MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY NIGHT, NOVEMBER 30, 2008 MESSAGE 15 OF 17 IN ANCIENT PATHS SERIES CHRISTIAN HOPE CHURCH OF CHRIST, PLYMOUTH, NORTH CAROLINA by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister The Voyage to Nowhere Message 15 of 17: Ancient Paths Sermon Series Jonah 1:1-3 (Open your Bibles to the first chapter of the Book of Jonah. And just leave your Bibles opened there. We will be getting to our scripture in just a few minutes. First let s go to God in prayer. ) INTRODUCTION There is within us all a DEFIANT and REBELLIOUS spirit fighting for control each and every day we live. And sometimes we see this defiance rear its ugly head in some very simple ways. * The sign says SPEED LIMIT 55...but we like to push er on up there to about 60-62 don t we? We tell ourselves, just as long as we re not 10 miles over the speed limit the cops aren t going to pull us over. * The sign says Limit One Per Customer so we plot and scheme ways to go in and out of the store through a different check out line each time just to show them we can outsmart them! * The sign says EXPRESS LANE 10 ITEMS OR LESS So what do we do? We get in the express lane with our 14 or 15 items and pretend we didn t know we had so much stuff.. I mean what are they going to do ARREST ME?
* The sign on the store front door says CLOSE AT 9:00 P.M. So what do we do? We pull up in front of the store at 8:59 and are aghast that they won t let us in. You see, our defiant, rebellious spirit tells us the RULES and LAWS don t really mean what they say. They are just guidelines. They are meant to be BENT, BROKEN and STRETCHED. I m afraid a lot of us who are Christians, look at God s laws the same way we look at man s laws. If you believe you can BEND, STRETCH or even BREAK God s laws without suffering any consequences, think again! Just ask Jonah! ***************** In tonight s ANCIENT PATHS message we are going to see how JONAH S defiant, rebellious spirit got him in a whale of trouble! (I know..just shoot me!) Let s consider these three simple points this evening: First we will look at JONAH S REBELLION Secondly, we will look at JONAH S REPENTANCE Thirdly, we will look at JONAH S REVIVAL And Fourthly, we will look at JONAH S REGRET ************************
First let s consider.. I. Jonah s Rebellion Jonah 1:1-5 1. Jonah was a prophet of God during a time when the Israelite people were in a terrible state of rebellion against God. 2. But there is a notable distinction between Jonah and the other prophets in the Old Testament. Rather than being a prophet to the Israelite people as all the others had been, God was calling Jonah to be a prophet to the Assyrians, more specifically, to the people of Ninevah. God was calling Jonah to be His very first missionary. 3. But it is here we begin to see JONAH S rebellion against the authority of God. Verse 3 4. What was it about Ninevah that frightened Jonah? Were the Ninevites really that bad? In a word, YES! The city of Ninevah was located in Assyria, which is modern day IRAQ. (How many times has this region of world come up in our Ancient Paths studies? It always has been, it still is and always will be a troubled region) Well any way, back to Ninevah and the Assyrians. These people were brutal and bloodthirsty. Their signature trademark was that any time they attacked an enemy they would decapitate the victims and write graffiti on the walls of the city with the victim s blood to let everyone know the Assyrians had done this.
5. The Assyrians had been especially brutal toward the Israelites. Which now gives us a clearer understanding of why Jonah would be reluctant to go there. The way Jonah sees it, if he goes to Ninevah it s a lose/lose situation any way he cuts it...if he goes to preach in Ninevah and they repent, he has helped spare one of Israel s most hated and feared enemies...on the other hand, if he goes to preach in Ninevah and they DON T repent, he s going to lose his head and have his blood used for finger paints. 6. So JONAH decides it is better to REBEL against GOD and run away than to go to Ninevah. 7. Now Jonah wasn t so stupid as to believe he could ever get so far from God that God couldn t find him. But evidently he did believe he could get far enough away that God would forget about him and send someone else to Ninevah. 8. As Jonah begins his VOYAGE TO NOWHERE, he soon learns three hard lessons about what happens when one REBELS against GOD. (A) First of all, REBELLION is EXHAUSTING vs.3a Let me draw a little mental map for you. (use hand gestures) Israel is right here. Ninevah is up here about 550 miles northeast of Israel. Tarshish is way over here about 2,500 miles west of Israel.
Now to you get the picture? Rather than going 550 miles in God s will, Jonah was willing to run 2,500 miles out of God s will. That s exactly what you and I do when we rebel against God s will in our lives. When we say I m going to do things my way in stead of God s way in essence what we are doing is taking the long, grueling, exhausting VOYAGE that leads to NOWHERE! REBELLION is EXHAUSTING! (B) REBELLION is also COSTLY vs. 3b, c If Jonah had gone to Ninevah as God had commanded, God would have picked up the whole tab for the trip. But when Jonah decided to REBEL against GOD and run in the opposite direction, he had to pay his own fare. Any time we REBEL against God we will pay a hefty price...when you REBEL against God, you will pay physically! When you REBEL against God, you will pay emotionally!.when you REBEL against God, you will pay spiritually! Any time you or I decide we are going to run away from God and live life how we want to live it, we need to understand we will be paying for that trip ourselves, and that can be a very costly ticket! For the wages of sin is death!
(C) REBELLION also ENDANGERS OTHERS vs. 4,5 Because of JONAH S rebellion against God, the lives of the sailors aboard that ship were put in grave danger. These sailors were delivering CARGO. That is how they made their living to feed themselves and their families, And if that cargo didn t arrive with them in Tarshish, they don t get paid.and if they don t get paid their families don t eat. When God sent that violent storm upon the sea, those sailors became fearful their ship was going to break up, so they started throwing their valuable cargo overboard. They were literally throwing their paycheck into the sea. Do you see the truth that emerges in all this? Any time you and I defy God and rebel against God, our action endangers others. We saw this truth when David sinned with Bathsheba. And now we see it again in the life of JONAH. Oh my friend, before you choose to REBEL against GOD just remind yourself..others will get hurt because of your rebellion. And in all likelihood it will be those closest to you. REBELLION is EXHAUSTING! REBELLION is COSTLY! AND REBELLION ENDANGERS OTHERS! ***************** As we continue on with JONAH on his VOYAGE to NOWHERE, let s consider..
II. Jonah s Repentance 1:12-17 1. Jonah realized this wasn t just an ordinary storm and it wasn t just going to pass. Jonah knew this storm had been sent by the Lord because of his rebellion. 2. Well Jonah s situation was about to go from BAD to WORSE in a hurry. Knowing the storm was not going to subside as long as he was on that ship, Jonah begged the sailors to throw him overboard. It was with great reluctance the sailors finally threw Jonah out of the boat, and even then they prayed to God that He would not take their lives for what they did to Jonah. And as soon as JONAH hit the water, the storm ceased. Now notice the profound effect this had upon the sailors. READ------VERSE 16 3. Now what happened next is the part of this story that has captured our imagination from the time we were little children. But perhaps we have never looked at it from its proper perspective. If you were like me, for many years I believed it was a terrible thing that Jonah got swallowed by this big fish. But let s read VERSE 17 again very carefully! 4. That giant fish was a provision of God s grace. God could have very easily have allowed Jonah to drown in the Sea, but He chose instead to spare His life inside the belly of that fish.
And remember Jesus pointed to this event to signify his own burial following the crucifixion. Jesus said in Matthew 12:40.. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 5. JONAH chapter two is JONAH S PRAYER OF REPENTANCE. It took being swallowed by a great fish to make Jonah realize just how wrong he had been for rebelling against God. 6. Before we move on, let me make a critical doctrinal point. GOD never forces us to obey Him. He always gives us the choice to obey or to disobey. But there is a difference in the outcome of our choice. OBEDIENCE always brings blessings. DISOBEDIENCE always brings consequences. 7. And when we choose to disobey God, God will often allow us to be completely swallowed up by the circumstances we create for ourselves until our will conforms to His will. That is exactly what happened with Jonah. Chapter 2, verse 10 tells us once Jonah was willing to conform to God s will, The Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. After he repented, JONAH S VOYAGE TO NOWHERE TURNS INTO A VOYAGE TO SOMEWHERE. Let s consider..
III. Jonah s Revival This revival unfolds in three stages: (A) First came the MESSAGE of Jonah 3:1-4 Every true revival begins with the preaching of God s Word. Jonah s message from the Lord was very simple and right to the point. Notice in verse 3 it says, a visit required three days. Ninevah was a sprawling city that stretched about 60 miles in circumference along the Tigris river. It would take three whole days just to walk around the city. Stopping to preach, as Jonah did, would require considerably more time. This was why Jonah s message was very short. In fact it consisted of just eight words: vs. 4 Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned. (B) Second came the MOURNING of the Ninevites 3:5-9 There is no other way to explain what happened in Nineveh than to say it was a MIRACLE. vs. 5 The Ninevites BELIEVED GOD! Revival begins with the preaching of God s Word, but true Revival will not take place unless the people BELIEVE GOD. The Ninevites BELIEVED GOD!
And as a result, the entire city, from the greatest to the least put on sackcloth. Sackcloth was symbolic of genuine repentance and intense mourning. You notice in verse 8 the King of Nineveh even ordered that all the animals be covered in sackcloth. What occurred in Ninevah was The Greatest Revival in History. Taking into consideration the geographical size of the city, it is very likely the population of Nineveh would have been somewhere between 750,000 and 1 Million people. And this Revival included every single person. First came THE MESSAGE of Jonah. Then came MOURNING of the people. (C) Then came THE MERCY of the Lord. 3:10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened. ************* Jonah s Journey to Nowhere started with JONAH S REBELLION then came JONAH S REPENTANCE..then JONAH S REVIVAL. Had the Book of Jonah ended right there it would have been a story of GREAT VICTORY and SUCCESS. But sadly, it didn t end there. In Jonah chapter 4 we see
IV. Jonah s Regret Jonah 4:1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. Jonah was angry that God spared the city of Nineveh from destruction. He REGRETTED that he had played any role at all in the salvation of this city. What was at the very root of Jonah s hatred of these people? In a word, PREJUDICE. Jonah was prejudiced against the Ninevites. He saw them as unworthy to be saved. Many of the true stories we have looked at in this ANCIENT PATHS series have ended on a HIGH NOTE. The story of JONAH doesn t. As the curtain closes on the Book of Jonah we are left with more questions than answers. *Whatever happened to Jonah? *Did God ever use him again? *Did Jonah ever overcome his deep-seeded prejudice toward the Ninevites? *Or did Jonah just run away from God again and resume his JOURNEY TO NOWHERE? We simply do not know the answers to those questions. *******
APPLICATION What are we to learn from this ANCIENT account? Perhaps the most obvious lesson we should learn is IT IS FOOLISH TO TRY TO RUN AWAY FROM GOD. Remember the words of David in Psalm 139:7,8 Where can I go from your Spirit? Whre can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. Any time you and I try to run away from God we will always run right back into Him somewhere down the road. IT IS FOOLISH TO TRY TO RUN AWAY FROM GOD. But another important lesson we can learn from JONAH is this: GOD IS A GOD OF SECOND CHANCES. Rather than casting Jonah aside for rebelling, God gave Jonah a second chance. And when Jonah obeyed, God used him as His instrument to bring about the Greatest Revival in history. Have you failed? God can still use you! Have you been running away from God? God can still use you! Have you rebelled against God? God can still use you! GOD IS A GOD OF SECOND CHANCES.