100:00:00,620 –> 00:00:07,640Put yourself in Jonah’s shoes, you know what you would be saying, what I would be saying,200:00:07,640 –> 00:00:11,640Lord. What in all the world are you doing? Yesterday you give me this wonderful good300:00:11,640 –> 00:00:17,680gift. Today, it’s lying withered on the ground. You pour happiness into my life. Now, you400:00:17,680 –> 00:00:22,660take it away. The vine that you gave has gone as fast as it came. One day you pour in your500:00:22,660 –> 00:00:26,160blessing, the next day you take it away. What are you doing?600:00:26,520 –> 00:00:31,559Welcome to Open The Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I’m David Pick. Colin, we often put700:00:31,559 –> 00:00:36,240ourselves in Jonah’s shoes, we look at the trials and problems that come our way, and800:00:36,240 –> 00:00:38,240we think, what is God doing?900:00:38,240 –> 00:00:43,560I think it’s very easy to stand in Jonah’s shoes. Every person who’s been in the position1000:00:43,560 –> 00:00:48,639of praying for a loved one who is sick and they get a bit better and you say, oh, God’s1100:00:48,639 –> 00:00:52,560answering prayer and then they get worse and they take a turn. And you say, what in the1200:00:53,040 –> 00:00:57,959world is happening? And, that’s where Jonah was. He receives a blessing, and then it gets1300:00:57,959 –> 00:01:01,119taken away. And what in the world is God doing?1400:01:01,119 –> 00:01:06,620So, we’ll try to answer that question in today’s program. So, join us, if you can, in Jonah1500:01:06,620 –> 00:01:12,2394 as we begin the message, rejoicing God’s gifts, as though they were rites. Here’s Colin.1600:01:12,239 –> 00:01:17,279Please have your Bible open at Jonah, in chapter 4. We are going to follow these verses fairly1700:01:17,879 –> 00:01:23,820closely today. And we’re seeing that the Book of Jonah is about the unraveling of a mature1800:01:23,820 –> 00:01:27,080believer’s inner life.1900:01:27,080 –> 00:01:31,480We’re also discovering the marvelous faithfulness of God, that when the wheels come off, as2000:01:31,480 –> 00:01:38,540it were, God does not abandon his own children. He is faithful to his own.2100:01:38,540 –> 00:01:42,680Jonah is really opening up what happened in his life. He wants us to know that, underneath2200:01:42,820 –> 00:01:49,000his fine reputation there was really a divided heart, and that, while God used him in remarkable2300:01:49,000 –> 00:01:55,000ways, he spent much of his life actually avoiding the God he set out to serve.2400:01:55,000 –> 00:02:00,800And, as we’ve moved into chapter four, we’ve found the surprising truth that, although2500:02:00,800 –> 00:02:06,779God used Jonah in such a remarkable way to transform a city through his ministry, after2600:02:06,779 –> 00:02:12,479that great revival experience, Jonah is not full of joy, but rather he is angry and he2700:02:12,479 –> 00:02:13,820is frustrated.2800:02:13,820 –> 00:02:18,759And, um, it might be helpful for us just to think of it this way that actually God does2900:02:18,759 –> 00:02:22,000a double restoration in Jonah’s life.3000:02:22,000 –> 00:02:26,279Most people know about the first restoration when he’s thrown into the water, and God saves3100:02:26,279 –> 00:02:28,960him by sending this fish.3200:02:28,960 –> 00:02:34,000But there’s another restoration that is every bit as important in the book, because Jonah’s3300:02:34,000 –> 00:02:38,919problem was not just the rebellion of disobedience that you have at the beginning, when he goes3400:02:39,000 –> 00:02:40,720off to Tarshish.3500:02:40,720 –> 00:02:47,059It’s the hidden anger and resentment that is bubbling under in his heart and in his3600:02:47,059 –> 00:02:48,360life.3700:02:48,360 –> 00:02:52,979And God delivers him from that and restores him from that in Chapter Four.3800:02:52,979 –> 00:02:59,000That is every bit as important as the restoration that took place in Chapter One.3900:02:59,000 –> 00:03:00,139And so that’s where we’ve come today.4000:03:00,139 –> 00:03:05,520And we’re taking it up in Chapter Four and Verse Five, where after this experience of4100:03:05,979 –> 00:03:13,600used by God in Nineveh, and the frustration and anger that Jonah was experiencing in the4200:03:13,600 –> 00:03:20,080wake of it, we read that Jonah went out, and he sat down at a place east of the city.4300:03:20,080 –> 00:03:23,580And there he made himself a shelter, and he sat in its shade, and he waited and he waited4400:03:23,580 –> 00:03:26,880to see what would happen to the city.4500:03:26,880 –> 00:03:32,440Now, let’s try and put ourselves in Jonah’s shoes.4600:03:32,520 –> 00:03:33,919You’re in the desert.4700:03:33,919 –> 00:03:35,720You’re on your own.4800:03:35,720 –> 00:03:37,300It’s a hot day.4900:03:37,300 –> 00:03:43,000You’re sitting in the sand, looking at a city you really don’t like.5000:03:43,000 –> 00:03:47,119You’re feeling miserable, you’ve got some resentment that’s going on, and you are not5100:03:47,119 –> 00:03:49,520happy about life.5200:03:49,520 –> 00:03:54,139The sun is beating down on your head, it’s a sweltering hot day, and you think, I really5300:03:54,139 –> 00:03:55,759need to make myself a shelter.5400:03:55,759 –> 00:04:00,559But you’re out in the desert, so there isn’t much to make a shelter with, you know, a few5500:04:00,600 –> 00:04:06,100pieces of brick perhaps, or clay, some stones that are around, nothing very much that is5600:04:06,100 –> 00:04:07,919living or growing.5700:04:07,919 –> 00:04:15,139And so you make yourself a little baked clay shelter and there you sit, absolutely miserable.5800:04:15,139 –> 00:04:18,480And then God steps in in verse six.5900:04:18,480 –> 00:04:25,019And we have this wonderful expression of the kindness of God, the Lord God provided a vine,6000:04:25,019 –> 00:04:29,059this living plant, fully of green foliage.6100:04:29,059 –> 00:04:35,820And He made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort.6200:04:35,820 –> 00:04:42,700And for you gardeners, you need to know Millacle-Grow never had anything on this.6300:04:42,700 –> 00:04:45,480This was a miracle plant.6400:04:45,480 –> 00:04:47,859In the desert, God just causes it to grow.6500:04:47,859 –> 00:04:52,700I’m thinking in my mind of where you have one of these high speed cameras that you know6600:04:52,700 –> 00:04:58,260Planet Earth type programs can show you the growth of a plant in a few seconds.6700:04:58,299 –> 00:05:01,540Nobody can give that appearance on a high-speed camera.6800:05:01,540 –> 00:05:06,940While God gave that reality by a miracle of His grace.6900:05:06,940 –> 00:05:09,100And He did it for this simple reason.7000:05:09,100 –> 00:05:11,660Jonah was really uncomfortable.7100:05:11,660 –> 00:05:15,839He’s there with nothing more than a baked clay shelter.7200:05:15,839 –> 00:05:20,019And God provides this vine, we’re told in verse 6.7300:05:20,019 –> 00:05:22,320To cover, to give shade for Jonah’s head.7400:05:22,320 –> 00:05:24,380And to ease his discomfort.7500:05:24,579 –> 00:05:30,519It’s a wonderful expansion of the kindness of God.7600:05:30,519 –> 00:05:35,959And as God gives this very simple and very wonderful good gift into Jonah’s life, we7700:05:35,959 –> 00:05:42,940read in verse 6 that Jonah was very happy about the vine.7800:05:42,940 –> 00:05:47,619I can imagine Jonah looking at his old baked clay shelter and then looking at this mass7900:05:47,619 –> 00:05:50,940of green foliage that has come up overnight.8000:05:51,059 –> 00:05:56,600And he’s saying to himself, my God’s shelter is sure better than mine.8100:05:56,600 –> 00:06:04,140God’s gift, then, of the vine, brought joy.8200:06:04,140 –> 00:06:05,899It brought comfort.8300:06:05,899 –> 00:06:11,920It brought blessing into Jonah’s life at this particularly difficult time.8400:06:11,920 –> 00:06:13,640And he was very happy about the vine.8500:06:13,640 –> 00:06:15,100Now, here’s the question.8600:06:15,100 –> 00:06:19,799I think you’ll find it easy to make the connection with the message this morning.8700:06:19,859 –> 00:06:22,179What is your vine?8800:06:22,179 –> 00:06:30,239What in your life brings joy, comfort, blessing?8900:06:30,239 –> 00:06:35,779What in your life is a gift from God that you would say, that’s my vine.9000:06:35,779 –> 00:06:38,420It just has brought blessing into my life.9100:06:38,420 –> 00:06:39,579I think of my own life.9200:06:39,579 –> 00:06:40,660I think of my wife.9300:06:40,660 –> 00:06:41,920I think of my children.9400:06:41,920 –> 00:06:43,260I think of my home.9500:06:43,260 –> 00:06:46,100I think of the privilege of being part of this church.9600:06:46,100 –> 00:06:48,540I think of the joy of fulfilling work.9700:06:48,540 –> 00:06:50,579The list goes on and on and on.9800:06:50,579 –> 00:06:53,000What’s your vine?9900:06:53,000 –> 00:06:59,380God is good and into every life he brings good gifts that bring you joy that you would10000:06:59,380 –> 00:07:02,940not have if it was not for that gift.10100:07:02,940 –> 00:07:04,100Think about this with me.10200:07:04,100 –> 00:07:10,019What is your vine that brings joy, that brings blessing, that brings comfort, that makes10300:07:10,019 –> 00:07:15,980your life in this world so much better than it would be if it was not for this gracious10400:07:15,980 –> 00:07:22,820gift of God in his abundant kindness?10500:07:22,820 –> 00:07:28,940Valentine’s Day is coming up, so for the guys who are looking for a good line to ride in10600:07:28,940 –> 00:07:39,559a car to your wife you could just say, you are my vine.10700:07:39,559 –> 00:07:41,660You are the gift of God to me.10800:07:41,660 –> 00:07:42,739You bring me blessing.10900:07:42,739 –> 00:07:44,140You bring me joy.11000:07:44,140 –> 00:07:48,880My life is so rich because of you, and I thank God for you and I love you.11100:07:48,880 –> 00:07:53,679And ladies, you might even consider saying that in regard to your husband.11200:07:53,679 –> 00:07:55,839What else is your vine?11300:07:55,839 –> 00:08:01,239Friends, you have a business that has been blessed.11400:08:01,239 –> 00:08:03,000Do others speak well of you?11500:08:03,000 –> 00:08:07,359You have enough money to spend some on your pleasure.11600:08:07,359 –> 00:08:12,040Thank God for the vine.11700:08:12,140 –> 00:08:14,720You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith.11800:08:14,720 –> 00:08:18,140We have to pause the message briefly there but we’ll be back very shortly.11900:08:18,140 –> 00:08:24,100The message is called, Rejoice in God’s Gifts As Though They Were Rights and it’s part12000:08:24,100 –> 00:08:28,399of our series, How to Avoid a God-Centered Life.12100:08:28,399 –> 00:08:32,840If you miss one of the messages in the series you can easily catch up or go back and listen12200:08:32,840 –> 00:08:38,640again by coming online to our website OpentheBible.org.uk.12300:08:39,340 –> 00:08:43,419And you can also find Pastor Colin’s messages as a podcast and those are on all the usual12400:08:43,440 –> 00:08:49,979podcast sites you can find Open the Bible there by searching for, Open the Bible UK.12500:08:49,979 –> 00:08:53,039Open the Bible is supported financially by our listeners.12600:08:53,039 –> 00:08:58,419It’s donations from people just like you which keeps Open the Bible on the air and12700:08:58,419 –> 00:09:03,640on the internet so if you already give to support the work, thank you so much.12800:09:03,640 –> 00:09:08,000If that’s something you’ve been thinking of doing either with a one-off gift or as12900:09:08,200 –> 00:09:13,340a regular donation, we’d love to say thank you by offering you a free gift.13000:09:13,340 –> 00:09:16,059Here’s Open the Bible’s Amanda Cunningham to tell us about it.13100:09:16,059 –> 00:09:21,140I don’t know about you David but I cannot walk into a shop at the moment without being13200:09:21,140 –> 00:09:24,440reminded that it is Valentine season.13300:09:24,440 –> 00:09:27,179Cards, chocolates and love!13400:09:27,179 –> 00:09:31,280However, I’ve been really struck this month by a deeper,13500:09:31,280 –> 00:09:34,679better love, the kind we see in the gospels.13600:09:34,940 –> 00:09:41,140Here at Open the Bible UK, we’re reading Gospel Stories by Andrew Wilson and I found13700:09:41,140 –> 00:09:43,039it such a helpful book.13800:09:43,039 –> 00:09:47,960In the Gospels, Jesus often teaches through stories and real encounters,13900:09:47,960 –> 00:09:54,679so Andrew Wilson helps you slow down and really see what those moments reveal about who Jesus14000:09:54,679 –> 00:10:01,520is, why he came and the kind of love that he offers, a love that pursues us, forgives14100:10:01,659 –> 00:10:04,840us, restores us and never lets go.14200:10:04,840 –> 00:10:09,440I think it’s a wonderful book to use in your own quiet time, or to share with a friend14300:10:09,440 –> 00:10:11,940or even to read in a small group.14400:10:11,940 –> 00:10:17,419And especially this February, it’s been a reminder to me that the truest love isn’t14500:10:17,419 –> 00:10:22,799something we achieve or buy, It’s something we receive in Christ.14600:10:22,799 –> 00:10:27,919Gospel stories is our free thank you gift when you give a one off donation of at least14700:10:27,919 –> 00:10:34,119£50 or when you set up a new direct debit of at least £5 a month.14800:10:34,119 –> 00:10:40,020But please do remember to include your name and address when you donate so we can send14900:10:40,020 –> 00:10:53,679your copy out to you.15000:10:54,000 –> 00:11:01,320back to the message now.15100:11:01,320 –> 00:11:02,739Here again is Colin.15200:11:02,739 –> 00:11:08,719Now, notice the next thing that happens in verse 7, because no sooner has God poured15300:11:08,719 –> 00:11:14,520in this wonderful good gift into Jonah’s life, but verse 7 something else happens.15400:11:14,520 –> 00:11:15,520The worm.15500:11:15,520 –> 00:11:24,760At dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered.15600:11:24,760 –> 00:11:26,599Now can you imagine this?15700:11:26,599 –> 00:11:30,900Jonah has been enjoying the cool shade of God’s vine.15800:11:30,900 –> 00:11:32,460The blessing of God in his life.15900:11:32,460 –> 00:11:35,659And he wakes up the next day and he thinks, oh, this is good.16000:11:35,659 –> 00:11:36,780Life is good.16100:11:36,780 –> 00:11:40,520Another day rejoicing in the cool shade of God’s vine.16200:11:40,559 –> 00:11:47,059And he looks around as he wakes himself up and there’s the vino lying withered, limp16300:11:47,059 –> 00:11:48,640on the sand.16400:11:48,640 –> 00:11:51,940The worm has come and has chewed up the vine.16500:11:51,940 –> 00:11:54,760Now, put yourself in Jonah’s shoes.16600:11:54,760 –> 00:11:57,799You know what you would be saying, what I would be saying, Lord, what in all the world16700:11:57,799 –> 00:11:58,799are you doing?16800:11:58,799 –> 00:12:00,979Yesterday, you give me this wonderful, good gift.16900:12:00,979 –> 00:12:04,380Today it’s lying withered on the ground.17000:12:04,380 –> 00:12:07,640You pour happiness into my life, now you take it away.17100:12:07,640 –> 00:12:10,419The vine that you gave has gone as fast as it came.17200:12:10,419 –> 00:12:15,820One day you pour in your blessing, the next day you take it away, what are you doing?17300:12:15,820 –> 00:12:17,020Now there’s a pattern here.17400:12:17,020 –> 00:12:23,219The vine brings joy, comfort and blessing into Jonah’s life.17500:12:23,219 –> 00:12:28,960And we are all able to think of the good gifts of God that bring blessing and joy to us.17600:12:28,960 –> 00:12:35,099But the worm brings sorrow, loss and disappointment into Jonah’s life.17700:12:35,099 –> 00:12:39,380So obvious question, what is your worm?17800:12:39,380 –> 00:12:47,260What is going on in your life right now that brings you sorrow, that brings you loss, that17900:12:47,260 –> 00:12:48,940brings you disappointment?18000:12:48,940 –> 00:12:57,880And all of us will be able to identify not only the vine, but also in our experience18100:12:57,880 –> 00:12:59,940the worm.18200:12:59,940 –> 00:13:06,140You build a business and it’s a great blessing, but as times change it becomes a burden rather18300:13:06,140 –> 00:13:08,380than a blessing.18400:13:08,380 –> 00:13:13,260Your ministry sees evangelistic success, God blesses it in an amazing way and then something18500:13:13,260 –> 00:13:19,239happens and it seems that all the good work that you have been doing seems undone.18600:13:19,239 –> 00:13:23,960You devote your life as a mother to children in the home and you pour yourself into them18700:13:23,960 –> 00:13:29,419and then they’re off at college and the home is quiet and empty and the vine that has brought18800:13:29,419 –> 00:13:35,859such blessing and joy into your life is no longer there and you say what is my life for?18900:13:35,859 –> 00:13:42,580By the way, isn’t this a helpful way of thinking about what’s going on in our economy?19000:13:42,580 –> 00:13:44,000Think of it.19100:13:44,000 –> 00:13:51,739God sends a bull market and we all rejoice in the vine.19200:13:51,739 –> 00:13:58,280God sends a bear market and we all complain about the worm.19300:13:58,280 –> 00:14:04,020The Lord gives and the Lord takes away and that’s what Jonah is learning here and it19400:14:04,020 –> 00:14:05,979is painful stuff.19500:14:05,979 –> 00:14:11,479By the way, it’s also a helpful way of thinking about times when you may fail or fall into19600:14:11,479 –> 00:14:14,580sin as a Christian believer.19700:14:14,580 –> 00:14:19,200You know, let’s think about a guy who has been struggling with one particular temptation,19800:14:19,200 –> 00:14:21,640failed again and again and again.19900:14:21,640 –> 00:14:25,679And then in God’s mercy through some prayer and some help and some accountability begins20000:14:25,679 –> 00:14:27,140to get victory.20100:14:27,140 –> 00:14:28,359And he goes for some time.20200:14:28,359 –> 00:14:29,780He’s victory.20300:14:29,780 –> 00:14:33,080And he’s rejoicing in the victory as blessing and comfort.20400:14:33,760 –> 00:14:35,960And his victory becomes his vine.20500:14:35,960 –> 00:14:37,679Lord, this is great!20600:14:37,679 –> 00:14:41,919I’ve never been here before, and then something happens and suddenly he’s back where he20700:14:41,919 –> 00:14:42,919was.20800:14:42,919 –> 00:14:45,440He’s fallen into his old sin one more time.20900:14:45,440 –> 00:14:46,700The worm has come.21000:14:46,700 –> 00:14:52,580And he says, Oh Lord, you’ve taken away the very thing that you just gave me.21100:14:52,580 –> 00:14:54,940The victory that was such a joy to me.21200:14:54,940 –> 00:14:56,479What is going on?21300:14:57,080 –> 00:15:04,880Now, this vine-worm pattern is repeated in 1,000 ways in every human experience.21400:15:04,880 –> 00:15:10,119And then I want you to know there’s something else, because it gets worse.21500:15:10,119 –> 00:15:12,340Verse eight, The wind.21600:15:12,340 –> 00:15:13,340When the sun rose.21700:15:13,340 –> 00:15:16,960So this is the same day as the vine was chewed up by the worm.21800:15:16,960 –> 00:15:24,299Now the sun’s coming up and we’re told when the sun rose, God provided a scorching21900:15:24,299 –> 00:15:26,020east wind.22000:15:26,020 –> 00:15:33,200And the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint.22100:15:33,200 –> 00:15:36,400Now again, try and put yourself in Jonah’s shoes.22200:15:36,400 –> 00:15:39,960It’s bad enough to lose the vine.22300:15:39,960 –> 00:15:44,599But now on the same day as the vine is chewed up, God now sends this east wind.22400:15:44,599 –> 00:15:48,239So the sand’s blowing into Jonah’s face.22500:15:48,239 –> 00:15:53,619The sun is beating down on his head, Jonah’s thinking, Lord, if you’re going to take away22600:15:53,739 –> 00:15:58,719my vine, at least take it away on a cool day.22700:15:58,719 –> 00:16:02,440But now, you’ve taken away the vine, and you send a scorching east wind.22800:16:02,440 –> 00:16:05,739Have you discovered troubles never come singly?22900:16:05,739 –> 00:16:11,179And when one thing happens that brings disappointment and pain and loss into your life, so often23000:16:11,179 –> 00:16:17,080there is something else that brings aggravation and makes it even worse.23100:16:17,080 –> 00:16:21,080So the vine brings comfort, and it brings joy, and it brings blessing.23200:16:21,099 –> 00:16:28,780The worm brings sorrow and loss and disappointment, and the wind makes it worse by adding affliction23300:16:28,780 –> 00:16:33,739and pain and distress.23400:16:33,739 –> 00:16:39,179So obvious question, what is your east wind?23500:16:39,179 –> 00:16:44,859What as you look at your life right now is bringing to you a sense of affliction?23600:16:44,859 –> 00:16:47,500What brings you pain?23700:16:47,539 –> 00:16:51,739What brings you distress?23800:16:51,739 –> 00:17:01,760Now let’s stand back from this, this vine-worm-wind pattern is really a very helpful little handle23900:17:01,760 –> 00:17:06,180for us thinking about how God operates in our lives.24000:17:06,180 –> 00:17:08,280And it’s very important to ask this question.24100:17:08,280 –> 00:17:13,979Once you have got them in your mind, the vine, the worm and the wind, which of these comes24200:17:13,979 –> 00:17:15,319from God?24300:17:16,099 –> 00:17:19,099That’s a very important question.24400:17:19,099 –> 00:17:23,219Which one comes from God?24500:17:23,219 –> 00:17:26,640Because everyone’s quick to say, well the vine comes from God, but some of us are not24600:17:26,640 –> 00:17:31,920so sure about the difficult things that happen in life and where God is in them.24700:17:31,920 –> 00:17:37,699I want you to see the clear teaching of the Bible here in verse 6, 7 and 8.24800:17:37,699 –> 00:17:39,780It really couldn’t be more plain.24900:17:39,780 –> 00:17:48,000Verse 6 of Chapter 4, God provided the vine.25000:17:48,000 –> 00:17:51,520Then you notice exactly the same phrase in Chapter 4 in verse 7.25100:17:51,520 –> 00:17:55,219Do you see it there, who provided the worm?25200:17:55,219 –> 00:17:58,420God provided the worms, clearly stated.25300:17:58,420 –> 00:18:03,260Just to make it absolutely plain, if you look in verse 8, notice exactly the same language,25400:18:03,300 –> 00:18:07,140who provided the scorching East Wind?25500:18:07,140 –> 00:18:11,420Answer, God provided the scorching East Wind.25600:18:11,420 –> 00:18:15,680It’s the same word, and it’s used three times in three verses because Jonah is teaching25700:18:15,680 –> 00:18:19,199us this very important truth.25800:18:19,199 –> 00:18:23,459He is saying, I want you to understand that God’s hand was as much in the worm and the25900:18:23,459 –> 00:18:29,979wind as in the vine, that God was working as much in the wind that brought affliction26000:18:30,339 –> 00:18:34,660and pain and distress, and in the worm that brought sorrow and loss and disappointment,26100:18:34,660 –> 00:18:40,040He was working as much in them as He was in the vine that brought comfort, joy, and blessing.26200:18:40,040 –> 00:18:46,959He provided all three, and they were all being used in God’s sovereign purpose in Jonah’s26300:18:46,959 –> 00:18:47,839life.26400:18:47,839 –> 00:18:53,660By the way, there is one more time that the word provided is used in the book of Jonah.26500:18:53,660 –> 00:18:57,339One more thing that God provided, and it’s the most obvious thing in the book of Jonah.26600:18:57,339 –> 00:19:00,040What else did God provide at the beginning of this story?26700:19:00,040 –> 00:19:02,939He provided the fish, that’s it.26800:19:02,939 –> 00:19:05,119Same word, you can check it out in chapter 1 and verse 17.26900:19:05,119 –> 00:19:12,319The Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and it was in this way that Jonah,27000:19:12,319 –> 00:19:15,280of course, was saved from drowning.27100:19:15,280 –> 00:19:20,780So put these things together, and we’re learning this truth that the God who saved27200:19:20,780 –> 00:19:33,599Jonah by providing a great fish, now sanctifies Jonah by providing a vine, a worm, and an27300:19:33,599 –> 00:19:34,599east wind.27400:19:34,599 –> 00:19:37,040It’s the same word.27500:19:37,040 –> 00:19:40,839By the way, we try to learn Bible words so that we know them when we see them in the27600:19:40,839 –> 00:19:46,199Bible, and so it’s good for us to know the words justification and sanctification.27700:19:46,199 –> 00:19:51,760You can think of it this way, justification is how God forgives us through Jesus, sanctification27800:19:51,760 –> 00:19:54,319is how God makes us like Jesus.27900:19:54,319 –> 00:19:57,800The first is an event, the second is a process.28000:19:57,800 –> 00:20:03,000We’re talking here about our sanctification that is how God works in a believer’s life28100:20:03,000 –> 00:20:10,000to make us like Jesus, and what Jonah is discovering as one who was saved by God’s wonderful provision28200:20:10,040 –> 00:20:16,119at the beginning of the story he is now being sanctified by God’s amazing provision and28300:20:16,119 –> 00:20:23,119God sanctifies through gifts that bring you joy, he sanctifies through trials that bring28400:20:23,280 –> 00:20:30,280you sorrow, he sanctifies through experiences that may bring you pain.28500:20:30,900 –> 00:20:37,900He sanctifies through the vine and through the worm and through the wind.28600:20:38,180 –> 00:20:43,140So, Jonah wants us to know that God’s hand is right in the middle of it, the fish is28700:20:43,140 –> 00:20:50,140God’s fish, the vine is God’s vine, the worm is God’s worm, and the east wind is28800:20:52,119 –> 00:20:59,119God’s east wind. Now as we try to let that settle in our minds28900:20:59,400 –> 00:21:04,819that God, the New Testament puts it this way, God works in all things for The Good, the29000:21:05,680 –> 00:21:11,180Sanctification of those who love Him, in Romans 8, 28 he works in the vine for29100:21:11,180 –> 00:21:17,079that end, he works in the worm for that end, and he works through the wind for that end.29200:21:17,079 –> 00:21:23,000Let’s ask this question, I can see how God works through the vine, but how does God29300:21:23,000 –> 00:21:28,839work? What does God do through the worm? What does God do through the wind?29400:21:28,839 –> 00:21:34,540I want to suggest that you think about it this way, that God used the worm and the wind29500:21:35,040 –> 00:21:41,319to save Jonah from a vine-centered life.29600:21:41,319 –> 00:21:47,239A person who lives a vine-centered life is a person who ends up loving God’s gifts29700:21:47,239 –> 00:21:51,699more than we love the one who gives the gifts.29800:21:51,699 –> 00:21:56,500Reminder there from Pastor Colin Smith that we can be so focused on the gifts God has29900:21:56,500 –> 00:22:00,739given us, that we love the gifts more than the God that gives them.30000:22:00,739 –> 00:22:04,199I’ve been listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, and a message called30100:22:04,199 –> 00:22:08,180Rejoice-in-God’s-Gifts-as-Though-They-Were-Your-Rights.30200:22:08,180 –> 00:22:12,219It’s part of the series, How to Avoid a God-Centered Life.30300:22:12,219 –> 00:22:16,500And if you miss any of the series or if you want to listen to any of our previous series,30400:22:16,500 –> 00:22:22,520they’re all available online at our website, OpenTheBible.org.uk.30500:22:22,520 –> 00:22:25,959Open the Bible is listened to by people up and down the country.30600:22:25,959 –> 00:22:29,579I’m with Open the Bible’s executive director, John Martin.30700:22:29,699 –> 00:22:32,699John, what are listeners saying when they contact you?30800:22:32,699 –> 00:22:37,000Yeah, so we get letters from all sorts of listeners.30900:22:37,000 –> 00:22:42,280And some of those listeners are actually inmates around UK prisons, and it’s wonderful to31000:22:42,280 –> 00:22:46,119receive the news that they’ve been able to listen to the broadcast and they’ve been31100:22:46,119 –> 00:22:47,780encouraged by it.31200:22:47,780 –> 00:22:52,540We’re pursuing a partnership with Daylight Christian Prison Trust.31300:22:52,540 –> 00:22:58,579They have chaplains in a number of UK prisons, and they’re keen to use good resources with31400:22:58,699 –> 00:23:02,540those exploring faith and those seeking to grow in their faith.31500:23:02,540 –> 00:23:07,239So we’ve talked with them about the possibility of getting the film Heaven How I Got It, into31600:23:07,239 –> 00:23:12,560as many of those prisons as possible, to give the chaplains the discussion guide, to supply31700:23:12,560 –> 00:23:15,260the chaplains with the books or booklets.31800:23:15,260 –> 00:23:19,819So we’re trialling that now with the hope of creating a batch of DVDs of the film so31900:23:19,819 –> 00:23:23,880they can easily take those in, and share the good news that way.32000:23:24,160 –> 00:23:28,359There are a number of prisoners around the UK who are really keen to learn more about32100:23:28,359 –> 00:23:32,939the Christian faith and so if we can give them courses that are accessible and32200:23:32,939 –> 00:23:37,040appropriate for their setting, then we’re very very eager to do that.32300:23:37,040 –> 00:23:43,339To find out more about the work of Open the Bible come to our website openthebible.org.uk32400:23:44,239 –> 00:23:48,719Colin, the point you make about Jonah loving the vine, that’s a picture of how we can take32500:23:48,719 –> 00:23:52,140what God gives us as if we have a perfect right to it.32600:23:52,459 –> 00:23:57,260The gifts of God so easily become the things that we value more than God Himself.32700:23:57,260 –> 00:24:02,180God causes your business to flourish and then the business becomes the great32800:24:02,180 –> 00:24:05,400thing in your life. God blesses your family, then the family becomes the great32900:24:05,400 –> 00:24:09,699thing in your life. In Jonah’s case and for all of us in ministry in one way or33000:24:09,699 –> 00:24:13,719another God blesses the ministry and then the ministry becomes a great thing.33100:24:13,719 –> 00:24:18,780So at the beginning of Jonah story, God blessed Jonah’s ministry but then God33200:24:18,939 –> 00:24:20,060took it away from him.33300:24:20,060 –> 00:24:22,579He’s right back where he was, isn’t it amazing how33400:24:22,579 –> 00:24:26,780little progress he’s been made and he’s every bit as much dependent on the grace33500:24:26,780 –> 00:24:31,439of God in chapter four as he was in chapter one. God is still gracious33600:24:31,439 –> 00:24:37,680towards him and it’s the moment where God takes something away where we really33700:24:37,680 –> 00:24:42,060come to the place of saying, is God really God in my life, or are God’s33800:24:42,060 –> 00:24:47,060gifts the things that are ultimate to me? And, this is a defining moment for Jonah33900:24:47,060 –> 00:24:50,300and it’s part of his great testimony to the grace of God.34000:24:50,300 –> 00:24:51,300So we’ll continue34100:24:51,300 –> 00:24:55,540this message in our next programme. So, I hope you’ll join us for that.34200:24:55,540 –> 00:24:59,739For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick and I hope34300:24:59,739 –> 00:25:07,619you’ll join us again next time.34400:25:08,479 –> 00:25:14,560Jonah was angry with God, but then the circumstances changed and he was very34500:25:14,560 –> 00:25:19,819happy. Find out what happened to his anger next time on Open the Bible