JONAH 1:14
PRAYING PETITIONERS PURCHASE PARDON
I. PETITIONERS:
A. Peril.
B. Plight.
C. Precedent.
II. PRAYER:
A. Progressive.
B. Pardon.
C. Perceptive.
III. PRONOUNCEMENTS:
A. Praise.
B. Prophesy.
C. Pattern.
What were the sailors to do now? They had heard the confession of the renegade prophet and they refused to entertain his plea for their safety. Now, after they had tried their best to make it to shore and found that their efforts were in vain, they had no other recourse except to turn to the God of Jonah.
It is interesting to note that after they had prayed to their gods and then cast lots for possible answers, nothing worked and the ship continued to sustain heavy battering from the storm. Besides these events, the situation was deteriorating quickly and they were afraid of the loss of all on board. Somewhere and at some point in their trying to run for safety, they realized that they were losing the battle and they turned to the only One who could help them at this time. I have to commend these sailors because they-unlike many other people-recognized their need for God. Many are blindsided and are sinking fast in their own storms of sin and never turn to God. For what ever the reasons are, and they appear to be many reasons, some just do not turn to God when they know they are sinking fast without hope and no way out of their situation unless they turn to God-not these sailors. Once it became clear to them that they were fighting a losing battle, they cast aside all of their pretensions and ideologies and prayed desperately to God. As a result of their prayers, God heard them, saved their souls and saved their lives. Above the raging storms of the world, God heard their cries for mercies and He came to their rescue. May this be a lesson for all of us: regardless of how bad the situations are which envelope us, God can still hear the cry for His help from Heaven above and He can and will come to the aid of those who call upon Him.
I see three things in this passage before us. The first one I see is the PETITIONERS as they cried out to God for help. The second thing I see is the PRAYER they prayed and how God answered their cries for His mercies. The last thing I note is the PRONOUNCEMENTS these sailors made after they made contact with God.
I. PETITIONERS: As I have stated in my other sermons, I have to admire these sailors. They seemed to be sincere men who truly believed in their gods and prayed accordingly. However, after being told about Jehovah, they became aware of the true God and while they hesitated at first to call on Him, they now turned to Him with their whole hearts. I feel that many people could take a lesson from these men as they ran the gamut of their faith only to find that their gods were powerless to help. When this dawned upon them, they then turned to God and became followers of Him.
The first thing I note about these seekers was that they were in Peril, real peril. They were faced with their demise when they turned, at last, to God. Why is it that so many people wait until life hangs by a thread before they turn to God-if they do at all? These sailors had tried everything and lost, they were going to drown and they knew that unless the God of Jonah intervened for them-they were doomed. It was in the darkest hour of their lives when from way down deep in the bosom of each man, they called out to God for help. Way above the earth, way past the celestial stars, far above the roar of the angry Sea, God heard the desperate cry of people seeking Him. This is important. This reveals that God was not just the God of the Hebrews as Jonah wanted to claim, but He became the God of the Gentiles also. These men were not raised in the Jewish religion, but when they called out to God-He answered their cry. This had to be revealing to Jonah. Standing there on deck, he saw that God could be the God that would save Nineveh as well as any other nation, race or people. All He needed was to be asked into one’s heart.
Not only were they in grave Peril, but they were actively seeking God, and their Plight, touched God’s heart. The Bible tells us over and over that the God of wrath is also a God of love. Not only did He arrange the situation in which these men now found themselves, but He was also disposed to help them in their present Plight of utter helplessness. The old saying is still true, “Man proposes, but God disposes.” Looking on from the celestial city of yonder Heaven, God saw the distress of these men who were involved in a lesson aimed at Jonah and when they cried out for help-He answered their petition.
Besides all else which I have said about these PETITIONERS, I think I can safely say that they set a Precedent for what was to follow-Gentiles seeking God. This is one of the very first Scriptures we have in the Old Testament, which shows a group of Gentiles seeking after the God of the Hebrews and finding Him. This was what Israel was called to do-to tell the world about God, but it fell so short of its mission. Here, on an angry Sea, where lives were in danger, where there was no one to help but God, these men set the tone for all Gentiles to come-call on the God of all gods for one’s salvation. This truth still was not openly embraced until Pentecost and beyond. In fact, it took a divine intervention by this same God who answered these mariners’ prayers, to reach Paul and send him out to the Gentiles with this same message-God is for all and Salvation is only through the shed blood of Jesus. Those sailors that day became the first of many Gentiles to be swept into the Kingdom of God by turning their hearts to Him. Jonah should have done a “holy-dance” but he did not have time because events were moving fast and the Prayer of these men needs to be studied closer.
II. PRAYER: I first looked at the praying sailors, now I study the petition which these sailors were praying. To say that they were praying for help and protection is an under statement. These seasoned men were praying with every ounce of their souls as they realized that they were not getting anywhere closer to safety.
The first part of this PRAYER they were praying was what I call a Progressive type of a petition. Previously, they were praying to their gods for safety in this terrible storm, now they rejected their former gods and were praying again, but to the God of all gods. These men were used to praying. I wish that all men were used to offering up prayers. It is such a shame that so many people are too proud to pray-not these men. They made public their prayers to their gods and they saw that these prayers were not answered. Then, when they found out the whole truth about Jonah and their perilous situation, they went to prayer again, and they were not ashamed to pray this time-openly-to the only God that could help them. Their humbleness of heart made them adapt quickly to their surroundings and they continued their praying, only this time to One who could truly help and save them. We seem to be in a time when prayers are to be said at certain times and under certain situations, not these men-they prayed when the need was present and they continued in their progressive pleadings until God helped them.
The next thing I note about these sailors’ PRAYER is that they now were praying for Pardon. They realized that the only way that they were ever going to find peace on the sea was to have peace in their hearts. I commend these sea worthy men for coming to this conclusion. Far too many people overlook the fact that God hears a sinner’s cry for pardon before He hears other prayers. Too many people are praying like the heathen: rote praying. Some think that praying is a safety valve and they can be effective praying people with any change of a circumstance. Listen to the many who claim so religiously that their prayers were made for this or that entity but nowhere do we hear the many saying I prayed for Pardon.
These sailors had said all the prayers they knew what to pray and still the danger lingered and grew worse. Realizing that they were in the presence of the Divine God, they prayed for forgiveness and their prayers were heard and answered. I believe that many of our church people need to pray first for God’s forgiveness then pray for other things. Maybe this is one of the reasons our churches are cold and ineffective against the power of Satan-because the masses of church going people have yet to pray for true forgiveness. These sailors learned quickly that the only way to get help from God for their situation was to first get rid of their sins and pray for His Pardon; and it worked.
The last part of this prayer of these seamen was something very profound and truly Perceptive on their part: they prayed for forgiveness for themselves and not for someone else. They begged God that He would not lay Jonah’s sin at their door, but to judge Jonah accordingly to what he did. This is very insightful on these new converts’ part. They realized instinctively that each one was to be in charge of one’s own soul and that forgiveness of sins had to be on a personal basis for each individual. There are those who cling to the fact that they were baptized into a certain church; or, their parents were good people and attended church; or, even some believe that since they are good people that somehow God will overlook their faults and grant them a place in Heaven. These sailors knew differently. Each person had to meet God on His terms for His forgiveness. We need this type of knowledge disseminated today throughout our Churches. It does not matter who one is-every person must make his/her own peace with God on an individual basis before one gets into Heaven. Why do not more church going people recognize this truth when these sailors recognized it instantly? We are responsible for our final destiny-the choice is up to each person. Each one of us must face God someday for our own life lived here below. Each of us must ask for His forgiveness if we are going to make it to heaven.
III. PRONOUNCEMENTS: This last part of my sermon deals with the words spoken by these grateful sailors as they made their peace with God.
The first thing I note is that these common sailors who boarded the ship sailing to Tarsus as pagans, were now believers in the God of the Hebrews being their God. They now wanted to show their love for Him and their acceptance of Him in their hearts by offering Praise to Him for their new found faith by saying that God did what pleased Him.
This, my friends, is noteworthy. They were in the midst of the fight of their lives and they did not know if they were going to survive or not. However, once they called upon God for His pardon and they were assured of it, they simply-with great resignation-blessed God for who He was and for what He was doing. I note they did not revile God for the storm they were battling. They did not berate Him for the fear which had to griped their hearts. Instead, they simply acknowledged that He was the supreme Deity, and He was free to do as He chooses. What a statement! Far too many people curse God for what He does or does not do. Far too many people do not ascribe to Him His will to do as He wants to do. Far too many people, including good Christians, want to put God in a box and limit His power-not these men. They witnessed first hand His awesomeness and they ascribed to Him His sovereign will. We need to remember, that God will do as He wishes and it is up to us to accept this fact and give Him credit for who He really is-God.
Along with their praise of His power, there is also the hint of a Prophecy in declaration. Jonah certainly did not ascribe this quality to God at first. He thought he could run, regardless of what God said for him to do. He was caught on the high sea with no place to run and as he stood there, he heard these new converts to God declare that God was doing/will do as he sees fit and no one can change the Devine mind. I wonder what Jonah felt when he heard these sailors declare the awesome, mighty power of God and what was God going to do to him?
We need to adjust our concept of this same God in today’s world. We have everything under our control-so we tend to think. Yet, we often overlook the fact that God will be God whether we want to acknowledge this or not. We need to realize that this God will accomplish His mission in our lives and in this world wheatear we allow Him that latitude or not. These sailors, in their utterance of God’s power, realized His sovereign will and uttered a dictum that He was still in control and He would do as he saw fit.
The last part of my final topic of their sayings about God concern the Peace of their hearts when they finally gave all to God and realized that He was in control. Mankind, yes even Jonah, needs and needed to see this fact. God calls us to serve Him. He calls us to surrender to Him and leave all the rest to Him. So often we fight God by wanting this or that and chaff at His will for us. These sailors did not feel that way. Once they made their peace with God and declared His supremacy over all, they were at peace. Jonah did not get this peace then or maybe never; he was forced against his will to yield to God and he constantly strove to get his own way. As a result, he was not at peace within himself. We need to accept the fact that God will do as He sees fit for our lives and we need to submit to His will and then-only then-will we gain peace of heart, mind soul and body.
These sailors began their second round of prayer because they were in real danger. The did pray for protection but soon began to pray for forgiveness. Once they were assured of God’s forgiveness, they praised Him for who He was and gained peace in their hearts because they yielded all to Him. We must do as they do-yield all to Him so we can have that peace that passes all understanding.
