The Prayer That Saves: Part 1 - Beacon Sunday Service: September 14th, 2025

I'm going to be reading Jonah chapter 2, just one verse. We're going to be reading verse 7. And it reads, While my soul was fainting within me, I remembered Yahweh. And my prayer came to you to your holy temple. Let's pray together. Father, we are so thankful that you are our God. And we gather today to celebrate Christ, to worship you, to be reminded that you reign, and then to be reminded again that we have been created by you and for you to love and to serve you. And I pray that you would help us as we feed off of your word, really to be energized, to be strengthened, and to shine brightly into the darkness so that you would receive the glory that you're due.

And whatever things that are unnecessary distractions that can come into our minds, even at just a slight moment, I pray that you would protect our thoughts, keep us sober, not just for the course of our lives, but also as we read your truth and see your heart for us through the proclamation of your word. You lead this time, Heavenly Father, our good shepherd, for your glory and for our joy and sustenance. Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Go ahead and take a seat. So in the 18th century, there were a series of Protestant religious revivals that moved across the American colonies. And these revivals were later called the Great Awakening. And in these revival meetings, they had like designated seating areas called the mourner's seat, where people were encouraged to sit and to make a visible public and usually emotional commitment to Jesus.

In the 20th century, evangelists like Billy Graham and D.L. Moody, I'm going to assume you know who they are, they traveled all over the country and they conducted large-scale revivals and crusades. And the mourners' seat, they were phased out and they were replaced by altar calls where people would walk forward, they would make a public profession of faith in Jesus. And it was around that time, a formulaic prayer of sorts started to be incorporated into people's conversion experiences. And these prayers would go something like this.

Please forgive me for my sins. I turn away from those sins. I invite you into my heart to be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for hearing my prayer in your name. Amen. So these formulaic prayers later became referred to as the sinner's prayer. You guys have heard of this, right? So Christians would lead others into the Christian faith by having some soon-to-be convert, like repeat a set of words. And then individuals would ask Jesus into their hearts, and whoever spoke these prayers from then on would be regarded as born-again Christians. So if a person prayed like this and made a public profession, you just assume that he or she became a Christian. I grew up in this culture. And many of you grew up in this.

And I know people who legitimately have come to faith through this. But does that sinner's prayer actually save people? Then what is it that saves a person? Is it the raising of hands? I believe. Is it the going down by invitation to a field or to the front of a church? Is it the formulaic prayer? So here's an important question because if you're trying to lead somebody to the faith, you kind of want to know if this word where the Lord of heaven would incline his ear to the prayer offered up. And what is the prayer that forgives and justifies a person? Another personal question, very important one. Does God listen to you when you pray? Yes, no.

Are you sure? Before we get into Jonah chapter 2, let's think through this together, okay? Well, first, we know that God wants our hearts, not just our external conformity. So the Lord is not manipulated by or moved by a mouthing of certain secret words. Some theological truths. There are no secret words that give us access to the throne room of God. God is not moved by tears. He is not impressed by an abundance of words, the length of a prayer, or with the loudness of the prayer. Matthew 6 7 reads, and when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So it is implied here that these Gentile prayers, they're not heard.

So it's not about a meaningless repetition or a mouthing of words. We also know that many people can pray, but if they are not praying to the living and true God, they are wasting their breath. Amen. They aren't actually praying. They are simply offering up superstitious words of wishful thinking. Did you know that the morning prayer is common in Korea and in Korean churches? Raise your hands if you already knew that. Morning prayer. It's very culturally common. The greatest spike in morning prayer attendance is in November of every year. Buddhist temples, Catholic churches, Christian churches, and even mosques are filled with people praying in November, and it's not a shock because in Korea, November is the month of what they call the pseudom, which is the college entrance exams.

It's one day of national exams. And boy, do superstitious people pray with passion. They plead, they make vows, they pledge, they make sacrifices, they do whatever it takes to manipulate the gods to get their child into a good school. So it's innate in every human being to seek for material and circumstantial blessings and to pray. So this is nothing new, okay? First Kings chapter 18, we read about a passionate, sacrificial, prayerful group of prophets, and this is what they pray, okay? And this is what happens. Then they took the ox, 1 Kings 18, 26, which was given them, and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon. That's a three-hour perme, okay? Oh Baal, answer us.

But there was no voice, no one answered, and they limped about the altar which they had made. Now it happened at noon that Elijah, Elijah's kind of mean, okay? He mocked them and said, Call out with a loud voice, for he is a God. Either he is occupied, or in the bathroom, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he's asleep and needs to be awakened. So they cried with a loud voice, they gnashed themselves and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out of them. So what we can glean from a passage like this is that no matter how passionate or lavish or even bloody a ritual, a prayer lifted up to dead gods, it's only powerful, powerless, superstitious words of wishful thinking.

So a prayer offered by meaningless repetition, a prayer offered to a non-God will not go answered, and they will not save. You guys following this, right? Sometimes people are correctly addressing God with full knowledge and belief that He alone is God. God still does not listen. It does not matter how earnestly they are seeking him. Scripture says that he does not listen. He turns a deaf ear, he keeps himself hidden. Proverbs 128. He turns away from sinners because of their stubborn unwillingness to obey. So he is far from them. Proverbs 15, 29. Jesus himself said that God does not listen to the prayers of a hardened heart.

So the Lord is not listening to the prayers of the hardened mouth.

So it's very clear in the Bible that God is not moved by lengthy prayers with many words by morning prayer, right? He is not moved by acts of devotion or even with correct theology. He does not accept the prayers of a people living in unrepentance and rebellion. So that's bad news for people who believe some sinner's prayer that they once prayed many, many years ago, covers everything. So that's an important question. Does God listen to your prayers? So again, what is the prayer that justifies a man? What is a prayer that moves the heart of God? What is the prayer that God actually turns his ear towards? And we're going to be looking through that the next two weeks through the prayer of Jonah.

So the prayer that God receives is one of despair, of death, and of absolute dependence. And that's the outline for today. Despair, when we're going to look at verse 2, death, we're going to look at the next four verses, five verses, and dependence. So we finished Jonah chapter 1 last month, and we are now in chapter 2. And Jonah chapter 2 records Jonah's prayers, and Jonah's prayer is really packed with meaning. So it's both prescriptive, which means that it's kind of a model prayer for us, and it's also prophetic. After all, this is the scene of what Jesus says is the sign of what? Sign of Jonah. And what we find in Jonah's prayers, it isn't just a retelling of like confessional retelling of events.

It's not just a description of his emotional state, but it describes what I believe is both the process of salvation and the model prayer that is accepted by God. His prayer is a prayer that saves. It's a prayer that continues to save and sanctify every believer all the way through the rest of his earthly life. So for Jonah, who is already elect of God, this prayer in chapter 2 was answered with his deliverance out from the fish and restoration to his prophetic office. So for every sinner before conversion, Jonah's prayer, if prayed in faith, is the prayer that gets him saved. Again, not a prayer from the mouth, a prayer from the heart. So Jonah's prayer in many ways is the old testament sinner's prayer.

Okay, and then we're gonna be breaking it up into two parts. Today we're gonna be looking at the desperate and impossibly hopeless condition of the sinner of every single sinner. And then next week we're gonna be looking at the one who is mighty to answer that prayer and to save. Yahweh God. Okay. So let's look at verse 1. Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh his God from the stomach of the fish. For the very first time in the narrative, Jonah prays to Yahweh, who is already his God. So when God first told him to go to Nineveh, Jonah simply took off. He did not pray. He did not consult with God. Okay, how do I know that? Jonah chapter 4, verse 2. He said, These were my thoughts to myself. He doesn't say he prayed.

And that's pretty symptomatic of somebody disobeying or defying God. When we are living in rebellion against God's commands, prayer stops. Right? We do not pray. We cannot pray. So now, at this point in the narrative, Jonah has nowhere to go. Why? He's inside of a fish. He has no place, he has no place to go, right? He cannot rebel. He's literally a prisoner inside of a fish. And his prayer opens with admission of despair and helplessness. Jonah 2, 2. And he said, I called out of my distress to Yahweh, and he answered me. I cried for help from the belly of Sheol, not the fish. He calls it Sheol, and you heard my voice. So why is Jonah distressed? Why is he crying for help?

Because he has come face to face with the reality that in and of himself, he is a rebellious, arrogant, and sinful man. Jonah did not become a rebellious, arrogant, and sinful man because he ran away to Tarshish. He ran away to Tarshish because he was a rebellious, arrogant, and sinful man. You guys understand? He didn't want God to be gracious and compassionate. He wanted God to condemn and judge the Ninevites. He was angry that God was slow to anger. So the circumstances did not cause Jonah to become a sin-corrupted prophet. The circumstances revealed the residual depravity of his flesh. So in his sovereignty, God allowed him to rebel, at least for a little bit. So here's something to critically think about.

Couldn't God have stopped Jonah sooner? As soon as Jonah gets up to go to Joppa, no. Why did God allow Jonah? He got pretty far to go as far as he did. Why did God permit Jonah to arrive at Japbah safely? Jerusalem to Joppa is about 40 miles. Okay? So he probably walked. And why did God not interrupt Jonah's paying for the ship's fare? And then Jonah endangers the sailors who are simply trying to do their business. Why? Why doesn't God stop this? This is a rebellion. This is an evil. Why doesn't God stop it? Well, we learned two weeks ago, through God's not getting involved, the pagan sailors are later brought to salvation. That's one reason. But the other big reason was to bring Jonah, his beloved prophet, to the point of despair.

To reveal to Jonah his sin, to break Jonah's heart, to crush Jonah's spirit. Now, nod your heads if you've heard this verse quoted before, okay? Yahweh is near to the brokenhearted, and he saves those who are crushed in spirit. Nod your heads if you've heard that. Psalm 34, 18. In times of tragedy, a lot of people quote Psalm 34, 18. And it is absolutely a biblical truth that God is near in times of grief and heartache. After all, that's why those who are mourning are called blessed, right? Blessed are those who mourn. But in context, Psalm 34 is about God blessing the righteous and waging war against the unrighteous. Okay, that's Psalm 34. Psalm 34 speaks of how God, in his goodness, will first break the sinner to enable the sinner to taste and see his goodness.

So it's kind of like a doctor, sometimes will re break of broken bone that has been incorrectly set. You guys know that? Okay, doctors, they're evil people. They, oh, broken bone, break it again, right? Is the doctor cruel for causing that patient pain? Of course not. Right? In his medical kindness, and through his wisdom and professional experience, their doctor will break in order to properly set. He's re breaking, causing excruciating pain for the patient's long-term good. No one is going to sue a doctor for inflicting this kind of pain, even if it is obviously intentional. Okay. Similarly, the Lord, our great physician, in his wisdom and kindness, not in his cruelty, will break in order to properly set.

Oh, it's leaking. Ignore it. Okay. There is so much disgusting pride in the heart of every sinner because of the fall. And in his fallen and corrupt state, the sinner does not and cannot see that his only hope is Yahweh. So oftentimes, Yahweh, in his kindness, will injuriously orchestrate the details of his life of that sinner to get his attention. To move him to a place of despair. And that's Psalm 34. And you guys probably missed a lot of that right now. You're distracted, right? So I want to read Psalm 34, verse 18 for you in context. It reads.

Many are the evils against the righteous. But Yahweh delivers him out of them all. So in Psalm 34, righteousness and brokenheartedness are used synonymously. Okay? The righteous in Psalm 34 are by definition those who know that they're in need of help. So the righteous, they cry because they're in trouble. They're crushed in spirit. So what you will see in this passage is that salvation first necessitates a crushing. Salvation necessitates a breaking of hearts, because it is the poor in spirit who are blessed. It is those who mourn who are blessed, it is the meek who are blessed. It is those who are purified in heart alone who will hunger and thirst for righteousness, even in the midst of persecution, in order to be blessed.

So the starting point of everybody's genuine salvation is despair.

Man would always choose the pleasures of sin. Man would knowingly choose destruction. So the starting point of man's salvation is despair, is distress, humiliation, and weakness. So some people just think that if I add on Jesus or church involvement, it's like an insurance policy to avoid hell. You give in, if you give them enough time, people who have simply added on Jesus out of their own volition and their pride sometimes, they will prove it, they will prove themselves over time to never have had a relationship with Jesus. You will usually see them become apostate. So our turning to Jesus as Savior always comes first from a desperation for saving. Amen.

So sometimes in his kindness, God will allow for you and me to mess things up, to get mired and entangled in our despair, to grow a great distaste for the temporary passing world that we're in, and to long for eternity. So, Psalm 34, 8. Taste and see that Yahweh alone is good. How blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. So that only the desperate and hopeless will turn to God for refuge. If an unsaved person in your life is grow going, just growing through some very difficult times, if they are rebelling, if an unsaved family member or friend who is cursing God is suffering. Pray for desperation. Don't pray for relief.

Amen. Desperation is the beginning point of salvation. Sometimes somebody needs the wrecking ball of God to come for them to seek God. Only the broken and desperate seek refuge in God. So first, the prayer that the God of heaven listens to is one that comes from a place of brokenness and despair. And so for from both a place physically and literally a place of hopelessness and despair, right? I'm in a fish. Jonah, he prays. Chapter 2, verse 2 reads. He said, I called out of my distress to Yahweh, and he answered me. I cried for help from the belly of Sheol, you heard my voice. Hallelujah. And he goes on to say, for you had cast me into the deep, into the heart of the sea, the current surrounded me, all your breakers and waves passed over me.

So I said, I have been driven away from your sight. But nevertheless, I will look again toward your holy temple. Water encompassed me, to my very soul, the great deep surrounded me. Weeds were wrapped around my head.

To every desperate sinner crying out for refuge in God, God will answer and bid him first come and die. Seems backward. Desperation will first lead to death before it begins to lead to life. Desperation will first lead to death before it leads to life. So in Jonah's context, okay, God either is miraculously preserving him alive for three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, or God physically killed Jonah. Okay, pay attention. There's no way to say with absolute certainty, but I am led to think that Jonah physically died inside of a fish.

Okay? Well, now you're now you're interested. Okay. First, let alone for three daysically and scientifically.

Not your heads if you understand. Three days, okay? He would have suffocated or drowned. Second, prophetically, this is the sign of Jonah that Jesus mentions in Matthew 12, referring to what? His death and resurrection. It's not mostly dead and then come back to life. Some of the liberals interpretate interpret the resurrection like that. Oh, he didn't really die, so that's not a resurrection. Okay.

In verse 4, Jonah utters what is almost prophetic about Christ. Christ was driven away from the side of the Father. Literally, God the Father turned his face away and then cast him out. But on the third day, Jesus looked again to the presence of God to the holy temple. So Jonah too once again would see the temple in Jerusalem with his own eyes. Okay, so that's the second one. Third, we know that theologically the wages of sin is what? Death. Romans 6 23. And in the context, the wording suggests a physical death. He was driven away from God's sight. Okay. The verb driven away is nigrasti. Repeat after me. Nig. Rasti. Nigras nigrasti. So it's associated with God's discipline or hand of punishment.

It's a very strong word. And it's usually coming from a place of displeasure. It's like I want to spit you out of my mouth, kind of displeasure. Some translators even translate it as divorce. So God drove out Nigrasti, Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. God drove Cain from his land. God negrasti, the Canaanites from the promised land. So it's a strong word. Now theologically, we know that those whom God elects, he will never disown. But for Jonah, it likely felt that he was being disowned. So again, I perhaps I think he died there because of his sin. Okay. Now, the text isn't 100% clear as to what condition Jonah was in while he was inside the fish deep in the ocean. But regardless, he either died, or he was at least dying to sin.

So verses six and seven.

But you have resurrected my life from the pit, oh Yahweh, my God. While my soul was dying and fainting within me, I remember Yahweh. My prayer came to you to your holy temple. So Jonah was barred in forever. He was done. Do you guys see that in the language? Forever. At the base of the mountains, in the pit, he's dead. Permanent. But what happens? He is raised to life and restored. So death must precede being raised to life. Amen. The old man, 2 Corinthians 5, 17, the old has to go away for the new to come. There has to be a crucifixion with Christ and a profession of it is no longer I who what? Live. Don't you know you are dead to sin?

So before there is a resurrection into the newness of life, there has to be death. Why? You cannot love the world. Put your hope in the world, delight in the world, and still be saved. What does James 4-4 say? Friendship with the world is hatred toward God. So don't try to make the world a better place. Try to shine the light of Jesus. Try to make the world a better place. You're gonna end up loving the world. And it's a foolish endeavor, because this world is doomed, 2 Peter chapter 3. Jude. Okay. You also cannot serve two masters, Matthew 6, 24. You cannot love both. You cannot love this life and love God. You will either hate one or the other. You cannot live for the world and live for God.

Do you see that in Matthew 6, 24? Love for the world is evidence, 1 John 2.15, of what? You don't know God. So the worldliness of the old life must and will be put to death. If it is not put to death, then Jonah chapter 2, verse 8 is the reality for the sinner. Those who regard, other translations will actually translate it, cling to. Those who cling to worthless idols, forsake their loving kindness. And what it means there is somebody who loves the world, clings to the world, rejects God's grace. Okay, so the sinner's reality is that if he doesn't first die to the old, he cannot be given the new. Because of the love of the old things, his love of the idols, his love for the cursed and broken world, he forsakes the Hesed, the loving kindness of God.

So in his kindness, God not only brings and crushes the sinner to the point of despair, he also puts him to death. And that is painful. Does Jesus say, if anyone wants to come after me and follow me, he must take up his couch? No. But later he goes on to say, if you're ashamed of that, me and my words, the Son of Man's ashamed of you. Because you don't know God if you think that the Christian life is taking up your couch and your fluffy pillow. The Christian on this side of eternity, for every Christian, the old man has both died and it's still dying. So that one day he may eternally live. That's the biblical truth.

Thank you.

Husband and wife, whose two-year-old daughter passed away this January. Dad ran over his daughter. And we were talking about the sovereignty of God, and I had no answers for them, obviously on why this happened. But with tears welling up in my own eyes, I said, You're longing for heaven and for eternity more now, huh? And they nodded. We want to see Cassidy. They shared with me that the loss of their daughter immediately took away all worldliness. All their pleasures for this life, all their hopes for this life, for her future in this life. What a wonderful excruciatingly painful gift of God. And I told them, take comfort in the fact the castidity is with the Lord.

And she does not miss you at all. She is not sad that she died. And we were all eating, eating our tacos. So the deep pains of death are momentary, they're temporary, but still light, 2 Corinthians 4, and in view of what awaits in heaven. The Lord will do whatever it takes to get your heart. Not your behavior, your heart. The Lord wants the sinner's heart, not just prayers offered in lip service. And our jealous God, in order to get our hearts to fill us with both purpose and joy, he puts us to death.

Death always comes before life. Repentance always comes before resurrection. So he will cause us to turn away from the old through repentance into the new. So while the soul was fainting away in verse 7, Jonah offers an acceptable prayer that goes up to God's holy temple. And these verses, rich in meaning, describes not only Jonah's situation, but like I said, foretells Jesus' being driven away from the Father. And it also illustrates your testimony. My testimony. Romans 6, 4, 5. Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his what? Resurrection. No death, no resurrection. Third, in the sinner's prayer that that's real, that actually saves and justifies a person, it's one of dependence, despair, death, dependence. And it's a posture that fully understands that salvation is Yahweh's alone. Okay. So there's 100% dependence on God to save. And I'm going to read chapter two, verse nine. But as for me, I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed, I will pay. And here is a glorious profession. Salvation, not enabled. It belongs to Yahweh. So what does salvation belong to Yahweh mean?

What this means is that salvation is only by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Amen.

There was nothing savable in you. There is nothing good in you. Nothing of worth. So the grace of God levels the playing field. Not only does salvation begin with God, it continues by God alone. Salvation continues to belong to Yahweh alone. So what that means then is even if you've been a Christian twenty years, thirty years, forty years, there is still nothing good in you outside of Jesus. Amen. Nothing. Salvation is and was and always will be a gift of God which belongs to him that he bestows upon you so that you may not boast.

So here is an illustration, okay, that sums up the prayer that justifies a man. Here's a picture of the mourner's seat or the sinner's prayer that really brings salvation. And it's a parable from Jesus' own mouth. Luke 18, 9 to 12. He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and they viewed others with contempt. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying these things to himself. God. That's so funny. He prays it to himself. God. Okay. I thank you that I am not like other people. Swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like that tax collector. I fast twice a week. I pay tithes of all that I get.

I stand with Charlie Kirk. I vote against abortion. I vote against transgender ideology. I am good. And you may have noticed a few things here. There will always be people who trust in themselves, believe in themselves to be righteous, and then look at everybody else with contempt. Second, you will notice that the Pharisee is not praying to God. Who's he praying to? Himself. This is not a prayer. It's stupid self-confidence and self-praise. His prayers are not being offered to God. He is just spiritually patting himself on the back. He sees the sinner in his vicinity, and he goes, Ha ha, thank God. I am better than him because I am more upright and moral.

See, I tithe. So this Pharisee is depending on his own personal worth and merit. He is not dependent on the God to whom salvation belongs. So the parable continues. The tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift his eyes to heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Jesus says, I tell you, that man, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. And this is not new stuff. We've all seen this before, right? The tax collector, fully aware of his sinfulness and his unworthiness, stands at a distance away.

And that man, according to Jesus, went home justified. This was the sinner's prayer that saved, that justified, that continued to save and justify in this hypothetical man's life. He's not even real. Jesus was telling a story, okay. So there's a few things we learn here.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Both the Pharisee and the tax collector in this parable were hopeless outside the kindness of God. Amen.

There will never continue to be anything good outside of Christ. For the tax collector to the day he dies, he has nothing good in him outside of Jesus. So this posture of dependence must always characterize a Christian. This has to always be their verbal confession. Despair, death, dependence. This was a very strange and an emotionally taxing week for our country. You guys all know this. Charlie Kirk was assassinated, and we had people celebrating, and we have people on all sides angry, upset, and enraged. On my social media, I posted Psalm 116, 15. Precious in the sight of Yahweh is the death of his saints. And then I wrote, thank you, Lord, for raising up men like Charlie Kirk in and for this generation.

And my liberal college friends from Berkeley and Stanford. Oh, they came out of the word works to challenge me. Not publicly, because it's a little bit scary now for them to do anything in public, but they challenged me. They told me, I'm so shocked. I'm so bothered. I'm so offended. And they texted to vent, say all kinds of horrible things about Charlie Kirk, and then even try to bully me. And I have, I'm Korean. I have fire. And I was so annoyed, so disturbed, and even angry. But the Lord reminded me of a few things during this whole time in this week. One, he reminded me that people are never the enemy.

The people on the left are not my enemies. Just like not all the people on my right are my friends. Right. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Ephesians 6 12. It is never against flesh and blood. Flesh and blood always blame flesh and blood. And that is characteristic only of the unregenerate man who does not believe in a sovereign God. First thing, flesh and blood is never our enemy. Second thing that I learned this week and reminded of was there is no moral or spiritual high ground for anybody outside the grace of God. Again, the grace of God levels the playing field. The wicked Ninevites, the pagan sailors, the people of Israel, and Jonah, their prophet, all deserve wrath and condemnation.

Even in the gospel narratives, not all the Pharisees were lost. Some came to Christ. You guys know this, right? Not all the tax collectors got saved. There was a thief on the cross who went to hell. As well as one who went to be with the Lord in paradise. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Salvation truly belongs to God alone. Amen. So there was anger in my heart. And at the same time, I also discovered, huh? I'm maturing a little bit. There is supernatural love. And I as I pray to the Lord, as I was getting bombarded by my friends, he led me to this thought. In my conversations with those who disagree with me, with those who are trying to bully me, my goal is not to win the argument.

Or win my argument. Make them look bad.

Salvation belongs to Yahweh. I am justified because He's brought me to the point of desperation, united me with Christ into his death, raised me up into newness of life. And now I am utterly dependent on God for salvation. Still, even though I've been a believer for over 30 years, and my prayer for this generation, it cannot be. Lord, vindicate us. Execute your vengeance. You said, Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, bring it. Prove us right. Punish the evildoers. That's Jonah. You follow. That's the heart of Jonah that wants that. We need to pray like Nehemiah, who grieved for his generation, who included himself with the wicked in that generation.

And I'm going to read for you his prayer, Nehemiah 1, 6 to 7. Let your ear now be attentive and your eyes opened to hear the prayer of your slave, which I am praying before you today, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel, your slaves, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel, which we have sinned against you. I and my father's house have sinned. We have worked in utter destruction against you. We have not kept your commandments, nor your statutes, nor the judgments which you commanded your servant Moses.

So whoever attacks you this week, they are just as lost without Christ as you would be. You guys follow.

May we all be collectively found in the mourners' seats. May we all render our hearts and not just our external garments. What is the prayer that justifies? Despair, death, dependence. And I'm going to close with you the reading of the sinner's prayer that we looked at today, verses one through nine. Actually, I'll go through ten. Okay.

God commands some vomit. All right, here we go. Jonah 2, one to four. Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God, from the stomach of the fish. And he said, I called out of my distress to Yahweh, and he answered me. And I cried for help from the belly of Sheah. Oh, you heard my voice. You had cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas. The current surrounded me. All your breakers and waves passed over me. So I said, I have been driven away from your sight and put to death. Nevertheless I will look again towards your holy temple. Water encompassed me to my very soul. The great deep surrounded me, weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the base of the mountains. The earth with its bars closed behind me permanently forever.

But you have brought my life up from the pit, O Yahweh, my God. While my soul was fainting within me, I remembered Yahweh, and my prayer came to you, to your holy temple. Those who regard, cling to, worthless idols, forsake their loving kindness. But as for me, I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed, I will pay. Salvation belongs to Yahweh. Then here's a resurrection. Then Yahweh spoke to the fish and invomited Jonah up under the dry land. Let's pray together.

Father, without your mercy, whatever conviction that we're feeling at this moment would have turned us into angry, hostile, bitter people. But I trust that your sheep hear your voice. They follow you. So would your word bear a mighty fruit in our lives, in this church, in this city, in this nation, in the world, until you return. And when you return, may we shine so brightly that they may see our good deeds and glorify our Father who is in heaven. Amen.