"As It Pleased You" (Jonah 1:11-16)

“Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech you, O Lord, we beseech you, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging” (vs15)

Our hope for sin is Christ DYING for us. We may want to wish that we’d never done it, we may regret it sincerely, and we may desire to change what we’ve done, even apologizing and serving others because of it. But, NONE of this takes away sin; it is faith in Jesus Christ, casting Him overboard and seeing Him punished for us, which quiets the mind. We cannot say, “It is too much. My sin is gross, it is FRESH and new, and I can’t look to Jesus Christ now, because I thought that I’d never sin again like this, and yet here I am”. Your and my sin CAN’T be too great for Christ, unless He is a weak Savior, and that won’t do. It must be God’s glory to put away sin by faith in Christ, rather than His shame that He cannot. This is a debt that He’s WILLING to pay (Luke 7:42).

I say to everyone who hears and reads this gospel: you may cast your sins upon Christ, even as the sinner came to God, putting his sins upon the head of Another, an innocent victim, that he would kill - “If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him“ (Lev 1:3-4). The glory of God is to punish sins in Christ and FORGIVE the sinner. Will you be satisfied that God is PLEASED to pardon you for His sake? If so, then the storm shall be quiet, and you’ll honor Christ by the hope that He gives - “So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows” (Jonah 1:15-16). But, remove the atonement, and there’s no hope for you: nothing else pacifies God nor can bring peace to your mind and life. You and I must BELIEVE the glory of God, rather than diminish Him because we think that we’re too clever to be forgiven (Jonah 1:13).