Participants:
Series Code: TWH
Program Code: TWH180526A
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00:31 Let us pray.
00:35 Loving Father in heaven, 00:37 this morning as the Shepherd of our hearts... 00:42 Lord, we invite You to come and to lead us... 00:49 To speak to our hearts, and to strengthen us. 00:54 In Jesus' name, I pray, amen. 01:00 Do you have your Bibles with you this morning? 01:01 I did not. 01:03 It's been such a while, I forgot the scripture reading, 01:06 but I know you have your Bibles with you, 01:08 and you would like to turn with me 01:12 to the Book of Jonah, 01:15 to the Book of Jonah. 01:17 What book did I say? 01:19 Jonah. The Book of Jonah. 01:21 There are very few books in the Bible 01:23 that have only four chapters, 01:25 Philippians is one and Jonah is another. 01:31 Jonah is an interesting character to say the least. 01:35 Jonah 3:1 01:39 is where our Scripture reading is taken from this morning. 01:44 "Now the Word of the Lord came to Jonah 01:50 the second time." 01:52 That's all I want. 01:54 "The Word of the Lord came to Jonah 01:59 the second time." 02:03 It was a wicked city. 02:08 Shortly after the separation 02:10 that took place at the Tower of Babel 02:13 along the Tigris River a city named Nineveh was built. 02:20 Nineveh, influenced heavily 02:24 by those who distrusted God at the Tower of Babel, 02:29 Nineveh, among the cities of the ancient world 02:34 in the days of divided Israel, 02:36 one of the greatest cities was Nineveh. 02:42 When you begin to study what the theologians 02:45 and the archaeologists say about Nineveh, 02:48 and the historians, 02:50 it is concluded that Nineveh was one of the wickedest cities 02:54 along the Tigris River. 02:58 Nineveh was the center of crime and wickedness. 03:02 The Bible characterizes it 03:04 as the city of blood full of lies, 03:08 full of plunder, never without victims. 03:14 Nineveh. 03:16 In other words, if you dare to visit Nineveh, 03:18 chances were high that you would get robbed. 03:21 Nineveh was never without victims. 03:24 Nineveh. 03:26 I know what that's like, 03:27 I was held up at gunpoint twice, 03:28 not in Nineveh but in New York. 03:31 Cities like New York, and Los Angeles, and Detroit, 03:34 Michigan, and Chicago 03:37 are very much like an ancient Nineveh, 03:40 full of blood, full of lies, full of plunder. 03:45 And when the Bible says, "Never without victims," 03:48 it meant that if you dared visit that city, 03:51 you increased your chances of being robbed, 03:53 your home being broken into full of plunderment 03:57 that the thieves on the streets in the city of Nineveh 04:01 were often selling something that didn't belong to them, 04:05 something they stole from maybe someone visiting Nineveh 04:08 or a car was broken into that was rented in Nineveh 04:12 or someone's home was plundered in Nineveh. 04:15 It takes me back to a story of mine. 04:16 A very good friend of mine, Peter Gibbs, 04:19 Pastor CA knows him very well. 04:23 I don't forget the story, but I remember the details, 04:27 I don't remember exactly when, but I remember the details, 04:29 he was at a gas station in New York City 04:32 and a guy came up to him with a large heavy box, 04:35 and he said, 04:37 in the box it was the 27-inch Sony television. 04:39 This is before they came out with the flat screens, 04:43 it was a heavy box. 04:44 And the guy said, "Hundred bucks, 04:46 I said I'll give you for hundred bucks." 04:48 And he knew that, you know, a Sony television, 04:50 27-inch color television, $100 bucks is a steal. 04:54 Well, it was a steal before it was a steal 04:57 because he stole it. 04:59 And so he said $100 bucks. 05:00 So he whipped out, you know, 05:02 bought the television for $100 bucks, got excited. 05:04 You know, Christians should not be buying stolen material. 05:07 Can I get an amen? 05:08 So he bought the television, went home, and opened the box, 05:10 he was so excited. 05:12 He walked in, and he said to his wife, 05:13 "I got a 27-inch color television $100 bucks, 05:15 hot off the streets." 05:16 Opened the box, it was filled with bricks and newspaper. 05:20 That's the city of Nineveh. 05:22 I remember in New York City, 05:23 I was going to the Madison Square Garden. 05:25 I'm not down on New York City, 05:26 that's just the city of my experiences. 05:28 I was walking on 34th Street around 8th Avenue 05:31 by the Garden, by the Madison Square Garden, 05:34 and the Knicks were playing to Chicago Bulls. 05:37 And I'm a diehard New York Knicks fan. 05:39 And there were guys on the street selling tickets, 05:41 you know, they often will buy tickets 05:43 and increase the price for the last minute purchases 05:45 when the tickets were sold out and the garden was filled. 05:48 And so I decided, my wife and I were together, 05:50 you know, let's go and buy some tickets. 05:52 They're hot but, you know, the price is... 05:53 I'm going to at least get in the game. 05:55 And I just said, "Christian shouldn't buy hot tickets, 06:00 but I bought some hot tickets." 06:03 And they look legit, 06:06 and I went in, and they scanned my ticket, 06:08 and there was anything but legit. 06:10 They said, "Sir, where did you buy these tickets?" 06:13 And I said, "I got them at a discount price 06:16 on the street." 06:17 He said, "Sir, these are great replicas 06:19 but these are not tickets." 06:21 So I went outside with every intention 06:23 to find the guy that I gave my $200 to, 06:26 but he was nowhere to be found. 06:27 That's Nineveh. 06:29 If you want to Nineveh, somebody had a game, 06:32 somebody was running a scam. 06:34 I remember working in the Wall Street area... 06:36 I'm not going to tell you all my stories, 06:37 but I remember working on the Wall Street area 06:39 and a guy came up to me on my lunch hour, 06:41 and he was trying to sell me something. 06:44 He didn't look at me directly, but he walked up to me 06:46 kind of like as you can't do it openly, 06:48 and he looked in another direction, 06:50 he was telling me what he was selling. 06:51 And I turned around and said, "Get out of here. 06:52 I don't want to buy that." 06:54 You've got to be wise 06:55 when you go to cities like Nineveh. 06:57 When you go to Chicago, 06:59 if it's too good to be true, it's not. 07:02 But that's how Nineveh was, never without victims, 07:05 full of plunders, burglaries were common, 07:09 being held up at gunpoint 07:11 was the thing to expect. 07:16 Another church member of ours at Bethel, 07:18 I remember very well standing at a bus stop 07:20 on Utica Avenue in New York City, 07:21 a guy ran up to her with a bag of money, 07:23 he said, "I got money in here, 07:24 but I need money to go get this money broken down at the bank." 07:28 And she gave him like a $100 bucks, 07:30 and he gave her a bag of money. 07:32 When she found that it was a $20 bill 07:33 and behind that were just newspaper. 07:36 Nineveh. 07:38 That's what they do in Nineveh. 07:40 And so some of you people that were born in small town in USA 07:43 don't go to cities like Chicago with a big smile on your face, 07:46 you will be an instant hit in the city of Nineveh. 07:51 That's kind of city it was, always had a game. 07:54 And Nineveh is not just in North America, 07:55 but there is Nineveh in Brazil, Nineveh in South America, 08:02 Nineveh in places around the world, 08:04 don't go to Kenya, Africa, Nairobi, Kenya. 08:08 I was in Kenya, they told me that 08:10 most of the scams in the world in Kenya they're born. 08:13 People wake up in the morning, the guy said, 08:15 they think of the next great scam. 08:17 You ever get those emails? 08:19 "You know, my cousin died and left me $50 million, 08:23 but I need help to get the money." 08:24 You ever got that email? 08:25 Nairobi, Kenya. 08:27 The reason why they put those chips in the cards now, 08:30 in your credit cards because in Nairobi, Kenya 08:34 credit cards were easy to steal. 08:37 So in America now 08:38 most of the security measures, they said, came into place 08:42 because the cities like Nineveh. 08:44 It was a dark city. 08:46 It was a city full of plunder, never without victims. 08:50 And Nineveh was such a dark city 08:52 that when people return to home, 08:53 I should more specifically say, 08:55 when people escape the vicinity of visiting Nineveh, 08:58 they got home, and they rejoiced 09:00 when the news reported that some calamity had hit Nineveh. 09:05 As Nahum, the prophet says in Nahum 3:19, 09:08 turn there to that very familiar book of Nahum 09:13 as if you know where it is. 09:17 Nahum 3:19 in the New International Version, 09:20 the Bible says, speaking of Nineveh, 09:23 the prophet says, "Nothing can heal your wound, 09:28 nothing can heal your wound, your injury is fatal." 09:33 In other words, you're such a bad city. 09:35 "Everyone who hears the news about you 09:38 claps his hands at your fall, 09:41 for who has not felt your endless cruelty?" 09:45 That's Nineveh, a city of endless cruelty, 09:49 never without victims, full of plunder. 09:55 But I've got a back up some because even in the worst city, 09:58 there are people that still need Jesus. 09:59 Can you say amen to that? 10:00 Amen. 10:02 Nineveh was a city that even though it was evil, 10:04 even though it suffered from terminal immorality, 10:09 and it had not yet been entirely consumed with evil, 10:13 there was still people in Nineveh 10:16 that were good apples in the orchard. 10:19 In Nineveh, there were people 10:20 still reaching out for something better, 10:22 for something higher, for something good. 10:24 They were looking for some better way of life 10:26 in the city of Nineveh. 10:30 And if granted the opportunity, 10:31 they would be eager to learn about the living God, 10:33 they were longing to be rescued from their evil deeds, 10:37 they heard about the God of Israel, 10:39 but they heard about Him at a distance 10:43 because in Nineveh evangelism was dead, 10:47 couldn't do evangelism in Nineveh. 10:48 Nobody wanted to hear the message, 10:50 it was a wicked city 10:51 that was repulsed by anything that was Godly, 10:54 but it was in that city that God still had people 10:58 that He was longing to rescue. 11:00 Every time my wife and I go to New York City, 11:02 and we walking in Manhattan 11:04 whether it's 11 o'clock at night 11:05 or 1 o'clock in the noonday, 11:07 we sometimes get to the intersection 11:09 of 34th Street and around 8th Avenue 11:11 or we get to where all the six corners 11:13 get together on 6th Avenue right in front of Macy's, 11:16 the largest store in the world, and we look up... 11:19 And Yvonne knows what I'm talking about. 11:21 we look up at this mass of humanity, 11:23 and I look at my wife, and I whisper, 11:25 "How is God going to reach this city?" 11:34 New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, Nineveh, 11:38 that's the kind of city it was, evangelism was dead, 11:41 nobody wanted to hear about it. 11:43 Every now and then you hear a spurt of religiosity, 11:48 but it was in that kind of a city 11:49 that God still had people that needed to be saved. 11:52 You see, no matter how bad a city is, 11:54 God can bring hope to the darkest of places in the world. 12:00 Where there is God, there is still hope, 12:03 even in cities like Nineveh. 12:05 And it is true that whosoever calls 12:08 on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 12:10 But the agile question this morning that I like to pose 12:13 before I go any further in the sermon, 12:16 and this is about Nineveh, Romans 10:14, 12:20 "How shall they hear, how shall they call on Him 12:25 in whom they have not believed? 12:27 And how shall they believe in Him 12:29 of whom they have not heard? 12:32 And how shall they hear without a preacher?" 12:36 Nineveh looked hopeless. 12:39 It appeared as if it was beyond repair 12:43 but God, but God. 12:48 Come on, somebody say amen. 12:50 You see, but God is the reversal of everything 12:53 that came before it. 12:55 I sat in an office with a young lady 12:57 who just turned 21 years old. 12:58 She said, "Pastor, what do I do?" 13:00 I said, "What do you mean?" 13:01 She said, "Last year, 13:03 I wanted to be baptized but my family told me 13:05 I could never be baptized as a Seventh-day Adventist. 13:08 If I were, they would disown me." 13:11 I said, "How old are you, young lady?" 13:13 She said, "Twenty-one." 13:14 I said, "The day is coming, 13:15 when you've got to stand before God yourself, 13:18 and your mother can't, and your father can't, 13:20 and your sisters cannot answer for you, 13:22 you got to make your own decision to follow Jesus." 13:25 She said, "If I do that, when I go home, 13:27 my family is going to reject me, 13:28 they may put me out." 13:30 And how ironic it was. 13:32 She said, "However, I'm going to make my mind up 13:34 to give my own life to the Lord." 13:36 And on that Sabbath, 13:37 she went down on the watery grave giving her life to Jesus. 13:40 And I'd never forget what the pastor said, 13:42 how ironic he said what he did at the time that he did, 13:45 she's going into the baptismal pool, 13:48 the pastor raises his hand, and he says, 13:50 "I know that your family is at home 13:53 rejoicing about your decision." 13:56 And we made eye contact 13:57 because we knew her family was doing anything 13:59 but rejoicing. 14:00 When she got out of that pool, she said, 14:02 "I don't even know how to tell my family 14:04 because I know what kind of reaction I'm going to get." 14:05 I said, "But when Jesus comes, 14:07 don't worry about their reaction, 14:09 worry about His reaction." 14:11 And she made her mind up to give her life to Jesus. 14:14 Real problems, real people, 14:18 struggling with everything that 14:20 you may struggle with, 14:23 they struggle with it in New Guinea, 14:25 different location, different time, 14:27 different place, but the battles are all so real. 14:30 I sat down talking to students 14:32 that are preparing for theology and saying to me, 14:34 "Pastor, how do I get delivered from pornography? 14:37 I'm here to take the ministry, 14:39 but I'm fighting with the pornography. 14:42 Tell me what to do?" 14:44 What do you tell a young man who is learning to be a pastor, 14:47 but he's struggling with pornography? 14:49 I met another young man, who said, 14:50 "I'm in my last year of the ministry, 14:52 I'm learning... 14:54 I'm going to graduate next year to go and be a pastor somewhere 14:56 but this week when you were preaching, 14:58 I went to my room and broke my phone 15:00 because that was my connection to the internet, 15:02 and pornography was my alcohol, 15:05 pray for me that I get delivered." 15:07 And the stories are all so real, 15:09 but sometimes in our own comfortable place 15:12 when we are inoculated from the cures of this life, 15:15 we forget that there are real battles out there. 15:20 That's why they said of Nineveh, 15:21 "Nothing can heal your wound, you are beyond repair, 15:25 your injury is fatal, 15:26 there is no hope for the city of Nineveh." 15:30 However, 15:31 this was the city that needed Jesus, 15:36 and the Lord was sending somebody to Nineveh. 15:39 It looked hopeless, 15:41 it looked beyond repair, but God. 15:43 You see, when you institute the word, but God, 15:46 it is a reversal of everything that came before that. 15:49 Think about it for a moment, the Bible says, 15:50 "Joseph was sold in Egypt, but God was with him." 15:54 Come on, say amen. 15:55 Sold into slavery but God was with him. 15:59 Jesus was crucified, 16:00 but in the Book of Acts, the Bible says, 16:02 "But God raised him from the dead." 16:05 If it had not been for but God in our lives, 16:09 where would we be today? 16:11 But God, He reverses our circumstances, 16:14 He looks at our hopelessness 16:15 and takes it and brings it from darkness to light. 16:20 In a racially divided church, Peter proclaimed, 16:23 "But God has told me 16:26 I should never call any man common or unclean." 16:30 Oh, the Jews are so filled with bias 16:33 toward those that didn't have the same beliefs 16:36 that they embraced 16:37 or worship the same way that they worshiped. 16:40 And they even followed Peter to Cornelius' house to see 16:43 whether or not he had the right to be there, 16:45 and he turned to the Jews and said, "But God told me, 16:48 I should never call any man 16:51 common or unclean." 16:55 You know, friends, I believe if we would preach but God 16:58 and let people see that 17:00 in spite of their circumstances, 17:01 there is a God that reverses 17:04 every situation that we can encounter, 17:06 come on, somebody say amen, 17:08 no matter what it is. 17:11 As Paul, the apostle says, 17:12 "For scarcely, a righteous man will die, 17:15 yet perhaps for a good man someone 17:17 would even dare to die. 17:20 But God demonstrated His love towards us, 17:23 in that while we were yet sinners, 17:25 Christ died for us." 17:28 But God, all the difference 17:30 in the direction of your life and mine, 17:33 God steps in, but God. 17:37 As long as there is God, there is hope. 17:40 You see, that's the city of Nineveh. 17:43 But God had an evangelistic series planned for Nineveh 17:48 and God needed a preacher, 17:51 God was looking for a man willing 17:56 to preach about the transforming power of God, 17:58 and He chose a man 18:02 by the name of Jonah. 18:05 Go with me to Jonah 1. 18:08 Jonah was the man that He chose. 18:12 Allow me to introduce you to a man 18:15 that unsuccessfully disagreed with God, 18:19 unsuccessfully disagreed with God. 18:22 Jonah is the story of a reluctant servant 18:25 and a relentless savior. 18:28 Jonah's story reveals the determination of man, 18:32 and the dedication of God. 18:35 The story of Jonah unfolds the struggle 18:37 between man's preference and God's purpose. 18:41 In the end, God's plan is always going to win. 18:46 Amen. 18:48 When God calls us, 18:49 there's nothing we can do 18:51 to run from a relentless God. 18:55 The Bible tells us in Jonah 1. 18:59 "Now the Word of the Lord came to Jonah, 19:03 the son of Amittai, saying..." 19:05 What did He say to Jonah 1:2? 19:11 What did He say? 19:12 "Arise." 19:13 Whenever God calls us, 19:15 whenever the Word of God comes to us, 19:17 it doesn't come to us to keep us where we were, 19:19 it comes to us to change our position 19:21 to bring us up a level higher. 19:23 Whenever God's Word comes, we rise, we don't sink down. 19:29 And you'll notice that all throughout the Bible 19:31 when the Word of the Lord came to Peter when he was in prison, 19:35 and the angel touched him as he was resting. 19:36 The angel said, "Arise." 19:39 Anytime God's Word comes to us, it requires an action arise. 19:44 The Bible says, "Go to Nineveh, 19:47 that great city, and cry out against it. 19:52 For their wickedness has come up before Me." 19:57 Jonah, 20:00 let's talk about Jonah for short time. 20:03 Jonah, a reluctant servant 20:07 who now comes face to face with a relentless savior, 20:10 a man whose determination was not to do God's will. 20:14 You see, I learned through the story of Jonah 20:16 that who we are is not as relevant 20:19 as who we are becoming, 20:22 who we are is not as relevant as who we are becoming. 20:26 What we have done 20:29 is not as significant as what God wants us to do. 20:34 Where we have been 20:36 is not as pertinent as where God is leading us. 20:41 What we wish is not as vital as what God's will. 20:46 And what we think is not as relevant 20:47 as what God knows. 20:49 Jonah was probably the most reluctant servant 20:54 the Bible refers to. 20:56 Jonah did more to escape from God 21:00 than any other preacher. 21:03 And when you think about it, 21:04 you want to do an evangelistic series, 21:06 you think of Philip. 21:07 In the New Testament, 21:09 Philip means a lover of horses. 21:10 He wants to be an evangelist too. 21:12 And the Lord sends him out into the wilderness, 21:14 and he preaches to just one man an Ethiopian eunuch. 21:18 And because of that one sermon to the Ethiopian eunuch, 21:20 the message of God goes to Ethiopia. 21:23 And Ethiopia becomes the second nation on earth. 21:25 What nation did I say? 21:27 The second nation on earth 21:29 that honors the Sabbath of God, the longest. 21:30 Why? 21:32 Because Philip had a willing heart. 21:33 God sent Philip, 21:35 he didn't care about how many people he was preaching, 21:37 he preached to one man an Ethiopian eunuch, 21:41 and that Ethiopian eunuch took the message of Christ 21:43 back to the country of Ethiopia, 21:46 and Ethiopia has been the longest Sabbath keeping country 21:50 in Africa 21:52 because of that one encounter with one man. 21:54 You see whether God sent you to a large crowd or to one, 21:58 you've got to preach 21:59 the same transforming grace of Christ. 22:02 And so often we don't want to go. 22:04 I was so touched by that, when we went to New Guinea, 22:06 so often, we don't want to go. 22:07 And when we went there... 22:11 and I looked at the accommodations 22:13 they put us in, I thought to myself, 22:15 and actually my wife and I said this, 22:18 we said, "How many people would come here? 22:21 How many people 22:23 will leave the secure comforts 22:26 of where we came from and come here?" 22:30 It wasn't until we got there 22:33 that they said to us, 22:34 "Now we just want to give you a few points 22:37 that we want you to be careful of." 22:40 They said, "Don't forget to close the windows at night 22:43 because the rats will come in and nibble at your toes." 22:48 I thought he was kidding. 22:50 I said, "You're joking, aren't you?" 22:52 He said, "No, I'm serious." 22:54 And he took me to the screens, you see all... 22:58 They didn't have central air conditioning, 22:59 all throughout the place they put us in, 23:03 they had those windows level... 23:04 You roll them up and window the air passes through 23:07 and then at night you close and air stays in the house. 23:11 But he showed me at the base of the screens 23:13 where the rats 23:15 would cut their way through 23:17 and come into the house at night, 23:18 he said, "Don't ever forget 23:21 to close all the windows at night 23:25 if you don't want the rats to nibble at your feet 23:27 while you're sleeping." 23:29 And, you know what? 23:30 I never forgot to close the windows. 23:34 That was not anything he had to tell me twice. 23:38 And then he says, "If you want to shower, 23:39 you either get up before 5 o'clock 23:41 or water would not be available until afternoon." 23:46 And there were some days water wasn't available afternoon 23:49 or even before 5 o'clock. 23:52 And I was so glad my wife took with her those wipes 23:57 because some days that's all the shower I got. 23:59 Come on, help me out somebody. 24:01 When I got home and that shower hit me, 24:03 I thought, "Now that's a shower." 24:06 Because you had to stand in it, 24:08 and you had to lean it at a certain angle 24:10 to even increase the pressure. 24:12 And you'd turn the pipe... 24:13 And then I said to the guy, "Well, there was no water." 24:15 He said, "Did you turn the auxiliary pipe." 24:18 I said, "There was no water in that either." 24:21 He said, "Well, that's how it is here sometimes." 24:23 And here we are sitting down, 24:25 and I'm about to send an email to Jill, 24:27 and I just finished my email because you see, 24:30 if you don't get the email sent 24:31 and there's a 15-hour difference 24:33 between there and here, 24:35 that means I got to wait until the next day, 24:36 and she's not going to get the email until two days later. 24:39 And I'm finishing the syntax of my email 24:41 and all of a sudden, 24:44 all the power is out. 24:48 And I close my laptop one evening in frustration, 24:50 Jill, because that email wasn't going out 24:52 until the next afternoon, 24:54 which was you're 15 hours behind me, 24:57 which would have been during the night 24:58 and by the time you get it, 24:59 it's coming to me two days later 25:01 that's how it was in New Guinea. 25:03 But I want to tell you something, 25:05 it was in that setting 25:07 that all the encroachments of life lost their value, 25:12 it was in that setting 25:13 that television no longer appealed to me, 25:16 it was in those settings, 25:17 I didn't care about what happened in Washington, 25:19 I didn't care about what the president did or didn't do, 25:22 I didn't care about CNN, ABC, NBC or Fox 25:26 because I was in my Bible. 25:29 I began my day talking to God, I ended my day speaking to God, 25:32 I got in the morning in my Bible, 25:35 and the Spirit of God was so on us 25:39 that the testament that they gave us 25:41 at the end of this time, they said, 25:42 "Every time somebody comes here, 25:44 they are demon manifestations, 25:46 but this was the first time 25:48 that there was no demon manifestation." 25:51 And I never forget what the pastor in Australia told me 25:53 who had his own demonic experience, 25:55 where the demons tried to choke him to death, 25:57 and he said his father saw the marks on his neck 25:59 a month later still there. 26:01 He said, the demons, 26:03 the only help he had was he called on God 26:05 out of his heart, he couldn't even speak audibly, 26:07 and he said, 26:08 he felt the demon jump off of him, 26:10 and he saw him standing in the corner. 26:11 He said, "I know the reason I had that manifestation 26:14 is I went to New Guinea unprepared spiritually." 26:19 And I said to my wife, "Praise the Lord." 26:21 We prayed before we left, we prayed on the plane, 26:24 we prayed when we landed, 26:26 when we got into our room and saw the accommodations, 26:28 we prayed, we prayed in the morning, 26:30 we studied our Bibles, 26:32 we prayed before we went out of that room, 26:33 we stood at the door, "Don't open the door, honey. 26:35 Father, as we leave this room, go with us." 26:40 Pray before the message, made an altar call every night. 26:44 And precious souls in that country where... 26:47 You see, we don't see demons in America manifest themselves 26:50 the way they do in New Guinea, but they're here. 26:54 Demons will put on a new outfit. 26:57 If it takes a new outfit to get access to your life, 26:59 demons will come in another way. 27:00 But they're just as real here as they are in New Guinea, 27:03 they just act out differently. 27:06 They hang out in our attitudes, in our likes and dislikes, 27:10 in our separations, in our preferences, 27:12 that's where the demons hang out. 27:14 They manifest themselves in different ways, 27:15 but they're just as real here in Thompsonville 27:17 as they are in New Guinea. 27:20 So that'll make you feel like 27:21 you're in some kind of safe haven. 27:24 But God sent Jonah to this demon-infested city, 27:27 He said, "Arise and go to Nineveh." 27:30 But Jonah 1:3, but Jonah arose, he got up, 27:35 but to flee to Tarshish. 27:38 You see, Nineveh was one way, Tarshish was the other. 27:43 The Lord said, "Go this way." 27:45 Jonah said, "I am getting up, but I'm going that way." 27:49 When you study the life of Jonah, 27:51 he arose to fleet of Tarshish 27:54 and he arose to flee from the presence of the Lord 27:59 as if there is some place you can go 28:01 that you can hide from God. 28:09 But I want you to notice the direction of his life, 28:11 when you run from God, 28:12 there's only one direction your life will go. 28:16 The verse continues, "He went down to Joppa, 28:20 and found a ship going to Tarshish." 28:23 I call it the ship of disobedience. 28:26 "And he paid the fare," the wages of sin, 28:30 "and went down..." 28:31 Notice the direction of his life. 28:32 Whenever you run from God, there is only one direction 28:36 your life will go, 28:37 and that is what direction, friends? 28:38 Down. Down to Joppa. 28:43 Down into the ship. 28:49 And when the Bible says to go with them, 28:52 that means he want to go with the ungodly, 28:54 the men that worship strange and unusual gods. 28:57 The men that were on that boat going to Tarshish 29:00 were not people that worship the true God. 29:03 But what I learned from that, and this is the amazing thing 29:06 about God, you ready for it? 29:08 Jonah doesn't want to go to Nineveh to preach, 29:10 he wants to go to Tarshish. 29:12 The Lord said, "You don't want to go to Nineveh 29:13 because you don't want to go there to preach, 29:15 but I'm going to make you preach wherever you go." 29:17 Amen, somebody? 29:18 So he's on the ship of disobedience 29:20 with men that worship unusual gods, and God said, 29:23 "You don't want to preach there, 29:25 you're going to preach no matter where you go." 29:27 So Jonah is on the ship trying to run 29:30 from the presence of the Lord. 29:31 You see, Jonah reasoned 29:34 that if he ignored God, 29:36 God would ignore him. 29:38 Nothing is further from the truth. 29:40 Jonah thought to himself that he could outrun God. 29:44 Jonah concluded that there is a place 29:47 that he could hide from God. 29:50 And I have learned in so many ways 29:52 that there is no place that we can hide from God 29:56 because when God wants you, God's going to get you. 29:59 Amen. 30:00 When God wants you, God's going to get you. 30:02 David, the Psalmist had the same attitude, 30:04 but he said in Psalm 139, 30:06 "If I ascended to heaven, you are there. 30:08 If I make my bed in hell, you are there. 30:11 If I take the wings of the morning 30:13 and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 30:15 even there your hand shall lead me 30:18 and your right hand shall hold me." 30:21 Everywhere we go, God can be found. 30:30 But the direction of your life 30:32 will reveal your commitment to God. 30:36 If your life is going down, 30:39 your commitment to God is going down. 30:42 What also amazed me as we travel, 30:45 we see God's hand work in so many beautiful ways. 30:49 You see, I want to point out something to you this morning 30:51 that whenever you are on God's journey, 30:56 whenever you are on a mission for God, 30:59 God takes care 31:00 of the finer details of your journey 31:03 before you even think you have a need. 31:07 Let me give you an example, a true story. 31:09 We are on our way... 31:13 to New Guinea, but we stop over in Brisbane, Australia 31:16 after a 14-hour flight from Los Angeles to Brisbane. 31:20 Fourteen hours over the ocean. 31:23 I mean, you go to work, you come home, 31:25 you go back to work, you're still on the same plane. 31:30 We landed in Brisbane. 31:32 And as we're in the airport in Brisbane... 31:36 You know, sometimes on the road, you know, 31:38 you get so sick and tired of the airplane food 31:40 that you really don't like 31:42 so in the airport in Brisbane and I saw a Kit Kat. 31:48 I knew some of you formerly sugarholics know 31:50 what I'm talking about. 31:53 A Kit Kat, nice old chocolate Kit Kat, 31:55 something I could identify with. 31:57 Didn't like... 31:59 You know, we chose vegetarian, 32:00 but they don't know about vegetarian meals 32:02 on these planes, 32:03 they put together stuff that I can't even identify. 32:04 You know, what I'm talking about, 32:06 Pastor CA. 32:07 I said, "Honey, it looks like rice." 32:08 She said, "No, it's quinoa." 32:12 "Quinoa?" 32:14 "No, quinoa." 32:15 "Quinoa?" 32:17 "Quinoa." 32:18 I don't eat quinoa at home, 32:20 and I ain't eating it on this plane. 32:22 Who made it? 32:23 Some guy that does not even know 32:24 what vegetarians eat made it. 32:26 Quinoa. 32:28 Didn't like it, but I can't even anything else 32:29 because I'm on a plane. 32:31 You can't get out, and go to the store, and come back. 32:33 So here I'm in the office, I got a Kit Kat, 32:34 and I finished the Kit Kat, and it tasted ever so good, 32:36 it reminded me of being home. 32:39 And I'm walking across the airport 32:40 to put it in the garbage can and just then 32:42 God made a connection that proved in 14 more days 32:45 to be exactly what we needed. 32:47 We met the Ambassador Bien Tejano's daughter 32:51 recognized us in the airport in Brisbane. 32:56 And she came over, she said, 32:58 "I saw you walking over to the trash can, 32:59 I didn't know what you're doing, 33:01 but I recognize you." 33:02 And she came and she said, "Hey, I am..." 33:03 And she told me her name, 33:05 "I am the daughter of Bien Tejano, 33:06 the ambassador. 33:07 And I'm going to call him now." 33:09 And she calls him on the phone and says, "Hey," I said. 33:10 He said, "Hey, John, welcome." 33:11 He said, "Hey, if you stop over in Port Moresby, 33:15 be a guest at our home. 33:16 You can stay at our official residence." 33:19 Didn't know how handy that would come in 33:21 because, you know, after being in New Guinea for 13 days, 33:25 there's only one desire you have and that's a shower. 33:31 So we had everything done, all our work was finished. 33:34 And I said, "Honey, when do we leave? 33:38 And I said, "This Sunday?" 33:39 She said, "Well, we're here all the way to Wednesday." 33:41 I said, "What do we do until Wednesday?" 33:43 "Nothing, just hanging out." 33:45 I said, "Is it possible we could leave sooner?" 33:49 The Lord worked it out 33:51 that we got on a plane on Monday, 33:53 did not know where we were staying at all 33:55 in Port Moresby, but God made a connection 33:59 before we thought about it 13 days earlier, 34:03 He got us in connection with Bien Tejano's daughter 34:06 in the airport and that proved to be 34:08 a blessing of insurmountable proportions 34:13 through Facebook, through WhatsApp, 34:16 my wife communicated with her, she said, 34:18 "I will go ahead and set it up, 34:19 you'll stay at the official residence, 34:21 we'll cover your food, your lodging, 34:24 and we'll drive you wherever you want to go." 34:26 Amen, somebody? 34:28 Thirteen days earlier, we didn't even know 34:30 we had that need. 34:32 And we got there and was blessed 34:36 as they met us at the airport with the official embassy van, 34:39 took us around to the mall, put us up in his home, 34:42 the lady cooked for us every day. 34:44 God... 34:46 Let me tell you something, when you put... 34:49 Let me rephrase. 34:50 You don't ever risk following God, 34:53 it's not a risk, it's a blessing. 34:56 But you've got to be in a situation 34:57 where God can do things that are extraordinary, 35:00 and you'll never know the needs can be provided 35:02 until you are in those extraordinary circumstances. 35:07 And there we were 35:10 and all the needs we had were provided 35:12 right there in that home. 35:14 And they also wanted us to meet 35:15 the president of the Philippines, 35:17 and they said, 35:18 "Why don't you come with us to the Philippines?" 35:21 I said, "When?" 35:22 They said, "When you come to New Guinea." 35:24 I said, "And when?" 35:26 They said, "Well, just go with us on Monday, 35:28 you get back on Friday, and then you go to Brisbane 35:30 on Friday." 35:32 And I thought, "I'll get stuck in the Philippines 35:36 and won't make my... 35:38 How am I going to get there? 35:39 And I said, "Well, no, maybe next time around." 35:41 They wanted us to meet 35:42 the president of the Philippines. 35:44 And they said, 35:45 "We'll arrange it, you'll be at the palace, you'll met him." 35:46 I said, "Not this time around." 35:48 So but every need we had, the Lord provided, 35:51 and sometimes He goes above and beyond measure 35:53 just to let you know He is God. 35:56 That's how God works. 35:58 So when God calls you to follow Him, 36:02 whether He calls you to join His remnant church 36:05 or whether He called you to be an evangelist, 36:07 whether He calls you to be a leader 36:09 in whatever capacity God calls you, 36:11 don't ever make the foolish mistake of thinking 36:15 that you can run in the opposite direction 36:17 and ignore God and that means 36:19 God is going to ignore you. 36:20 Let me tell you something. 36:21 God will wreck your life. 36:26 He will turn your life inside out 36:28 if that's what it takes to get you to serve Him. 36:31 Anybody know what I'm talking about? 36:33 Look at Jonah 1:4. 36:36 Hiding from God, from the presence of God, 36:40 some of you have storms in your life 36:42 because you won't listen to God, 36:44 but the Lord had sent out a great wind on the sea. 36:47 There are storms in life. 36:49 Normally, when you get a storm, you call on God 36:52 to help you get delivered. 36:53 Am I right? 36:54 But when God send the storm, and you call on God, 36:56 there ain't no deliverance because God is the one 36:59 sending the storm. 37:01 "The Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, 37:04 and there was a mighty tempest on the sea 37:07 so that the ship was about to be broken up." 37:10 God was in charge of that storm, 37:12 so the question you got to ask yourself 37:14 when storms come in your life, are those storms 37:17 because of faithfulness or because of disobedience? 37:22 Because you'll be one category or the other, 37:24 you've got to pause and examine your life, 37:26 "How am I living, 37:28 is this storm the result of my disobedience, 37:31 or is it result of my faithfulness?" 37:34 Because storms are going to come 37:35 one way or the other. 37:40 This disobedient servant of God got the captain, 37:43 got the people on board afraid. 37:44 Verse 5 says, "Then the mariners 37:47 that's the sailors were afraid 37:49 and every man cried out to his god." 37:52 When you cry out to the false god 37:54 or the wrong god, there are no answers. 37:57 But notice what happened. 37:59 "And threw the cargo that was in the ship 38:01 into the sea, to lighten the load. 38:03 But Jonah had gone down 38:06 into the lowest parts of the ship, 38:09 and lain down, and was fast asleep." 38:19 My wife and I were studying in the book, 38:21 Prophets and Kings, 38:23 and the servant of the Lord says, 38:26 "The complacency in a time of crisis 38:29 is an insult to God." 38:32 God cannot use men who in times of crisis 38:37 choose not to respond to the call of God. 38:41 That's the reason why she said in the closing work 38:43 very few great men would be used. 38:47 That's why she says, many bright lights would go out 38:49 because in these moments of crisis, 38:52 the light is bright just for the glory of the preacher, 38:55 not for the glory of God. 38:56 I have learned in a very humbling way 38:58 that my light is not to shine to glorify me, 39:01 Oswald Chambers said to me in one very direct tone, 39:04 he said, "Never use God's gifts to bring glory to yourself." 39:08 Amen. 39:11 And I thought about that. 39:14 And I thought about that, and I said, "You know what, 39:15 I think part of the reasons why... 39:18 I think one of the reasons God works in strange ways 39:21 and sometimes along the way, He will reveal to you 39:24 why you go through what you go through. 39:26 And I remember sitting 39:27 on the edge of my bed one day, 39:29 and I don't know if God did this 39:30 to save me or not, 39:31 but I'll understand it better by and by. 39:33 But I was sitting on the edge of my bed one day, 39:35 watching the Grammys, 39:36 shouldn't have been watching them anyhow. 39:39 But I'm a musician, so I like to watch the Grammys 39:41 because it's all about music, and there are some people 39:43 that are singing in mike. 39:44 You know, people nowadays that are in the music industry, 39:46 they don't know a thing about singing 99% of them. 39:49 It's all about a beat and lights. 39:51 You take away all that stuff, they're nothing but a cow 39:54 with three legs 39:57 mooing in the wrong direction. 40:00 So I sat on the edge of this bed one day, 40:02 and I'm listening to this person 40:04 screaming through the song with just a beat. 40:09 I'm thinking, "What on earth is that?" 40:11 And I said to myself, "I can sing better than that." 40:16 And this little... 40:18 You know, how the devil that... 40:19 He just drops this little seed in your head, and he say, 40:22 "Do you want to sing out there 40:24 because you can make a lot of money?" 40:27 Like a young lady came to my wife and I, 40:28 one day she got a call, she got invited 40:31 to be the singer on The Preacher's Wife, 40:32 she was going to be the singer 40:34 before they call Whitney Houston 40:36 to sing on The Preacher's Wife, they called her. 40:39 And she calls 40:40 "John, me and my husband are coming over. 40:42 We got to talk to you and Angie." 40:43 She came over, she said, "You would not believe it, 40:46 we got invited, they invited me to be the one 40:48 to sing on the new movie, The Preacher's Wife. 40:50 They want me to be in the movie and to be the singer." 40:55 I said, "Have you ever been out there?" 40:57 She said, "No." 40:58 And the reasoning comes into your mind, she said, 41:00 "Now I can go out there, 41:01 I can make a whole lot of money, 41:03 and I could help the cause of God." 41:04 I said, "That's your plan, 41:06 but that's not the devil's plan." 41:09 I said, "I'd rather be unknown in earth 41:11 and known in the kingdom of God, 41:12 than be known in earth and not known 41:14 in the kingdom of God." 41:15 And that movie came out, and Whitney Houston sang it, 41:17 and you probably saw it before, The Preacher's Wife, 41:21 and that song, "I'll always love you." 41:23 Yeah, she sang it. 41:24 But they had called this other girl, 41:26 who could sing your socks off, and it was in our living room 41:29 in Antioch, California. 41:30 I said, "Young lady, you ain't never been out there, 41:32 and it's too late to go out there now." 41:37 And I remember that thought came into my mind, 41:39 "I can sing better than that guy." 41:41 It wasn't too long after that I had an accident 41:43 in the gym right over there, got hit on my vocal cords. 41:45 God said, "If it means taking your voice away from you 41:47 to save you, I'll do that." 41:51 And it's been a nine-year journey, 41:52 it's coming back slowly but surely, He said, 41:54 "I'll give you just enough voice 41:57 to keep you humble 41:58 so that you can sing in heaven." 41:59 Amen, somebody? 42:01 God knows how to save us. God knows what to do. 42:06 And so here is Jonah down in the lowest parts of the ship 42:08 sleeping at a time 42:10 when he should be taken a stand. 42:11 If ever there's a time that the people of God 42:13 need to be awake, is in the time of crisis 42:16 in these closing moments, 42:18 the heathens are lightning their load, 42:20 they're throwing things overboard 42:21 but here is Jonah, 42:23 he's not throwing anything overboard, 42:25 he's hiding in the belly of a ship 42:27 sleeping in times of crisis when he should be preaching 42:29 the Word of God 42:31 talking about redemption and deliverance, 42:33 refusing to proclaim the message of God. 42:36 But what he would learn in a short time 42:38 is the plans of God are unalterable. 42:40 When God wants us, there is nothing that we can do 42:42 to prevent Him from accomplishing His plan. 42:45 So what happens to Jonah? 42:47 He also discovers that the requirements of God 42:50 are non-negotiable. 42:51 When God sets the requirements, there is nothing that we can do 42:55 to change God's requirements. 42:57 God said, "Jonah, go to Nineveh." 42:59 And Jonah said, "I ain't going." 43:03 So in the midst of the journey, in the midst of the storm, 43:06 verse 6 happens. 43:08 God was about to smoke Jonah out. 43:11 So the captain came to him 43:13 after they went throughout the entire ship 43:16 looking for all hands on deck, 43:18 they found Jonah snoring in the belly of the ship. 43:23 And he said to him, "What do you mean O sleeper?" 43:25 I like the King James Version in this. 43:27 "What meanest thou, O sleeper? 43:31 Arise, call on your God." 43:34 Understand what that meant. 43:36 They were calling on their god getting no answer 43:39 and there was something about Jonah that let them know 43:43 that there was something different 43:44 about this man. 43:46 He didn't dress like us. 43:48 When he came on board, he had a dignity of a preacher, 43:51 but the only problem he was a preacher 43:53 running from God, 43:54 he may have had on his preaching outfit, 43:56 but he's now sleeping in the belly of a ship. 43:58 So they looked around the ship, and he said, 43:59 "Who can we identify 44:01 that might have a better connection 44:02 than we do?" 44:03 And they found Jonah, and they said, 44:05 "Why don't you get up and call on your God 44:07 because our god ain't doing anything for us? 44:11 Perhaps, your God will consider us 44:14 so that we may not perish. 44:16 And they said to one another, 'Come, let us cast lots, 44:19 so may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.' 44:22 So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah." 44:26 Now the reason why they cast lots, 44:28 they didn't try to figure out who was the reason 44:30 for the problem, they knew who it was 44:32 because they already asked him to call on his God, 44:35 but they were going to confirm it, 44:37 and God allowed the lot to point to Jonah 44:41 as like playing spin the bottle. 44:43 Which one of you guys is the problem? 44:46 It's you, Mitch. 44:49 Come on, he picking on Mitch 44:51 because I know he is not a problem. 44:53 "What meanest thou, O sleeper?" 44:56 You see, Jonah's problem was not his vocation, 44:59 his problem was his location, 45:03 not vocation, but location. 45:05 And the other problem was not Joseph's condition... 45:13 but his apprehension. 45:15 You see, God wanted this man to stand, Jonah was lying down, 45:21 and I learned something, 45:23 Jonah was in a reclining position, 45:25 and what we don't know is recline 45:28 happens before decline. 45:32 When you're reclining at a moment, 45:33 you should be standing up. 45:35 Recline is followed by decline. 45:37 When we should be standing up if we are reclining, 45:40 the next thing that will happen in our lives 45:43 is will be declining. 45:45 God doesn't want us to recline, he wants us to stand firm 45:48 for something. 45:50 Amen, somebody? Amen. 45:52 So God says to Jonah, 45:53 "This is the time for you to get up..." 45:55 Jonah 1:8. 45:58 And by the way just for your information, 45:59 I'm not going through all four chapters 46:01 just so you can breathe. 46:05 "Then they said to him, 'Please tell us! 46:08 For whose cause is this trouble upon us?" 46:11 They're looking at a preacher in his face. 46:13 And then they begin to ask him questions, 46:14 seven questions in all. 46:16 "What is your occupation? 46:17 Where do you come from? What is your country? 46:19 And what people are you?" 46:20 I don't have time to answer all the questions. 46:21 I have another sermon called the Seven Questions of God, 46:24 which each of these questions are addressed. 46:26 So here he is dressed in his Sabbath outfit, 46:30 he says, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the God of heaven." 46:34 "Well, what good is that doing us? 46:37 In a moment, when you should be working for God, 46:39 you're running from God, and your testimony 46:42 is a controversy to your position. 46:44 In other words, your disobedience 46:45 caused your testimony to be confusing. 46:48 I know who you say you are but why are you here 46:51 if you are really God's servant?" 46:55 "'I'm a Hebrew, I fear the Lord, 46:56 the God of heaven, 46:58 who made the sea and the dry land.' 46:59 And then the men were exceedingly afraid 47:02 and said to one another... 47:06 and said to him, 47:09 'Why have you done this?'" 47:14 That's a powerful question. 47:21 Not going to tell you how many minutes I have, 47:23 but I'm going to spend little time on this question, 47:26 "Why have you done this?" 47:27 What we don't realize sometimes is our disobedience to God 47:33 can put someone else's life in jeopardy. 47:40 When we refuse to be obedient to God, 47:45 our very actions could put someone else's life 47:48 in jeopardy. 47:49 There are these unsaved men, who don't know 47:53 the God of heaven, look Jonah square in his face, 47:57 and they say to him, "Why have you done this?" 48:01 "For the men knew that he fled 48:04 from the presence of the Lord 48:08 because he had told them, 'I'm coming on board, 48:12 I'm on my way to Tarshish, I'm on board, 48:15 I am going in the opposite direction.' 48:18 And they remembered, 'He told us. 48:21 Why have you done this?' 48:23 Our lives wouldn't be in the condition that it is in, 48:25 we wouldn't be at risk of losing our very salvation, 48:28 we wouldn't be at the risk of losing our lives, 48:30 our livelihood would not be on the line 48:32 if you had not been disobedient to God. 48:35 Why have you done this?" 48:39 And as I said reality that disobedience 48:41 can put somebody's life at risk. 48:43 And they follow up at verse 11, "Then they said to him, 48:46 'What shall we do to you, so that the sea 48:47 maybe calmed for us?' 48:49 For the sea was growing more tempestuous. 48:52 And he said to them, 48:53 'Pick me up and throw me into the sea, 48:55 then the sea will become calm for you. 48:58 For I know that this great tempest 49:01 is because of me.' " 49:03 I like that. I like that. 49:05 "Throw me overboard." 49:08 Really? 49:10 When I was finishing this last night 49:12 with my numb finger, 49:15 you try to type with a finger that was broken. 49:20 I leaned back in my chair, and I said, 49:22 "Throw him overboard." 49:25 I thought to myself, 49:26 "Sometimes, there are people in our lives 49:29 that we need to throw overboard." 49:37 There's some things in your life 49:39 you need to throw overboard... 49:47 because Jonah being in that ship... 49:53 risk the peace and safety of those who did not know God, 49:57 and the only peace that they were going to get 50:00 was if they threw him overboard. 50:04 But they're looking at the ocean now, 50:06 and they decide, 50:07 "Now wait a minute, throw him overboard..." 50:08 The Bible says in verse 13, "Nevertheless the men 50:11 rowed harder to return to land, but they could not 50:14 for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them." 50:16 You see the point of the matter is 50:18 you can't calm storms that God send. 50:21 Amen. 50:22 You cannot slow a storm down when God is the one 50:25 whipping the winds up. 50:26 And here is the point that's made, 50:27 if you are living a life of disobedience 50:30 and you are ignoring the call of God 50:31 to straighten that thing out, 50:33 God is going to increase the storms in your life 50:35 until you have no other option but to dive overboard 50:41 and put your life in the hand of a God 50:44 and pray that His grace will be extended to you. 50:46 Amen. 50:48 They try to row harder, they became soft. 50:53 They said, "We want peace, but we don't want to kill him." 50:55 Therefore, they cried out to the Lord and said, 50:58 "We pray, O Lord, 50:59 please do not let us perish for this man's life, 51:02 and do not charge us with innocent blood, 51:04 for You, O Lord, have done as it pleases You." 51:08 And so they decided to relent 51:10 because God was in the relenting. 51:12 So they picked up Jonah, and threw him into the sea, 51:14 and the sea ceased from its raging. 51:18 "And then the men fear the Lord exceeding 51:20 and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows." 51:23 Well, I want to tell you today, some of you need to throw 51:25 some things out of your life overboard, 51:28 overboard where they need to be. 51:32 And until they are things that are in your life 51:34 that don't need to be there are thrown overboard, 51:36 you will not have peace because God was sent the storm. 51:40 I read about storms in the scripture, 51:41 the storms on the ocean that Jesus calm, 51:44 the storm that Peter was in there 51:45 Jesus had him walk on the water, 51:47 the storm that Jesus was in the boat with the disciples, 51:49 but it's something all together different 51:51 when God is the one sending the storm, 51:54 and the storm is not 51:55 for the purpose of our destruction 51:58 but for the purpose of our salvation. 52:01 What a storm? I learned. 52:04 I had some storms in my own life. 52:11 Every now and then, God knows when we need a storm. 52:16 I had some storms in my life that reconnect me to my Bible. 52:20 I had some storms in my life 52:21 that made me look for my Bible, again, 52:24 not just to put a sermon together, 52:26 but to talk to God for myself. 52:29 I had some storms... 52:34 that made me bow my knees before God, 52:39 and He said to me, "Until you relinquish 52:41 all the control in your life to God, you will never get it, 52:44 you will never reach the destination 52:48 that God had preselected for you. 52:53 He didn't want to go to Nineveh and there's some people in here 52:56 that don't want to go 52:57 where God is trying to send them. 52:59 And so they're trying to run from God, 53:00 and I want to tell you, 53:02 the more you try to run from God, 53:03 the more intense the storms are going to get 53:05 until you decide, 53:06 "If it's Nineveh, He wants me to go to, 53:08 I'm going to Nineveh." 53:10 So Jonah gets thrown overboard and Jonah, 53:14 the Bible says in verse 17, 53:16 "Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. 53:21 And Jonah was in the belly of the fish 53:23 three days and three nights." 53:27 He's the only evangelist, Karen, 53:31 that knows what it's like to get 53:33 to an evangelistic series smelling like sushi. 53:39 "And who are you?" "I'm the preacher. 53:45 I'm the preacher. 53:46 Where is the pulpit? 53:49 Ignore the scent. 53:50 I'm the preacher. 53:52 My car broke down, I swam here. 53:56 I'm the preacher." 53:58 "Why do you look that way?" 53:59 "I don't know, but I got a message." 54:02 So he starts running around Nineveh 54:03 in three days, the judgments of God 54:05 are going to fall on the city. 54:07 He runs to another Interstate, in three days, 54:10 the judgments of God are going to fall on the city. 54:13 And inspiration the Lord... 54:15 Servant says, that he proclaimed that message 54:18 in every quarter of the city of Nineveh, 54:21 and people saw the sincerity in Jonah's proclamation, 54:25 and the wickedest city known in that day, 54:28 they began to straighten up, and they said, 54:29 "Surely, this message must be from God." 54:32 And everybody in that city began to think about the fact 54:37 that God was really going to bring destruction, 54:40 that's why 3:1 is so significant. 54:44 The verse we began with is the verse we're ending with. 54:49 Now the word of the Lord 54:53 came to Jonah the second time. 54:56 What time, my friends? 54:58 The second time. 54:59 When God in His mercy give you a second chance, 55:03 you don't spurn that second chance. 55:05 Can I get an amen? 55:07 When God in His long suffering says to you, 55:10 "You got away the first time, but you ain't getting away 55:13 this time." 55:14 When God said, 55:16 "I overlooked your first level of disobedience, 55:18 but I ain't giving you no room the second time, 55:21 you better go to Nineveh, and you better preach." 55:23 And He said to Jonah, "Arise, go to Nineveh, 55:25 that great city." 55:27 And there Jonah is, he arrives not in a Cadillac, 55:30 not in a 747, not in a taxi, not in an Uber, 55:35 he gets vomited on the shores of Nineveh by a fish, 55:38 who didn't have a care in life about Jonah. 55:45 Jonah's here. 55:51 Jonah just arrived. 55:53 Who? 55:55 So some fisherman sees a slimy preacher. 55:58 That's what some of us says, dump of slimy preachers 56:01 that God is using. 56:04 We think we're all there. 56:06 God spit up just so that God can proclaim the message 56:09 to a dying world. 56:12 Slimy preacher, look at him. 56:16 Sad excuse, he could have arrived 56:18 in a nice dry clean suit, but he chose to arrive 56:25 covered by the grace of God. 56:28 You know what, I love this part of the story as I end. 56:32 I'm not going to go into how many were converted. 56:35 Okay, you want the statistics? 56:36 The whole city. 56:37 Amen? 56:39 The whole city, everybody got Jesus. 56:46 And I don't want to go on the other part, 56:48 Jonah got mad 56:51 that everybody got converted 56:53 because Jonah went to preach the message 56:55 reluctantly, hesitantly, 56:57 but he wanted to see some fire fall from heaven 56:59 and burn that city up. 57:02 And God said, "No, if you had pity on those go, 57:06 this plant, can I not have pity on this city." 57:11 You see, in our Sabbath School class this morning, 57:14 we were studying about the sanctuary. 57:18 In the Holy of Holies is the mercy seat. 57:23 And on the inside of the Ark of the Covenant 57:25 is the Ten Commandments of God 57:27 and above the commandments of God is the mercy seat, 57:31 and the Lord said to me, 57:32 "There's only one thing more important than My law, 57:36 it's My mercy." 57:38 Amen. Amen, church? 57:39 You guys are too tame for me. 57:41 I need to go back to New Guinea where they say amen 57:44 in 15 different languages. 57:48 "Oh, you see, we get so much sermonizing here, 57:51 we listen to all day long us on 3ABN Radio, 3ABN television, 57:55 there sometimes it's just another message, " 57:57 and I know that's not the case. 58:00 But I want to say to you this morning, 58:02 God 58:04 is an exceedingly gracious God, 58:09 whose great desire 58:11 is to get us to proclaim the final message, 58:14 to a final generation. 58:17 And, my brothers and my sisters, 58:18 when the Word of the Lord comes to you the first time, 58:21 you made the first mistake, 58:23 but don't make the second mistake 58:25 because one day you will look for the Word of God 58:28 from the north to the south, to the east, to the west, 58:31 and you won't be able to find it 58:33 because the Word of God will be no more. 58:35 You look from the north to the south, to the east, 58:37 to the west be a hunger in the lamb, 58:40 not for bread in the water 58:41 but for the hearing of the Word of God 58:43 if the Word of God has come to you today. |
Revised 2018-09-17