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Amen. Thank you, Amanda. We'll
dismiss the bill 1654321 and go with Mr. Schwartz, your class,
into creche. And the rest of us, please open
up our Bibles and join us. It's been a joy to have Amanda
with us. And this has become tradition on Thanksgiving to
have her up here. And for this weekend, I appreciate
her serving the Lord, even though she's away from the ministry
that God's put her in. And we had fun watching, since she was
at our house, a video that the mission team put together of
their travels, both here and then down in Peterborough. And
we watched that, and it was great to have the memories of what
they did while they were with us, and their testimony of the
time spent here, and how they were impacted by what they saw
here. So that was a blessing this week as well. Often in evangelism,
In Scotland, I point out to atheists the Christian heritage of Scotland
by referring to the fact that they probably know people named
John, or Ruth, or Luke, or Paul, or those Bible names that are
a part of the culture here, because this was a very strong Christian
nation. I had an atheist that called
me that Scurling is a village out by Bigger, and we've done
some evangelism out there. He called me and spoke to me.
several months ago for about 45 minutes, to tell me not to
leave a flyer anymore at his house. But anyway, as we spoke
for a while, it came out in the conversation that he has a Luke,
he has a Hannah. I've heard from the farmer of
Skerling. I call him that because he said to me, he said, don't,
and I've told you this, but don't put a flyer through my mail slot
again. I said, that's fine, just tell
me your address. And he said, begrudgingly, the farmhouse in
Skerling, so he's not a farmer, but I call him that. and I hope
you get saved. But even as an unbeliever, he
named his kids, maybe family names, but he knew that they
were Bible names. And that's what we called them,
don't we? We called them Bible names. But have you ever noticed
that certain names that are Bible names aren't popular names. Now,
they might be names like Carpus, Barnabas, Aristarchus, Secundus,
Gaius, Tychicus, or Trophimus, or something like that, and we
get that, we understand that. Maybe that just doesn't sound
that good in English, and so unless it's a derivation of that
name, you're not going to maybe hear of somebody called that.
But there are other names that are violent, they might sound
okay. Names like Jezebel, Lucifer,
Sapphira, Achan, they don't necessarily of themselves sound bad, but
because of the action by which they are associated we understand
that they're not a name that we'd like to give. It's similar
to the fact that as human beings we associate sometimes names
with actions. I know that we'd go canoeing
down a river near my house and there were rocks that we called
Jason rocks. They're the rocks that you can't really see except
there's maybe a little bubble in the current. I guess there
was this kid that somebody knew in our group that his name was
Jason and Jason had this a condition where he couldn't get past those
rocks. He'd always hit those rocks. And you've got to keep
an eye out for them. And so we called them Jason rocks. And
so we do that. We associate names with actions. Parents know that when they go
to name a child, they might suggest to their spouse that, hey, what
about this name? And the other one says, well,
wait a second. I knew somebody that was named
that. And so we do associate in our minds names with actions. As we come to this book, this
man is a man of God. But his name isn't a popular
name because probably when you say the name Jonah, somebody
automatically thinks Jonah and the whale. Because that's Sonny's
story. That's what you learn about Jonah.
That's the main idea of the story. The man's idea of the story is
not the good part about Jonah. Jonah was a man of God. God did
use, but it's a bad part of his name. And so with those names
like Jezebel, or Lucifer, or Sapphira, or Achan, We would
use that name as a warning to somebody. We would use that name
perhaps by saying, hey, don't be a Jezebel, don't be a Lucifer,
don't be like the wicked one, or that's a characteristic of
him. And so we could say about Jonah, don't be, if I say it
this way, a Jonah in the whale, Jonah. All right? Jonah chapter
one, Jonah. And that's what I want to preach
on this morning. Don't be like that Jonah. And
so, I already liked that Jonah this morning. And, you know,
I'm not anticipating that somebody's going to be driving home, and
they're going to get pitched out, and a great fish is going
to come swallow them, and get that guy's prepared. But, you
know, we can be more like that Jonah, chapter 1 Jonah, than
it is possible to be like that Jonah more easily than we think
it is. just by the things that take place in Jonah chapter 1
that we'll look at this morning as we consider this idea of don't
be like the Jonah and the whale. And I know it's a great fish,
okay? Jonah. Let's pray. Father, I pray that the Spirit
of God would speak to our hearts this morning as we come to this
text. Father, we thank you for the
Word of God. And Father, I praise you as I
look at Jonah and the whale. I praise you that you're a merciful
God. I praise you, Father, that it's possible to serve God having
rebelled against God. We see that in the life of Peter,
his denial of Christ, and yet his restoration. Well, Father,
we're looking at the bad part about Jonah this morning, and
I pray that the Spirit of God would give us grace to not be
like that Jonah. And Father, would you use this
message in our hearts today? I pray that the Spirit of God
would give us ears to hear, help us to listen and be in tune and
be considerate of the truth of Scripture as we see it this morning.
Father, I pray that it would make it to our feet to help us
interlock with God. And Father, I can't preach without
your help. I pray, Father, that you'd help me to preach practically,
help me to preach biblically. Father, help me to preach lovingly,
help me to preach powerfully. And Father, I confess, I can't
speak at all without you. And Father, I pray that the Spirit
of God give liberty in this service. We had such a precious service
Thursday night. And Father, we're thankful for
the grace that you give for our ministry. But Father, what we
really need is to hear from heaven. Father, we need the Spirit of
God to do a deep work in our hearts and our lives. And so
Father, we just lift ourselves up before you now in this time
and ask that we know the sweetness of the presence of God in this
place, in this hour. It's in Christ's name we pray.
Amen. So don't be a Jonah in the whale Jonah, Jonah chapter
1. And so how do you not do that? All of my points this morning
are going to be don't statements because the emphasis is don't
be like that Jonah. So the first one is don't refuse
God's instruction. Don't refuse God's instruction.
God is not pressed or it's not difficult for God today to make
His will known to us or to you or to myself. And so the Bible
says in verse 1, Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the
son of Amittai, Sinai. And so Jonah's there, and God
knows where Jonah is. And God comes to Jonah with a
message. And there's different ways back
in this time period that God would speak to these prophets. Sometimes a prophet had a vision,
like Peter. on the rooftop in Acts chapter
10 where the Bible speaks about it and says in verse 9 on the
morrow as they went on their journey and drew nigh into the
city the people coming from Cornelius up to Peter that Peter went up
on the housetop to pray about the sixth hour. and became very
hungry and would have eaten. And while they made ready, he
fell into a trance and saw heaven open and a certain vessel descending
unto him, as it had been a great sheet, knit at the four corners
and let down to the earth." And sometimes a prophet had a vision
that was like Peter had there. It's daytime, but he kind of
falls into this semi-consciousness of this trance as God speaks
to him. Sometimes God would speak in
a vision that was more like a dream at night time, like the man of
Macedonia. In Acts 16 verse 9 it says, And a vision appeared to
Paul in the night. There stood a man of Macedonia
and prayed and sang, Come over into Macedonia and help us. And
as immediately they conferred, because they knew it was God.
God was speaking to them and they were going to hasten to
do what God wanted them to do. Sometimes God would speak in
these days audibly, as he did with Samuel in the Old Testament,
1 Samuel 3 verse 10. The Lord came and stood and called,
as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak.
for thy servant here. And so there was that communication
that took place between God and man. It was very clear when it
took place. And so we understand, as we look
at this this morning, that it didn't matter how God spoke.
What mattered is that when he spoke, he spoke in a way which
that man would know that it was God speaking to them. And so
that Jonah isn't going to fail in our story because of a misunderstanding
between him and God. There was no ambiguity, there
was no misunderstanding. Jonah is going to fully comprehend
exactly what God wanted him to comprehend. And so, in our text,
God told Jonah where to go. Verse 2 says, Arise, go to Nineveh,
that great city. This is the capital of Assyria. It's the great enemy of the northern
kingdom of Israel. They're already swallowing up
the northern kingdom, and where they would take people if you...
I've seen Reliefs, I guess, that they kind of chiseled or whatever,
however they made these reliefs that show the Assyrians with
heads by their feet, because when they would take their enemy,
they would not just kill them, they would torture them. They
were barbarous people that were despised people. And God said,
go to them. Now, we're going to look at some
reasoning as to why Jonah disobeyed. But the fact is, Jonah knew where
God wanted him to go. And there's going to be times
in our life where God is going to have a place where he wants
you to go. And God's not going to have a problem communicating
that to you. And if I were to suggest, and
I will give us some suggestions this morning, but the suggestions
as to what that could be are endless. Because God has so many
places that he could potentially want somebody to go. God might
tell somebody to go to a local church. That there's a place
of worship that God says to them, that's where I want you to go. It may be God telling somebody
to go to Bible college, to a place, a specific school, a specific
location, whatever education, a specific place that God wants
them to go. It might be a career path. that
God has for somebody that God wants them to go. It could be
a person or a group of people that God desires them to go to. It could be something like an
invitation time. If we had a come forward invitation
in our church, as some churches call it an altar call, it could
be to that place that God wants them to go. It might just be
to make it practical in my heart, I can look back at many times
where even as a child or as a teen, God spoke to my heart. I knew
what God was saying to go. When I got saved, I was five
years old, sitting in the service as my dad preached a message
on hell, and somebody said internally to me, go speak to your dad.
Nobody talked to me, but I knew I needed to go talk to my dad.
And I went to my dad's study and went to him and told him
I wanted to get saved. I remember when God spoke to
my heart about surrendering my life to Him and I shared the
testimony that for me to say to God, whatever you want to
do with my life, go ahead and do it, was a big deal because
I was scared to death God was going to call me to preach. You
know, and God did. But I mean, I remember sitting
at Camp Shechak, and by the way, Pastor Randy Tanis Also known
as PR, is the director of Camp Jetech. He's going to be with
us on a Thursday night, in two weeks from this Thursday night.
That's the camp that he wasn't there. That's the camp that God
worked in my heart in that regard. But I remember being compelled
to go out at the invitation. because God had somewhere he
wanted me to go. And when God has somewhere he
wants us to go, as he communicates that to us, as he did with Jonah,
he often tells us what he wants us to do. And so he says, arise,
go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it. Jonah was
to preach there in Nineveh, and so God said go and cry against
it. The message that he preaches
is a message that we know because he eventually does go to Nineveh. The message is, Jonah 3 verse
4, yet 40 days in Nineveh shall be overthrown. And so there's
a specific reason that God has that God wants them to go. So
God says to go, go to that place and cry against it. And again, as we think about
just the places that I suggested to us this morning that God could
be telling somebody to go to, God could tell somebody to go
to church. Why? Because they need to get saved. Go to church. Why? Because they need to get
baptized. Go to church. Why? Because they
need to be a part of the local body of Christ as the whole New
Testament is about that local assembly and how that assembly
works and what that assembly does and why that is an important
place. People might be led of God to
go to Bible class because God has a Christian education that
He desires them to get. They might be directed to a job
situation because there's maybe something there that God has
for them then or maybe something God has for them there for the
future that God desires them to do. There are individuals
and people groups that God might send us to because they need
the gospel. Because they didn't get saved.
And so God wants us to go and cry the gospel to them. An invitation
people may need to go and get right with God and deal with
the thing that God has put in their heart that is a decision
they need to make for God. And as we speak about this this
morning, it's not mystical today to say that God has places He
wants us to go and things that He wants us to do. It says, Practicals,
Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. Trust in the Lord with all thy
heart. Lean not into thy own understanding in all thy ways.
Acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy path. And it might
be the Spirit of God speaking through the Bible of God speaking
through a preacher of the Word of God as he stands up and declares
what God says and the Spirit of God comes and says, this is
something that you need to do and this is where you need to
go and then God tells Jonah why to do it. He says, for their
wickedness is come up before me. God was disgusted with the
Ninevites. And God's not going to take it
any longer. God's not going to let it be that way anymore. One
way or another, God's going to deal with Nineveh, and God is
going to have this situation resolved for the wickedness that's
come up before me. You know, God doesn't have to
tell us why this morning. As the Spirit of God speaks to
our hearts about, through the Bible reading or through preaching
or however God speaks to us and consistent with His Word. God
doesn't have to say why, but maybe often I would say that
God does. And that often the reason is
very maybe similar to that with Jonah. God has people that God
wants right with Him, whether it's ourselves or somebody else,
and God is directing us to get that accomplished. And so this morning, and every
time we come to the preaching and teaching of the Word of God,
every time you open up the Word of God, and God speaks to your
heart about a very specific truth, not something again mystical
or ethereal or something else, but something very clear in the
Word of God that God's Word says to do, is there that in your
heart that says, God, I want to do that? Like David said,
I will run the way of God's commandments without shutting the waters in
my heart. God, you speak. I've got my ears open to you,
God. Whatever you want me to do, God, I'm going to do it as
fast as I can do it. By the grace of God, I don't want anything
in my life that is God saying this to me and me saying no,
God. Because I want to receive. I don't want to refuse God's
instruction. Don't be a Jonah, don't refuse
God's instruction. And then don't be a Jonah, don't
run from God's call. Okay, now we're getting to the
heart of the story of Jonah, the prophet who runs from God.
Don't run from God's call because you will have to make a conscious
decision to reject God. Verse three says, but Jonah rose
up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. And
so Jonah's lacing on his running shoes. I mean, he's getting up.
He's getting ready to take off. And we went to Israel. And actually,
these guys have been to Israel as well. Blake and Amanda have
been to Israel. And we went to Joppa. And we got postponed on
our tour because of a late flight. And it was supposed to be early
in the week, but it ended up being later. It just happened to be
that the day that we went to Joppa and when we went down to
the harbor, Ironically, it actually rained. It's the only time it
rained on us, but it rained when we were standing at the harbor
and Jonah went out into the Mediterranean as he fled from God. The world has a lot of excuses
for why people do bad things. They have a term that they particularly
seem to like when it comes to somebody that has done something
horrible and something criminal. They use the term temporary insanity,
as if that person is unintentionally transgressing, as if it wasn't
really them. It was something within them
that took place. And yet, as we look at Jonah
and we understand this with regard to those that trespass against
God, Jonah wasn't suffering from temporary insanity. He was in
a simple case of rebelling against God. Jonah is not a coward. As you read the story of Jonah,
you struggle with the fact that, I mean, it's a very bold man
as he is on that ship and he says to the sailors, he says, throw me
overboard. He's not afraid. It doesn't appear
that he's panicked or anything. And we know from the story that
he's going to walk into the city of the Ninevites that do these
barbarous crimes against Israel. They're the enemy of Israel.
He's coming from Israel as a preacher and he's going to walk into that
city and preach. So Jonah isn't a chicken or a coward. Jonah knew God was merciful.
And he knew that these were the enemies of God that God could
destroy, and that God was going to spare him, as we read about
in Jonah chapter 4. And so as we think about that,
we think, you know, Jonah, in running from God, Jonah did so
intelligently. Jonah made a conscious decision
that he wasn't going to obey God. And so it is with us, as
the Spirit of God speaks to our heart about something, whether
it's a standard separation, sin issue, a decision of obedience,
or evangelism, or church, whatever God is speaking to our heart
about, there has to be a conscious decision where we say to God,
God, I'm not going to do that. And we know God wants us to do
that. Jonah did. Don't run from God's call. You'll
have to make a conscious decision to reject God. And then you'll
go in a direction which is the opposite of where you should
go. It says he went down to Joppa and he found a ship going to
Tarshish. Jonah didn't make a long turn on his way to Nineveh. Nineveh
was east. Jonah went as far west as Jonah
could as far as they knew the end of the known world as he
went to a place that, I guess, is near Gibraltar in southern
Spain. I mean, that's where he's going,
as far away from God as he could. I believe this to be a true statement. As soon as someone rejects God's
command to go, they will quickly find themselves going in the
opposite direction of where God intends them to go. Why? Because you can't reject God's
counsel without turning your back on God. I mean, no matter
how small it is, this morning, as the Spirit of God speaks to
somebody's heart about something God wants changed in that individual's
life, to reject that is to say to God, no, and to say to God,
no, is to turn and to depart from God. When Peter denied Jesus,
he had to curse and swear and leave the presence of the Savior.
I mean, how did he make it known that, I'm not with him, I mean,
he had to say things that a Christian shouldn't say, and then he had
to depart from the presence of the Lord. And so it is, as somebody,
God speaks their heart about something, and they refuse, it's
going to take them in a direction that's away from God. Don't turn
from God's call. You'll have to make a conscious
decision to reject God. You'll go in a direction that's
opposite of where you should go, and you'll choose companions
who are going in that contrary direction. You'll choose companions
who are going in that contrary direction. It says, so he paid
the fare thereof, and he went down into it to go with them
unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Now, the point is
not that these were wicked men, any more than ungodly men are
wicked men. They weren't God-fearing men at the beginning of this
chapter. And so they're not. But Jonah and getting the ship
with them, they're innocent. I mean, God didn't call them
to go to the Ninevites. They're just on their way to
Joppa. But my point is this, as Jonah gets with them, he has
to get with people that are going away from where God wants Jonah
to go. And notice the terminology that the Bible uses. And you
see this in Jonah's rebellion, this idea of going down. And that says to go with them
and to Tarshish, from the presence of the Lord. It is true this
morning that your companions speak volumes about the way that
you're going. If I were to examine my heart
this morning and say, you know what, what is the direction am
I going? Am I really going the way God
wants me to do? One of the basic things I could
do is just examine the friends that I have, those close relationships
that I have. If I'm closely associated with
them that are walking away from God, then my trajectory probably
isn't towards God. The Bible says in Proverbs 13
verse 20, He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a
companion of fools shall be destroyed. Our companions had a lot to do
with the way that we're going. And my mom, I've said this before,
but she had some good advice that the only advice I remember
my mom giving me as I went to Bible college is find good friends. Find good friends. Why? Because
those are people that are walking with their God. Jonah, as he
ran from God's call, he had to make a conscious decision to
reject God. He had to go in a direction opposite of where he should go.
He had to choose companions that were going in that direction.
Don't be a Jonah. Don't run from God's call. And
then don't be a Jonah. Don't ignore the tempest of God's
wrath. Tempests blow in life. I mean,
there's gonna be times where, I mean, in life we're gonna face
a storm And it could be kind of different
sources. I listened to a good message
this past week about Job and Job chapter 1. And Job faced
a storm in his life, a storm that destroyed his family, as
it were. And as Job faced that, that tempest
was a tempest from the devil, Job chapter 1. Jonah, as he faced
this tempest, he's facing a tempest from the wrath of Almighty God.
What's the difference? Well, Job knew he was right with
God. I mean, if you ask Job, Job defended
it throughout the ordeal that he's facing. Job, the Bible says,
God said Job was a righteous man. Job defended his righteousness. But Jonah, Jonah knew that he
was running from God. Jonah knew that he wasn't right
with God. And if somebody's like that this
morning, somebody that would be in a position of disobedience
to God, and you know you are, I'm not trying to make us afraid
that whatever situations in our life it's because God hates me.
Alright, understand that. There are times where as a believer
we could be walking with God and we'll go through a tough
time, right Joe? But if I know my heart's not right with God,
and I know I'm in disobedience to God, sin that I've not dealt
with, things that I haven't changed, I don't know what God wants me
to change. If I'm in a condition like that, in that sense like
Jonah, you should have sense enough to be afraid when the
tempest comes. So verse 4, It says that the
Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty
tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. I mean, it's just a horrible
storm. Have you ever been in a bad storm? We were laughing
at Sunday School because my sister's family is staying in our travel
trailer in the States. They've got it right now. And
there was a thunderstorm this morning while we were here. She
texted me, I can't sleep right now because they're just getting
used to staying in it. And when rain hits the top of
a, not a tin roof, but a rubber roof, it's very loud. It's like
a tin can. And a storm can be a very scary experience. I remember
being in a trailer, as we travel on deputation in that way, and
we had a horrible storm come around the Atlanta area, so bad
that March Madness was taking place, basketball tournaments
were taking place in Atlanta, and it began to lift the ceiling
off of one of the stadiums because a tornado had passed, and that
tornado went close by us. I mean, I was shaking. And the
thing about a storm like that, it passes quickly. I even texted
my sister back. when I could this morning, in
just 10 minutes or so, and she said, but it's quiet now, it's
packed. Those kind of storms pass quickly.
But this storm that was a real physical storm that was taking
place was not going to stop until God was appeased. And God took
that ship right to the edge, the Bible says, so that the ship
was like to be broken. Verse five, then the mariners
were afraid and cried every man unto his God and cast forth the
wares that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down to the
sides of the ship and he lay and was fast asleep. And you
think, well, I mean, he's a man of God. He's not scared, even
though there's a tempest. He's down there, and he's able
to rest. But he's not, in that sense, a man of God. Like, we
think of Jesus. As Jesus sits in the boat, the
storm comes, and Jesus is sleeping. The disciples awaken. Master
Karestan, not that he perished, but the Bible says that he arose
in Mark 4, 39, and reviewed the winds. And as I've read that passage,
I've often thought that was a satanic storm. The Lord Jesus Christ
is in that boat. He stands up. He rebukes sin.
Jesus was resting in a perfect relationship with Almighty God.
In contrast, Jonah is somehow able to slave when his heart
and his life are not right with God. He knows that they're not
right with God. In fact, the main thing in Jonah's
life right now is the fact that he has rebelled against God.
And yet, in that condition, he's able to sleep. He's like a young
person getting a snack and he smiles and says, is that the
best you can do? Right? It's like God is throwing
it all at him, but he doesn't care. He's so calloused. We ought to take caution this
morning. I'm like Jonah that I could be
so calloused that my ship could be almost sinking and I can sleep
through it as if it's no big deal. And that's where Jonah
was. So don't ignore the tempest of
God's wrath. You should have sense enough
to be afraid and you need to wake up and call upon God. Verse
6 Says, so the shipmaster came to him and said unto him, what
meanest thou, O sleeper, arise, call upon thy God. It so be that
God will think upon us that we perish not. And this shipmaster,
again, I don't think he was a godly man. I believe they became God-fearing
men, as takes place in this story. But he's an ungodly man that's
afraid. And he knows we ought to cry
out to God. He has to say to Joe, wake up,
sleeper. I think it's a sad day. And that I can suggest to us
this morning that the ship of Scotland is sinking. And that
there's some ungodly people that are afraid that maybe with Brexit
or with even the perversity of our society and the rebelliousness
of our children and the terror attacks that are taking place,
that our world is waking up. They don't know God, but if they
believed in God, I believe they might cry out to God. They don't. It's an atheistic, post-Christian
society. But even unbelievers will get
to a point where they pray. But what's sad today, I believe,
is that there are Jonahs in our Christian family that have a
heart that's so hard to God. They're sleeping through the
tempest. And we could say, when we look around at society, we
look at everything going on, we could say, it's the tempest of
the wrath of God. But they're not crying out to
God. They're not pleading with God. And we don't understand.
Jonah knows he's guilty. He's running from God. The boat
is sinking. He doesn't care. But he needed to wake up and
call upon God. And so this morning, as we think about it, don't be
a Jonah. Don't ignore the tempest of God's wrath, specifically
in your life, in your family, in what's taking place in your
life because of sin. Don't ignore that. Then don't
be a Jonah. Don't think unbelievers will
never know about your rebellion. Don't be a Jonah. Don't think
unbelievers will never know about your rebellion. And they said,
every one to his fellow come and let us cast lots that we
may know from whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast
lots and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell
us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is
thine occupation, and whence comest thou? What is thy country,
and of what people art thou? And Jonah's trial has come. It's taking place on board that
ship. As the other leaders called to the tribunal, and they say,
Hey, we know you're the guilty guy. Tell us about it. Tell us
why this is taking place. We know it's you. And so, he
has to confess to them, I'm a man that is in a covenant relationship
with God. Verse 9, he said unto them, I
am a Hebrew. We just finished Sunday school,
and in Sunday school we ended with the privilege of the Jewish
people. These were the people of God, the people of the God.
And Jonah was not only that, Jonah was a prophet, he was a
preacher of God's. And the Bible says about Jonah
in 2 Kings 14 verse 25 that he restored the coast of
Israel from the entry of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according
to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the
hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet,
which is a Gath heifer. And as the Bible speaks about
Jonah, he is a servant of God, he's a man of God, he ought to
be living his life for God, but he has to almost apologize apologetically
say to these sailors, well, you know, I'm actually a son of God. And his God was the God. It says,
and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the
sea and the dry land. As they're on this ship that
is being cast about, Jonah has to confess that he is a servant
of the God, and by the way, his God's the creator. His God is
the God that made the sea, the God that made the dry land, the
dry land that can't get you, the sea that won't be calm, and
it's been passed to us that His God is that God. Notice what Jonah says, he says,
I fear the Lord, the God of heaven. You know, fear is not what you
say, but fear is what you do. Do you? Remember that I said
recently I had an opportunity to speak to a young man up at
Brother Don's church up north. And he said, I fear God. Do you
fear God? I said, well, fear is not you know, a statement. Here's the reality. I said to
him, I said, where should a person be on the Lord's day if they
fear God? He said, church. Yeah, I mean, Jonah says he fears
God. How has he gotten into this situation?
If he truly feared God, wouldn't he then be a place of obedience
to God? These unbelievers better not
fear God than Then Jonah did, the Bible says in verse 10, then
were the men exceedingly afraid and said unto him, why hast thou
done this? For the men knew that he fled
from the presence of the Lord because he had told them, if
we read the verse backwards, he told them that he feared God,
he told them that he ran from God, then the men feared the
Lord exceedingly. These unbelievers had a better
idea of what it meant to fear God than this believer did. So don't be a Jonah. Sadly, these unbelievers are
going to find out about Jonah's hypocrisy and the sin that was
in his life. He may have thought they'd never
know. He's just a companion on a boat. So don't be a Jonah. Don't think unbelievers will
never know about your rebellion. And then don't be a Jonah. Don't
jeopardize others by your following. Do you know some reason that
the captain thought Jonah should pray? Verse 6, the end of that.
He said, pray, pray, call upon thy God. That me? Perish not. He could have rightly said to
Jonah what the disciples said to Jesus. Carest thou not that
me? Perish. Don't you care? Don't you care
about those that are in the boat with you? Verse 11. Then said they unto him, what
shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? For
the sea wrought and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, take me
up and cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be calm
unto you. Notice the statement, for I know. that for my sake, this great
tempest is upon you. Okay, Jonah had no doubt why
the sea was heaving. The sailors are completely innocent. The sailors that are on the same
boat with Jonah, they haven't disobeyed God, they haven't rebelled
against God, they haven't run away from God, and yet because
of the disobedience of God's servant, the heaving sea that
they're experiencing with Jonah, It's because of Jonah's sin,
and Jonah didn't care about them. He didn't care about the Ninevites,
and he didn't care about thieves in the boat. We could look at
so many stories in the Bible, but you could ask the question,
did Achan care about his family when he hid God's spoil in his
tent? They stopped to think, how is this going to affect my
family? God said, you know, the spoil of Jericho, that's the
Lord's. That's the first battle that's going to take place in
the promised land. That is holy. That's sanctified to God. And
the truth of the spoil, the Bible says, he hid it in his tent.
And when it comes time for judgment, Joshua chapter 7, verse 24, Joshua
and all Israel took him. They took Achan, the son of Zerah,
and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his
sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his donkeys, and
his sheep, and his tent. And all that he had, and they
brought them into the valley of Achar. And Joshua said, why
hast thou troubled us? By the way, Israel suffered from
aching sin as well as they went up to fight that battle at Ai
that they lost. The Lord shall trouble thee this
day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them
with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised
over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned
from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore, the name of that place
was called the Valley of Acre unto this day." Acre, did you
care about your family? Did you think about your family?
When you made that decision to rebel against God? Did Korah
care about his family when he led a rebellion against God's
leadership? Numbers 16.32 says, And the earth opened her mouth
and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that
pertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They and all that
appertained to them went down alive into the pit. And the earth
closed upon them, and they perished from among the congregation.
Did he care about those that were going to suffer because
of his rebellion against God? Did Pharaoh care about the firstborn
sons and the families that were going to be grieving? Because
he refused to yield to God. Because he hardened his heart
when he knew what God wanted to do, let my people go that
they may serve me. And see the thing is about men's
sin, our sin does not just affect ourselves, our sin affects those
who are about us. And so if in my heart today,
there is aught that God has said to me, look, this is something
I want you to do, this is a place I want you to go, this is how
your life should be, and I say to God, God, I refuse, it doesn't
just affect me. It affects those that are in
the boat with me. Those that will suffer because God isn't
going to just let me go my own way and rebelling against God
and not deal with my sin. Don't be a Jonah. Don't rebel
because others will be jeopardized by your following. And then don't
be a Jonah. Don't let your life be a bad
example. Verse 13 says, nevertheless the men rode hard to bring it
to the land. The last thing they want to do
is take this prophet and throw him in and kill somebody, they
think, by throwing him overboard. They tried to get to land, but
they could not. For the sea wrought was tepestuous
against them. Wherefore they cried unto the
Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let
us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent
blood. For thou, O Lord, hast done as
it hath pleased thee. And what they're pleading for
when they say, lay not upon us innocent blood, is they're about ready
to pick up that prophet, as God said to do, and take him and
hitch him overboard. And they don't want that blood
on their hands. And they're pleading with God, God be merciful to
us. We're in the boat too. We've got to deal severely with
this. And the Bible says in verse 15,
So they cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased from
raging. Then the men feared the Lord
exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows. The sad thing is, I mean, I believe
he's been a king of faith. But they came to faith by seeing
the wrath of God against a man that hardened his heart against
God and said, God, I'm not going to do that. And God had to bring
this big storm that we'll talk about in a second as to God's
work. God has to bring this big storm
into this man's life. But as soon as they dealt with
the man, by the way, notice when they threw wares out of the boat,
it didn't satisfy God's wrath. But when they threw the man out
of the boat, that did. And I think there's an interesting
picture there in that God doesn't want us to surrender things.
God wants us to surrender ourselves, right? I think there's a biblical
idea there. That's what appeases God. I can see two different
brethren by the mercy of God. They present their bodies as a living
sacrifice. And the thing is this, this morning, if you don't want
to be like Jonah, you ought to say to God, God, whatever I've
got, and whoever I am, and whatever my plans are, God, I'm not the
things, but the man. God is yours. That ought to be
us to God. That keeps us from being a Jonah
because whatever God says, I do. If God says be faithful to church,
if God says to tithe, if God says to evangelize, if God says
to be a member, if God says to purify your life, if God says
to surrender, if God says get rid of sin, if God says turn
that program off, if God says don't listen to that, if God
says don't go there, if God says don't hang out with those people.
then that's fine. Because God, the man is surrendered.
God, you've got the man. Right? But when they see this,
they see everything go calm, then based on a bad example they
saw, they go, man, I fear God. I don't want to mess with a God
that can make this Mediterranean Sea heave because of a disobedient
prophet. God help us from being an example
like that. It's like Ananias and Sapphira, isn't it? that
when they died, the Bible says in Acts 5 verse 11, great fear
came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things.
They thought, man, I don't want to mess with God. There ought
to be in our hearts this morning a soberness as we consider the
power of God. See, the God of Jonah and the
God of Ananias and Sapphira is the same God that we serve. God
is as able today, listen, to bring the same form that he brought
to Jonah into Jonah's life because he's God. And then, lastly this morning,
don't be a Jonah. Don't think God doesn't know
how to bring you to repentance. Don't think God doesn't know
how to bring you to repentance. You know, Jonah probably thought,
that storm was pretty bad. I guess by the time he woke up and everything's
heated and everything, throw me in the water. Maybe he's thinking
this, this is the way out of this problem for me too because
I want to escape. I don't want to serve God. I
don't want to obey God. He's not repentant on the boat. Notice
that. I believe if he would have been,
perhaps the storm would have ceased. But he's not ready to admit,
I'm wrong. That will take place. But it's
going to take place worse than Jonah thinks. Jonah thinks, maybe
this is an escape. This is the end. I'm out of it.
He hits the water. And God prepared a great fish
that comes up and swallows Jonah. Now, I don't know about you.
But if I had a list of experiences I don't want in life, and what
is the top of the list, probably being swallowed alive by a great
fish is right there at the top. I mean, you read about Jonah.
How does Jonah describe it? Jonah describes it as the belly
of hell. Chapter two, verse one. Jonah prayed unto the Lord his
God out of the fish's belly, and said, I cried by reason of
my affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me. Out of the belly
of hell, cried I, and thou heardest my voice, for thou hast cast
me into the deep, in the midst of the seas, and the floods compassed
me about. All thy billows and thy waves
passed over me. Then I said, I'm cast out of
thy sight, yet I will look again for thy holy temple. The waters
compassed me about, even to the soul. The depths closed me round
about. The weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to
the bottoms of the mountains. The earth with her bars was about
me forever, yet has not brought up my life from corruption. O
Lord, my God, when my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came in unto thee, into thy holy temple. They that
observe blind vanities forsake their own mercy, but I will sacrifice
them with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed
salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spake unto the fish,
and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. Okay, here's the
second worst thing. But it's the mercy of God. Jonah
cries out to God and says, OK, I repent. Now, I want to point
this out. If the prophet didn't repent,
the testimony that went into that, those wicked cities that
didn't deserve the mercy of God. of what commentators believe
might be the case of a bleached prophet, bleached by the juices
that were in that fish's belly, and the testimony that caused
the sailors to fear, caused these men to fear, as a man was spat
out on the land by fish, and that man walked into the cities
and said, 40 days, and God's judgment is coming. Why? Because
God was merciful to the prophet, Why? Because God cared about
a city that needed a nationwide revival. That's the mercy of
God. And so as we look at the story, I don't want anybody in here
to experience a fish's belly or a ship in a storm. But I would
say this, it is better in the mercy of God, if God's Spirit
takes you through that, so that God can use you, so that you
impact those that God wants you to impact, that's better than
for God just to let you go, and have his own way of rebutting
against him. For whom will the Lord allow to keep chastisement?
If you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then
you are illegitimate, and not sons, right? But as a son of
God, we ought never be able to turn our back on God and think,
oh, I've got to leave with it. Jonah probably isn't going
to ever be a popular baby name, all right? And it sounds fine. I mean, there's Noah, right?
But Jonah, why? Because of Jonah and the whale.
It's the connotation of what his name is associated with.
Jonah, by the grace of God and the mercy of God, he became a
great man of God. And he was a great man of God. He failed
terribly. And as a person today, if you look at your heart, if
you are a Jonah, if there's aught in your heart that does condemn
you, hey, praise God for the mercy and the shed blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and that you can be right with God, and that
God can use you just like He used Jonah, right? But I'm preaching
a message this morning on Jonah chapter 1, so the message is
don't be a Jonah. Don't be that person that refuses God's instruction. And so as the Spirit of God speaks
through the preaching of the Word of God, not something mystical
or ethereal that is nothing to do with what God really wants
somebody to do. But the specific things that the Word of God speaks
about and the Spirit of God puts on your heart that are right
things that please God, and you know God wants you to go and
do. Don't refuse that. Don't run
from God's call. If you refuse God's command,
you're going to have to go the way away from God. Don't ignore
the tempest of God's wrath as the trouble begins to come. Respond
and go, okay God, I'm going to make sure my life's right with
God. I want to be a Jehovah, not a Jonah. I want to be somebody that's
going through it because Satan's bringing it, not because God
is bringing it. Don't think unbelievers will
never know about your rebellion as if, you know, it doesn't really
matter, you know, I'm a Christian so I can just be in rebellion
against God and they'll never know. They may find out someday, to your
disgrace, as they question you and go, why did you do that?
Why did you run from God? Don't jeopardize others by your folly.
They're in the boat with you. Don't let your life be a bad
example, so that people would say, don't be like that person. And don't think God doesn't know
how to bring you to repentance. Don't be a Jonah the whale, Jonah.
Let's pray. Father, in the Spirit of God, speak to our hearts.
Father, the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked, who can know it. Oh, Father, I'm not preaching
to anybody that's never been a Jonah. Father, every single
one of us have many times in our life rebelled against God. But I pray, Lord, may it not
be the rebellion that the Bible speaks about when it says, if
I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Father,
will we cherish the things that you despise? Father, will we
refuse to do the things that you want us to do? It might be
surrendering to be a missionary, to be an evangelist, to be a
preacher, to be a teacher. It might just be surrendering.
It might be baptism. It might be church membership
or evangelism. Father, it could be so many things that the Spirit
of God has clearly said to do, and if we're to really be honest,
we haven't obeyed, and we've run from God. Father, I pray
that the Spirit of God would speak to each heart now. I ask
that you do that. I'm going to have an invitation
this morning. You're welcome to come up here, by the way.
Anytime we have an invitation, send an invitation to him, you're
welcome to come up front. But if you just keep your heads bowed and
eyes closed, I just want to ask one question, and that's this.
Is there anything specific that the Spirit of God has put in
your heart? Whether it's something that we consider, that's a big
thing, or that's a small thing. But something the Spirit of God
has clearly said to you to do in the past, and to this point,
it's not been done. And if there's something specific
like that, just ask, if you're willing to deal with that with
God today, and you want to deal with that with God, would you
just raise your hand as a testimony to that? The Spirit of God speaking
to your heart in a specific way, and that you want to deal with
that? Amen, see those hands? Amen. Praise God, anybody else
that's born into something specific, that gospel in your heart? Amen,
I appreciate you being honest and raising your hands about
those things. Let's commit those to the Lord. Father, we thank
you for those that raised their hand. It might be that some didn't
raise their hand, but there might be something specific. Well,
Father, I pray for these to have victory. Lord, God, give them
grace to deal with these things. Lord, we want to have a heart
that's just right with God, so that we can say, you know what? I'm
not a perfect person. It's not that I never fail God.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. He's the light in
his way. Though he fall, Father, it happens. Well, Father, by
the grace that you give, help us to be people that can say,
as best I know, I'm striving to live my life for God. That
there's nothing in my life that I know God wants me to take care
of, and I've refused to do that. Like Jonah. May the Spirit of
God take his word and do a deep work in our hearts. It's in Christ's
name we pray. Amen. Let's stand and sing that hymn
that states what we all ought to be able to say this morning.
That is, God, I surrender all. That there's nothing in my life
that I am holding back from you. Let's stand and sing it, please.
The page number is 390. 390. I surrender all. Stay with me, please, as we say.
Don't Be a Jonah
Jonah chapter 1 is the lesson of what can happen to someone who tries to go away from God's command. God in His mercy to them and to those who are impacted by them, does not allow them to succeed. In His mercy He brings them to repentance.
| Sermon ID | 1211913326460 |
| Duration | 52:59 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Jonah 1 |
| Language | English |