Jonah chapter 1, I want to look again at these opening three verses and I really want to challenge you tonight about some issues that are directly related to your personal walk with the Lord. Again here in Jonah chapter 1, verse number 1, Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it. For their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee Anatarshis from the presence of the Lord and went down to Joppa. He found a ship going to Tarshish so he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with them into Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. We've looked in the last couple of messages here in the opening portion of the book of Jonah, we've looked at the word of God as it came to Jonah and then we've looked at the clear will of God as it came to Jonah and I challenged you in the messages about the word of God to heed and follow the written Word of God. Again, we've been so blessed to have one or more copies of the Word of God in our laps and to be able to read it and study it and gain help from it. And I hope we'll never take that for granted. But I hope you are following the Word of God. And then we've come to the will of God. This was very clear. There was no doubt about what God wanted Jonah to do. And last Sunday night or previous Sunday night, we looked at how God has clearly laid out a number of things for all of us related to His will. So sometimes people would present the will of God as though it's some kind of mystical thing and I just don't understand it or can't see it or can't follow it. I can't possibly know where God wants me to go when in truth I think that there's a number of things that are just specifically laid out for us concerning the will of God. And if we follow those things I believe that God will demonstrate himself to us and help us in our further walk. I want to go further this morning or this evening and look at the choice to follow the word and will of God. What you notice would be number one tonight, the decision for Jonah. The decision for Jonah. What did Jonah do when he knew the will and word of God? And why did Jonah do it? We first of all come to this place of decision. This place of decision. The word of the Lord came unto Jonah. It said, Arise, go to Nineveh, and cry against it. The very next verse, verse number three says, but Jonah. This is a clear demonstration of someone who understands the Word of God. It came unto him. He understood the will of God, but he made a different choice. We'll get to that in just a moment. A decision for Jonah. Brother Ken Collier, who has served so many years at the Wilds and just a great investor in the lives of so many, A wonderful statement that I know that they say often down the wilds, but I've heard it all kinds of all different times and in a number of different ways. But there's only two choices on the shelf, pleasing God or pleasing self. There's only two choices on the shelf, pleasing God or pleasing self. Jonah is confronted with the Word of God. He knew it. He's confronted with the will of God. He knew it. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it. There's no doubt at all about what God wanted Jonah to do. There's two choices then. He can please Almighty God and follow God's Word and follow God's will, or he can choose to please himself. You know, this is similar to what Moses said in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 11, verse 26, he said, Behold, this is God speaking, I have said before you this day, and cursing. Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse number 19, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you. But I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life that both thou and thy seed may live. We have set before us a choice. You know, I'd like to make the choice for you. Perhaps this happened to you today when you were driving out of the parking lot and one spouse turned to the other spouse and said, where are we going to eat today? And the one spouse says, well, I don't care, wherever you'd like to go, you go ahead and pick. And so you pick. Let's go to KFC. Eh, I don't really like chicken. Okay, well then why don't you just pick a place? No, no, no, no, I'm fine with whatever you want. Okay, why don't we go to Arby's and have roast beef? No, I don't wanna go to Arby's, I don't want roast beef. And you say, well, OK, OK, let's go to Chipotle. No, no, no, not in the mood for tacos and everything like that. No, no, no. But really, whatever you want, just pick. I mean, it reaches the place of frustration and the place of sorrow for so many. And you always come back to the staple of McDonald's. All right? No, I'm just kidding. All right? We've set before you a choice. And no one else is going to make it for you. Boy, there's many times where I'd like to make the choice for our sons, and I'd like to step in and say, son, you just sit down there for a minute. Dad's going to make this choice on your behalf. You know, I couldn't do that on the matter of salvation. I couldn't make that decision for them. They had to make that choice for themselves. One of them has made a choice about the young lady that he'd like to ask to marry him. And I didn't step in and say, OK, son, we're going to find out what kind of chickens and goats we've got to give in order for that young lady to be your bride. So he made the choice. And he became very much in love with a young lady. And the time came, he said, dad, I've made this choice. I want to buy a ring. And I want to ask her dad if I can marry her. And I want to follow through with that. You know, I didn't make that choice for him. There's a lot of choices that we as parents would like to make for our kids. Some of those we can make, but then there does come a time in which they're going to branch out and make their own choices and their own decisions. Almighty God would have us to make the wise choices again and again. But we're not robots. And so everyone has to make their own choice. I look back at a host of young people that were in school with me, right here in the academy, went all the way through the years with me. And I look at the choices that they made. I look at young people that graduated from my very class, and I look at the choices that they made. You could do the very same thing, look back through your history, and you say, where are they now? It's interesting when you're given the opportunity to return to your five-year reunion, or your 10-year reunion, or your 20-year reunion, or perhaps, as it's coming up even for us, our 30-year reunion. And it's interesting at how slim the pickings get, as you get further and further removed Graduation. Everybody's a product of their choices. Everyone is known by their choices. You sit where you are tonight because of choices that you made. The decision was placed there in your lap. You made choices based upon perhaps your experience, perhaps the wisdom that's around you, but you made a choice. In this scenario, Jonah has a choice to make. Am I going to obey God, or am I going to go my own way? Am I going to please God, or am I going to seek to please myself? What will I do with the clear knowledge of the word and will of God? Can I say it to you this way? As I said to one of my friends so many years ago, he and I went to school together for seven years here in the academy, and we made different choices. And there came a time in an evening time throughout the midweek that he happened to stop by my house and we had the chance to sit around and talk and I listened to the choices that he had made since we had parted ways and I said to him, or I thought to myself after I was talking to him and talking back and forth, as I walked away from that scenario I remembered this verse, Proverbs chapter 13 verse number 15, the way of the transgressors is hard. So young people, you have the opportunity to make your own choices. But it's my obligation as a pastor, and perhaps also for your parents, it's their obligation as well to just tell you exactly what the Bible says for those that choose the poor route. The way of the transgressors is hard. Oh, but pastor, you don't know how much fun all of my friends that are involved in this or that, you don't know how much fun they're having right now. Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure if you saw the prodigal son on day one, you'd have thought to yourself, hey, this guy's got it made. And the devil's masterful at letting us see the prodigal type son when he still has money in his wallet and he's still partying it up. And He's masterful at keeping the knowledge of Him in the pigpen away from us. He hides those kinds of things. God is not mocked. His Word does not return void. And His Word is never wrong. God has set before you a choice. God has set before you life and death and blessing and cursing. And He says to all of us, what way will you choose? Will you choose to please me or will you choose to please the flesh? The decision for Jonah. Jonah hears my word. Arise, go to Nineveh. Jonah hears my will. Cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah. The decision was placed in Jonah's lap. Jonah, though disobeyed. And it moves us to the second portion of the message. He moved from the decision to disobedience. The Bible says, but Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish, so he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish. Why would he willfully disobey the clear word of God? God had said, arise, go to Nineveh, cry against it, their wickedness has come up before me." Well, you see, there's a little bit of nationalism in Jonah. He loved Israel. He loved Israel in spite of its sin and wickedness. Jonah also hated the Assyrians. There are some that want to claim or even declare that prejudice never began or never started until the United States of America was in existence. We even have a senator who claims wisdom and knowledge that thinks that slavery began in the last couple of centuries. I've got some information for him. He should read the book of Genesis. Slavery goes all the way back to the sin of mankind, and as soon as man could dominate another man, he certainly did. And if you think slavery just began in the last couple of centuries, you need to have a conversation with young men in the book of Genesis because it's not new. Jonah has the chance to follow God and yet he loves Israel, he hates the Assyrians, he's very prejudiced against them, he knows of their brutality, and he knows that if he obeys and goes to preach in Nineveh, and they repent, God will forgive them. Boy, I tell you, we could put ourselves in Jonah's spot right now. We could surely say, well, if I were Jonah, I would have listened to the Word of God and the will of God, and I would have immediately followed. But what if God called us to a place that was the enemy of our nation? We understood the power of that nation and we understood that they could very well overwhelm us and bring about our destruction. You see, if Jonah goes and preaches and they repent and God forgives, it will likely result in the potential destruction of the nation of Israel. And so Jonah just says, no, Lord. No. His nationalism and his love for Israel overwhelms what he knows he ought to do in his obedience to the word and will of God. The decision of Jonah, God said to do this. But Jonah followed through in disobedience, rose up to flee unto Tarshish. Which brings us to number three. The decision for Jonah, the disobedience of Jonah, and then very simply the downward direction of Jonah. It's interesting how the physical statements that are made here really describe to us what's happening to him spiritually. The Bible says that Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish. And it's interesting to read the first statement there, from the presence of the Lord. We'll say more about that in just a moment. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish, so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Can I say this at the outset as we consider this downward direction of Jonah? Every step away from the Word and will of the Lord is a step downward. So tonight you perhaps have a copy of the Word of God in your hands. Every step that you take away from this Word, and every step that you take away from the will of the God of this Word, is a step downward. There's no way to improve your life apart from this book. It's not possible. Oh, you might experience some temporal things, and you might experience some temporal benefits because there's pleasure in sin for a season. But in truth, every step away from the Word and will of God is a step downward. That's true for pastors. It's certainly true for church leadership. And it's certainly true for churches. If we ever set aside this book and begin to be fleshly oriented and fleshly directed in our ministry, it's a step downward in the ministry. We first of all find that Jonah went down to Egypt. You can almost envision Jonah there walking around the docks and surveying the location and distance that all the ships were headed in their destinations. Tarshish was the westernmost point in the known world. Since Nineveh was eastward, Tarshish suited Jonah's self-willed plan because it was the absolute opposite direction, as one commentator said. He went down to Joppa. Can't you just see him going from ship to ship to ship and asking them, hey, where are you headed? No, that's too close. Hey, where are you headed? No, no, no, that's too close. Hey, where are you headed? No, no, no, that's too close. And then he comes upon this ship and they say, hey, we're sailing to this point. And he says, okay, that's the one I want to be on. He went down to Joppa. Then number two, the Bible says he went down into the ship. This is as low as he could physically get, if you would. He's in the bottom of the ship. Surely no one will find me here. Perhaps Jonah has the attitude as he sought to flee from the presence of the Lord. He perhaps has this attitude. No one knows me on this ship. No one will bother me. No one will find me. Psalm 139, verse 7-9, the Bible says, Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? Whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, thou art there. It's not possible to flee from the presence of the Lord. Proverbs chapter 5 and verse number 21, the Bible says, for the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his goings. Proverbs 15 and verse number 3, the eyes of the Lord are in every place. Beholding the evil and the good. The Bible says he went down to Joppa. He looks and finds the one that's going to the furthest point. If that's where I'm supposed to be, then I want to be in the absolute opposite direction at the furthest point away. The Bible says he goes down to the ship. No doubt some that were on the ship there began to think to themselves, what's this guy doing? No one goes to that place unless they've got an appointment. Nobody goes to that farthest reach. I mean, why would he pay this fare? Why would he do this? Well, he went down to Joppa. He went down into the ship. And then number three, he went down in disobedience. Again, every step away from God's best is a step downward. Boy, that ought to be very sobering to us, especially if you're in the midst of making life-impacting decisions. If you're thinking about taking a career position, and it's a position that's outside of God's will, it's a step downward. If you're thinking about taking a lifelong mate, and it's a mate that's clearly outside of the will of God, it is a step downward. If you're thinking about going to a college, and it's a college that's out of God's will, you are absolutely making a choice in a downward descending direction. Instead of going by camel to the place of God's best and the place of God's blessing, he's going out to the sea to flee from the presence of the Lord. You can justify it any way you want, but God said go this way, and Jonah went the opposite way. John Phillips in his commentary said, down! That is the only direction a person who is running away from God can go. I'm reminded of the story in Judges 13 and verse 5. The Bible says that God appeared to a couple there in those darkened days of the book of Judges, and He says to that couple, for lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb. He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. Of course, we know the chapters that are there between that time frame of His calling there and the calling of Samson all the way through chapters 13, 14, 15, and into chapter 16. And the Bible says there in chapter 16, and when Delilah saw that He had told her all His heart, she sent and called for the Lord to the Philistines saying, come up this once. For He has showed me all His heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up under her and brought money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees and she called for a man and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head. She began to afflict him and his strength went from him. And she said, the Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself. And he wished not that the Lord had departed from him, but the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass, and he did grind in the prison house." We often think of those Nazarite vows that Samson was to abide by in the entirety of his life, and we think, well, those Nazarite vows are what made him strong. His long hair is what made him strong. No, my friend, his obedience is what made him strong. And if Samson would have obeyed Almighty God, if he would have obeyed the Word of God and the will of God, he could have been a mighty conqueror for the Lord's sake in delivering Israel from the Philistines. But boy, he was addicted to drink. He was addicted to the drink. He made poor choices as it related to the women that he surrounded himself with. He began to break vow after vow after vow, and it came to this point where he broke that last vow. And he told Delilah why he was strong. It came to the matter of his hair, and they came and cut off his hair, and it was the final straw, if you would, in his obedience. And boy, he was taking steps away from the Word and will of God, and the Philistines took advantage of it. Isn't it pitiful? to see this great, mighty conqueror for the Lord threshing out the grain there in the prison house, tied up like a common ox. And the Philistines, with their false god, praised their false god and claimed victory over this individual. But why did the victory come? Because he was on a downward trajectory. A trajectory of disobedience. You know, the Bible says in 2 Samuel chapter 22 and verse number 31, and this is an important verse for every one of us to remember. As for God, His way is perfect. Boy, that kind of sounds like the way that I'd like to be on. When I think of those two ways and I think back to the verse of Scripture, it says the way of the transgressors is hard. Man, that really conjures up a lot of things in my mind's eye. It's hard. It's grievous. It's not the way to go. But boy, this other verse, the way of God is perfect. Is it easy? No, it's not easy. But boy, it's the best way. It's the best road. I say to young people all the time, it is better to wait to get married than to marry the wrong person. Oh, Pastor, I'm getting so old. I'm 23. It's unlikely that anyone's ever going to love me at this stage of my life. You know what? You'll be okay. It is far better to pray for God's will in that critical area than it is to rush, rush, rush. Oh, I've got to find a spouse. I've got to find someone to be with. I'll be an old individual and no one will ever love me if I don't take this person. No. It's best to wait for the right one in the right time. His way is perfect. Perfect is what God says. Well, Pastor, that's just something that you're presenting to us, but I'm not sure that that's the truth. But I tell you what, there's adults all across this room that can give testimonies of both sides of this matter, the way of the transgressors, and they can tell you what that's like. And there are people in this very room that can tell you the benefits of following the perfect way. I don't want us to ever assume that we're perfect people walking on this way, but God's way is always best. Oh, if I had the time, I would rehearse with you again and again how I had laid out my life and I thought it was all going to be perfect. And oh, there's so little that worked out the way that I thought it was going to work out. And you know what? The things that God has afforded to me are so far above and beyond anything that I could have asked or thought. I surely don't deserve my spouse She's far better to me than I will ever deserve. She puts up with so much in being my wife and following as God has led us, and I'm ever so thankful for my wife. I don't deserve her. I'm ever so thankful for our sons. I don't deserve them. So thankful that God brought them into our lives and gave us the opportunity to, with joy, interact with their lives and to enjoy their upbringing and their years, both as toddlers and teenagers. Well, I don't deserve that. I certainly don't deserve the parents that I've been blessed with. I certainly don't deserve the in-laws that I've been blessed with. I don't deserve any of that. And I had it all laid out. I remember in elementary school and junior and senior high how we worked out everything on the playground. You can work it out with a jump rope. You can work it out with the little hand games that we played. And you'd know exactly how life was going to turn out. I remember my first youth pastor, and I thought, man, this is the cat. I'm going to be here for a long, long time. And I had it all laid out. And God said, I've got a much better way. I've got a much better way. And I'm so thankful that we chose to follow his path instead of following our own way. Oh, young people, Satan's going to do a masterful job. He's going to do the best job he can to convince you that God's way is the worst way. But please don't forget the authority of the Word of God given to us by an infinite God. He declares to us His way is perfect. On a number of different occasions as we've interacted with teenagers, we'll encourage them in the right path and we'll say, choose this right path. choose the right way, but will also say to them, you know, we're always here. You see, it's not the majority that choose the right way. I wish that I could say that everyone that's left our church team department and everyone that's left our school and everything like this, I wish that I could say they're all in complete service to Jesus Christ. Wouldn't that be incredible? Well, there's a lot of sadness and sorrow in the choices that have been made. We've said this to them, you may at this time choose the way of the transgressor, but know this, we're always here for you. When the time comes that you want to get right, please don't hesitate to call. We love you. You see, the choice has been set there before you and it's a decision for everyone to make. You've been placed on this earth for a reason. You have something that God wants you to do that no one else is going to do. The decision is there for you. Tragically, Jonah responds in disobedience. How will you respond? Pastor, I know the Word of God and I know the will of God. Okay, what are you going to do with it? I am preaching to you tonight that the verse of Scripture that you see before you in verse number 3 in Jonah chapter 1 is not the exception, it is the rule for all those that leave the Word and will of God. It is a downward spiral. I close with this illustration. Disobedience costs so many in the Scriptures. The price of living in disobedience is always too great. But disobedience costs so many in the Scriptures. It costs Moses the promised land. It costs Samson his eyes and his freedom. It costs Saul his throne and the kingdom. It costs David four children. If those are the only four that were listed, it would be enough. For I certainly consider the Word and the will of God, and I say to myself, boy, I don't want to end up as any of these. So my dear friend, you know Jesus Christ is your Savior. You've been given the Word of God. You know the will of God. What is your response? What I'm sharing with you tonight is fact. And if I could insert this. You're not the first one to sit there in your pew and think to yourself pastor. I'll be the exception. And I'll beat God's odds. Because in truth, every step away from the Word and will of God is a step downward. Let's pray. Father in Heaven, thank You for this very clear illustration. I pray right now for all of our young people as they sit and listen to the Word tonight. the temptations that abound for them. And I just pray that they would heed and follow the Word and will of God. May we as adults take time to imitate, or as the Bible says, to mimic the life of Christ so that young people can watch us Might we be biblical imitators of the Lord Jesus Christ? Right now in the quietness of this moment, I pray for those that face this place of decision. I remember very clearly in my life, in my own life, and in that time of crossroads, Where the decision would be mine, am I going to follow Almighty God and His Word? Or am I going to go my own way? It's quite possible that we have folks that are gathered tonight that are right there in that place of decision. And I pray that you'd help them. There's just so many alluring things that come from satanic influence.