PASTOR JOHN COWLES
BRIDGE CHURCH
RELENTLESS MERCY
Jonah – Week 3
Jonah 1:17-2:10
Jonah 1:17 ESV - 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.
Matthew 12:40 ESV – 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.
Jonah 2:1-10 ESV - 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. 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.’ 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. When my life was fainting away, 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. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” 10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
Mercy happens when we:
Jonah 2:1-2a ESV - 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. 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.
Mercy happens when we:
Are you willing to RECONSIDER that God’s way is the best?
True repentance involves realizing my own weakness so that I can rely on God’s strength. Admitting that we are flawed and be willing to surrender and submit to the One that is perfect. Willing to follow God’s will instead of my own.
Luke 15:20 ESV – And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
You cannot experience the reward of desperation until the cry of desperation creates a place of total surrender and return to the presence of the Lord and His will.
Mercy happens when we:
OWN OUR
Jonah 2:8-10 ESV – 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! And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
Mark 1:15 ESV – The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.
Jonah 2:9 ESV – Salvation belongs to the Lord!
• Are you ready to do what the Lord tells you to do so that His Mercy/grace/presence are evident in your life?
• Are you willing to surrender, repent and return to the Lord?
• Are you ready to praise him and worship him with your whole life?
• Are you ready and willing to do these things because He wants to save you from drowning in your own sin and stubbornness.