Whale-y, God | Pr Steven Soon

You're listening to a message to go from as church.

We hope this message will light up your dea.

Moving on, we're gonna go into the Word. Are you

ready for the Word? Yeah? So we're gonna do this. Okay,

So today we're gonna read Jonah okay, from the Book

of Jonah. Okay, and we're gonna do this. We're gonna

read the whole book. I don't know your wow is

like wow or wow is like wow. I don't know

why is it? Oh? But hey, it's gonna be good.

Jonah is one of the shorter books in the Old Testament.

Just for you to know, uh, And what we're gonna

do is we're gonna read through. It's only four chapters,

four chapters long. We're gonna go through the whole Book

of Jonah together. Can we do that today? Yeah? So

can you flip up on your Bibles to Yonah. Some

of us, I understand, would struggle finding the Book of

Jonah because it's not a book that will commonly flee

flip too. But one thing in Okay, it's in the

Old Testament Old Testament. Good luck. You can also look

to your Bible index. That's why we encourage physical Bible. Right,

physical Bible actually helps you remember when you flip open

where the different books are. And when you remember where

the different books are, this is what I find. I

just ask you continue to flip. I'm just give you

this encouragement because of me constantly flipping the physical Bible

instead of the digital one. When I read certain scriptures

or I will remember what book was before this. And

because I remember what book is before this and after,

I have a context of what happens in this particular book.

The digital Bible a bit harder. Right, When you have

a physical Bible you're flipping open, it helps refresh you. Oh,

this happened here, this happened here. That's why in this

books it talks about what happened before and after. That's

my encouragement to you if you can, you know, flip

open your You're not the digital ones, by your physical ones,

all right. Digital ones are there for convenience, a physical

one is there for conviction. Oh well, all right, so

let's uh, if you're there, say I'm here, fantastic, Okay,

let's do this. Okay, I'm gonna lead us. True, I'm

gonna read from the NLT version. But it shouldn't differ

too much from whatever versions you're reading from. Okay, so

just follow after me. Okay, Let's just take this moment.

It's gonna take maybe about five minutes, okay. But in

these five minutes, I want us to focus into this

body of texts that you probably haven't done so in

a while. So many words, so many words to read.

But just zone in on it, focus and imagine with me. Okay,

let's do this. Jonah Chapter one, Verse one, The Lord

gave this message to Jonah's son of Amitai, get up

and go to the great city of Nineveh. And now's

my judgment against it, because I've seen how wicked It's

people are. Jonah is or worse a prophet. Okay, So

the Lord is sending here him was sending him to

deliver this message of judgment verse three. But Jonah got

up and went in the opposite direction to get away

from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa,

where he found a ship leaving from Tashish. He bought

a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from

the Lord by sailing to Tashish. How many of you

think it's so foolish that by sailing to another country,

you can escape from the Lord. This is a prophet

we're talking about. Funny but anyways, verse four. But the

Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a

violent storm that threatened to break the sheep apart. Fearing

for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods

for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.

But all this time Jonah worse sound asleep down in

the ship's hull. So the captain went down after him.

How can you sleep at a time like this, he shouted,

Get up and pray to your god. Maybe he will

pay attention to us and spare our lives. Then the

crew cast lots, cast lows. Basically, they took voeslah right,

cast laws to see whish of them had offended the

gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this,

the lords identified Jonah asked the culprit, why has this

awful storm come down on us? They demanded, who are you?

What is your line of work? What country are you from?

What is your nationality? Jonah answered, I'm a Hebrew, and

I worshiped the Lord, the God of heaven, who made

the sea and the land. The sailors were terrified when

they heard this, for he had already told them he

was running away from the Lord. Oh why did you

do it? They've grown and since the storm was getting

worse all the time, they asked him, what should we

do to you to stop this storm? Throw me into

the sea, Jonah said, and it will become calm again.

I know that this terrible storm is all my fault. Instead,

the sailors roll even harder to get the ship to

the land, but the stormy sea was too violent for

them and they couldn't make it. Then they cry out

to the Lord jonah'sked god. Oh Lord, they pleaded, don't

make us die for this man's sin, and don't hold

us responsible for his death. Oh Lord, you have sent

this storm upon him for your own good reasons. Then

the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the

raging sea, man overboard, and the storm stopped at once.

The sailors were all struck by the Lord's great power,

and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him. Now,

the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah,

and Jonah was inside the fish for three days and

three nights. We're gonna go into chapter two. Don't worry.

Chapter two tree for shortter Okay, hang in there. Chapter

two Jonah's prayer. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord is

God from inside the fish. He said, I cry out

to the Lord in my great trouble. And he answered me.

I called to you from and the land of the day.

And Lord, you hurt me. You threw me into the

ocean depths. And I sank down to the heart of

the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me. I was buried

beneath your wild and stormy waves. Then I said, Oh Lord,

you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will

look once more towards your holy temple. I sank beneath

the waves, and the waters close over me. See it

wrapped itself around my head. Wow, poetic. I sank down

to the very rules of the mountains. I was imprisoned

in the earth, whose gates locked shut forever. But you,

oh Lord, my God, snatched me from the jaws of death.

As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord,

and my earnest prayer went out to you in your

holy temple. Those who worship. False gods turned their backs

on all God's mercies. Funny that he said that because

he turned his back on the Lord. But I will

offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I

will fulfill all my vowels, for my salvation comes from

the Lord alone. Then the Lord ordered the fish to

spit Jonah out onto the beach. Chapter three, Jonah goes

to Nineveh. Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time.

Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh

and deliver the message I have given you. This time,

Jonah obeyed the Lord's command and went to Nineveh, a

city so large that it took three days to see

it all. On the day Jonah entered the city, he

shouted to the crowds, forty days from now, Niniveh will

be destroyed. This is probably his favorite part. The people

of Nineveh believe God's message, and from the greatest to

the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap

to show their sorrow. When the king of Nineveh heard

what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne

and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in

burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. This is

a king we're talking about. Then the King and his

nobles send this decree to the whole city. No one,

not even the animals from your hearts and fogs, may

eat or drink anything at all. People and animals alike

must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly

to God. They must turn from their evil ways and

stop all their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet

God will change his mind and hold back his fierce

anger from destroying us. I just want to pay attention

to this. At this point, God has never promised to

deliver them. Just put that mental note, okay, verse tien.

When God saw what they had done and how they

had put a stop to their evil ways, he did

change his mind. He changed his mind and did not

carry out the destruction he had threatened Jonah's Anger The

Lord's Mercy, Chapter four. This change of plans greatly upset Jonah,

and he became very angry, so he complained to the

law about it. Did then't I say before I left

home that you would do this? Lord? This is why

I ran away to Tashish. I knew that you are

a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and

failed with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back

from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord, I'd rather

bedate than alive if what I predicted will not happen,

The Lord replied, is it right for you to be

angry about this? Then Jonah went out to the east

side of the city and made a shelter to sit

under as he waited to see what would happen to

the city and the Lord. God arranged for a leafy

plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad

leaves over Jonah's head, shading him from the sun. This

ea is discoonfort and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.

But God has arranged for a worm. The next morning

at dawn, the worm ate through the stem of the

plant so that it withered away, And as the sun

grew hot, God arranged for us scotching its wind to

blow on Yonah. The sun beat down on his head

until he grew faint and wished to die. Death is

certainly better than living like this, it exclaimed. Then God

said to Jonah, is it right for you to be angry?

Because the plant died, Yes, Jonah retorted, even angry enough

to die. Then the Lord said, you feel sorry about

the plan, though you did nothing to put it there.

It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more

than one hundred and twenty thousand people living in spiritual darkness,

not to mention all the animals. Shouldn't I feel sorry

for such a great city. Cliffhanger, cliffhanger. All right, and

that's the word of God. Now I want to say this, congratulations.

You read one book in the Bible today, one out

of sixty six books. Okay, but I do hope yes,

you too, Isaiah, you read too, okay. So, but I

hope that this won't be the only book you read

this year. Okay, but at least you know you read

one book this year, one book in the Bible you

read true this year? Okay. Uh, just hits up with

the few books before. This was so quite short if

you want to read, okay, so you can do more

on your checklasse all right, but please please read and

love the Word of God. Now the title I have

for this message is this WILLI God, good, good good?

I think so too. All right, that's time I appreciate

a penguins. Then I talk about whale. Okay, so, but

another fact, the Bible never actually said it's a whale.

The Bible say big fish, but it's always depicted as

a whale. So for illustration purposes, will put a whale. Okay, Well,

WILLI God? That is what I imagined you not to

be throughout the whole four chapters. Go to n WILLI God, No,

I asked you to go. WILLI the people have repented,

I saved them. WILLI God? That's how I imagine him

to be throughout the whole book of Yonah. You see,

when I was growing up reading this story, a very

popular story for children, right the Book of Jonah talks

about obedience, obedience to the Lord. And when I grew

up reading this story, whether it's through Sunday School, in

my Children's Bible, through X kids, when I was reading it,

I always thought that this Yonah, this this prophet is

a very coward. It's a coward. He's scared. That's why

he don't want he doesn't want to go to Niniveh.

He's scared of the wicked people there. If you go,

he die. I always thought that Jonah was scared. That's

why he didn't want to go to Nineveh. But in

recent years, when I read the Book of Jonah again

and again, I've come to realize, actually, he's not a

scared prophet. He's an angry prophet, so angry that he

goes on to say Niniveh doesn't deserve to be saved,

so angry that he can disobey God to go elsewhere.

That's how angry he was. He was so angry at

the people of Nineveh. And I want to say this,

Joe Not is such a dramatic person. I don't know

if you realize when you're reading this. When I read

the NTY version, I'm like, man, this guy is so dramatic.

One moment God says go to he goes like, no one,

my bite taker, go elsewhere. And very clearly he as

a prophet, would know that God is angry by sending

a storm to wreck the ship. No why I did

sleep sleep in the fold, and the Bible says sleep soundly,

So drama. I don't care God, you do what you want.

I'll sleep there. The people no choice. Wake him up.

And then you say, Tromila throw the sea. My fault,

it's my fault, throw me into the ceila and then

he gets thrown into the sea and then the the

big fish swallowed him up. And then what happened? Lord,

have mercy on me. Whoa, it's me, Lord, you can't

save me? And then save really After that, God asked again,

please go, and he finally went. But I'm very curious

why he said, because the Bible never indicated what was

his response in words, He's just the Bible just says

he obeyed, and he went, probably grumbling. And then when

he went there and delivered the word that you guys

will die, so dramatic, you will die. Then God saved them,

and what did you do? Complain? Went to the east

side of the city. He was so dramatic and angry.

He built a shelter and sit there and watch the

city and sulk. And then God was like, are you

poor man under the sun? Let me put a leaf

over him. Well, there's the fastest growing leaf ever grew up.

And then the Bible saying from angry he suddenly felt ah,

very comfortable at ease. Next day, what they got to

do after that caused a worm to eat the stem

and the leaf died. And then why you say so hot,

I can die. In the Bible, I didn't make this hour.

He said it was so hot, he wished he died,

he wished to die. And after that I complained to God, God,

I know that you are such a good God. That's

why I want to run away. I don't want to

help the people in Niniveh. Right. Such a dramatic prophet.

I think it's the most dramatic prophet of all in

terms of emotions jumping here and there, here and there's Oh,

I was reading this, I was just picturing. I mean,

I felt like, man, this character quite must be quite

a characters, really like almost like where his emotions on

his sleeves. Right, super dramatic, super super dramatic. But yeah,

that's how I pictured Jonah when I was reading this.

I can just imagine his facial reactions, how he's talking

to God. But I also felt this, he must be

quite close to God to be able to talk to

God like that. I don't think you see anywhere else

in the Old Testament any other prophet that to do

that we've got. But he did that. He can complain

he did all that, he had, all that, the conversations

that he was having God actually showed me that he's

very close to God. He's actually very close to God.

And today when we talk about this scripture, this particular

book in the Bible, I want to bring us just

two points, just two points. And you guys know when

I say just, it's very deceiving because it may be

two points, but it can be two very long points.

So please please don't think about lunchet. So focus on

the word. First. First point. Is this what Jonah has

taught me and I hope he teaches us. Is this

to guard our hearts against stubbornness. You see, Jonah was

so adamant to disobey God, so much so and go

with what he personally felt about the people of Nineveh.

He was able to fall asleep disobeying God. He was

able to be so at peace disobeying God that he

can sleep Bible says soundly. Isn't that scary? I pray

that we will never become like this part of Jonah,

where he's so comfortable disobeying God that he can sleep soundly.

It's a very dangerous place to be. That's where stubbornness

can lead us. We gotta be careful, We gotta careful

we gotta watch our hearts now. Jonah fall to again,

he complained to the Lord. Jonah complained, oh sorry, before

I get there. You know, in the Bible, you know,

if you look at the especially the Old Testament, this

obeying God's voice often leads to very terrible consequences. I

don't need to describe in detail. It's usually quite destructive.

Yet for us today, this obeying God seems like a

day to day thing. You called that. It seems so

easy sometimes to ignore God's voice. Back then, ignoring means destruction,

means doom. You see, the same God that destroyed cities

out of people's disobedience. It's the same God reserved today.

You know, he has never changed. He is the same God.

So what has happened to us? How have we viewed

God today? Maybe God may not resort to such ways

as in the New Testament, out of his own divine

mercy and divine wisdom. We may never under but know

that it is the same God there that destroyed cities

because of people's disobedience. But yet today we find it

so easy to ignore God's voice. It's very scary, guys,

It is a very scary thought. And many times we

choose to suppress God's voice just because what He's asking

us to do is uncomfortable. Then we ignore, I pretend

I didn't hear, or we justify our feelings. God, you

will understand. You would understand if I don't do what

you say. You know how many times have we disregarded

what the Lord asked of us to do? Just take

a moment to reflect. Don't need to answer, but think

for ourselves. In the past week, has that happened in

the past month, has it happened in the past year.

Has it happened? Has God told you to do something

that you've chosen intentionally and conscio not to do it

because that was what Jonah did. That was what Jonah did.

This one, this one she personal experience. Okay, it's very

real to me. Sometimes God will probab me. Hey, go

to talk, Go and talk to this person. We're sitting

alone there God, I introvert. There's a funny joke I

saw a real recently. The person asked a guy, uh,

what what what kind of but makes no sound and

the guys say intro But it's very funny. I follow

that that series of real I love it. Introbt but

yes I say this sometimes that God, I am introverted God,

my social thank God song already zero other people go on,

that was me many times ignoring God's voice, platon ignoring,

and even a hard one. Sometimes God says Steven, go

and say sorry to this person who are from you? God,

You're kidding me. Not only these persons hurt me. Now

you want me to lose my face to go and

say sorry? Yeah, I igno It's okay, God, I don't want.

But how many of us are like that? God asks

us to do something and we blatantly ignore, and many

times do the opposite, do the opposite. That was what

Jonah did. How many of us do the students here,

whether you're in school or you're in university. Did you

know that classmate that everybody avoids, That that one classmate

that everybody finds annoying, that one classmate that nobody wants

to be friends with. Has God told you to go

and love that person? I can assuredly tell you based

on my own experience, yes, But have you done it?

Include this person into your assignment group? God? So hard?

What if I fail? And then we love to use

this word? This person is a freeloader. This person don't

deserve to be in this group, get free marks, don't

do work. But yet, what does the Lord say? And

we often try to justify our own thoughts and feelings

instead of listening to what the Lord is saying. So,

francis the first point, God our hearts against stubbornness. I

will be the first to say, I'm a very very

stubborn person and the Lord has to deal with me constantly.

It's not done yet, by the way, he has to

deal with me every day that person. Where I look

at something, I'm very methodological. I go like, there's the

way to do it, and this is the way to

do it. And then if I'm not careful, I didn't

realize that I'm actually being stubborn against God when God

wants to show me another way. There's a better way. Stephen.

What you know is not everything, Stephen, but sometimes we

get there, we get stubborn. The worst is to be

stubborn against God. So we got to God our hearts,

got our hearts. The second thing, second point that we

can learn from this we learn from Jonah himself, is

this we got to God our hearts against self righteousness

because that was what Jonah had. He was a prophet,

he knew the Word, he knew the Lord. But it

came to a point that it went to his head.

God says, I'm gonna save these people. God forgive them,

and he thought he knew better. They don't deserve to

be safe, Lord, they're wicked men. Suddenly he is more

God than God. He's deciding for God that these people

ought to be judged. Why do you realize? God asks

him the question, is it right for you to be angry?

Basically what God was telling Yonah in a very gentle way.

They have been called, who are you I decide to forgive?

Who are you to say that I cannot forgive? We've

got to be very careful because Jonah is like that.

But we can very well be like Jonah. It's a

dangerous area, especially when we find ourselves. Oh, we're in

the right standing of God. We are mature, we are

in our faith is good, we are doing everything right.

We have to be very careful on how we treat others.

Self righteousness is it's one of the things that can

sit into us without us knowing. You see the whole

book of Jonah. For me, when I read it. It

speaks of God's love, compassion, and mercy. Even though in

the very beginning you realize God actually told Jonah, I

just ask you guys to notice this right, go and

send this message that they will be destroyed. There's no

promise of redemption if they turn from their ways. There.

God never said that. He just says delivered this message

to the people of Nineveh that they will be destroyed.

But do you realize after that Jonah, when he complained

to God, Jonah actually said this, I knew that you

are a merciful and compassion to God with unfeeling love.

You are eager to turn back from destroying people. That

is what caused Jonah to live in the first place.

If Jonah knew that God is really going to destroy

these people, don't you think Jonah would have well and

tell them in the first place. Because Jonah was angry

at them. He would have been happy aha, bye bye.

But Jonah knew God's heart. Joonah knew there's a chance

they may repent, and if they repent, God was going

to forgive them. And here comes self righteous Jonah. No,

I'm not going to allow that to happen. They deserve

to die. You see this whole book of Jonah, even

though it starts with destruction, actually from the very start,

in between the lines, it's showing you God's love and

mercy and compassion, that his love covers all multitude of sins.

Even since that we see as unforgivable, there was profit

Jonah's side to him. What the people have done don't deserve.

They don't deserve to be saved. It's two wicked, Lord

too wicked. You see. Do you know that Jonah was

actually mentioned in the New Testament as well. I'm gonna

bring our attention to look chapter eleven, verse thirty, and

this is what the Word of God says. What happened

to Yonah was assigned to the people of Nineveh, that

God had sent him. What happens to the son of

Men Jesus, we will be assigned to these people that

he was sent by God. This is a paradigm basically

showing God's heart because Jesus was sent to safe, not destroy,

so therefore Jonah was sent to safe and not destroy.

This shows you God's heart from the very first place.

I know that many times we look at the Old Testament, God, Wow,

this God very violent it's the same God, guys, he

had never changed his character through the seasons of time.

But in fact, if you really read through the Old Testament,

his love is on a very loud volume. Just to

look at the Israelites forty years in the wilderness, just

look at after that. And now in my own personal devotion,

I'm going through second Kings Man, the wicked kings. I

feel like I want to slept them, sometimes one after

the other, blatantly worshiping idols and disobeying God, doing wicked things.

And yet time after time, as long as someone one

of the kings, any of them, turned towards the Lord,

do you know that God rewarded them? If anything at all,

I think the Old Testaments spats God's love in a

larger volume. Even in a place where there was no

sacrificial spotless lamb in the form of Jesus at that time,

God still loved ferociously. I didn't plan to share this,

but it just came to mind when I look at Jonah,

the Book of Jonah. This was it coming back to us.

Now that we have a perspective of how God loves,

how many times have got us us to forgive, But

yet we find it like, No, God, this person don't

deserve to be forgive, for forgiven for what the person

did to me. If it's just small things, no problem.

But usually the ones closest to us that's the hardest

to forgive. Am I right? Usually if it's especially within

the family, something happened, so hard to forgive God, this

person forget it, God, give up. This person doesn't deserve

your kindness. Lord. Sometimes we say, this person doesn't deserve

our kindness, But what does the Lord? Come on? First,

love the Lord, your God with all your heart, mind,

soul and strength. And second is as important as the first.

To love your neighbors as yourself. That means, regardless of

what the person does to us, we are to forgive.

We are to love, We are to extend mercy even

though we've been wronged many times. Is it easy? Oh? No,

I find it really hard. But that's what the Lord

commands us. But yet sometimes we become the judge, We

become the self righteous Jonah to say no, they don't

deserve it. God, what you're saying. You don't know what

you're saying. God. Sometimes that's our attitude. Lord, you don't

know what you're saying. Cannot, Lord, how can I extend

kindness to this kind of person? We look at the

news today, certain political figures. How many of us actually

pray for their salvation? Most of them? Most of the time,

we are condemning them, cursing. Am I right? I'm not

gonna name names. You know, there are certain political figures

around the world, guys, newsflash. God tell you to love

them more. God asks you to pray for them all.

But yet sometimes not sometimes, many times, me included, all

of us, we decide for God whether this person deserves

to be saved. This person is evil, Lord, cursive cursive, cursive,

better die, This person is so corrupted, Better die. This

person is doesn't know what he's saying. It's causing so

much problems. Better die. But yet God says, no, I

love this person. As long as the person repents, I

will forgive him. That's why the Lord asked, Yonah, is

it right for you to be angry? No? I decide,

The Lord says, I've come to my conclusion. Now you see.

It starts with a lot of doo, a lot of

like oh nineve will be destroyed disobedience upon disobedience. But

yet it ends with hope because in chapter three. End

of chapter three, we say we saw how God's how

God is gracious and merciful. Firstly, he gave Yonah a

second chance. See what Jonah did or if I'm if

I were to be in God's shoes, I would have

like removed him from the face of the earth. I

asked you to deliver the word. You are my prophet,

and this is the times where it's quite dark there

in this period, and there were not a lot of profits.

So if you're a prophet or you better do your

job well. And here's Jonah saying, I don't want If

I were God, I will probably just like I'm going

to remove you, I'm going to raise another one. But

yet here is God. After Jonah cried out for help,

here is God saying okay, He said the exact same sentence,

go and deliver this message forgifness. And he gave Jonah

a second chance. And this time, thank God that Jonah

obeyed by a feelinger. Jonah is probably mumbling and grumbling,

no choice in life to do it. Go tell God, Tella,

these people help they die. Do you realize Jona keep

saying die, I wish die. It's dramatic so dramatic, okay,

but he did that. He even he may have felt

unwillingness in his spirit, he did it. And you know

what was the fruit of his obedience. The whole city

was saved one hundred twenty thousand people, not including the animals.

II will say he God lost animals here, Joe, Now

you learned that, right, God loves animals. One hundred and

twenty thousand not just saved from a physical death, a

destruction of the city they had, They were saved in

their spirit and their soul because you saw every one

of them turn to the Lord faster than prayed. The

king himself walked down from his throne, removing his royal robes.

This talks about humility, and you see how God was

pleased with that one hundred and twenty thousand people saved

physically spiritually because of Jonah's unwilling obedience. And he can

still continue to be dramatic with the leief this guy,

it's okay to be unwilling. Can I say that? I

think it's even more precious that you're unwilling, but yet

you obey. It shows your trust towards the Lord. It

shows humility that even though I feel this way. God,

you know better, and look at Jonah in his unwillingness,

what God still did. I really believe there's a word

for us today. There is a prompting in your heart

that the law has given you comfortable. It's difficult, you're unwilling,

but yet the Lord wants to tell you it's okay. Lord,

I started a lort. Lord, like Moses, I can't. How

can I talk to the Pharaoh? God sutter. You know,

God is not looking for perfection. God is just looking

at your availability. Do it. God is not looking for

a perfect than out of ten delivery. God is not

looking for a perfect out of ten Kenva presentation. God

is looking at your willingness, in your brokenness, with the

little that you have. Would you still do it? Because

in our lack God provides, and who gets the glory?

God gets the glory. I just want to share a

testimony or two and then we'll wrap it up. Now.

Some of you have heard this, some of you have not.

But last year I shared about this where God put

into my heart to go and share the gospel to

my aunt's family. You see just a bit of contexts Uh,

this aunt whole family very staunch Buddhists to a point

that they actually told my parents never talk to me

about Jesus. You can talk about anything at all, but

don't talk to me about Jesus. In how can they

will say this? Well, say bye bye, we bye bye. Right,

you and I we are different. They say that to

my parents, So go, and God put it in my

heart to do that. I'm like, God, you are crazy

unwilling because I'm like God, let me go to the

other siblings us at least this this, this uh, this

aunt the son is believing is here easier to share

the gospel. But yet, out of the false siblings, my

mom is one of them. God asked me to go

to the one that's the toughest, Oh com Goud's of

all you in middle level one, also the n goal.

You asked me go level hundred. God said so, And

I remember I helped myself accountable to the leadership. I

told them God, I asked me to do this. I

want you guys to hold me accountable. And I went,

and even harder still, I had to do it in Hockeyn.

I have to preach god'swel in Hockeyn never done before.

I went on the road they're driving going to that place. God,

I need your help. I was shivering. I was really

really shivering. I reached that long story short I shed

there was a cousin. She is she uh had had

physical disabilities and mental disabilities. She's most of the time

in her own world. But when I was sharing about

healing testimony and I shared in Hockey my God's grace,

I was able to do so. I was sharing testimonies

of here my own story, my mom's story, which is

very close to their heart because my mom is one

of the sisters among my aunts and uncle and lo

and behold, I hear both my aunt and uncles say this, Wow,

this is really supernatural. It's not natural what happened. And

they even say this because they knew about my life.

They saw how I grew up. I grew up quite

a rascal, and they saw how I am today a pastor.

They're like, wow, you're got very powerful. They say that.

They say that your God. And they also say this

because we see you and your family, uh, you know,

serve the church, do a lot for the church. That's

why God loves you so much. And then in their

mind is Karmel and karma right, so I get to

open door that actually it's not about what we do.

Nothing we do can ever deserve salvation. Slipped it in

here and then slip it in, slip the gospel in.

And at one point when I was sharing my healing,

my own testimony and my mom's testimony, my cousin's sister,

who was in her own world most of the time,

suddenly became alert, looked me in the eye and she

said this to me. She said, She asked, well, and

when I talk, I qua my condition. How do I

solve it? She can't really move around. She has attempted

suicide that disabled her mentally, She had to go through electrotherapy,

different things. It's really messed up. She was really messed up.

I just put it that way. She was on heavy

medication most of the time. That's why she was in

her own world. But in that moment of soberness, she

asked me, how can this be helped? And looked at

her and I said, every time I prayed to God

and asked for help, he has always answered. I believe

he can do the same for you too, And she

went back into her own world. I had just that

brief moment I don't even know through all the different

things that I shared with the family whether she heard it,

but that brief moment I know she heard me. Fast forward.

I thank God good news. The family didn't kick me

out of the house. My parents were really shocked. They

didn't kick me out of the house. But it happened

as in. I got to share everything. We got to

even have lunch together. After that, they brought me out

for lunch. After that, there was April twenty twenty four,

I went to share the gospel. June twenty twenty four,

got the news that my cousin sister suddenly passed away.

Did a surgery that was supposed to be not complicated, straightforward,

but there were complications and she just passed on. Shocked.

We were all shocked, really really shocked. And in my heart,

even though I was grieving, I rejoiced in the Lord.

I remember when I was in the evening, I was

in the church office. I just stopped and I just

looked to the Lord God. Thank you for helping me believe.

Thank you for giving me the courage to obey. Thank You,

even though I was unwilling and scared, you helped me

to do it. And thank you Lord for the privilege

that I get to share the Gospel to her at

least once. And I really am convicted that the Lord

knew her time. The Lord knew that even though it

was sudden to us, it's not sudden to him that

he knew that two months from the day I shared

the Gospel to go. I would like to think that

she needed that two months to decide. I would like

to think that in her final moments, you reach out

to Jesus, but I will never know, you say, until

I meet Jesus, and hopefully I meet her in eternity.

But while thank God, I unwillingly obeyed. If I didn't

do that, I don't know if I could live with

a regret honestly, because I would know that I have

this obeyed God and she didn't have the opportunity to

hear the Gospel through me. I mean, God in his

miraculous way. Maybe other people would have shared, but man,

the regret I would have had. Thank God, I unwillingly obeyed.

I'm still praying for the family salvation for my aunts

and uncles. I're still praying. I know God is working.

I would just share this one testimony, okay, and I hope.

It's that encouragement to you to know that you don't

have to be fluent in a certain language, just like

how I wasn't fluent in Hokien and to share everything

in Hokien. You don't have to be perfect. You don't

have to be fluent in your speech. You don't have

to have certain status or reputation to be able to

obey God. You don't even have to be happily and

willingly ready. God can work through your unwillingness. But you

got the oldbey. That's it. That's it, and can tell

you this. Most of the time, I feel unwilling and

unready until the moment the thing happens. Then God provides

the word. God provides radma word. God provides thoughts that

would help me in that moment. Obey God. Don't be

like the early Jonah. Be like the Second Jonah, where

he unwillingly obeyed, because even in his unwillingness, God moved mightily.

Remember the scripture help me in my unbelief. That man

came to Jesus wanting a miracle, and Jesus pointed out

that you know, but you don't believe. And then the

man said, Lord, help me with my unbelief. I felt

that it's one of the most beautiful prayers and can pray, Lord,

I'm unbelieving, I cannot see it, I cannot understand, I

cannot comprehend. But Lord, help me to believe. And do

you know in that process, God gave the miracle. Anyways,

God still gave the miracle even though he was in

a state of unbelief. All he did was he acknowledged

that he was unbelieving and he asked for help, Lord,

help me, And even in that state, God gave the miracle.

I pray this will be an encouragement to you that

you can be unbelieving, you can lack faith, because all

of us will have that journey. But I think there

is an even more beautiful testimony because even in a

state of unbelief and unwillingness, you still trusted God to say, God,

let die, will be done not mine. There is an

important lesson here, friends, that we can learn from Jonah.

So the next time when God asked us to do

something and we go like, really, God, but really you

want me to do this? I pray that you remember

Jonah that he was like that, but he obeyed, trusted

the Lord Okay, God, you asked me to do it,

I'll do it, and then mumbling a grumbling, this caller

always asks me to do stuff like that. But still

he did it. He did it. Anyways, do you know

that when I okay, you've got a bit of time,

so just a short one xbu we just celebrated three years. Yeah,

do you know that it could very well didn't happen

as well? Paid Elvin had shared on behalf last time

when he was preaching of how XBU is supposed to

be x kd xcotta da mansara. I was really discouraged

in many points of preparation. I was really discouraged of

God wide venues supposed to happen. And then no, we can't. Uh,

the leadership did agree with this venue. Lord? Why I

pray for so long for open door? Don't have open door? Lord?

Why these white days? Why that? Why these? Why Dad?

Why these? Why Dad? And above all I als, why

people tell me this? You don't have enough to do?

You have any idea? What planting church and tails? And

can't be honest with you. That came from my own parents.

You gotta take care of yourself. They told me you

already don't have enough rest. Why do you say want

to do this? Are you sure? Again? Not my parents fault.

They were concerned over their their Sonna because their son

sometimes can become a loocoholic, so they were really concerned.

And honestly, in my mind I was thinking about that

as well. Lord, I really have a lot to do,

like God, and you know one part that made me

the most unwilling God that goes my weekends. Can that

be very real with you? This also means I cannot

travel during weekends. That means our weekends are locked to this.

That was a big struggle. I was like, God, I

cannot go back to Penang over long weekends. God, I

have to take more leave on weekdays to go back.

I cannot. I cannot like jump on the long weekend.

Even if it's long weekend, it's just two days Fridays

at the day they have to come back at nine.

There were days I actually took leave, but a handful

in a year, not a lot, because it's a responsibility.

But that was a big deal for me. I was

really I'm like, whoa fifty two weeks in a year? Lockdown? Unwilling?

But I said, God, you want me to do it,

I'll do it. But man, I look at the blessings

that God has given in a form of people and

even my own work with God. I would not exchange

it for anything else. It's tough. Can I say it's

really tough? I'm sure different ones agree. Con City, it's tough.

So many disappointing moments where we really feel like God.

We raise people up and now they go God. But

yet in our unwillingness, as we obey, we see God move.

We see figuratively the one hundred and twenty thousand of

ninive saved time and time and time again. And I

pray you get to experience that, my friends, that in

your unwilling obedience, in the days where you go willing

God as you obey, I really believe God will grant

you crazy, crazy experiences His stories. And more importantly, this

is the sweetest fruit of all. You get to see

God more. I think that's the greatest reward, greatest reward. Amen,

Can I invite us all to stand as I close

You see, the more we disregard the voice of God,

this is a spiritual truth. The more we choose to

push God's voice away, the harder hard to become the

more insensitive a heart to become. It's just the way this,

you know. I've had people come up to me, including students,

who ask me, pass Stephen, how do I hear the

voice of God? I want the voice of God. I

hear so many crazy stories. I want to experience that

relationship with God, and they really pray for it, they

really pray. I want to hear God's voice every day,

the hunger for it and praise God, even though sometimes

it takes a long time. One year is one year,

two years, three years, and they finally got it, and yeah,

like wow, I'm so blessed. But yet, how many of

us here he hear a lot the Lord's voice daily,

but we choose to ignore. We seem to have forgotten

how sweet the Lord's voice is. We seem to have

forgotten that this is our heavenly Father talking to us.

You see, the more we disregard his voice, the more

our hearts will become hard. And don't be surprised one

day you say, I don't seem to hear God anymore.

It's our heart's hardening. It's not that God has given

up speaking her. It's that our hearts have hardened to

a point that we can't hear anymore, that our own

reasoning has become louder than God's voice. But on the

flip side, this is the hope that we have. The

more we obey God, the more amazing things that He

can do. Firstly in you, that's important, and secondly true you.

But it all starts with obedience. Obedience, what has God

been prompting you to do in the past week, the

past month, even the past year, can encourage your friends

take this step of faith. Obey if with all eyes closed,

I'm gonna end with this. If there has been a

prompting in your heart from the Holy Spirit to do

something and you find it difficult, you find it uncomfortable,

or sometimes even can I be real, you find it

lazy to do. I would like to invite you to

be your own altars right now and leave your hands

to the Lord and say, Lord, help me with my unbelief. Lord,

help me with my laziness. Lord, help me in my procrastination. Lord,

help me with my introbittedness. Help me to have the

strength and courage to obey. I encourage you right now,

if you have that prompting, be your own alter before

the Lord leave your hands to him and say, Lord,

here I am Lord, help me, help me, help me.

I pray that you wouldn't need to leave alife where

you have certain regrets of like God, I wish I

would have listened. I thank God that last year I obeyed.

If not, I would until today still carry that guilt.

I pray you won't have to live a life where

you need to deal with regrets. And the only way

to do it is to constantly obey the Lord, because

his ways are always the highest, his thoughts are always

the best. His will is perfect. So for the Lord.

The different ones here, their hearts lifted, hands lifted to you,

I pray for courage. I pray for faith to bubble

forth from their spirit. Lord. Where it seems difficult, I

pray Lord, that you again, God, your Jehovah Jirah, you provide,

You will provide it every single moment. And I pray, Lord,

as you obey, as we obey, as we obey, Lord,

that your grand forth fruits. And even though there sometimes

may not be fruits, Lord, you have taught us that

fruitfulness comes from you. For our part to play faithfulness.

You have not called us towards success, but you have

called us towards faithfulness, to help us to just obey

one step by the time, grant us strength to do so.

Those who have given up doing so, I pray today

you find courage to lose so again, because the Lord

has not given up. The Lord has its own timing.

The Lord is moving even though in our humanly eyes

we are not able to see it. The Lord moves

on your behalf. The Lord knows every single season and timing.

The Lord is sovereign and he is in control, but

he's not in control of our will. That is in

your control. The choice obey is yours. So Lord, I

pray God, Lord again that your minister to the hearts

of your people. Some of us here may have, maybe

when I was sharing certain memories, have caused you to

feel regret again Ah should have done this. Lord, I

want to tell you this that God gave Jodah a

second chance. So don't worry. God is ever merciful, He's gracious.

And if you have done something you've regretted for not

obeying the Lord, know that as long as you have repented,

the Lord has forgiven, and then the Lord will make

what was broken whole in his perfect timing. There's an

encouragement to you, so don't live in guilt no more.

Release it to the Lord. Thank you Lord, Thank you Lord,

Thank you Lord for moving, thank you Lord for speaking,

Thank you Lord for the word Loujah.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

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this week is going to be a good week ahead

for you. God bless