God Is Sovereign Over Salvation | Jonah 2

Good morning, Watermark. How are we doing today? Good to see you. If this is your first time ever with us, welcome to Watermark. I'm so glad you're trusting us with your Sunday morning. My name is Timothy Ateek. I'm one of the pastors here. We're about to jump into the Word of God. We firmly believe that God is here, that he wants to meet with us and speak to us through his Word.

I want to invite you really quickly to take a second and pray for yourself. Just say, "God, would you speak to me this morning?" Then pray for the people next to you. Pray for the other people in the room that God would speak to them. Then would you pray for me and ask God to use me in this place today?

Lord, we love you, and we give this time to you. We pray that our ears would be open and our hearts would be receptive to all you want to say to us. We love you. In Jesus' name, amen.

A while back, my brother shared with me an exercise that would be enjoyable to do at the dinner table, so I figured I'd try it, and I turned out to love it. Here's the exercise. I would choose any of my three boys. I would take turns with them. I'd pick one of them, and I would say, "So, imagine you're walking down the street and there's this massive wreck, and you walk up on someone who is about to die." I know this already sounds scarring, but stick with me on this.

"You walk up. Someone is about to die, and this person looks at you and is like, 'I've got 30 seconds before I die. Can you tell me how I can know that I'm going to go to heaven when I die?'" It has been interesting to hear my kids' responses, especially early on. One of them was like, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." By the time he got to "And Jesus was born of a virgin Mary," I took my last breath and died at the table.

I'd encourage you to try that with your family. Try it with your friends or roommates. When you go to lunch, you should just try it out and see what happens. The reason I do that with my kids is I want my kids to know from a young age that our God is in the business of salvation. That's what he does. Every day, God is bringing people to a crossroads of faith, and God wants to use us in his work of salvation.

He is consistently desiring to use us and invite us into what he is doing in the lives of unbelievers in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces, in our gyms, and honestly, all over the world. So, I want my kids to be equipped and prepared to articulate the gospel clearly when the opportunity arises. What I want for my kids is what I want for this church. If this is your church home, we are in a series we are calling A Missional Church. That's what we want to be.

We want to be a people that is committed to leveraging our lives for the sake of the gospel, going into the lives of unbelievers in our city, as well as to those in the world who have never heard the name of Jesus. We believe our God is a God of salvation and he intends to use us in accomplishing his work of salvation in the lives of those who have yet to trust Jesus. So, my hope for the people of this church is that we would be prepared to communicate the gospel clearly when the opportunity arises.

We're in a series where we are walking through the book of Jonah. Today, we're going to land in Jonah, chapter 2. All this chapter is going to show us is that our God is a God of salvation, and because our God is a God of salvation, we want to talk about how we can be equipped to be used by him as he does his work of salvation. If you have a Bible, join me today in Jonah, chapter 2. We're actually going to start reading in the last verse of chapter 1. We're going to read verse 17, and then I'm going to read to you all of chapter 2. Here's what it says.

"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. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 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.

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 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. 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!' And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land."

So, there we go. We got the fish. The fish is the main character of the story. Right? Nope. But that's what we think about when we think about Jonah. We just think about that fish. So, congratulations. We have seen the 3 verses out of 48 total in the book where the fish shows up. The fish isn't the main character of this chapter; God is.

What God has been showing all throughout chapter 1 is that he is sovereign over all creation. God is the one who caused the storm. God is the one who caused the storm to intensify. Now God is the one who caused a fish to swallow Jonah. What God has been demonstrating is that he is sovereign over all creation, and now, in chapter 2, God is going to demonstrate that he is also sovereign over salvation.

As we walk back through chapter 2, we are going to see who God chooses to save. We're going to be able to identify that there are actually four different types of people God saves. This isn't an exhaustive list, but it is what we find in the text. We're going to see that, first, God saves prideful people; second, God saves hopeless people; third, God saves idolatrous people; and fourth, God saves religious people.

The reason we're unpacking this today is I don't necessarily intend to teach you something new. What I do intend to do is to remind you of what God is doing and, honestly, ask you to wake up to the reality that our God is a God of salvation so that we might be a people who leave here with a greater sense of urgency that God is at work and he wants to use us. So, let's jump in.

I'm just going to warn you from now. As we go through each of these four, there might come a moment where I ask you to stand if you were one of those types of people God has saved. I told you from now so you can be preparing your heart with it. Don't create an awkward moment when I ask people to stand and no one stands. That'll be on you. If it gets awkward, I blame you. All right? Here we go.

1. God saves prideful people_. Where do I get that from the text? Look at verses 1 and 2. "Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God…" Do you realize this is the first time in the book that we see Jonah pray? Pagans have prayed before Jonah has prayed. "…from the belly of the fish, 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.'"

The wording "I called out to the Lord" is very important because it pairs with wording from chapter 1. I don't know if you remember. We talked about it last week. In chapter 1, the pagan captain of the ship actually goes to Jonah and challenges him to call out to the Lord, but Jonah doesn't. Jonah had an opportunity to call out to the Lord when he was on the ship. Instead, Jonah waited until he was at the bottom of the sea to call out to the Lord.

It shows us something very interesting. I want you to think about this. We didn't highlight it last week, but it is very interesting to think about. The pagan captain encouraged Jonah to call out to the Lord, and instead, Jonah said the solution to the storm was for them to throw him into the water. Jonah didn't know God was going to rescue him. That means Jonah assumed he was about to die. Jonah would have rather died than call out to the Lord.

Does that sound like anyone you know? Is there anyone in your life who would rather die than call out to the Lord? I know, for us, Kat has someone in her family whom we have prayed for for decades. I've talked about her onstage before. She's an agnostic at best. She is combative toward Christianity. We've shared the gospel with her multiple times, and she has literally told us, "I will never believe what you believe." What is she saying? She's saying, "I would rather die than call out to your God."

I have a close friend I've been praying for for decades. He's the person I was praying for by name leading up to Easter. His issue is that he is so successful, so likable, so self-sufficient, so self-confident, and so prideful that he will play the religion game. He has even figured out how to use church to better his work, yet he refuses to turn to Jesus. In both situations, what's at the root of it? It's pride. They don't believe they need God.

Who is that for you? Is there someone in your life like that? It's the prideful people in our lives we have a tendency to grow weary in prayer over. If we're going to lose hope for anyone, it's these people. We might find ourselves, after years of praying, thinking, "This person will never trust in Christ." I was convicted even preparing for this talk that the person in Kat's family we've prayed for for years…

For the 17-1/2 years we've been married we have been praying for her, yet there was a time where I was praying for her almost daily, and now I'm in a place… I realized I'm only praying for her occasionally. Do you want to know why? Because I believed her. When she said, "I will never believe in your God," I believed her instead of believing that our God is in the business of salvation.

Time after time after time, he has shown that he saves prideful people. Even as I was preparing, I was reminded of a mentor's words. He said, "The bigger the tree the harder the fall." His point is the more prideful people are, the greater the humbling of the Lord in their lives, and it is significant. I think about Jonah. God brings Jonah to a breaking point. Jonah thinks it would be better to die than to respond to God, so God is like, "Okay. Let me let you taste death."

So, Jonah begins to get a taste of sheol. Sheol was most likely a reference to the place wicked people would go to to await final judgment. Jonah says, "I'm in the belly of sheol." So, God allows him to begin to taste death, and as Jonah begins to taste death, when he knows it is imminent, he realizes life with God is far better than eternal life separated from God in hell, and he calls out to God. Why? Because God is in the business of saving prideful people.

Let me just ask. Was that your story, that for years you resisted God? You didn't need God. You thought you would never call upon God, yet God has humbled you and reached into your life and called you to himself. If that's you, would you stand up so we can celebrate God's work of salvation in your life? Yeah. Look around. This is what God does. This is who our God is. Our God is in the business of salvation. Thank you so much for standing up. God saves prideful people, but where there is pride humility is needed.

So, how should we pray for prideful people, those who would rather die than call on the Lord? Well, I have found myself praying for my family and friends, the two people I mentioned, specifically… Here's what I've prayed for them. I've prayed that God would do whatever he needs to do in their lives to break them down and strip them of their pride so they would turn to him, because I'd much rather them experience a temporary crisis now than an eternal crisis in hell. So, pray for God's salvation of prideful people.

2. God saves hopeless people. We mentioned that Jonah pictures himself in the belly of sheol. Jonah believes it's too late, he waited too long, he ran too far, and most likely God will not be able to reach him now. He goes on in verse 3, and listen to what he says. "For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me…" He's describing drowning. "…all your waves and your billows passed over me." Picture it. "Then I said, 'I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.'"

Just grasp what Jonah is saying. He's saying, "Look. I ran too far. I waited too long. I have moved myself to a place, God, where you can't even see me anymore. I'm too far away." Yet he's in this moment of desperation, so he's saying, "But even though you probably can't see me and can't reach me, I'm still going to reach out to you. I'm still going to look toward you, your temple, the presence of God, and I'm going to beg you to intervene."

He goes on. Verse 5: "The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head…" Do you see the wording? It paints this picture of enclosure. It's like the sea is preparing his body for burial. The weeds of the bottom are wrapping him like burial cloth.

This is fascinating. Verse 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."

Do you remember how we pointed out last week that there is this imagery of descent? The text is very specific. He went down to Joppa. He went down into the boat to board the boat. He went down into the inner part of the boat to go to sleep. Now what we see Jonah do is hit rock bottom. He reaches the bottom. The descent is over.

He finds himself, it says, at the roots of the mountains. In Hebrew belief there were two mountains that supported the earth. Contrast that with Old Testament imagery that God's temple is set on a mountain. So, do you see it? God dwells on the top of a mountain, and Jonah finds himself at the bottom of the mountain that holds the earth up.

Jonah's point is "I have descended to a place where I cannot get any farther from God. I've never been farther from God in my life. There is no hope." He's hopeless. "Yet you…" Did you see those two words in the middle of verse 6? "…yet you brought up my life from the pit…" That's like Ephesians, chapter 2. Do you remember those two amazing words in Ephesians, chapter 2?

The chapter starts out, "We were dead in our trespasses and sins in which we once walked." Then you get to "But God, being rich in mercy…" This is how good our God is. He is in the business of salvation. Our God is a God who is able to reach into the lives of those who believe they ran too far and waited too long. God is able to save people who believe they have out-sinned the extent of God's love.

Those who believe they have moved themselves to a place where they are unlovable to God find themselves engulfed in God's goodness. That's what God does. He saves those who are hopeless, those who have been running from him for months and years and decades. If you don't believe me, just look at God's track record with those who are on staff here at Watermark and those who are members at Watermark.

God is in the business of saving those who have taken a life, those who are registered sex offenders, those who have been to prison, those who have been alcoholics or drug addicts, those who have been in the adult entertainment industry, those who have cheated on their spouse, those who have lived a gay lifestyle, those who have been drowning in pornography, those who have had an abortion, those who have stolen from others, those who have lived a lie, and on and on and on. This is what God does. He saves hopeless people.

If that's your story, would you stand up and let us celebrate God's salvation in your life? This is what he does. This is how good God is. That's awesome. Praise God. If God can save us, he can save anyone. No one is too far gone. No one is unreachable. Maybe God brought you here this morning just so you could see those people stand and for you to realize you're not the only one. You're not the only one who thinks you have run too far and there is no hope. There is hope. God's love is high enough, wide enough, and deep enough for you and for your sin.

How should we pray for hopeless people, those who have no hope for salvation because they feel like they have out-sinned God? The best way to pray is to pray against the Enemy's tool of shame in their life. Our Enemy likes to build prison walls out of shame, but here's the interesting thing. Those prison walls of shame are built out of papier-mâché. He makes them look like solid bricks, but if you were to just breathe on them with the truth of God, they would collapse, because that is who our God is. He's in the business of rescue. So, pray against shame.

3. God saves idolatrous people. Look at verse 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!" The words vain idols in the Hebrew carry the idea of emptiness or worthlessness. The word that has been translated idol is the Hebrew word hebel, which, when it's used literally, means breath or vapor.

Imagine going out on a cold day and seeing mist come out of your mouth or trying to capture it or trying to hug a cloud. Jonah's point is those who are devoted to vain idols, those who worship gods that in the end are not true gods… People look to be full, yet they are looking to things that are empty and worthless. He looks to them, and he's saying, "When you look to and are devoted to things that in the end are empty and worthless, you forsake the hope of God's steadfast love."

Now, commentators debate what's really going on here and what Jonah is really trying to say. Let me tell you what I think is happening here. You have to remember last week. Last week, Jonah was on a boat with pagans. He was on a boat with idol worshipers. Jonah saw them call out to their gods, but in the end, whose God was the one who calmed the storm? It was Jonah's God, and those pagans experienced the mercy of Jonah's God.

I think Jonah is saying what he's saying here because he's reflecting on the pagans on the ship and assuming those pagans experienced God's mercy in him calming the storm, but most likely, they just went back to worshiping their idols. You have to remember what ended up happening with those pagans. It happened after Jonah was already out of the boat, sinking in the water.

Do you remember what happened? It says in Jonah 1:15, "So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging." Jonah is in the water. He no longer knows what's happening with the pagans. Verse 16: "Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows."

That wording is interesting, because what did Jonah say he was going to do in chapter 2, verse 9? He said, "But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay." What's the point I'm trying to make? The point I'm trying to make is that those pagan idol worshipers ended up doing exactly what Jonah was doing, and they actually did it before Jonah did. They got there with God before Jonah got there with God.

It just shows that God saves even idolatrous people. God saves people who worship other gods. He calls them from vain idols to worship him, which means we should expect to see people from other religions turn to Jesus. We should expect it. We should pray for it and expect it. I shared these two statistics with you before, but it's happening on the other side of the world.

In 1979, there were an estimated 500 Christians from a Muslim background in Iran. Today, some say there are one million Christians in Iran. If you don't know, Iran is considered one of, if not the fastest-growing underground church in the world. Nepal is one of the only Hindu-majority countries in the world. In 1950 there were no reported Christians. Today, people estimate there are close to one million, and Nepal has been considered one of the fastest-growing churches in the world.

This is what God does. God saves idolatrous people. Here's the great news: God isn't just doing it on the other side of the world; he's doing it right here in Dallas. He's doing it right here at Watermark Community Church. Muslims have come to Christ right here at Watermark Community Church. I remember a guy from an atheistic background coming from China put his trust in Christ here at Watermark.

God is calling people to himself, calling them out of other religions to come and put their trust in him. Here's the great thing. If you want to reach unreached people groups, start here in Dallas. Did you know there are people living in Dallas for the sake of work or school or safety who actually come from unreached people groups in the world?

One of the ways we can reach unreached people groups in the world is by reaching people in Dallas from those unreached people groups in hopes that they will one day go back to their family and friends and share the gospel. We should expect God to save idolatrous people. I just want to ask. Is that anyone's story here, that God saved you out of a different religion, that he called you to himself to worship Jesus? Anyone? Awesome. Praise God.

How should we pray for people from other religions? Well, I would encourage you to pray there would be a growing sense of emptiness in their belief system and that Jesus would reveal himself as the only one who can fill what is lacking, that Jesus Christ is the one and only true mediator between God and man. Jesus Christ is the only way to be right with a holy God.

4. God saves religious people. Get ready. This is going to be a lot of you right here. If you were hoping I'd skip over you, it's about to be your turn. God saves religious people. Where do we see this in the text? Well, here's what you need to know. The reason Jonah, chapter 2, sounds a lot like it could fit into the book of Psalms is because Jonah was familiar with the Hebrew prayer book. He was influenced by it.

Jonah was a religious guy. He was, yet you see a disconnect between what he knows and how he lives. Even in the way he writes Jonah 2, which is his story of salvation, he struggles to not take the credit for it. Did you catch it? Look at verse 7. "When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple." Yeah, right. Jonah didn't remember the Lord; the Lord remembered Jonah.

It's not that Jonah's prayer was so strong it rose from the bottom of the sea all the way to the top of the mountain so God could finally hear it. No, the omnipresent God of the universe was with Jonah every moment, knowing exactly what he was going to do: raise him from death to life. What's interesting is, like a religious person, Jonah still hasn't actually acknowledged that he did wrong. He only talks about what he's going to do now for God, yet God in his kindness and in his grace saves Jonah.

God is able to reach into religious people's lives, those who know about God but don't truly know God, and he's able to introduce himself to them. Those who have a tendency to rely on their own efforts to be right with God… God in his kindness and gentleness is able to move in and reveal Christ to them. That's what he did with me. That's my story.

I was a church kid growing up. I was a religious kid growing up. I had an easy tendency to see other people's sin and not see my own sin. I thought I was good with God because I was a good kid, yet growing up as an outward rule follower, a point came where I realized that, inwardly, I was actually a rule breaker. I was totally a rule breaker. I just did it in secrecy.

Things like lust, pride, people-pleasing, and manipulation were just a few examples of the ways my heart was far from God. God reached into my life by the power of his Spirit, and he awakened me to the reality of my desperate need for him. That's what he does. Is that anyone's story here? If that's you, I want to invite you to stand. God reached into your life and saved you as a religious person. That's awesome.

How do we pray for religious people, like, people in your workplace, people in your gym, or people in your neighborhood who feel like they are good enough for God, that they earn God's love as a reward? The best thing you can pray is that God would open their eyes to see his holiness, because when you see God's holiness, it's a lot easier to see your unrighteousness and your desperate need for somebody to make a way because there is no way.

That's what Christ has done. It is solely because Christ lived the life we could not live. He perfectly satisfied God's law and his wrath, and then he rose from the dead, conquering our sin to make a way for you and me to live right before God.

Look at how the passage ends. Verse 10: "And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land." I love this, because it bookends the passage. It starts with the fish eating Jonah, and it ends with the fish vomiting him out. It's just one more reminder God is sovereign over creation, but he's not just sovereign over creation; he is sovereign over salvation. That's why the key verse in chapter 2 is found in verse 9 where Jonah declares, "Salvation belongs to the Lord!"

So, if our God is in the business of salvation, if God is consistently bringing people to intersections of faith, and God wants to use us in his work of salvation, then here's what I want to encourage you with. I want to give you three things you can do, three steps you can take to help Watermark Community Church become more of a missional church.

1. Intensify your prayers. What do I mean by that? I mean I want us to be a praying people. We are a praying church, so let me ask you to pray more often and more regularly for unbelievers. And don't just pray for unbelievers; pray and fast for unbelievers. Remember we did 21 days of prayer and fasting? Praying and fasting should not be confined to just 21 days in February.

God calls us to be a praying people. He calls us to be a fasting people. Fasting puts urgency and intensity on your prayers. So, I would encourage you to carve out some space at some point over the next couple of weeks to pray and fast for God's work in the lives of unbelievers in your family, in your friends, at your work, in your gyms, and all across the world.

The good news is people are unlikely to trust in Christ until they aren't, because with God no one is unlikely. People are unlikely to trust in Christ until they aren't, because God is in the business of saving unlikely people. What we have to remember is everyone's story is that they were dead. Some of you were really nice dead people. Some of you were really destructive dead people, but there are no levels to deadness. No one can say, "Well, you know what? I was less dead than you were." That's not a thing. You're either dead or alive. Period.

Your story is you were dead, and now you're alive. We all started out at dead. Even if you were a churchgoing, religious dead person, you were dead, which makes you no more likely than the person on the other side of the globe living in a country closed to the gospel, because we're all dead, and by the power of the Spirit, God comes and makes us alive. Intensify your prayers. You have no clue how God plans to move miraculously to raise the dead to life.

2. Clarify your story. Do you know what I love about Jonah, chapter 2? Jonah, chapter 2, is Jonah's testimony of salvation. It is his story of how he was dead and came to life, and that's what our stories are. So, if our stories are that we were dead and now we're alive, here's what that means: there are no boring testimonies; there are only boring ways to tell our testimonies. But your story is that you were dead and now you are alive.

The most powerful tool you have in sharing the gospel is your own personal story. So, do you know it? If you don't know how to tell your testimony, then I would encourage you to answer these three questions. First, what was your life like before Jesus? Secondly, how did you meet Jesus and what has he done for you? And, thirdly, what is life with Jesus like now? Just answer those three questions.

I would imagine all of the Watermark members are like, "Move on. I get it. I couldn't even become a member without telling you my testimony. I had to spend time I didn't have writing it out." Okay. Well, you want something new? Here's something new. Can you share it in 30 to 45 seconds?

Yeah, in your Community Group you've done your Life Map. You were given 20 minutes, and you took 40 minutes. You can share it. (You know exactly what I'm talking about.) My question is…Can you share it in 30 to 45 seconds? Do you have an elevator version of your story? I promise you it's going to be the most powerful tool you have for sharing your faith.

So, intensify your prayers and, secondly, clarify your story. Work this week to figure out your 30- to 45-second version. Here's my challenge to you in your Community Group. Every time you meet, have someone take 30 to 45 seconds and share their testimony. Just put it on repeat, because the more you recite it and share it, the easier it becomes. You just go on automatic, which means it'll just come off effortlessly when you have opportunities to share it.

3. Testify to God's salvation in your life. What I'm really telling you is to get comfortable weaving your story into daily conversations you're having. Just imagine what this could look like. Imagine going to lunch and asking the waiter or waitress when they take your order or when they bring your food, "Hey, we're about to pray for our food. Is there anything I can pray for you for?"

Then, when they bring the check, just say, "Hey, the reason I offered to pray for you is because Jesus Christ changed my life. Here's my story really quickly. My story is that I grew up a religious kid. My understanding was that I could earn God's love from being a good person, but then I realized if God is perfect, no one can earn his love, because no one is perfect.

Then I understood the beauty of Jesus Christ, that because of his death and because of his resurrection, through faith in him, I don't have to try to earn his love as a reward; I can receive it freely as a gift. It has changed my life, and I want everyone to know that love of God. If you ever have questions about it… I'm going to leave you my card. I'm going to leave you my email. I'd be happy to answer questions for you."

Imagine being able to rattle off your story in 30 to 45 seconds. Or when you go to work tomorrow, when someone asks, "How was your weekend?" say, "Here's what we did on Saturday. On Sunday we went to church. Do you go to church anywhere?" "No, I really don't." "Well, man, the reason I ask you is because Jesus Christ changed my life. Let me just share my story with you really quickly. It'll take 30 seconds." And just share it.

They'll be like, "That's a lot." So? Fine. You're not trying to force-feed them something. All you're doing is sharing how Jesus Christ changed your life. No one can accuse you that it's false. No one can argue with your story. So just try it. Try it sometime this week. It takes you clarifying your story, and then asking God for opportunities to testify to God's salvation in your life.

I want to close by saying this. Some of you guys here today might not have a relationship with Jesus, so you're kind of wondering what the right answer is to that question I asked my kids at the dinner table. How can you know you'll go to heaven when you die? Do you know what I want to encourage you to do? Ask one of the people who stood up during this service, because I just encouraged them to clarify their story and to testify to God's salvation in their life. You're going to give them a great opportunity to practice.

Then I would encourage you to become acquainted with the greater Jonah, Jesus Christ. See, Jonah ran from God in rebellion because he didn't want to reach his enemies; Jesus Christ ran to his enemies, faithfully fulfilling God's will. Jonah was on the brink of death; Jesus Christ actually died. Jonah was on the brink of death because of his rebellion; Jesus Christ died not for his rebellion but for ours. Jonah was in the belly of a fish for three days; Jesus Christ was in the grave for three days.

Just as that fish spat Jonah out so he could go and call Nineveh to repentance, Jesus Christ walked out of the grave, victoriously conquering Satan, sin, and death, so that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. This is Jesus. That's why we're here. We're not here to just be better people or more faithful churchgoers. We're here because we were dead and we've been made alive by Jesus Christ because our God is in the business of salvation. Let's pray together.

Lord, if there is anyone here today who doesn't know you, doesn't have a relationship with you, then I pray right now that they would call out to you in prayer, that they would turn from their sin, that they would turn to you, Lord Jesus, that they would receive you, that they would invite you into their life to be their Lord and Savior.

God, thank you for all of the people who stood up, testifying to your work of grace in their lives. Lord, thank you for how you have saved prideful people. You have saved hopeless people, Lord God. That's what you do, Lord God. You are in the business of salvation. I pray that you would continue your work, Lord, that we would see you save idolatrous people, that you would continue to save more religious people, and that it would all be for your glory. We need you. We love you. In Jesus' name, amen.