Signs of Spiritual Rebellion (Part 1)

Some of you professional football fans know the guy on the screen, and by the way, his name is not misspelled, Teddy Bruschi, former NFL player, current ESPN analyst.

Today he is recovering from a stroke that he just suffered last week.

His family described what happened, as you read there.

Teddy recognized that he was experiencing the signs of a stroke, arm weakness, face drooping, and speech difficulties.

Do you know those signs?

We all need to know them as well as signs of a heart attack.

If we're wise, if we want to avoid the damaging or even fatal consequences, if they appear in our lives.

Well, today as we return to the book of Jonah, I want us to look at some of the signs that a person is going through, what I'm going to call a spiritual rebellion.

Signs of spiritual rebellion that Jonah displays throughout chapter 1, and there's even some more later on in this study.

What I want us to do is read chapter 1.

Notice as we go through this, some of them are obvious.

We're going to look at this and try to learn from Jonah's example how to avoid being in a state of spiritual rebellion.

How to wake up from a state of spiritual rebellion, if that's the case today.

Also how to avoid in the future drifting or rebelling and getting in that state.

Let's read Jonah 1.

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amtai, saying,

Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.

But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish.

So he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.

Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his God.

And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them.

But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.

So the captain came and said to him, What do you mean, you sleeper?

Arise, call out to your God.

Perhaps the God will give a thought to us that we may not perish.

And they said to one another, that's the sailors now,

Come, let us cast lots that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.

So they cast lots.

And the lot fell on Jonah.

Then they said to him, Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us.

What is your occupation?

And where do you come from?

What is your country?

And of what people are you?

And he said to them, I am a Hebrew.

And I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.

Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him,

What is this that you have done?

For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

Then they said to him, What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?

For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

And he said to them, Pick me up and hurl me into the sea.

Then the sea will quiet down for you.

For I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.

Nevertheless, the men rode hard to get back to dry land.

But they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

Therefore they called out to the Lord, O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life and lay not on us innocent blood.

For you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.

So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea.

And the sea ceased from its raging.

Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly.

And they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

There are times in life that we just sort of look around what's going on.

And it seems, because everything's positive, that the signs are pointing to we're doing something right.

Some people even think that's a sign God's pleased with them and all is going well.

What I want us to do first is to understand sometimes if we look at signs this way, some such signs are deceptive.

They're misleading.

There are some deceptive signs that we see in Jonah.

Let's look at them.

Deceptive signs.

Some signs in life give the impression that all is well when it's not.

The first deceptive sign we see in Jonah, everything seems to be falling into place for you.

Is there ever a time when you just think life is good, all is well.

There's no bumps in the road for me.

It must be that I'm doing something right.

Well, Jonah could have thought that at the very beginning of his rebellion against God.

When he rebelled against God's call to go to Nineveh, he headed in the opposite direction toward Tarshish.

That was as far from Nineveh as he could conceive of going.

Nineveh was east and north.

Tarshish was as far as people traveled west.

It was on the coast of Spain.

Well, look at verse 3 again.

It looks like all is going well.

But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

He went down to Joppa and there was a ship going to Tarshish.

A ship that was sailing as far as he could get.

So he paid the fare.

There was a place for him.

He went down into it to go with him to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

What I want us to see here at the beginning, Jonah's path of rebellion was smooth.

Everything seems to be falling into place.

But that did not mean that all was right.

That didn't mean smooth sailing at first, that God was pleased with him.

So think of this.

If you're in the process of running from something that you know God wants you to do,

and we're not necessarily talking about something big.

Sometimes we know that God wants to do something in a relationship with someone like apologize.

Sometimes we know God wants us to do something in a situation where we just do the right thing.

It may cost us some money.

It may cost us some time.

But we know what God wants us to do.

But we just don't do it.

If you're in the process of running from what you know God wants you to do,

and everything is going well for you right now,

don't mistake that as a sign that God's changed his mind,

that he is okay with your disobedience.

As one wise sage said,

it ain't over till it's over.

Yogi said a lot of crazy things.

That is good.

If you're running from God right now,

and you think,

I've made it,

it ain't over till it's over.

Remember that right now.

A second deceptive sign is this.

Nothing seems to bother you.

You can sleep well.

Look at Jonah,

verse five.

Second part of it.

But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship,

and had lain down,

and was fast asleep.

Isn't that amazing?

The storm is such that

veteran sailors

are at their wit's end.

crying out to their gods,

throwing away their cargo,

what they're getting paid to deliver.

How could Jonah sleep

in the midst of that?

Well,

there's several reasons

why we could think of

people can sleep

in a situation like that.

He could have just been exhausted.

I mean,

he,

no doubt,

he's running from God.

We're talking about a man

who has a relationship with God,

who has served God.

He knows what God's calling him to do,

but he's running.

He has to be emotionally

and spiritually

worn out,

drained.

He could have literally

run from wherever it was

he heard God,

where he heard God's call

down to this seaport,

Joppa.

So he may be physically

worn out.

And there's just nothing

within him

that responds

because he's exhausted

to this storm.

Some people could sleep

like this

because they have peace

with God.

Jesus was able

to sleep

in the midst

of such a storm.

A small boat,

the Gospels tell us,

Matthew, Mark, and Luke,

he was asleep,

had his head

on a cushion.

How could Jesus

sleep

in such a storm

that his disciples

thought they were going to die,

those passages tell us?

Because Jesus always did

his Heavenly Father's will.

He always maintained

a close,

peaceful

relationship

with his Heavenly Father

so he knew

that no matter what,

all was right.

He was doing

what he was supposed to do,

where he was supposed

to do it.

He was doing God's will.

He knew he was

in control of everything,

even the storm.

So he could rest.

He could sleep

in the midst of a storm.

That's not Jonah.

We don't know

why he's asleep,

but we know definitely

because it's not

because he had peace

with God.

There's another reason

to explain

why some people

can be at peace

in the midst

of some of life's storms.

they've developed

a hard heart

or they've just sort of

tuned God out.

That may be

why Jonah can sleep

through this storm.

It may be that

he's just become

a little bit

hard-hearted,

developed,

developed a

calloused

conscience.

Maybe he's just

a little bit

spiritually and

emotionally numb

at this point

in time.

If you know

that you're not

right with God,

if you know

you're disobedient

right now

in the state

that you're now

living,

but you can remain

cool and calm

no matter what's

going on around you,

you need to be

concerned.

That's a problem.

It may be a sign

that you have

just zoned out

when it comes

to your relationship

with God.

It may be that

you have lost

your tender

conscience.

It is a reason

to be concerned.

We can see

from what's

happening in

Jonah's life,

he can sleep

in the midst

of a storm.

At first,

everything just

sort of fell into

place for him

to go in the

opposite direction

of where God

was calling him.

Sometimes,

when it seems

like all the

signs are

positive in

our life,

we need to be

careful that

we're not being

deceived,

that we're not

deceiving ourselves.

You know,

it's a terrible

thing to deceive

yourself into

thinking that all

is right with

God, all is

right with life,

when the truth

is you're a rebel

like Jonah.

You may be not

running from

something big,

but you are

running from

what you know

God has called

you to be,

as a man or

woman of God

in your home,

as a faithful

Christian out in

this community.

It's a warning

to us.

Let's move on

now, look at

some definite

signs of rebellion,

and we're going

to focus on one

this morning.

Jonah was a

true believer.

Don't, don't,

don't, if you're

not familiar with

this story,

you've not been

here before,

understand we're

not talking about

an unbelieving

person here.

Jonah was a

true believer in

God.

Jonah had been

used by God to

speak his word

that's recorded in

the book of

2 Kings.

He is God's

prophet.

But now,

he is running

from God,

and as he

does so,

he is acting

worse than

the unbelievers

around him.

Here's a

serious sign of

someone rebelling

against God.

You have less

spiritual awareness

than unbelievers

around you.

Look at verse 5,

the first part.

Then the

mariners were

afraid, and

each cried out

to his God.

Now, these

sailors were

pagans.

They were not

believers in

God, who had

revealed himself

to the people

of Israel, whose

word for them

was parts of the

Old Testament

that they had.

They were

pagans.

They did not

believe in the

true God.

And as it says,

the plural here,

and the little g,

they worshipped

multiple false

gods.

And at this

point in time,

they're crying

out.

They have a

faith.

Hey, put it

this way.

They're sincere.

One of the

stupidest things

that we can

think about

somebody's

spiritual life

is, well,

they're sincere.

As long as

a person is

sincere, they

must be okay.

That's crazy.

That's foolish.

These men,

who have no

clue about

God, they

are crying

out to

multiple gods.

The gods

they've heard

of, they're

wanting help.

Now, this is a

great illustration

of what Paul

described in

Romans chapter

one, when he

was talking about

how God has

revealed himself

to all people,

but people

reject God

as he is,

and replace

him with their

own gods.

I want you to

look at what

he says here.

In verse 19,

for what can

be known about

God is plain

to them.

He's talking

about how God

has revealed

himself, people

have rejected

that.

For what can

be known about

God is plain

to them, because

God has shown

it to them.

He's talking

about people,

universality of

sin and

rejection in

people's lives.

For his, God's

invisible attributes,

namely his

eternal power and

divine nature,

have been clearly

perceived ever

since the creation

of the world and

the things that

have been made

so that they

are without

excuse.

God reveals

enough of

himself to

every person in

the world to

cause them to

be aware of the

fact that God

is, that he's

real, that he's

the creator, that

he's the sovereign.

They don't know

everything that we

know by a long

shot.

They don't have

the scripture, but

they have enough of

God's revealing of

himself to know, but

they don't believe.

Look at it.

Go on.

For although they

knew God, they did

not honor him as

God or give thanks

to him, but they

became futile in

their thinking and

their foolish hearts

were darkened.

Claiming to be wise,

they became fools and

exchanged the

glory of the

immortal God for

images resembling

mortal man and

birds and animals

and creeping things.

The idea is God

reveals himself in

nature through his

creation.

And instead of

people acknowledging,

accepting this God

who is above and

beyond them, people

try to make a God

in their image or in

the image of part of

the creation like

birds and animals

and creeping things.

What Paul is

describing there is

what theologians

refer to as general

revelation.

God makes himself

known in a general

way.

Miller and Erickson,

the theologian, he

explains this very

well.

Look at it.

General revelation

serves to explain the

worldwide phenomenon of

religion and religions.

All persons are

religious because all

have a type of

knowledge of God.

from this revelation

religions have been

constructed which

unfortunately are

distortions of the

true biblical

religion.

What Paul says in

Romans, what Erickson

is saying about the

general revelation of

God, this is why

everybody is spiritual.

Everybody to some

extent at some times

is spiritually minded.

With rare exception,

everyone has an

awareness that God

exists.

Think about it this

way.

When tragedy strikes in

this country, and it

happens so often, and

even in countries around

the world, at some point

there will be a news

conference.

And there will be some

national leader, or in

some local situations, a

local leader.

They will explain what

has happened.

And at some point in

their news conference,

and at some point in

their explanation,

discussion of the evil

tragedy that's happened,

they will say something

like this.

let's keep the

victims, and maybe

sometimes the first

responders, in our

thoughts and prayers.

Now, a lot of people

say that because it's

just the right thing to

say.

They don't believe a

thing.

They don't pray.

But it's just something

that there's something

within all of us.

In some situations, when

we just don't know, we

can't do anything, as the

saying goes, all we can do

is pray.

And people will say that.

Now, there are some

officials, national and

local, they mean it because

they know God through faith

in Jesus.

They are as sincere as they

can possibly be.

You have heard some

officials.

I hope I don't get in, I

don't care.

I'm going to say, Chuck

Wright is the sheriff of

Spartanburg County.

I don't know him

personally, but I've read a

bunch of things he said.

I've watched him on TV, and

I really believe he has a

heartfelt faith.

And I believe when Chuck

Wright holds those news

conferences, and a lot of

times talks about Jesus and

faith in him, I think he

really does care.

He's really sincere.

He's really encouraging

Christians to pray.

But so many people aren't

like that.

And they just say it because

there's this universal

awareness of a God and the

need for him.

That's what these sailors are

doing.

They, in the book of Jonah

here, they believe that

believe in God.

But they don't believe in the

one true God who has

revealed himself in his word,

and ultimately and finally in

his son, Jesus.

They believe in God's.

Take your pick.

Here's what I want us to

think about, make this more

personal.

Almost everyone you know will

tell you that they believe in

God and they believe in

prayer.

Most of us in this room, we

don't know many atheists.

Some of us do.

But most of us, wherever we go,

whatever occurs, in some

settings, everybody will in some

way refer to God.

And maybe even talk about

prayer.

But what I want you to

understand is, that does not

mean that a person is a

Christian.

God has so created people that

we have an innate awareness of,

belief in a supreme being.

A God we will say.

Some of your family members and

friends are quick to tell you,

discuss with you, their belief in

God.

But they do not believe in our

heavenly Father that they know

through faith in Jesus.

They just talk about God in

really a general way.

There's no evidence in their

life that they are followers of

Jesus.

Their life bears no fruit.

We need to be aware of that.

Everybody dies.

People that you know and love

will die.

It will not give you one bit of

comfort when one, somebody you

love dies.

And all you know about their

spiritual life is, is they had

some vague, general belief in

God.

That means nothing.

Because most people throughout

the world believe in a general

God because God's revealed

himself in nature.

People in our life that we know

and love, and we're concerned

about their eternal destiny, we're

concerned about their relationship

with God.

Just because they have this

general spirituality, don't let

that keep you from sharing the

gospel with them if you really are

concerned that they don't know

Christ.

We need to understand that.

Now let's go one step closer to

ourselves.

This is extremely personal.

What do you believe?

What does your life clearly reveal

about the God you say you believe

in?

If people just watched you and

listened to you, would they get

this idea that you believe in just

the general idea of God?

And you just pray these general

mouthing words, prayers, especially

in a time of panic?

Or do you have such a real

relationship with God as your

heavenly Father?

You really are a follower of Jesus,

and it's obvious to people by the

way that you live.

Let's go back to Jonah.

There's a storm raging that God has

hurled on this ship, and it's

Jonah's fault.

Jonah is on board trying to get

away from God, and God is not going

to let him get away.

This is not the message this morning,

this will be later on.

But I want us to understand, if you're

a child of God, God is sovereign,

and if He has determined that you

are going to do something, you will

do it.

You may go through hell on earth.

You may go through a terrible storm.

But God will prevail in the life of

His children, because He is sovereign

God, and His will is done.

So, don't think.

I can just do what I want to do.

If you can think that way and sleep

good at night, you probably are not a

Christian.

You may claim to be.

You may have been baptized.

But you can't be a child of God, and

God has no place in your life.

Look at these sailors.

They just got a general knowledge of God,

and they've turned it into idolatry.

But I want you to see the sincerity.

That doesn't make them right, but it does

make them sincere.

They are sincerely calling out to false

gods that they don't even know with all

their heart.

And look at Jonah.

Jonah is a man of God.

He is a prophet, but he's doing his best to

ignore God and this storm.

Here's what we see.

Sometimes we, you and me, sometimes we as

God's children act more like atheists than

unbelievers.

That's right.

Practically speaking, sometimes we live like

an atheist in the way we relate to God, talk

about Him, serve Him.

Think about that.

How do you respond to a crisis?

How do you respond to a crisis?

You get the phone call.

Somebody close to you has been rushed to the

hospital, had an accident.

You get the bad news from the doctor about

yourself.

How do you respond when it seems like your

family is disintegrating?

How do you respond to a crisis situation?

Do you automatically, first thing, draw close to

your heavenly Father because you trust Him?

You don't know what to do, but you know He does?

Do you seek His wisdom in prayer?

His wisdom and guidance in His Word?

How do you normally respond in a crisis?

Do you do things like that or do you just fall to pieces?

Or do you just call somebody you know?

Or do you just cuss and fuss?

Or find somebody to blame?

How do you normally live your life when there's not a crisis

going on in relationship with God?

Think about it.

Think about it.

Do I seek to live in close fellowship with God just as a way of

life?

Here's the answer.

How much do you use God's means of grace to develop a

relationship with Him?

God's means of grace at the top of the list are prayer and Bible

reading.

This may sound overly simple, but this is a fact.

You and me, the closeness, the maturity of our relationship with

God, it can be measured right now, yours and mine, by those who

walk with us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and see how

much time we actually spend with God talking to Him in prayer,

listening to Him as He speaks through His Word.

I cannot overstate that.

I am a Christian, have been a long time, been a pastor for a long

time.

My personal fellowship, closeness with the Lord is dependent on my

regular spending time with Him.

And if I don't, I'm going to be distant from God.

I'm going to have a harder heart.

I'm not going to be in tune with Him.

I'm going to misread signs like Jonah has.

We looked at it at the beginning.

How do you normally live your life in a relationship with God when

there's no crisis going on?

That helps us see.

If you really want to know God, and if we're Christians, no one is

satisfied where they are in terms of their closeness to God, their

knowledge of Him, His ways, and their ability to do it.

No one's where they ought to be, where they want to be.

But if we want to grow, we just have to spend time with God and want

to and put forth the effort to listen, to talk, to live life with

Him and before Him.

How do you normally live your life in a relationship with God?

Are you quick to confess your sins that God convicts you of?

Or are you like Jonah and you like to run away?

It takes you forever to get honest with God and get right with Him.

If you are less spiritually aware or concerned than the people that you

know who only have a general awareness of God, then I want you to look at

Jonah as he sleeps.

That's you.

Think about it.

Let it sink in.

If you are less spiritually aware, concerned, expressive than people who have, who are not

Christians, they have only a general awareness of God, then you're Jonah as he

sleeps on this ship as he runs from God.

And that's a dangerous place to be.

It's a sign of spiritual rebellion or even worse, it could be a sign of being

spiritually dead, which means you're not a Christian.

We're going to continue looking at signs of spiritual rebellion next time, but I want

to conclude this message by looking at how we can experience the right kind of peace in

the midst of life storms.

See, Jonah had the wrong kind of peace.

He could sleep and he shouldn't have been able to.

But we can have peace, the right kind in the midst of storms.

The gospel tells us of Jesus in the boat with His disciples, as I referred to a moment ago.

They were crossing the Sea of Galilee when a storm suddenly struck.

The disciples were terrified and they woke Jesus, who was experiencing peaceful sleep.

They said, Lord, we're perishing.

Well, Jesus awoke and He calmed the storm.

Scripture says, He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace be still.

And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.

Jesus calmed the storm because of His sovereign power as the Son of God.

He is still the sovereign Lord who can calm the storms in our lives today.

Jesus can calm the storm of God's wrath on our sin.

You see, Jonah's storm came up because of Jonah's rebellion.

Jonah's sin caused Jonah's storm.

Not always, but sometimes our sin caused our storms.

Well, Jesus died on the cross to take God's wrath against our sins.

And when we truly admit it, repent of our sin and trust Jesus,

we experience not only forgiveness, but we experience peace with God and the peace of God.

And if you're not a Christian and you want to experience that peace,

I want to encourage you right this moment to turn from your sin,

trust Christ, call upon Him to save you, commit your life to Him right now.

But could it be that you're going through a storm right now

and you are definitely a Christian?

Like Jonah, you know God, but you know you're disobeying Him right now about something.

Well, you can stop running from God if you want to.

You can come back to Him in confession, in repentance, in a renewed commitment to Him.

And I want you to know if you'll stop running and come back to Him,

God will receive you with open arms.

He'll forgive you.

He'll cleanse you.

He will restore you to close fellowship with Him and give you a fresh start.

Scripture tells us if we confess our sins,

He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins

and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If you're away from God,

if you're not enjoying close fellowship with Him,

that can change now.

Look at the Word.

Listen to the Word.

Obey the Word.

And experience God's forgiveness and restoration and peace now.

He offers it,

but you've got to take it.

Let's pray together.

Father,

show us now

what we need to do,

everyone individually, personally,

in light of what

you have said through your Word and your Spirit

in this message.

Father,

help us to see ourselves as we are,

and then help us to be honest

and obey you now.

And then an attitude of prayer,

let's just do that.

All of us.

You pray.

You listen to the Lord.

You do what He's telling you to do.

I would be happy to pray with you

at this very moment.

I'll be here at the front.

But the next few minutes,

it's just designed for everybody

to be still and quiet

and listen to the Lord

and do what He's telling you to do.

Let's do that.

Let's do that.

Thank you.