The Greatest Fish Story ever told

Welcome to this week's message from the Church at Chelsea Westover.

Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.

We pray that this message changes your life.

Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.

Jonah, the greatest fish story ever told.

We see that Jonah here has been commissioned by God to go to Nineveh and to speak and to preach to the Ninevites who he hated.

Well, I'm not going to use the word hated.

He disliked them because of the cruelty that they had done.

They were barbaric in their torture as a nation.

They hated Israel, like most Eastern countries do today.

And so Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh.

So he decides he's going to go to Tarsus.

And we know, Christians, as Christians, we are faced with areas of our lives that we also don't want to yield to the Lord as well.

Jonah did not want to yield and be obedient to God's will for his life and go to Nineveh.

He didn't want to do that.

Have you ever, or is there anything in your life that you know that you need to yield to the Lord, but it's hard for you to do that?

Or maybe let's just be honest, we don't want to do that.

Amen.

Am I the only one?

Come on now, come on.

And I thought about that.

Do you and I have a Nineveh that we're running from in our lives?

And then you say, well, well, no, I'm not running from the mission field, but let me let me throw some things out.

Maybe you're running from a difficult person or relationship.

You know there's a relationship or person that you need to make things right with, but you just don't want to do it.

Hello?

Or here's another thing I wrote down.

What about a frustrating situation?

There's a situation that you know you need to deal with because whether it's with your parents or parents with their children or work, boss, whatever, but you just don't want to deal with it, so you're running from it.

Then what about this?

What about an unfriendly, and I I thought about this, what about an unfriendly uh situation or relationship, but more than that, uh a work arena.

It's you're in a work arena and you there's people there that you know you know they're lost, or it could be your boss, it could be a person you're working with or going to school with, and they're just difficult to deal with.

They're not, they're not saved, and you you just know you need to deal with them, you know you need to share the love of Christ with them, but you just don't want to do it.

Am I getting close?

Am I getting warm?

Heather's little daughter came over to me last night.

They always come over and tell me goodnight.

They're staying with Wilson.

And she said, Pastor Danny, I know I'm gonna tell you something that's gonna make you sad.

And she's in the what, second grade?

Third grade.

She says, I've got two of my friends in my class and they don't know Jesus.

But she says, I'm telling them.

Would you pray for them?

Third grade, difficult situation, but bless God, she's jumping right in there.

That's a third grader.

What about us adults?

You know you're working with somebody, you know you neighbor, you know they're lost, and you're doing everything.

Hey, instead of doing everything you can to invite them to friend day, trunk or tree, whatever, love on them.

What are you doing?

You're trying to run away from them.

They're lost, they freaking through, they do that.

Don't, don't, don't go over there.

Am I getting warm?

I'm hot, Pastor.

Yeah.

What about unpleasant emotions?

Oh.

There's emotions that you're dealing with that you don't like, and instead of trying to deal with the root problem and get down to where the problem really is so you can control those emotions through the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the Word of God, you just try to put it in the closet and close the door and lock it and just forget it.

I'm getting real hot now.

And then what about the unresolved conflicts?

Instead of dealing with them, going to your brother and sitting down, working it out, we run from it.

And then, lastly, I wrote down, and those are just a few that I God was giving me.

What about the call of God?

What about the call of God?

God's called you to salvation, God's called you to service.

Are you serving God?

Are you involved using your talents, your gifts, and serving God?

Because if you're saved and you're not, you're running from God.

Now I'm burning up.

So we see in those moments when we disobey the Lord, what keeps you from doing something you believe God is calling you to do?

Here's our excuses.

I now wrote some excuses down why we don't deal with these situations.

I'm not qualified.

I don't have a counselor's degree.

I'm not qualified.

Hey, I'm not ready.

Oh boy, that's mine.

I'm gonna deal with it.

I'm just waiting for God's timing.

Hello, what an excuse.

God's timing's always ready.

Amen.

He's always ready for you to do what's right.

You don't have to wait to do what's right.

And the word says if you have ought with your brother, you and you alone go to him and make it right.

Can I get an amen?

Matthew 18.

That's what it says.

And also Matthew 5.

So, hey, I'm not ready.

Oh, here's a good one for me.

I would make a fool of myself.

What if they don't accept it?

Let me tell you something.

I just went up to someone recently, and I saw them, and they hadn't been in church a long time.

I just went up and said, Hey, called him by name, went to hug his neck, and he said, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh.

I'll take a handshake.

I said, Well, bless God, I love that handshake.

I said, I still love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.

He looked at me like I was crazy, and God said, He looked, and I said, And by the way, I don't know you, but I love you.

Because I said, that's what a Christian does.

Amen.

I'll make a fool.

Yeah, let me help you.

Don't worry about making a fool of yourself.

You're gonna do that anyway, so get the benefit of it.

Can I get an amen?

Can I get an amen?

So get the benefit of it.

Oh, then what about I don't want to make waves?

Oh boy, is that in the Christian?

Oh, I don't want to, mm-hmm, mm-mm.

No waves.

I'm comfortable where I am.

I'm minding my own business.

Well, I got news for you.

If you're Christian, it ain't your business.

It's the Lord's business.

Can I get an amen?

And then the last one I wrote down.

These are just ones I was thinking of.

I don't see the need.

I'm taking care of myself.

I'll let the whole, oh, here's a good one.

We'll just pray and let the Holy Spirit deal with them.

Have you ever thought the Holy Spirit may need help?

The Holy Spirit doesn't have a mouth.

The Holy Spirit doesn't have kindness.

I meant, actually, the Holy Spirit's in you.

And by the way, you say the Holy Spirit doesn't need help.

Well, guess what?

The Holy Spirit's in you.

He got in you so you could do what he wants you to do.

So I just erased every excuse so we can all say together, oh me.

Oh me.

So, and by the way, no matter where you go, hey, the Holy Spirit's gonna find you.

Can I get an amen?

He's gonna find you.

So we see that Jonah is trying to run from God, and it's not working.

It's not working at all.

In fact, it becomes useless.

And so, with that said, let's look at, and I think some tremendous truth as we finish this chapter.

In this chapter, in this message, we'll see the events that led to Jonah becoming a man overboard and what happens because he's now a man overboard.

Let me just say this.

If you continue to try to run away from God, you will be thrown overboard.

Okay?

You can, and you've heard me say it at the very beginning, you can run, but you can't hide.

You can run, but you can't hide.

Now let's look at six things this morning.

Number one, look, verse 14.

Hey, the mariners, you remember we stopped last week.

They they they had confronted Jonah.

They had confronted Jonah, the shipmaster had confronted Jonah.

Now the sailors were confronting him, ask him all these questions, who he was.

Now they find out that he's a Hebrew, and they knew that Jonah's God was the God Jehovah that created the heavens and the earth and the winds and the seas and everything.

So if anybody could control a storm, it ought to be Jonah's God.

They didn't realize that Jonah's God was the only God yet.

But they're fixing to.

Fixing to.

Don't you like that word fixing?

We in Georgia and Alabama fix everything.

So, here we see what's taking place.

And then they decide, Jonah, finally, Jonah has no choice.

He's been put on the spot.

He confesses.

By the way, one of the ways of true repentance is you've got to come to yourself to the point that you realize you are responsible for your sin.

Hello.

No, your daddy didn't do it.

Your mama didn't do it.

You did it.

I did it.

Okay?

And you'll never have true repentance, church, until you come to the point in your life that you take responsibility for your wrong actions.

Can I get an amen?

So, with that said, Jonah had gotten to that place, but it had taken him a while.

He had come to the place, he told the guys, if you'll throw me overboard, in fact, he says, I know that God has called me to go to Nineveh.

I'm not going, but I know I'm being disobedience.

And because of my disobedience, that's why the storm's here.

You throw me overboard, the storm will cease.

Now, this is, I'd never seen a lot of this.

Man, this is so good.

The picture here of what Christ does in the New Testament for us and what's taking place in Jonah is phenomenal.

You're going to see the parallelism.

Now watch.

So they throw him overboard.

But we know they try not to, they don't, hey, they they they don't want to throw him overboard.

They row harder instead of the, hey, getting closer to the shore, the storm gets worse.

The word there, when we looked at the Hebrew word, meant a storm of hurricane, uh, and we even saw, if you've ever studied a squaw or the perfect storm, there was a movie one time called The Perfect Storm, and how all of a sudden, just a huge uh storm comes up and the waves 50 to 100 feet high.

What something very similar to that was taking place.

So here's what happens.

Verse 14.

They know that something's gotta go.

In fact, they know the preacher's gotta go.

And look what they say.

Verse 14.

Wherefore they cried unto the Lord and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee.

Now notice something.

They're not crying out to their gods anymore.

They're crying out to Jonah's God because they realize that he's a Hebrew.

His God is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord Almighty.

So now they're not crying out to Buddha, Confucius, Muhammad, they're crying out to Jehovah Jireh.

Guess what?

They got the right God this time.

Hello.

Jehovah Jirah, the Lord that provides.

Now watch.

So they're crying to him, and here's what they say.

Oh my Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life and lay not upon us innocent blood.

For that the Lord has done as it pleases thee.

In fact, they said, Whoa, wait a minute.

We don't want to die because of this guy's sin.

That's a pretty good analogy.

They know that he's the cause of the storm, and they're all about to drown, so they say, Lord, please, we don't want to die because of this preacher's disobedience.

But also know what I love about this, they also didn't want God to hold to their account them throwing the preacher overboard.

So they're trying to get the best of both worlds.

So we're fixing to drown this sucker, but don't hold us accountable.

He's got to go.

He's gotta go.

So, pretty good cry.

Now, now, you know, when I saw that, I laughed, but then I said, look, there's some tremendous truth here.

I want you to see the wisdom in their prayers.

Here's how you pray when you're in trouble.

Would you like to see how to pray correctly when you're in trouble?

Can I get an amen?

First of all, notice three things.

Number one, look at the wisdom.

Number one, hey, they demonstrated their prayers, demonstrated their wisdom in number one, the person they prayed to.

They prayed to Jehovah Jirah.

They didn't pray to their false gods, they prayed to the real God.

Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know what you're praying to.

Hey, but if it's anything other than Jehovah Jireh, you're praying to the wrong thing.

You say, well, but but it's I I pray, I pray to Mother Mary.

If Mary's not gonna help you, hello.

Well, I pray to Muhammad.

Muhammad's not gonna help you.

Well, I pray to Buddha.

Buddha's not gonna help you.

They were praying to all those folks, and they were about to drown.

Now they begin to pray to Jehovah Jirah.

By the way, the great example of this is in 1 Kings 18 with the 450 prophets that were praying, hey, to Baal.

Remember?

The 400, hey, they were praying down.

In fact, oh, oh, I love Elijah.

Taken on 450 prophets, and he told them, you pray to your God, you go first and see if they will consume.

They had taken 12 big barrels of water and drenched the sacrifice and the whole altar with water, and I got, hey, hey, I got news for you: wet wood don't burn.

And they're praying for their gods to send fire to consume the sacrifice.

They prayed.

They prayed for hours.

They got to the point, they started cutting themselves.

Teenagers think the cuttings, you know, they're the first.

They've been doing, hey, it makes no sense.

It's not gonna do anything except hurt you.

There's a problem.

And let me tell you the answer, Jesus.

But they cut themselves, their blood's bleeding, nothing happens, and after about a while they're exhausted, they're laying out, they prayed and prayed, and nothing happened.

Then Elijah gets up and he says, now, folks, thousands, thousands of people like normal people, he's saying, Choose you this day whom you're gonna serve.

You gotta make a choice.

Well, they hadn't made a choice yet.

They thought they'd wait and see.

We're gonna wait and see whose God's gonna come through before we see who we're serving.

Does that not sound like us?

Long story short, Elijah begins to pray.

God sends down the fire from heaven, consumes the sacrifice, consumes, hey, the altar, consumes the water.

I'm on his side.

I'm not on Oliver and Alabama side, I'm on God's side.

So we see they were praying to the right God.

Notice the second thing.

Notice their passion about their praying.

Look at it.

Verse 14.

These men cried unto the Lord.

They were fervently praying to him.

Can I say something?

When you're about to drown, you don't say, now let me get out my list.

You say, help.

Lord, I need you now.

It was fervent.

It was it was passionate.

They were crying out.

There was passion.

Praying toward the right person.

Then the third thing, look at their petitions and their praise.

Their petition and praise demonstrated their respect for God.

Notice what's happening.

They're beginning to turn their respect from their gods to the real God.

Because at the end of the prayer in verse 14, it says, because, notice what they say, because God, we know, Jehovah, we know you're gonna do what you want to do.

In other words, they're starting to see the divinity.

They're starting to see God who's really in control.

Woo! That's good.

I'm gonna have myself a smell.

Man, that's good.

They've given him honor and respect.

They're praying unto him.

Notice the second thing.

Not only did they request to God the right person with passion, with the right petition and praise.

They gave the right petition.

They said, Lord, don't.

I mean, they're confessing to the Lord, don't hold us guilty for this man's sin.

Don't hold us guilty when we throw him overboard.

Because we feel like, and let me tell you why.

You know what they're doing?

They're respecting him because Jonah, now don't miss this.

This is so good.

I'd never seen this before.

All right, here's what's so good.

They are telling God and asking God that they're reinforcing what Jonah had told them.

Jonah had told them, if you throw me over, God will what?

Send peace to the storm.

So they're doing what Jonah, the preacher, told them to do.

So they're listening to the prophet of God, even though he's a backslidden prophet.

There's a word of, hey, there's a word of encouragement here, if there is one, and there he is, is even in your backslidden condition, God can still use you.

But the reason he's starting to use him is why.

Now look what happens.

The raging sea stops, verse 15.

So they took up Jonah, cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging.

Huh.

Now notice they were getting no response to praying at the beginning, and they realized God would not hear them until they executed, I saw this, this is an unreal, executed judgment upon Jonah's sin.

Nothing was happening until they did what God had told them to do through Jonah.

If I regard iniquity in my heart, God will not hear me.

Until you do what God tells you to do and do it his way, he will not answer.

Hello, man.

If I was here, he'd say, that's good preaching, preacher.

If you, hey, are praying outside of the will of God, he's not gonna hear you.

Or let me put it another way he may hear you, but he will not answer you.

Because he hears everything, we know he knows everything.

So we see that.

Jonah was cast into the sea, look, and the sea immediately ceased from raging.

God had intervened in the storm.

Isn't this awesome?

How swift it is the transition from the impossible to the possible took place.

BAM! Just like that.

You get a bad report, you got cancer, and you start praying, crying out, and you go for a second opinion, and all of a sudden they can't find it.

And you know what their answer is?

Well, we they must have misread the x-ray.

I know that's possible, but I've got a better answer.

What happened?

God did it.

God did it.

God did it.

Man.

Nothing is impossible with my God.

Luke 137.

Peace.

Notice, peace is the wonderful result.

You know what I saw here?

Peace is the wonderful result to the submission of God.

And that is worth you writing down.

Peace is the result of submission to the will of God.

The peace of God that passes all understanding shall keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Be careful for nothing, but in any anything and everything, by prayer and supplications, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4, 6 and 7.

And then the peace of God passes all understanding.

Watch this.

By throwing Jonah overboard, these sailors.

Now watch this.

This is where I'm going to show you, it's going to be awesome.

Put their faith in a message that says one should die that others might be saved.

What a picture.

One man had to die so that all the people on that boat and all the other ships around could live.

Is that not the New Testament of Jesus going to the cross?

Jesus had to die so that you and I could live.

Can I get an amen?

Who his own self bearing sins in his body on the tree that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53, verse 5.

Isaiah 53:5

Man, that's good.

Jonah had to supposedly die because they they knew he was dead in a storm like that.

So that they could live.

What a picture of the cross.

Jesus Christ died that we might live.

Now, something else that I saw.

Christ dying on the cross doesn't mean you and I are saved.

Hello?

Let me repeat that.

Jesus Christ dying on the cross doesn't mean you and I are saved.

You can believe that and not be saved.

It's the application of the blood of Christ on the cross to your life that brings salvation to you and me.

You can believe it, but if you don't receive it and accept it and apply it to your life, you're not saved.

They knew what they had to do.

They had to throw Jonah over, but they didn't do it.

It wasn't until they threw him over that the peace of God came.

Let me give you, whoo, this is good.

Let me give you another great example.

Remember when the Egypt, Egyptian, the Pharaoh was going to kill all the baby males from two and under?

And remember what the angels told the Hebrews to do?

Go sacrifice your unblemished lamb, take the blood and put it on the doorpost.

Right?

Well, listen, hey, killing of the lamb, hey, didn't save them.

It wasn't until they took the Sylvester, until they took the blood of the little lamb and put it on the doorpost that they were saved.

It's not until you and I receive the, hey, the Lord Jesus Christ who shed his precious blood on that cross and bring it into our lives and believe it and live it that we're saved.

Amen.

Thank you, Lord.

The blood shed there, but until we apply it to our lives, it doesn't work.

Amen.

And that's good.

That's so good.

The submission of the sailors to God's way came as a result of faith in God's way.

Let me repeat that.

The submission of the sailors to God's way came as a result of faith.

Faith in believing in what God had said through Jonah.

Notice the third thing.

Verse 16.

The reverence for the Savior.

Notice what happened when Jonah gave his message in verse 16.

Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows.

The fulfillment of Jonah's message brought two things.

Number one, it brought conviction and conversion.

Now watch.

Their obedience, when they obeyed, look what happened.

Watch the results.

When they obeyed and threw Jonah, look what happened.

Here's what happened calm and peace.

Calm and peace.

The same truth holds true for us.

The storm in the sailors' lives right here brought them to the Lord.

Notice what the psalmist spoke of this in his life.

Look at this verse.

Psalms, I think it's on there, 119, verse 71.

Is it on there, Jason?

Watch this.

It is good.

In fact, church, read this, read this with me.

Read, church.

Ready?

Go.

It is.

That's why the storms come.

That's one of the reasons, if you remember at the very beginning.

One of the reasons storms come in our life is to bring us back.

Hey, when we get off the right path onto the wrong path, God sends storms to bring us back to the right path.

And then sometimes storms come because we're on the right path, but remember what we said?

And that's to help mature us and grow us so that we can be used for greater things.

And then the third reason was we see right here the storms come so that you can get saved.

They bring you to Christ, like they did to sailors on the boat.

Beautiful, beautiful picture here.

The whole situation demonstrates the truth of Romans 8.28.

And you know the verse.

For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.

Can I get an amen?

So we see all this happening for God's purpose.

Jonah went into the opposite direction in disobedience.

He sought a way to keep from witnessing to the Gentiles, the Ninevites.

He didn't want to witness to them.

He ended up being used to speak to the sailors and bring them to a point of turning to the Lord.

Even in his disobedience, God spoke to his heart and he begins to confess that he's, hey, I'm guilty, I'm guilty, I'm the one.

And once he admitted, watch this, once he admitted, don't miss this.

Once he admitted, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1 9.

Once he committed, I mean, uh was convinced, and once he confessed that he was the guilty, he had done wrong, bam, God's Holy Spirit begins to use him.

Right there.

Because they listened to Jonah finally and threw him overboard.

Powerful, powerful.

Now let me show you why I really believe with all my heart they were saved.

Three reasons.

Three reasons.

Here in Jonah 1, we see the motivation of the sailors.

Look at it in this one verse.

They feared the Lord exceedingly.

They were motivated because of the fear and respect and honor.

I mean, they were scared, but yet they knew he was the right God.

And they had a reference for the Lord.

We see their what?

Their verification.

How do we know the verification of this decision as they sacrifice to the Lord?

Their vows show their consecration.

We see their motivation, their verification, and their consecration to the Lord right here.

And notice what else I wrote down.

Genuine worship and conversion always affects one's life.

Let me help you.

Let me help you.

If you supposedly got saved and you didn't change, you didn't get saved.

All you had was an emotional experience.

Or a knowledgeable experience.

You didn't have a will life-changing experience.

They did.

Why?

They disregarded their gods that they'd been praying to all their.

Well, I'm not sure they've been praying to even their gods very much.

Sailors didn't pray.

These were rough dudes.

God got their attention and they realized their gods wasn't helping them one bit.

But they realized that Jehovah Jireh was the right God.

And buddy, they got under conviction they were afraid they were going to die.

Yeah, they were afraid they were going to die.

But they also knew if there was any life, if there was any hope, it had to be in Jehovah Jireh.

And they made vows and they said, if you, I guarantee you that ship became one of the most dynamic Christian ships in the sea after this experience.

I bet you they raised a big old flag.

Big, not flag, but well, maybe a flag, but a big old, I know.

They put that big old sail, and on the middle of that cell, it said, Jesus is all saved.

Look at the fourth thing.

Verse 17, as we wrap this up.

Whoo! This one verse is loaded.

Here's the fish, we're here in the fish tail, but now look at the results.

Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows.

They got saved.

Now the Lord, and they threw Jonah over.

They don't even throw on Jonah.

I believe they were praying for Jonah.

I do.

When I get to heaven, I want to talk to some of these sailors.

What y'all?

I bet you they were making vows of the Lord, and I bet you they were saying, Oh, if there's any way, save this old boy, save this old boy.

Who knows?

Hey, it might have been some of their prayers that God was going to save him anyway, because he already had a plan.

He's going to the Nineveh.

And by the way, when God's got a plan for you, you go and you can go the hard way, the easy way.

It's your choice.

But you're going.

Amen.

Hello.

You may have to go through jail.

You may have to go through alcoholism.

You may have to go through drug addiction.

You may have to go through a lot of things which you ought not to have to do, but because of your rebellion, you do.

Hello.

I ran for two years.

It was the most miserable.

I got in more trouble on the verge of divorce twice with my wife that's now in heaven.

I was doing everything I could but to do what God called me to do.

You know what God called me to do?

Preach.

And I say, I am not gonna preach.

I'll coach, I'll coach, I'll coach.

I wanted to coach.

I said, and I'll be a youth pastor in the summer.

I I knew God would accept that.

He didn't.

He didn't.

I said, God, that's a good deal.

Yeah, it's a win-win, God.

Okay, boy, just go ahead.

Here comes the storm.

Here comes another.

Then I finally got to the point that said, okay, I cried out, Lord, I pulled over.

I was coming home from uh where was I coming home from?

I was coming home from Troy State.

I'd been playing football going out.

I'd just run and trying everything.

And Tennessee Ernie Ford was on the radio.

I had this, this, oh boy, this is gonna tell my eight.

I had this eight-track tape.

Can I get an Amen?

Anybody with an eight-track?

Yeah! Amen.

I mean, the big old tape player was big as your dash, you know.

You bolted it under and plugged it in.

And anyway, Tennessee underneath Ford was singing, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.

And I pulled my car over and I got out, and I went back to the back of the car right in front of everybody passing, got on my knees and said, God, I'm tired of running.

I'll do what you want me to do.

I know you want me to preach, and bless God, I'll do it.

Peace.

Went home, told my wife.

We'd been having so much, I knew she was gonna give me a problem.

She said, No, let's go right now.

Within four days, we packed up and left.

People didn't even know I'd gone.

And you know what all my friends said?

He's lost his mind.

Well, I'm 61 years old.

That's been what I was 20.

How old was I?

22?

I'll do the math.

39.

Years ago.

And you know what?

I'm still losing my mind.

In fact, I think it's getting a little worse.

I have nothing to lose.

Hey, I'm on the other side, baby.

I'm in the fourth quarter.

I'm giving it everything I got.

Amen.

You can't offend me anymore.

You used to get hurt my feelings.

You can't hurt my feelings.

Well, you might can't hurt my feelings.

But but I'm gonna love you anyway.

I'm gonna love you anyway.

Look at verse 17.

The Lord.

Verse 17.

One word.

What a beautiful word, too.

Or one phrase.

Now the Lord.

Say that with me.

Now come on.

Now the Lord.

Now the Lord's fixing to intervene.

Can I get an amen?

You know, you're going okay, but when the now the Lord intervenes, you're fixing to take it to a hey, you're fixing to take it to the fifth gear.

Oh, I love old cars.

I'm an old car fanatic.

I am.

And I like those big engines.

And you take off, boom, boom, boom, boom, but buddy, when you put it in that last gear, and you hit the little nitrous.

Well, now the Lord, that's the nitrous.

Now the Lord, you're gone.

Buckle up.

Here he comes.

The Lord prepared great fish.

When you bring God in on the scene, anything is possible.

Mark 10, 27, with men it is impossible, but not with God, for with God all things are possible.

Can I get an amen?

Nothing is impossible with God.

Luke 137.

The Greek word for nothing means nothing.

You know what's amazing to me.

And it really is.

God was determined to preserve the life of his servant.

Even though he was rebellious.

He wanted Jonah to fulfill the mission for which he had been called.

This verse in Jonah reveals how far God's judgment will follow me and you, his servant that has gone, and I love you'll love this.

Greg, A-W-O-L.

Absolute without leave.

We call it AWOL.

Let me help you.

You may go AWOL from the Lord for a little while, but bless God, he's gonna come after you.

He's coming.

Hound dogs from heaven.

They're coming.

Philippians 1 6 says, being confident of this very thing that he which begun a good work in you will perform until the day of Jesus Christ.

Can I get an amen?

Amen.

Is that not good?

Oh, is that not good?

1 Thessalonians 5 24 says, Faithful is he that's called you, who also will do it.

Look at the fifth thing.

The preparation.

The person, verse 17, the preparation.

He prepared a great fish.

What does the word prepare mean?

I decided I'd look that word up.

The word prepare is the Hebrew word manag.

Mana.

It means to appoint, to assign, to ordain, or to order.

It's used 67 times in the Hebrew manuscripts.

It was used to describe in Psalms 90:12, which is very important for us to understand.

Psalms 90:12

It says, so teach us, Lord, to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Here's what that means.

Lord, teach us to prepare our days.

In other words, make every day of our life count for the glory of God.

Can I get an amen?

Every morning we ought to wake up and we ought to say, Lord, let this day count for your honor and your glory.

Use me in an unbelievable way today to be a blessing to others.

Can I get an amen?

I love blessing people.

In Jonah, there were a lot of things being prepared in the book of Jonah.

The great fish is called to be prepared.

Hey, that great fish was, hey, he was out there just minding his own business.

And all of a sudden Jonah said, Hey, hey, hey, fish.

Maybe he said, hey, big fish.

Maybe he said, Well.

Maybe he said, I don't know what he said, but whatever he said, the fish went, Yes, sir.

He said, I've got, in fact, you know what I think he said?

Now, this is my crazy imagination.

This is just me.

I think he said, Hey, I need a submarine.

Don't look at me like that.

We have submarines and they hold a lot of people.

And by the way, why in the world do people, the skeptics, say this is impossible?

There's no way a fish can swallow a man.

I've already, I've got so much documentation here, but I don't have time to just look it up.

They're so big, hey, they're such a big, big whale fish that, hey, they killed the fish, and he had two big horses in his stomach.

Now, if they can swallow a horse, they can swallow you.

But he had to prepare this fish because those gastric gastric.

Gastric, thank you, honey.

Gastric juices.

If he hadn't, if God hadn't intervened to prepare that fish with those gastric juices, Jonah would have been dissolved pretty quickly.

Amen.

Secondly, Jonah had to breathe.

So he had to prepare the fish that that not, I'm sure it's probably one that blows out air, but he probably had to make the hole a little bigger.

Or he had to, he had to he had to put some kind of extra air.

About every time Jonah would be there and he'd be like that gas you get at the dentist.

I like that stuff.

Give me the gas.

Am I crazy?

That's just the way I think.

I can't help it.

But anyway, he prepared the flesh.

And by the way, don't tell me critics that that's impossible.

If we men can prepare a gradual like this, Master Chief in the Navy, if we can build submarines out of space.

And metal that are supposed to sink and letting go for weeks under under the water and big dead.

Who in the world sends we can have a fancy to be a submarine?

Hello.

Give him a life.

Critic, give him a life.

Believe.

God can do anything he wants to anytime he wants to, and he does it quite well.

That's right.

You're nothing but a dust ball.

But anyway, there were a lot of things being prepared.

Hey, in Jonah, he prepared the fish, he prepared the gourd.

In Jonah 4, 6, he prepared the worm in chapter 4, verse 7, and he prepared the vehement in east wind, verse 8, in chapter 4.

Woo! God did it all.

Nothing's impossible.

Nothing.

Nothing, nothing.

For as Jonah, look at Matthew 12, 4.

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Now let me tell you, real quick as I close and bring this to an end.

Oh, absolutely.

And you're going to see.

Absolutely.

The word fish here, let me tell you, I got on a word kick here.

It's dog.

And it comes from the He word, excuse me, the Hebrew word dog.

Which means what?

To multiply, to increase, or grow.

Just as fish multiply and increase, there's a wonderful hidden truth here about our fruitfulness.

Watch this.

God was using this prepared fish to prepare Jonah for spiritual growth and fruitfulness in his life.

See?

God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh.

He didn't have a ride.

Exactly, what is it?

God wanted to have some time alone.

Would you think?

No.

Is that not good?

Three days.

Three nights.

In the belly of a big fish.

You'll start praying.

And he did.

He got right with God.

You know the story, you know the verse.

Psalm 61, verse 2.

Psalms 61:2

Here it is.

From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Brings me to that last point, number six, the provisions.

The belly of the fish.

Jonah's rescue was a demonstration of God's mercy toward him.

Can I get an amen?

If God had not rescued rescued him, he would have died.

Listen, don't you love these verses?

Lamentations 3, 22 and 23, it is the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed.

I love that.

Hey, from the hey, it is the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions, listen, fail not.

They are new ever morning.

Great is their faithfulness.

When God is doing the providing, he can use anything he wants to bring the provision to you.

Amen.

Remember, hey, Elijah, he used the ravens.

For Peter, he used the you remember when Peter had to pay his taxes?

I've been praying about this, Bob, but God hadn't sent me a fish to pay my taxes yet.

Peter had to pay his taxes and he didn't have any money.

He went fishing, caught a fish, and the money to pay his taxes was in the belly of the fish.

Because Jesus told him to do it.

That's exactly right.

God hadn't told me to go catch a fish to help pay for this building yet, but if he does, I will catch him.

Yeah.

For Balaam, he used a this is very humiliating for a preacher.

When the preacher wouldn't preach, you know what he told the preacher?

He said, if you won't preach, I'll get a donkey to preach.

He did.

So I don't want a donkey to take my place.

I close with this.

There's another good word here.

While this passage of scripture should encourage all Christians about the fact of God supplying their needs, faithful Christians ought to be more encouraged.

Watch this.

If God provided for a man who was disobedient, then think of what he might do for those that are obedient.

I wrote this to myself.

If God wondrously provides for the needs of a delinquent, how much more will he provide for the needs of the dedicated?

Philippians 4.19.

My God.

Say that with me.

My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in the Lord through Christ Jesus.

Isn't that good?

God's going to build this land.

God's going to build everything we need.

As long as we stay faithful to him.

Amen.

And you stay faithful.

And you do what you're supposed to do.

But the word supply here, let me tell you what the word for supply means.

It's play row, which means make full, fill up, abound.

Woo! It is the same word used to describe the disciples' nets that were full of fish when God told them to drop the nets over.

The house was filled with the fragrance of Mary's ointment when she anointed the Lord.

Or when Jesus said he came to fulfill the law and not to destroy it.

God wants to abundantly meet our needs and he can do it very easily.

God wants to bless you.

Say amen.

Here's the problem: you got to believe.

Skeptics don't believe this story.

You know why they don't believe this story?

Because if they believe the story, they have to believe the whole counsel of God.

They don't believe any of the miracles.

And you know why they don't want to believe this story?

Because this story represents Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

That's the picture.

Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and then he rose the third day according to the scriptures.

Let me ask you.

Are you running?

Are you running?

Let's go back to the very beginning.

All those little things, your emotions, the difficult situations, the difficult person at the job, all of that.

Are you running?

You can run, but you can't hide.

Hey, the hound dogs of heaven are after you.

Jeremiah 3.22.

Return, ye backslidden children, and I will heal your backsliding.

Wow, isn't that good?

Let me ask you this morning.

We got two types, we got three people, three types of people here this morning.

We got those that are saved and are fulfilling the will of God in their lives.

We do.

I know right now I'm doing.

There's no doubt in my mind.

I'm fulfilling the will of God in my life right now.

I know that.

There's no doubt in my mind.

There's no doubt.

There's a second type of person.

And that second type of person is a person that's saved, but they're running from God.

It's a Jonah.

It's a Jonah.

And God is getting your attention.

Part of the reason right now God's laid on my heart to teach you the Word of God and teach you the book of Jonah is because it's so applicable for today.

Because a lot of Christians are running from God.

You're running.

There's some things you know you need to deal with.

You need to deal with your emotions, the conflicts, all that.

You need to deal with them.

You know you do.

Then there's a third type of person here.

You're lost.

You don't know Jesus.

You don't know Jesus at all.

And there's a storm in your life right now.

And the reason the storm's there and watching by internet is because God is getting your attention.

He wants you to do as the sailors, the Phoenician sailors did.

He wants you to be convicted, and then he wants you to cry out for God to save you.

So which are you?

You're one of the three.

You can't have it any other way.

You're one of the three.

Either you're saved, I mean you're saved, you're fulfilling what God's called you to do.

Two, you're saved, but you're running from God.

Three, you're lost.

You need to come to God.

That's pretty simple, folks.

That's why the gospel is so simple.

So where are you?

With every head bowed, every eye closed.

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

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We hope you have a wonderful day and again, God bless you.