20130106
God of Compassion
MC’s Introduction
We do not have as many people as last week because many are still working today. I am so grateful that I am off from work today. And it is also my great honor to serve today because it is the first Sunday of the New Year.
This winter is, I think, the coldest winter since I have been in Beijing. Many people do not like the weather in Beijing, but I do. Because I am from a southern city of China, I think Beijing has very clear four seasons, and winter is so cold. And sometimes, it looks not vivid, and everything looks dead. It is very gray, and the air condition is not that ideal.
But I think, it is like our life that sometimes we feel that we are in trials, in sorrow or fear. We feel that we are buried in snow, in a very cold place that we cannot grow. But spring will come. And every time in spring, when you notice the first green, you know that life has come back. God will give us life, too, and we will raise our heads.
So I hope that this will encourage everyone that in the New Year, let’s have a new plan, and let’s walk with God, and put everything that we desire and wish into God’s hands, and God will take care of us. And let’s follow God’s instructions.
Also, I was very touched last week when I heard a song, the lyrics of which were quoted by Queen Elizabeth, that I want to share with you.
It is from the song In the Bleak Midwinter. I guess many of you know this.
“What can I give him? Poor as I am.
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb.
If I were a wise man, I would do my part.
Yet, what can I give him? Give my heart.”
So, in the New Year, let’s give our hearts to God, and God will give us miracles. Let’s bow down our heads and pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this Sunday that you bring us back to the church, and we give you our prayers, our desires, our wishes and our New Year’s plans (into your hands). Father, let us cherish the time, the day you give us and we would cherish every moment and make it count. Father, please clear our hearts, and let us always be drawn near to you so that we can be your friends, and know how much you love us. Also, I pray for those who are still in fear, in trials and in life difficulties. Father, let us know that you are God of compassion, you are God of love, and you will set us free in the New Year, Father, let us have a brand new start, and let us count your blessings, and depend on your grace everyday. Today, I also pray for Stephen, who will give us a sermon later. I pray that what he preaches today will fill our spirit, and give us joy. Thank you Lord. I also pray for those who cannot attend church today. May your Holy Spirit be with them and bless them. Thank you Lord for listening to our prayers. And we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now, let’s join the worship team to give thanks to God.
Thanks for the worship team for the beautiful songs. And now let’s turn our Bible to the book of Jonah. Today’s Scriptures are chapter one of Jonah, verses 1-9:
1. The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:
2 ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’
3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.
5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
6 The captain went to him and said, ‘How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.’
7 Then the sailors said to each other, ‘Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.’ They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
8 So they asked him, ‘Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?’
9 He answered, ‘I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.’
This week’s sermon is ‘God of Compassion’ delivered by Stephen. Welcome Stephen.
Stephen’s talk
Good morning. Let us begin with a prayer.
God, our Father, you are the maker of heaven and earth, and you are exalted above the heavens. And you are the God of the church, you are the God of the redeemed. You are the God who sent your son our Lord Jesus Christ to lay down His life on the cross to win us back to yourself. You are the God of this church. You are the God of the church of the country of China. You gave birth to the church in China and you have given your church LIFE in China. You have protected your church in China. You have prospered your church in China. You are the God of gods, the Lord of Lords and the king of kings. And you are our personal friend. And Father, we pray that you will glorify yourself in your church and through your church in this land of China. We want you to be our King. We want you to be filled with great pleasure and joy as you behold our country China. We want you to smile. We want you to have the fullness of joy in this land of China. So Lord, bless your church here; bless your people here. And fill this land with your glory; fill this land with the knowledge of yourself. Father, as we study your Word today, speak to us, teach us, correct us, train us, transform us, so that you will be glorified forevermore. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!
Ok, so today we are studying our series in the book of Jonah. And it starts with a shipwreck, a very difficult circumstance. Some will say it is impossible. A friend of mine told me about the series – Mission Impossible, right? Lots of very difficult circumstances, but with all their gadgets, and their expertise, they seek to overcome impossible situations.
So easy for them, those actors. But when we face impossible missions, it does not seem that easy. Perhaps you are facing an impossible situation, your academics, how am I going to finish my thesis? Perhaps financial, how can I pay all my debts? How can I find the right spouse? How can I find the right career? So many very impossible situations when we are facing them. As you get to my age, there would be illness, and how am I ever going to get over that illness. Am I ever going to get well? Many many impossible missions, it seems.
Introduction to the book of Jonah
Well, today we have Jonah being caught in an impossible mission. I will divide our time together in three divisions. Our first division “People”; the second division “Places”; And the third division “Principles”. “People, Places and Principles”. The ‘who’, ‘where’ and ‘what’ of the book of Jonah.
The first division “People”
Let’s start with Jonah. We read in the first verse. It is said here:
“The word of Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai”.
So we find out that his name is Jonah. What is the meaning of Jonah? His name means “dove”. Like the Holy Spirit who brings the word of peace to us. Jonah is God’s man to bring the word of peace to the people of Nineveh. He is the son of Amittai. Amittai means “true one”, “trustworthy one”. That is a good name, isn’t it? It describes our God very aptly, doesn’t it? What we know about Jonah? Well, we find out that he is a Galilean. His hometown Gath Hepher, is just outside of Nazareth. Isn’t that interesting? There are also some good things coming out of Galilee, right? Some very good people.
Now we know that Jonah is a very zealous man. He was very zealous of Israel’s relationship with God.
“We are God’s people. And we have a special relationship with God.”
And he is very zealous about that. We need more people like him in that regard, to be zealous and jealous about our relationship with God, because we value our relationship with God so preciously.
Historic background of Jonah
Jonah served and lived through the reign of Jeroboam II. This is approximately between 793 and 753 BC (8th century before Christ). As you can see (on the screen), this is where Jonah fits in all the other prophets, the Major prophets and the Minor prophets between that time period of 8th century before Christ.
Now, Jeroboam II is probably the most famous, and most successful king of the Northern Kingdom. Israel at this time was divided in to Judah in the south, and Israel in the north. And this king, Jeroboam II, according to the prophecy that Jonah had pronounced, expanded Israel to its former glory. So this is a time of prosperity, this is a time of great pleasure. The people were very proud, and the people were very patriotic,
“Life is good! All is well!”
Not so. Unfortunately, prosperity and pleasure have a tendency to deafen our desire for God and spiritual things. And so, unfortunately, the land, yes, politically prosperous; but spiritually bankrupt. The people were stubborn, and the people were in sins.
Amos and Hosea, contemporaries of Jonah, were propheszing:
“If you continue in your indifference, if you continue in your sins, if you continue in your immorality and idolatry, our dear country is going to suffer a very, very bleak future. Our country is going to be captured; our people are going to be put in exile. And we are going to be conquered by those Assyrians.”
Who is the main character?
So that is a little bit about Jonah and a little bit about his time. Now, even though the book bears his name, he is not the main character. You are not surprised, the main character is God. The book starts with “The word of the Lord came to Jonah…”, and the book ends with God asking a question “Should I not be concerned”. So the book begins and ends with God. The book has over 40 references to “God” and “the Lord” explicitly. So if you take God out of the picture, out of the book, you have nothing. Similar to our lives, isn’t it? If you take God out of the equation, there is nothing left. So God is the main character in this text.
God reveals Himself in a few ways, so we are going to take a look at some of the Scriptures from chapters one to four. That shows us a little bit about who He is. God reveals Himself in verse nine as “the God of heaven”. He says,
“I am exalted. I am above all things. And I am Holy. I am apart, separate, and pure.” He says, “I am the maker of the Sea and the Land. Everything that you see, I made it, I own it and they are for my use. He says, “I am the sovereign God and I do as I please. My pleasure is my will and it will be done.” He also says, “Yes, I am sovereign. Yes, I do what I please. And I am also a personal God.” He is the personal God of Jonah and He is our personal God. He says, “I am the Lord of salvation and the source of salvation. I am the only one who can save. I am a God of grace and compassion. I am slow to anger and abounding in love, and a God who relents from sending calamity.”
We can see that He is the main actor. He is the principal person in the text, as well as in our lives. I believe you have experienced many of these characteristics and attributes (of God) in your lives and you say,
“Thank you God. You have revealed yourself like that to each one of us at different stages of our lives.”
Principle for the first division
So He is the main actor. The principle for this session is that
“The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
We have faced many impossible situations, adversities, as well as adversaries. The beautiful thing about it is that we do not face them alone. We have a God Immanuel who says “I am with you and I live in you”. He says,
“Not only do I live in you but I am greater than your circumstances.”
I know our circumstances tend to overwhelm us. I know sometimes we feel it is over our head. Too difficult, too impossible, too dark, too hard, too long…. Help! Help! Help! But God says,
“I am greater than your circumstances. In fact, I am sovereign.”
Question for the first division
So my question for you is this:
“Do you believe that God is sovereign? Will you believe God is always in control even in the worst of times?”
We sang about it, didn’t we?
“In the valleys or on high, knowing you is the most important thing in the whole world.”
Isn’t it? It has to be true for you. You may wonder, well I am a Christian, why does not it seem to get easier, but it is multiplying? The degree of difficulty, the multiplicity of difficulties, or the magnitude of the difficulties…. They seem to come like a tide of wave. Why?
Faith! Faith! I have found in my long life on earth that it never seems to get easier, because God desires us to exercise our faith. But you know the wonderful thing about it, yes, it does not get easier, but the joys get deeper. It does not always get easier, but the joys get very much deeper! As you journey with God, and He reveals Himself to you personally in your trials, in your impossible situations, your joy will get deeper, like a fountain welling up inside of you, inextinguishable flame and inexhaustible joy that this world cannot take away, that no suffering or impossible situation can remove the joy of knowing Jesus, the joy of being held by Jesus., the joy of being sustained by Jesus, the joy of knowing Jesus (Philippians 3:10). So it does not get easier all the time. But the joys are definitely there.