Sermon Central
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Who Cares? God Cares! Series
Contributed by John Bright on Jun 22, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: A four-part series on Jonah. A good reminder that you can run… but you can’t hide from God! Teaching sheet at the end of the text.
“Who Cares? God Cares!”
Pastor John Bright
Jonah 4 “1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. 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. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
4 Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5 So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. 6 And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. 7 But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. 8 And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
9 Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”
10 But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”
There are many different gospels out in the world today.
One says that if you let God fill the hole in your heart – all your problems will suddenly and completely disappear.
Another gospel says bad things only happen after you are sinning against God – He is simply removing the prosperity and blessing promised to you as a punishment.
Neither of these sound like what we read in our Bibles. Jonah chapter 4 is very clear in this area.
The Cullinan Diamond is the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found, weighing 3,106.75 carats, discovered in 1905. It was named after Thomas Cullinan, the mine's chairman. In 1907, it was presented to Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom, who had it cut by the Asscher Brothers. in Amsterdam. On February 10, 1908, the rough stone was split in half by Joseph Asscher. This happened only after months of planning that marked a place on the stone for an incision that was a half inch deep. This enabled Joseph to cleave the stone with one blow. Making the incision took four days and their first attempt broke a steel knife. The whole process took eight months, with three people working 14-hour days.
The end results:
• the Great Star of Africa, weighing in at 530.4 carats, it is the largest clear-cut diamond in the world
• the Second Star of Africa, weighing 317.4 carats
• seven other diamonds that totaled 208 carats
• With a final total of the stones above equaling 1,055 carats – that means they lost 2000 carats
God sees each of you as a precious jewel. In Ephesians 1, Paul prays for the church – “17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power…”
Right in the middle of that, we are described as “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” WOW! We must be really precious!
Maybe you don’t feel that way. I’m not surprised. Some of us still need to be cut and polished to truly shine the Light of Christ. Some of us, like that Cullinan diamond, may have to lose a lot in the process. You see – the True Gospel calls you to die to self in Matthew 16” 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
