God Speaks to Us

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.

And turn with me this morning in your Bibles to one of the most talked-about scriptures and books in the Bible.

A lot of people believe that it's a fairy tale.

A lot of people believe that it's not real.

A lot of people believe that it's a fictitious story.

That no way a man could be swallowed by a whale or a big fish, as the scripture says, because we know there's sharks large enough to swallow people.

We have four different substantiated recorded records of that.

One guy being in the belly of a huge uh shark for about an hour and a half and living.

Living.

That was in 1932.

So it's possible, okay?

It's possible to be swallowed by big fish.

Amen.

I've seen a mouth of a great white and some of these other whales and sharks.

It would be quite easy for us to be swallowed by a big fish.

So Jonah is a very interesting book.

It's an exciting book.

And today we're going to be looking at Jonah chapter 1 because we are in the series of God's Not Dead.

Jonah 1 · chapter mention

And we have actually today and two more messages, and then the series of God's Not Dead will be finished, and then we'll be going into Christmas.

I love preaching on Christmas.

One of my favorite messages that I usually preach at Christmas, and it's one that I just love to preach every Christmas because it never gets old.

And I love the song written by one of my good friends and classmates, Mark Lowry.

Mary Did You Know.

Don't you love that song?

Well, I always like to preach that message.

Mary Did You Know.

So we're going to have, and I'm going to be preaching on the shepherds.

So it's going to be a good three messages during December as we get ready.

But Thanksgiving's coming.

Now let me encourage you.

Bring somebody for Thanksgiving service.

It's going to be an exciting day.

We believe in helping people.

We love people.

Loving God, loving people.

We feed a lot of people.

We take care of a lot of people every month through this church.

But our association food truck will be here, and we'll have about 25 families that we can minister to.

So we want you to find a family that you can bring to Thanksgiving service with you.

So one wing love all over them.

Just love all over them.

And then enjoy a Thanksgiving great meal with them.

And then they'll go over and our people will help them as we give them a box of food.

And the food is, hey, the box is unbelievable.

It's way over$250 worth of groceries in a box.

We love on these people.

We give them that box of food.

And this is the Sunday before Thanksgiving, so that they can have a tremendous Thanksgiving with their family.

That's what we do.

So don't not help somebody in your neighborhood.

And hopefully by then, in fact, we're pretty confident we'll have our van ready.

It's being painted as we're speaking.

We're excited about that.

And by the way, we're going to need some help.

We're going to need some drivers because we're going to fill that van up two or three times every Sunday morning, bringing people that want to come to church that do not have a way.

Can I get an amen?

I've been wanting to do this for six months.

Bless God, we got the van.

And one of our councilmen, Clay Brockton, would you stand, Clay, so people can recognize you?

He came to me this morning and said, I'll take charge of that van ministry.

So, amen.

I like that.

I like that.

I like that.

I like it when they come and say, Pastor, let me do that instead of Pastor, you do it.

Amen.

But uh anyway, so UC Clay, uh, we would love for you to help us.

Uh I can see this developing, who knows, in another year.

We'll have another van or two because we got a lot of people.

We got a lot of trailer parks, we got a lot of people that can't drive, and we want to go and they want to be here.

They call us once a week.

We've been getting calls from people.

We've got about four or five people that's already called, would like to be a part of our Thanksgiving service.

So, uh, and that's what we'll be doing.

You'll be calling, they'll call in to Tabitha.

Be praying for Tabitha too.

She had to, she's not feeling well this morning.

Um, but you'll call in, we'll get your name, address, and we will come get you.

So that's gonna be exciting.

So, but you bring a friend on Thanksgiving that we can be a blessing to.

You find someone and say, Let me just bless you.

Would you come to Thanksgiving uh service with us so we can love on you and bless you?

And uh so you want to do that.

You really do.

And this Wednesday night, all the small groups will be together.

We'll be having our missions, our second mission conference here Wednesday night.

You'll be hearing from our Deedra Brown missions coordinator all that she's doing, where she's been, and part of our people's been with her.

And then you're also gonna hear about how you can go on a uh in 2015 a short-term mission trip with us.

I know we're going to Honduras, we're going to Africa.

So you'll be able to hear all that, and then Matt, uh, Wilkins, Gary, and Elizabeth will be here sharing what they've done.

Remember the girls that were with us that Sunday and their ministry in Africa, drilling whales.

So it's gonna be a great, great Wednesday night.

Be right here, 6 to 6 30.

We'll be eating, and then the conference will start at 6 30.

We'll all be together in here.

So, Jonah chapter 1.

Jonah 1 · chapter mention

God's not dead.

Can I say, hey, can I hear an amen?

God's not dead.

And because God's not dead, God speaks to us.

God is the God of what?

Of love, power, comfort, but he's more than that.

He's the God of direction.

Can I get an amen?

He speaks to us, and he speaks to us through his word.

And I've titled the message this morning.

And by the way, if you do not have a bulletin, I know Bob's back there, or he's usually back there.

Uh raise your hand.

Yes, if you do not have a worship guide, uh, we've got the outline on the back.

I want you to make sure you've got that to follow with me.

We believe in clear biblical truth here at the church.

We feed you every Sunday.

And then one of the most important things we do, you have a prayer sheet that we pray for each other every, every day.

We see prayers answered every week as we are praying for you and your needs, and you'll put those in the offering plate at the end of the service, your prayer request.

But, Jonah, God the revealer, what an awesome, awesome passage it is.

God is an awesome God.

And look at what he says.

And there's several things in this chapter one that I want to share with you.

But the first thing is, I want you to understand, in this chapter, the main theme I get out of it is obedient pays great dividends.

But disobedient brings great sorrow.

Okay?

You need to understand that's the underlining proposition and theme of this whole chapter.

One is that obedience brings great rewards, but disobedience brings great sorrow.

And if that's not true, Isaiah 1, 19 and 20, if you're willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.

But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword.

So that is the underlining theme of this whole book.

Jonah is a very popular figure.

He is the chaplain of Jeroboam.

In fact, Jeroboam II.

And during this time, Israel was very prosperous.

It was a very prosperous country.

It was a very influential country.

But it was not a very spiritual country at this time.

The nation Israel really was not following God during this time.

They were really doing what they wanted to do.

They were very worldly, they were very economically strong, very powerfully in military, but yet they were very, should I say, and not anti-God, but they just didn't have a hunger and a thirst for God.

Kind of sounds like America to me.

Amen.

Very similar.

Very similar traits here.

So we see that he's a great preacher, he's uh a great influencer.

In fact, he could have been the Billy Graham of his day.

That's who Jonah really was.

He was probably the young Billy Graham of his day.

In fact, uh the one one little boy was asked one time, he was gone, he had gone to uh Sunday school and they were teaching on Jonah the well.

So he came home and he told his mother, he said, Man, we had a great, well, in fact, the mother asked Johnny, said, Johnny, what'd you, what did you learn in Sunday school today?

He said, Well, Mom, if I told you, you wouldn't believe it.

And she said, wait a minute, what do you mean?

I wouldn't believe it.

She said, Well, we talked about Jonah, a preacher, getting swallowed by a big fish.

She said, Oh, Jonah and the whale.

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

But she said, Well, Johnny, what was the main thing that you got out of that whole story about Jonah and whale?

It's a great story.

I love that story, Johnny.

What did you get out of it?

He said, What I got out of it is that, hey, human beings make whales sick.

Well, I hope we get a little more out of that today.

Amen.

Amen.

So, as we look into this great chapter, there's a couple of lessons that I really believe are very important.

Lesson number one is Jonas gives us God's example for his love for all people.

Amen.

I meant because he loved, hey, because God loves people, he commissions us to go and tell people the good news.

The good news that Jesus Christ loves them so much that he died for them and that he rose again on the third day so that he could be their Savior.

And he's seated at the right hand of God the Father right now, making inter, loving to make intercession for us.

So that's the good news.

And we're going to see that right out of the gate here.

It's really, in verse 1 and 2, is the great commission in the Old Testament that we have in Matthew chapter 28.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

Same commission, same call that you and I have right here in Jonah that we are given in Matthew chapter 28.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

And the second great lesson is God wants us to obey him, and he would rather reward obedience than to bring judgment on disobedience.

So with that said, let's begin.

Verse 1.

Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of Amatiah, saying, Here it is, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for the wickedness is come up before me.

And Jonah rose up to flee.

But I want you to notice, first of all, he gives God, I meant Jonah gets a direct command from God.

And here's what he said.

By the way, look at how he told Jonah what to do.

How did he tell Jonah what to do?

He told Jonah through the Word of God.

God's word is our manual for God's direction for our life.

Can I get an amen?

In fact, Jesus said, You shall know my will for your life when you know my doctrine.

John 7, 17.

So it's very important that we understand that.

The word of God is the instrument by God to communicate to us his will for our life.

So not to be in the word means we miss the will of God.

Ladies and gentlemen, you can't miss that.

That's why it's so important to study to show thyself to prove unto God, or workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2.15.

So important to stay in the word, to be in church as we today believe in clear biblical truth and as we look at what God teaches us through his word.

Now, God asked Jonah to do something that was unthinkable to the Jewish people and to Jonah at that time.

Now let me ask something.

You don't have any problem doing God's will for your life if that's what you want to do.

Hello.

Amen.

If it fits what you want to do, you don't have a, you get excited about it.

Amen?

I mean, I was excited about coming here and started, well, it wasn't at first, but after a little bit, I was excited about coming here and just start.

It wasn't that I wasn't excited about starting church.

I was 58 years old and I didn't want to start over.

But anyway, uh, but the thing is, when you want to do something and God gives you that permission, you get excited about it.

Let me tell you where it really, where I call the rubber meets the road, is when God asks you to do something that you don't want to do.

Amen.

That's when you really know if you're walking with God.

That's when you really know that God has your life and you've presented your body a living sacrifice to him, Romans 12, 1 and 2.

When God asks you to do something, and just let's be honest, you just flat out don't want to do it.

Ever been there?

Huh?

I'll preach online next.

Amen.

Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh.

Jonah hated the Ninevehes.

Now you say, wait a minute, he's a prophet, he's a man of God.

You don't understand.

The Assyrians were the worst of the worst.

They would be right there with the Nazis of Germany when they massacred those millions of Jews and people.

That's what they did.

They were so brutal, they would take people and they would dig a hole, they would put them in the hole, bear them up to their neck, put all kinds of stuff on them so that ants would just come on them and eat them, and buzzards would come and just pluck their skin right off of them while they're living.

They would literally cut the ears off, cut, they would fillet people literally while they're alive.

Now let me ask something.

Would you want to go to Nineveh if you're a Jew?

No.

In fact, he didn't want to send the good news, he wanted to send the Abom.

He didn't even think God loved.

See, during this time, the Israelites thought that God only loved the Jews anyway.

They didn't love anybody else.

That was really their mentality during this culture.

So they could, he wasn't about to go to Nineveh.

Why?

Because he didn't like them.

He didn't think God liked them.

So now God's saying, You're gonna go to Nineveh.

And not only do you have, he says, I gotta go to Nineveh, I gotta preach the good news.

I got to preach the gospel.

Some of them might get saved.

I don't want them to get saved.

They don't deserve to get saved.

Now I said that to let you understand the mentality.

We sometimes give Jonah a bad row.

You gotta understand why he thought that way.

He had grown up that way.

He had been taught that way.

And now he's being asked to go against everything he believes and everything he's been taught.

Now that's when you know it's God's will.

When you say yes to that kind of a situation.

So we see that's what's taking place right here.

In fact, I put in your notes.

How do I react to God when his will is contrary to the thinking of my peers and the teaching of my life?

Wow.

Wow.

So what happens if you and I are commanded by God to do something that we don't want to do and we disobey Him.

Well, I'm gonna give you ten traveling tips.

Ten traveling tips.

This is what's gonna happen if you decide to go your way instead of God's way.

Okay?

This is a good warning.

God's speaking to us, God's warning us.

And next week we're gonna look at God the Comforter.

So it'll be a little better.

But now watch.

Listen to me.

This is so important.

God says to Nineveh, arise and go and cry out loud.

That was his commission.

It's the same commission you and I have.

The word there, I love the word arise.

It's uh the uh Hebrew word is kum.

It is K-O-O-O M.

Kum.

And it literally means to arise.

It's a it's the same Greek word that's used in Philippians, oppress.

Press toward the mark, press.

In other words, excitably, you it's intense.

It's now.

Right now, don't wait.

Now.

There's an urgency.

That is the same command that you and I are given in the New Testament as Christians that Jonah was given in this passage.

What does Jesus say in Mark 16, 16, 15?

Arise and go and preach the gospel to every creature.

Same command.

So we see this.

Arise, press and go to Nineveh.

And then verse 2 says, Cry out against it.

Shout it from the housetops.

Let the redeem of the Lord say so.

Cry out loud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins.

Isaiah 58, verse 1.

Isaiah 58:1

So important.

So important.

So, how do I react to God when his will is contrary to thinking of my peers and the teaching of my life?

Well, number one.

Ten traveling tips to Tarsus.

Number one, what happens if I decide to go my way instead of God's way?

Arrangements for the wrong direction.

Arrangements, don't miss this, for the wrong direction are very easily found.

In other words, Satan's already got the boat at dock ready to take you in the wrong direction.

In other words, look what happened.

Verse 3.

Jonah rose up to flee into Tarsh, it's 2,500 miles west in the opposite direction of Nineveh.

And here's what he said.

From the presence of the Lord, and he went down, under, underline that, went down.

The word down is used three times in Jonah in this passage in Jonah 1 in chapter 2, verse 6.

He goes down because when you go in the wrong direction, listen to me, there's only one place you're going.

There's only one direction you're going when you disobey God.

Down, down, down.

So he went down to Joppa to get on the wrong boat.

And look, and when he went down to Joppa, he found a ship going to Tarshish, so he paid the fare, therefore, and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

So arrangements for the wrong destination will be easily found when God tells you to do something.

Satan is going to offer you, I don't know how many opportunities to keep you from doing what God wants you to do.

And watch this.

How do we justify not doing what God wants us to do?

Here's how we justify: we say, oh, this must have been the will of God, because the boat's there.

Oh, if God didn't want me to go to Tarshis, the boat wouldn't be there.

Get a, hey, give me a life.

No way.

No way.

That doesn't have anything to do with the will of God, whether the boat's there or not.

Amen?

It really doesn't.

But we see that constantly.

I hear that all the time.

The easiest way, and I put it in your notes, may not be God's way.

In fact, you know what I've learned?

Most, well, I'd say a large percentage of the time, God's way is not the easiest way.

He says, Thou therefore endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

It's not usually, hey, gonna be just the easiest way.

In fact, Satan.

Is a liar and the father lies.

John 8 44.

He is deceitful.

Hey, he's the angel of light.

He makes it look like it's God's way, but in reality, it's the opposite of what God's way is.

He doesn't want you to follow God.

And we see this in Jonah's life.

I mean, Satan is the angel of light.

He is so crafty.

And the easiest way may not always be the easiest way.

I hear people say that.

I really get excited about their excitement about the Lord, but I cringe at their theology.

Because whether the boat's at the dock to take you, hey, to Tarshus, or whether the boat's there to take you to Nineveh, that's not evidence of God's will.

Evidence of God's will is that you've heard from God through the Word of God and you have peace from God that this is what God wants you to do.

Amen?

That's when you go and that's what you do.

It has nothing to do with outward evidences.

Now, confirmation can come from that, but you got to make sure it's from God.

You're hearing from God, and you'll know it's from God when you hear from the Word and you have peace.

Can I get an Amen?

That's the key.

That's the key.

I can remember when I surrendered to go to Liberty University to study for ministry.

God had called me to ministry.

And I was in my junior year at Albany State, and I was ready, I was studying physical education and minoring in psychology.

I wanted to be a football coach.

And then in the summer, I wanted to be a youth pastor and work with teenagers.

And the moment I decided God had called me, I heard from God, I was in the Word, and I knew God wanted me to go to Liberty University, which I had no idea where it was, but I knew he wanted me to go.

And I went home and I told Becky, Eric's mother, my first wife that died.

I said, God's told us we got to go now.

Right now, rise, go, go, go.

That urgency.

I said, because if we don't, hey, hey, I know, hey, I know I'll be wandering in the wilderness.

We had been on the verge of divorce twice during those previous three years.

I was running from God.

I knew I was running from God.

I had surrendered to go to Liberty.

I didn't know where Liberty was.

I just knew it was in Virginia.

But I packed up the U-holer trailer and we left.

But a week before we left, a youth pastor called me and said, Pastor, he said, Danny, hey, we've got an opening for you as our youth pastor.

We'd love for you to come and be our youth pastor.

Wait, wait, wait.

The next day I got a phone call from the head football coach and said, Danny, we know you only have a year left in your degree program.

We'd like for you to come on and we want to hire you to be our weightlifting coach.

And then when you get your degree, we're going to hire you to be a physical education teacher and teach psychology and be on our coaching staff.

A week before I left.

It would have been easily, oh, God's in this.

I know God's in this.

Why?

Well, I want to be a youth pastor and I want to be a coach.

God's in this.

Oh, oh, God's got to be in this.

Becky looked at me and she said, honey, if we don't leave this town, I'm scared of what's going to happen.

We packed up and we took off.

Didn't have a job.

Didn't have a place to stay.

I just pulled in at 2 o'clock in the morning, slept in the rider rental truck, got up the next morning, walked into the school, and I said, I need to talk to somebody in charge.

God's told me to be here, and you're going to take care of me.

They looked at me and said, What ship did he step off of?

Huh?

I had my transcripts and everything.

And I said, Oh, no, by the way, and as he's, as I'll never forget John.

John Hawkins was filling everything out.

And I said, Oh, by the way, I don't have a place to stay.

He looked up and said, You don't have a place to stay?

I said, No, don't have a place to stay.

He said, Okay.

He just kept filling out.

He said, Well, where do you work?

I said, I don't have a job either.

He said, You don't have a job either?

No, don't have a place to stay.

No.

He kept filling out.

He says, uh uh, what are you going to study?

I'm going to study education and psychology, and here's all my uh transcripts, and God told me to tell you I'm not going to lose one hour.

He said, He did.

And then he went on, he said, I never had anybody come up here and tell me he doesn't have a place to have, he doesn't have a job, doesn't have a whole lot of money.

Matter of fact, I don't think he had any money.

And he said, and all this stuff, and you just expect us to accept you.

I said, absolutely, because that man Jerry Farwell told me to come on TV last week, two weeks ago, and I'm here.

And if you can't help me, get him.

He looked at me, he said, Never in my world and life have I seen this.

I said, sign the paper.

He said, I'm gonna sign the paper.

Within two days, we had a place to live and had a job.

Just like that.

Just like that.

Why?

Because I did what God told me to do.

And I didn't wait.

I pressed.

Amen.

So here's what happens.

God, when he tells you to do something, Satan can't stand it, and he's gonna do everything he can to keep you from going in the right direction.

And he's gonna have the right boat, the boat sometimes you want to be on, to take you in the wrong direction, not the right direction.

Can I hear an amen?

Traveling tip number two.

It'll cost you more to go your way than to go God's way.

You got a choice.

You can go first class or you can go second class.

How many of you know the difference on an airplane?

Ha ha! Hello! Trust me, there's a big difference.

And I made up my mind when I was traveling around the world there for about eight or nine months.

They started, they flew me first class.

I thank God they did.

It is so different.

You have all bed.

You have, I mean, you can't hardly go to sleep without them coming out.

Mr.

Lovett, can I get you something?

Can I get something?

Can I get you something?

You're sitting back in the cattle car, they don't do that.

I mean, you can't even, you don't have enough room to hardly stretch out your.

I try to get a aisle seat so I can stretch out, and then they run over you with a cart.

Put me in first class!

That's what happens when you go God's way.

You go first class, not second class.

Look at what he says.

This is so good.

Verse 3.

And he said, and he went down to Joppa and he found the ship, going to Tarshish, and here it is.

He paid the fare.

He paid it.

When you go God's way, he pays it.

There's a big difference.

When I'm going God's way, I have a problem.

You know what I do?

I stop and I say, wait a minute, God, this is not my problem.

You told me to do this.

You promised me, hey, wherever you lead, you'll go.

You promise me, you'll put nothing on me that you won't see me through.

You'll give me the power to do it.

Your grace is sufficient.

Wait a minute, Lord.

Time out.

You tell me, casting all your cares upon you, you care for me.

Hey, I didn't sign up for this job.

I didn't ask for this job.

I took this job because you drafted me, and I'm excited about doing it.

So it's your problem.

I'm going to sleep.

My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory through Christ Jesus.

Can I get an amen?

I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee.

I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee.

Even when Jonah was so disobedient, fixing to drown, he sent a fish to save his life.

You don't see the positive of the big fish.

The big fish saved Jonah's life.

God was in charge.

So we see it cost us more to go our way than to go God's way.

Look, I put it in your notes.

When we go in obedience to God, we go at his expense.

If we disagree and do our own thing, we pay the fare.

Let me just say this right now.

You go your way, you will pay.

Be not deceived, God is not mocked.

Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he reap.

He that sows to the flesh shall reap of the flesh.

But he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap reap life everlasting.

Is that good or is that good?

So, traveling tip number two, cost you more, go your way.

The safest place for you and me is in God's will.

Do you realize let me say that again?

The safest place for you and me is to be in God's will.

Can I get an amen?

Let me say this.

Listen to this the worst place to be, the most dangerous place to be as a Christian is out of the will of God.

Traveling tip number three.

Verse four.

You really can't get away from it all.

Oh, I remember when I almost, it was a situation, we'd had a major situation happen when I was at liberty in our family.

And I told Susan, I said, That's it.

I'm getting on my Harley and I'm out of here.

I'm gonna get away from it all.

You know what she said?

How are you gonna get away from God?

I was already packed and ready to go till she said that.

And I always, I looked, I thought to myself, why does she always have to be so spiritually right?

Holy Spirit number two.

I live with two Holy Spirits.

Holy Spirit in me and the Holy Spirit around me.

Some of you do too.

I know you do, David.

How many times our wives have kept us out of trouble?

Amen.

I was gonna get away from it all.

The eyes of the Lord in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

Amen.

Proverbs 15, 3.

I thank Jeremiah.

Jeremiah, do I have Jeremiah 23, 24 there?

Look, whoa.

Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?

Saith the Lord, does not I feel heaven and earth, saith the Lord?

You can't hide.

You can't run.

Oh, you can run, but you can't hide.

You can run, been there, but you can't hide.

He's gonna get you.

I call him the hound dog of heaven.

He'll tree you every time.

Amen.

Well, I got God's coon dog.

The Holy Spirit.

He'll tree you every time.

And he won't let you come down to tree to you and say I do.

Amen.

So you can't get away from God.

You can't run away from God.

Look at what happened there in verse 4.

But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was about to break to pieces.

Hello.

Hello.

God sent a storm to get Jonah's attention.

God will send a storm to get her attention if we're going in the wrong direction.

Hello?

So I don't like that, preacher.

I didn't write it.

I don't like it either.

But isn't it great accountability?

Amen.

So you can't get away from.

Oh, look at traveling tip number four.

Look at verse 5.

Then the mariners were afraid.

Now, these mariners were the best of the best sailors.

So when they got afraid, and by the way, they were not selling during, hey, they were not selling sailing or carrying the cargo in storm time.

They were great sailors.

So during this period of the seasons, it wasn't hurricane season.

It wasn't tornado season.

They knew better than to do that.

So that's why the storm is so directly related to an awesome God.

Because these professional sailors, that for them to get scared, it had to be a major typhoon.

And so now they are afraid, and look what happens.

Every man, he said the mariners were afraid, and they cried every man unto his God.

At least they had the one part right.

Pray! Now they were praying unto the wrong God, and the guy that could be praying to the right God, he's so disobedient and running from God and probably seasick, he's in this lower cabin asleep.

You know your church is in trouble when the pastor is backslidden and when they need praying, he's asleep.

Hello?

You okay out there?

So notice what they decide to do.

They were in the ship until the sea.

Now they say, well, we got a light in the ship, but Jonah was gone down in the sides of the ship, and he lay and was fast asleep.

You know what they did?

They cast overboard the cargo.

Hey, listen, when you are on the wrong ship, going in the wrong direction, and you have your most prized possessions with you.

Now let me ask something.

If you know you're leaving and going 2,500 miles away, maybe not to come back, because you're trying to get away from God, don't you think you're gonna take your most prized possessions with you?

You're gonna take that ring or that whatever's most prized possession is?

Don't you think you're gonna do that?

Well, guess what happened to it?

There it goes.

You just lost your most prized possession.

What are you saying, Pastor?

When you're going in hey, when you're on the wrong ship going in the wrong direction, hey, God will take your most prized possessions away if he has to to get your attention.

You can run, but you can't hide.

In fact, I put this in in your notes.

Look what I said.

I said, when God begins under four to deal with our lives, those things which were so important begin to lose their value.

Wow.

Those things aren't important anymore when God's really dealing with you.

Or when you're in the bottom, hey, hey, when you're in the belly of the wheel, whale, when you're in the belly of the fish, or when you hit rock bottom.

Just like remember the prodigal son when he lost everything he had.

None of that mattered anymore.

All he wanted was relief.

He said, Even my servants in my father's house have it better than I do.

I think I'll arise and go to the Father.

Wow.

What great insight.

There they go.

What does scripture say?

Man, he says, What?

Remember Luke chapter 12?

Luke 12 · chapter mention

When the guy was so wealthy, he had so much, he says, I don't know what I'm gonna do.

I think I'll just I'll build me some more barns and just store it up.

And then the Lord intervenes and he says, Yeah, why are you gonna do that?

Because tonight I require of you your life.

Wow.

Well, what shall it profit a man, you know it, if you should gain the what?

And lose your soul.

What good is it doing?

Hey, you can't take it to heaven.

Have you ever read Psalm 49, 17?

You don't see a U-Haul trailer behind the hearse.

Hello.

You okay?

You're not gonna take it with you.

And he also says in verse 17, Psalm 49, hey, he says, your glory's not gonna follow after you either.

You can be, hey, you can be the president, but hey, hey, you're not gonna be the president up there.

Amen.

There's only one president, and his name's J-E-S-U-S.

Amen.

And I'm not belittling my president.

I'm just telling you, there's only one in charge for a Christian, and his name's Jesus.

Amen.

So, hey, you can't really get away from it all.

Stop running from God, start relying upon God and running toward God.

Hey, you may lose your most prized possessions.

Those things that are so important, they may not be imported anymore.

They shouldn't be imported anymore.

For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose his own soul?

Mark 8 36, for seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these other things should be added unto you.

Number five.

In fact, number four, I thought you might like that for all of us that fly a lot.

Your baggage may not arrive at your designation.

That's pretty good.

I've had that happen several times.

Number five.

Your rest will be disturbed by housekeeping.

You know, for years, for almost 21 years, I lived in motels.

Susan and I did, or in campers, traveling and preaching and recruiting for our universities.

Never failed.

Sometimes you're about ready to you're taking a nap or something, and next thing you know, especially early in the morning.

Housekeeping! Housekeeping! And I'm thinking to myself, can she not read?

Do not disturb Housekeeping.

And the captain of the ship is knocking on his door.

Get up! Get up! We're all praying! Don't you have a God to pray to?

Get up! We need you! Everybody's praying!

So he gets up.

Here's what I'm telling you.

You can't get on the wrong boat and go in the wrong direction without God disturbing you.

You're not gonna get away with it.

Hello.

Come on.

Amen.

Oh me, help me here.

You say, Well, he's not bothering me.

Well, there's an answer for that.

Would you like to know?

You're just not saved.

The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they're foolish unto him, neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned.

2 Corinthians 2.14.

But if you're saved, God's gonna get your attention.

Your sins will find you out.

And I'm gonna show you that.

Look at the next, look at the next traveling tip.

You will be given personal attention.

Look at verse 7.

And they said, everyone to his fellow, come and let us cast lots that we may know for whom this evil is upon us.

Wow.

Other words, they get Jonah up and they're praying to their God and they're saying, What's going on here?

Some somebody's God's upset.

That's what they're saying, basically.

They didn't, you know, they believed in multiplicity of gods.

So they're all praying to their different gods, hoping that one of their gods, whatever they've done, you know, they'll confess it to their God so that he will not continue the unbelievable storm that's going on.

Now, watch what happens.

So they cast lots.

Guess who the lot falls on?

Jonah.

Now, you know, it's pretty bad when they start gambling and the lot falls on the preacher.

Hello.

You know you're in trouble.

You know you better repent.

And it falls on Jonah.

Now look what happens after it falls on Jonah.

Fell upon Jonah.

Look at verse 8.

Then say they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose causeless evil is upon us?

What is thy occupation?

Whence have thou come from?

What is thy country?

And of what people art thou?

I mean, they just started nailing him.

Isn't that amazing when you and I are out of the will of God and we're running from the will of God?

God sends somebody to start confronting us.

Who do you think you are?

It's none of your business.

Yeah, oh, it is.

If you're a Christian and you're going in the wrong direction, thank God for your family.

Thank God for your Christian brothers and sisters.

Thank God for your friends that come and put their hands on your shoulder and say, Pastor, let me talk to you.

You sure you ought to be doing that?

That's where the church is felling today.

We'll see our friends and our relatives and our Christian brothers out of the will of God and doing things don't not be doing, and we won't say anything.

Oh, you know what?

I shouldn't have said that.

Oh, we'll say something.

We'll say it to everybody but the right body.

We ought to go right to them.

Matthew 18, Matthew 5, and tell them.

Oh, Galatians 6, 1 says that we that are spiritual ought to come alongside.

Watch this, brethren, if a man be overtaken in the fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest I also be tempted.

And then verse 2, you know it, bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Man, they were they were asking him, what's going on here?

What what what evil have you done?

What evil?

I put this under number five.

Private disobedience will eventually affect others besides yourself.

And under you'll be given personal attention.

Number six, God uses all types of avenues to communicate his will.

God will use people you don't even know to get your attention.

Johnny didn't know the captain.

A lost captain was telling the preacher, you're out of the will of God.

Now he didn't know that.

But what he did know was that whatever God Daniel served, he wasn't praying to him.

That he knew.

Now watch how Daniel answers.

I meant Jonah answers.

You're giving personal attention.

The eyes put on your disobedience.

Number seven, I put you'll have to show your passport.

You're gonna have to fess up who you really are.

Look at verse, hey, look at it.

Look at verse 8 through 11.

Then said they unto him, Tell us, after they ask all the questions, look at verse 9.

And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew.

Uh-oh.

That's important.

And I fear the Lord, thy God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

Now he just answered them and he said, Oh, it's my God that controls the sea.

Uh-oh.

They find that out.

Can you imagine what they well, watch what they say.

Then were the man exceedingly afraid and said unto him, You mean you're the your God is the one that controls the sea and the weather, and you are asleep in the bed when we need you to be praying to your God to save our life?

Preacher, what are you doing?

He said, How does it knew as a preacher?

He said, I'm a Hebrew.

They knew.

Then he was a preacher.

And then look what it gets.

Oh, why hast thou done this?

They start blaming the man of God.

For the men knew that he had fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them.

Now you got to give Jonah, you got to give Jonah credit.

When he got caught, he knew he, hey, he was guilty.

He fessed up.

Come on, come on.

He didn't say, well, you know, he didn't start making excuses.

He said, I'm it.

Let me tell you, the only way you can ever get back on the right boat doing God's will is take complete responsibility of your wrongdoing.

Can I get an amen or oh me?

But aren't you excited if I confess my sin, he is faithful and just to forgive my sin and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness?

1 John 1 9.

Proverbs 28, 13, he that covers his sin shall not prosper, but whosoever confesses and forsaketh shall have mercy.

Proverbs 28, 13.

Wow.

Wow, look at it, look at it.

Unbelievable.

And then they said unto him, What shall we do unto thee that the sea may become unto us?

For the sea wrought and was uh raging.

Look at verse 12.

Which brings me to the next point.

Traveling tip number eight.

You can't cover up your wrong.

Because if you try to cover up your wrong, listen to me, listen to me.

This is one of the most important things I'm gonna say.

If you try to cover up your wrong, it gets worse.

Did you hear me?

It gets worse.

I'm gonna show it to you.

Watch what he says.

Verse 12.

And he said unto them, Take me up, cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be common to you.

I'm the guilty one.

I must pay for my sin.

Throw me overboard.

Now, I don't know about those other sailors, but if I'd have been there, I'd have been chunking them overboard.

I don't want to die in a sea for somebody else's sin.

Amen.

Am I the only one?

I mean, do you want to die for somebody else's wrong?

Okay, I'm just checking.

But notice what they did.

Boy, is this not typical of all of us.

Watch what happens.

Nevertheless, the men rode hard to bring it to land, but they could not, for the sea rowed and then was tempted against them.

And it got worse and worse.

Here they're going.

And they're going backwards.

They're rowing as hard as they can row, but they're not getting anywhere.

In fact, the water's coming more in the boat.

If you try to cover your sin and you or you know there's wrong, hey, whether where wrong is, whether it's in the church, in a business, what, and you try to cover it and you don't deal with it, ladies and gentlemen, listen to me.

It won't go away, it'll get worse.

Praise God for us.

We deal with it.

We deal with it in a loving way, not a vindictive, legalistic way.

We deal with sin lovingly.

Can I get an amen?

But it's got to be dealt with.

The problem's got to be faced.

Husband and wife, hey, you gotta you gotta communicate.

You gotta deal with the problems.

They don't go away if you don't deal with them.

They get worse.

Hello?

Now look what happens.

Nevertheless, after they rode, they rode, they rode.

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

Now I love this verse.

Watch this.

This is unreal.

Now the men, the men realize they're fixing to drown if the preacher doesn't go overboard.

Now watch what they do.

Don't tell me God's not bringing conviction on these sailors.

It's unbelievable.

Look at verse 14.

Wherefore they cried unto the Lord and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood.

For thou Lord hast done it, done as it pleased thee.

They were confessing to the Lord, not their gods, the Lord.

I mean, it's in the capital L O R D.

The Lord don't punish us for killing the preacher.

They had more sensitivity and they hadn't gotten saved yet than the preacher did.

They had more respect and honor.

You know what I've seen?

Isn't it a sad day in America when the church says they're saved and they don't honor God like some lost people respect God?

I didn't say honor him, but respect him.

Lost people have more respect for God sometimes than saved people do.

Lord help us.

Lord help us.

So now look what happens.

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

In other words, here he goes.

And then he hits the water, and the sea goes calm.

Which brings me back to your outline.

Number eight, you can't cover up the wrong.

Nothing corrects disobedience except obedience.

Number nine, you'll be able to go swimming if you do disobedience.

You're going swimming.

Whether you have swimming lessons or not.

And I'll tell you something else, when you go swimming, you're gonna be thrown in the deep.

The Lord is going to deal with the wrong.

Amen.

Or owe me.

He's gonna deal with it.

You you may think you're getting away with it, but I'm telling you, hey, your storm's coming.

Your storm's coming if you don't repent.

Why not repent now so the storm doesn't have to come?

Can I get an amen?

Now watch.

Not only will you be able to go swimming, verse 15.

But the last traveling tip, your trip will be an unforgettable experience.

I can tell you right now, I can go back and take it take you step by step through I think a couple of bad experiences in my life when God got my attention.

I can tell you step by step.

I know when I got off, I know when I got on the wrong boat, and I knew when I told God I'm not doing that.

He said, okay, we'll see.

When you tell God you're not, can I help you?

Please don't tell God you're not gonna do something He tells you to do.

You may not do it, but don't tell him you're not gonna do it.

But it doesn't do any good.

He knows your thoughts anyway.

Hello.

I mean, how do you you can't get away from it all?

Verse 17.

Well, verse 16.

And the man, the men, the sailors, here's where they get saved.

Fear the Lord exceedingly.

Again, Lord with a capital L.

And offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows.

They started worshiping the God.

Not all gods, but the God.

They got saved.

Let me ask something.

When you get saved, you throw the man over and he tells you you throw it over, everything's okay.

It's calm.

I think I start serving the God.

God always shows himself to be right.

Then verse 17.

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.

And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

The typology here is phenomenal.

You have the death, the barrel, and the resurrection of Christ seen here.

You have hell seen here, because when you're in the belly of a wheel, it's dark, it stinks, you can't see anything.

There's nothing but fright and fear and uncertainty.

That's the way hell's gonna be.

I mean, if I had time, I could do we could just stay here a long time.

The typologies and the analogies here is unbelievable.

But the exciting thing here is that we see the resurrection.

He went down into the depths to the pit, but God raised him up.

Amen.

Your trip will be unforgettable.

And I conclude with this.

What happens when you get on the wrong boat?

Ten things happen.

But here's the conclusion.

Number one, if God's working you over, it's a good sign.

You say, oh me.

I don't know if I like that or not.

If God's working you over, it's a good sign.

That means he loves you.

He wants you back in the fold.

He wants you doing what he's asked you to do.

He's got a great plan for your life.

And he doesn't want you to mess it up.

He loves you that much.

And I've given you the verse there, Hebrews 11.

He chastens the ones he loves.

Don't take this home and read those verses.

I mean, Hebrews 12, 5, and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children.

My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord and the faith when thou art rebuked of him for whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives.

Listen, it's a good sign if God's working you over.

He loves you.

And he's trying to bring you back to where you need to be.

Amen.

Second conclusion.

Obey God even if you don't understand everything.

Woo! Man, that's good.

Somebody say, I will, say that's good, preacher.

I want you to see this.

Look at Deuteronomy 29, 29 says, only God knows the secret things.

You and I don't know the secret things of God.

The secret things belong unto the Lord our God.

Say amen with me to that.

All right, go to Romans 11, 33, Jeremy.

The ways, the knowledge, the judgments of God, all the depth, the riches, both of his wisdom and his knowledge, are unsearchable, or his judgments and his ways past finding out.

When bad things happen and you don't understand it, and hey, hey, you just gotta trust him.

But let me tell you, when bad things happen and you're not doing what God's told you to do, let me go ahead and I'm gonna interpret that for you.

God's saying, repent! Just like Jonah.

But now if you're following God's will and things are coming, you just keep trusting him, and those are the scriptures you need to give you that exhortation.

And then you throw in Romans 8.28 there, we know all things work together for good, and you just trust God, and you just say, you just keep pressing on.

Amen.

Trust in Him.

Obey God even when you don't understand.

He didn't understand why God was sending him to Nineveh to preach to those barbaric people.

I'll tell you why he was, because God loves him too.

Can I get an amen?

God loves everybody.

And then number three, God will not let you disobey him without letting you know it.

You know it.

Hey, right now, you know it if you're disobeying him.

You know it.

You know it.

The moment I do something I'm not supposed to do, the Holy Spirit checks me just like that.

And I have a choice right then to ask the Lord to forgive me and not do it again, or just keep on going my way, staying on the wrong boat.

But God's gonna let me know where I disobeyed him.

You know it.

God will not let you disobey him without letting you know it.

You know it.

Holy Spirit, the Lord reproves the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.

John 16.8.

It is the spirit that quickens the flesh, profits nothing.

These things I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.

John 6 63.

And then the last, one number three.

I'm sorry, the last one.

If I am in the wrong place, this is what really gets me.

The right place is empty.

If you and I are in the wrong place, then the place that God has for us is empty.

Man.

What an insight! God taught me that.

And He's been teaching me that over 32 years.

I've been in the wrong place.

That's no fun.

But when you get in the right place, the joy of the Lord, the peace that passes all understanding, the usefulness that you are for God, and you see it immediately?

Isn't that exciting?

Amen.

Amen.

Church.

What happens?

When you get on the wrong boat.

How do I know God's will, Pastor?

Two ways.

Through the Word and through His peace.

Now there'll be confirmation with other godly counselors and all that, but the key for you to know for sure, and it's God's will for your life.

First of all, He's going to tell you in the Word, and then He's going to confirm it with the peace in your heart.

Amen.

I have never, I've only moved, how many times do we move?

Four times?

Three times?

I've never moved without total peace in my heart.

And I've never moved without her having total peace in her heart.

I can remember when I told her two and a half years ago, I said, honey, I'm going to, David, I'm going to get a hold of David and I'm going to tell David, we're going to buy Surpro.

I said, I think the Lord really wants me to do this.

We're going to buy Surpro in Scartspur, and I want to help build that, take it to another, I'm a builder.

I'm an EMI.

And then I'm going to do evangelism on weekends.

I want to preach, and these smaller churches help them.

They don't pay me a dime.

I just want to be a blessing to them.

That's what I want to do.

I think God's in that.

So aren't you excited about that?

She looked at me, she said, I am not helping you build a surpro.

Thirty years of marriage.

I've never been, she's never said it that firmly in anything.

Usually she'll say, Oh, oh, oh.

We need to pray about that.

I'm not helping you build a serpo.

Do you understand that?

I think I understood that.

But I was about to get on the wrong boat.

Going in the wrong direction, folks.

Majorly.

At the end of my in my fourth quarter, third and fourth quarter of my life.

Aren't you excited about knowing God will not let you get on the wrong boat without letting you know it?

Now you got a choice if you're on the wrong boat.

You know what your choice is?

You gotta get out on the boat.

Go swimming.

And pray that big fish is there.

To take you in the right direction.

Amen.

You know the rest of the story.

The fish took him to Nineveh and then vomited him up onto the beach.

Woo! I imagine he said, thank God I'll never do that again.

You've ever been there?

Lord, if you get me out of this, I promise I won't ever do that again.

And I've been there and I haven't.

Amen.

What about you this morning, folks?

Do you know him?

That's the first step.

If you don't know him, you need to be saved this morning.

I'm gonna give you that opportunity right here a minute.

Twofold, twofold invitation.

One, if you don't know him, you need to know him in this morning.

Behold, now's the time, behold, now's the day of salvation.

2 Corinthians 16.

Right now.

Right now.

You know him.

Just like those sailors did right there.

They got down, they started praying to God and started making vows to God, saying, Lord, we're gonna serve you.

We're not gonna serve our gods anymore.

We're gonna serve thee, God.

And then for you, we that are saved.

Here's the question.

Are you on the wrong boat?

It may seem to be the right boat.

Circumstances may even tell you you're on the right boat.

But my question is, has God told you?

Because if you're on the right boat, you know it.

And there's peace.

If there's not peace, get off the boat.

Stop the boat right now.

Get off.

Get off.

And you wait till you hear from God.

Can I get an amen?

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

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