean, that’s what happens with a foxhole conversion or a near-death experience. Well, first, I would say, if so, so what?

Who cares? Could God not use a near-death experience to draw people to himself? Does the fact that they were afraid for their lives, meaning their come-to-Jesus moment, was any less significant than ours? And I would probably challenge us on that. Many of us come to Jesus because we want to live. We want to live more abundant lives, but we want to live. We want to escape the death that our sin is looming over.

And secondly, the order of these events tell us a lot about the response of God. Tell us a lot about the response of these sailors. If you remember, the storm subsided when Jonah was thrown into the sea, and that’s significant because the threat of death had already passed. When the storm ceased, their fear of death ceased, but their fear of God increased. I mean, it would make sense to make a commitment to God while you’re in the midst of danger and death. Lord, if you would just deliver me from this dangerous situation, then I promise I’ll serve you forever. I promise I’ll start going back to church. I’ll give all my money to the poor. I mean, that’s what people do, but that’s not what happened here. The sailors had a conversion experience because they came face-to-face with the power of God who spoke creation into existence.

The God who was mighty to save them when all their lowercase g gods failed them, when all their human efforts were exhausted. Can I ask you this morning, have you trusted in fake gods to save you? Whatever those gods may be, money, success, education, health, fame, the government, Dr. Fauci,

all those things can be gods if you let them have the ultimate place in your heart. But listen, those are imaginary gods, completely powerless to save you from your sins. Have you trusted in human effort to save you? Have you tried to earn God’s acceptance through managing some sort of moral compass? Has your functional karma given you any guarantees that the wrath of God will be satisfied because of your sins? Has your good works given you any certainty that God will accept you? Listen, your human efforts will only prove to be futile. You need to come face-to-face with the power of God in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the one who is mighty to save, the one in whom this whole story points us to. The Bible is clear. The Bible says, there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved,

and that’s Jesus Christ. And my call to you this morning is to come to him just like these sailors, prayerfully, desperately, empty-handed, afraid, but full of worship, trusting not in your own efforts to save you, trusting not in your spiritual sensibilities to save you. They will only prove to be futile. Come trusting and believing in Jesus Christ to rescue you from your sin and the raging storm that is looming over you because of your sin. Listen, that storm is God’s righteous anger towards sin, and the only way to pacify God’s righteous anger is to trust in his son. The Lord Jesus poured out his anger and wrath on himself so that his anger could be satisfied so that we might receive mercy. If you trust in him, he will save you. He is a merciful God, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Let’s pray.

Our Father and our God, we are thankful that your word is not just a book of history, a book of stories, a book of facts, but that it’s a living and breathing word, that it’s your very word and its purpose is to point us to Jesus, that we might be in awe of our radical Savior, the one who laid his life down for us, who bore the wrath of God, that we might become children of God. And Father, I do pray for those this morning who do not know you, who have heard of your power, who have heard of your mercy, who have heard of your willingness to save

runaway prophets and irreligious pagan sailors. God, you are in the business of saving all kinds of people. And I pray that they would see that you are good, that they would come to trust you and believe upon Jesus. Let today be the day of salvation for them. And I pray, oh Lord and God, that we would see ourselves in this book, that we would choose to not run from you, but to run into your merciful hands. I pray, oh Lord and God, that we would see

how bad our sin really is and that we would seek to come to you with our sin, that we would seek repentance, that we wouldn’t just pretend like our sin is no big deal or we wouldn’t feel bad about the way our sin impacts other people only, but that first and foremost, we would see how our sin impacts you and how it is an offense against a holy and righteous God. And I pray, oh Lord and God, that we would find forgiveness of sin and rest in your forgiveness. We pray this in Christ’s name. Amen.

Amen.