Speaker 2:
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Three Feathers Ministry, and those feathers have significance: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
INTRODUCTION TO JONAH
We look at the book of Jonah, discover how rich that is, particularly speaking to us. So maybe our children or family members who once had a love for the Lord, or maybe don't even know him at all. It may be speaking to our heart how we're so cold now. But in Jonah, we're going to see from the Bible, a man who loved God, and it had been given a particular word of prophecy in second Kings 14, that God would restore the land of Israel that had been lost from the coast to the entering of Hamath under the sea of the plane. And so here was a national movement of God through a prophecy, through a man of God who loved the Lord.
PROPHESY THAT ISRAEL WOULD REGAIN LAND THAT HAD BEEN LOST
He loved God's word. His voice God's will law, souls, fellowship, prayer, his testimony, worship all of this.
The Bible says, now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of him Atmittai saying arise, go to Nineveh that great city and cry against it for their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah
He had valued and cherished, but then the word came.
Rose up to flee on to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. It went down to Joppa and he found a ship going to Tarsus. He paid the fare and went down into it to go with them from the presence of the Lord, the prophecy was given and directive. The challenge was to go to preach. Now, every minister, every Christian all enjoy that. A revival!
NINEVEH'S DESCRIPTION
Nahum described him in chapter three as being a bloody city full of lies, robbery where the parade to part with not sounds like some of our modern day cities where you can't walk without getting mugged, perhaps shocked, beat up where the horseman, goes up, with a sword and spear slaying, where their carcasses in the city and deceives and sells the nation thru her witchcraft.
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God
God saw a nation far from God. You know we often throw our hands up in despair when a family member, a nation, our people are far from God, but trust me, God sees, God knows, God loves. And perhaps he's going to call you and I to a difficult path. One to go to preach Nineveh historically, in Jonah chapter four says there is 120,000 children who did not know their right hand nor their left hand. It meant there was a population of approximately 2 million people, four cities, 500 mile radius in present day, Iraq and Turkey of fortress city, a hundred mile high wall, our hundred foot high wall, 200 towers, 50 foot wide wall enough to have seven cars on top or three chariots with 150 foot moat around it.
All right, let's go cry to Nineveh. What a challenge.
But Jonah decided to do the very opposite. Jonah decided to do something different. Tom Rainer released a study on how the typical church member falls away, how the typical Christian becomes backslidden. They begin to show it by a lower commitment to their roles that they have by way of service. You see them less frequently in church to begin to resign positions. For whatever reason, they begin to reduce their giving. And finally, they give a reason for not showing up and often they just simply say, but I was not fed well. If that was the reason that would say that you would be in church, you would continue to be fed. You would continue to do all the spiritual things that got you close to God. But now God seems so far away. The peace has left. Now, what shall we do Jonah decided
to flee. It would be 550 miles to his assignment arise, go to Nineveh. But the Bible says that he paid the fare and began to flee. Now from the text, we can see
a n
WHAT WERE THE STEPS JONAH TOOK TO FALL?
He began to neglect God's word . He neglected God's voiced and neglected God's will. Jonah lost the value of a lost soul, neglected his fellowship, his prayer life, his testimony and worship. And so we see Jonah walking
away from God.
Well, from the text, we see how he neglected God's word. V1 It says, now the word of the Lord came on the Jonah. When God speaks to you, has God asked you to do something. Let's be serious. A lot of us, God spoke to us and said, go talk to somebody. Perhaps give them a mail, whatever it might be. But yet it still weighs on our mind. What if I'd done that? Should I still do it? He neglected God's voice. V1 It says the word of the Lord came saying, whenever you hear that still small voice. It's the holy spirit.
He neglected God's will V2 arise G o to Nineveh.
And he neglected lost souls V2 crying against them for the wickedness has come up before me. He neglected fellowship. V5 He went down and the sides of the ship. He neglected his prayer life. V6 What means is that all asleep arise call upon that God, he neglected his testimony. V8 He had to be asked, where are you from What evil is upon us?What country are you from? When you and I backslide, let's be real. Somebody going to pay the price for cheating on the wife or husband! It's often your children who pay the price for the person caught up in pornography. It's your wife who pays the price for a person caught up in drunkenness and alcohol. It's your family, your friends, your job that pays the price. Somebody's paying the price for our neglected testimony, neglected worship. V16 The men were left on ship and they would offer a sacrifice and make a vow.
But he himself was not there in the worship service. He went spiritually to sleep. Can I ask you a question Are you sleeping Kind of reminds me of a person who said, well, my husband always falls asleep in church to the pastor. Pastor said, get some Limburger cheese, wrap it up. When he falls asleep on UNWRAP, get out of your purse, but under his nose. So he fell asleep, got that cheese up there. He was bobbing his head up and down to finally fell asleep, put it back under his nose. He yelled Mabel, get your feet off my pillow. And so the old congregation was cracking up. Do you need to wake up?
Now I come to, When you speak to a person about how God intervenes in a person's life becomes controversial. I can't believe God produced something like that. And I said, I can't believe God wouldn't do something like that because it says whom he loved. He chased him. And so you and I need to realize that God values us. God would intervene in his life. We see from the text, God intervenes by sending a store by allowing a loss of income by
accepting a person's faith. As the unbeliever begins to evaluate his lie by sending a persistent storm, if necessary to wake us up by hearing prayer and by his Providence guiding, and then by accepting a person's faith.
And then lastly, God reveals his will in his Providence by sending a great fish. Something that finally captures your attention
Here. We see from the word of God and verse four, God intervenes by sending a storm. The scripture says, but God said a great When under the sea and a mighty Tempest. So that ship was liked to be broken. God allowed the loss of income. They began throwing their wares over the side of the ship to lighten the load. They'd lose. Have you lost your job Is that a wake-up call Somehow God works in our life. God sent a persistent storm. Nevertheless, the men rowed hard trying to bring it to land, but the worst waves and storm got worse and worse. God heard their prayers. They crying on the Lord. We'd beseech thee, oh Lord, do not lay this life upon us. As they began to plead with God, don't put this innocent blood upon us. So Lord, as it has pleased you, so God began to work in their life. Sometimes instead of being a blessing to people around us, we become a mess instead of a message!
Tragic. Isn't it. When the people, I really love the lost neighbors and family members now no longer see Jesus in us no longer see the power of God on our life. And so the loss learned a valuable lesson, no matter how hard they try, they could not save their life. It was only When Jonah offered to sacrifice his life being thrown over the side of the ship that God would do. One of the greatest miracles in history in this Jesus would quote later in verse 17, it says now the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah
was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
What, what a place to pray What a place to get right with God. Can you imagine that ride I don't know how far he had gotten to trying to go to,
Tarsus, which was in Spain over 2000 miles. I do know that a whale, not all whales, but somewhere else can go 23 miles an hour, three days and three nights, 72 hours.
When God wants to drill a man and thrill a man and skill a man. When God wants to mold the man to play the noblest part. When he yearns with all of his heart to create so great and bold, the man that all the world will be amazed. Watches methods watch his way, how he ruthlessly, perfects, whom he royally, selects how he hammers him and hurts him with his mighty bowl, converts him into trial
shapes of clay. Only God understands while his tortured heart is crying and he lifts beseeching hands. How he bends, but never breaks with his good He undertakes;
God isn't through with us until we're six feet under. And we're in heaven. You know that is he still after you, Joan would find out something. I don't care how far you try to run. God's there. God's right there where you are, where your backslidden child is. What did Jonah learn? Now back on the Oneida reservation in back of Rosie's bar was a place called stagger lane. And that's where people go stagger home. And so I don't know if you're staggering?
Here in the text, we're going to see he lost God's voice
by not getting up to speak in a storm. He lost his spiritual energy. Now he was asleep in a storm. He lost his power in prayer and even his desire to pray. He lost his testimony and had to be asked by the men on the ship. He lost his influence for good.
40 days, he preached from one side to the other repent. And that's what God expects you and I to go to a way wayward children, our grandkids, or family members, if you're still on earth, even if you're on death's bed or you're in the most vibrant of hell, trust me, God needs you to pray for any loss or strain daughter or some family member to get right with God. A great revival happened. People accepted Jesus, people accepted the Lord and they were saved. How do we know that Because one day in the gospels, Matthew 12, but records that certain of the scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus saying master, we would see a sign. They saw signs. People healed, delivered demons, cast out the bed raised. And they asked for a sign. Jesus said, and evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. And this shall no sign be given it onto it.
But the sign of Jonah, the prophet for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly. So shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, the men of men of us rise up in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold, a greater than Jonah is here. Did you catch that I think it goes right over our head. Jesus said, there's no sign other than what Jonah did. And what does that mean Three days, three nights in the belly of the oil, Jesus would be crucified by the very scribes and Pharisees that was standing before him and said three days and three nights I'll be Berry, but I'll rise again and all bring life. I'll bring salvation just as the people, none of them repented When they heard Joel is preaching and that the great judgment seat on the final day of judgment, the men of Nineveh will testify against the scribes, the Pharisees and all those who had rejected him because they said, we believed, we listened to his message, his sermon, we accepted the Lord.
Will you accept Jesus? Trust me. Life is short everybody. 800 BC, until Jesus day died. Gone to heaven or hell. Decision made?
A lot of people, those of us left alive have, but a decision to make, think about this. Will this be on earth The only heaven, you know, or will this be on earth. Like Jonah, perhaps the only difficult hell, you know, because When you die, what seems like so terrible down here is not so bad because heaven's going to be so sweet and hell's going to be so real. And that's why we need to be right with God because our family members are going there and we need to pray for them and reach out and say, oh God, forgive me for being so backslidden. So, oh, God helped me here. You work. Oh, Jesus helped me. Love you and serve you. Help me do obey you. When you reveal your will help me hear the Holy Spirit, help me be led by Him. Help me Value fellowship. Helped me v alue worship help me value serving you with my gifts, help me give financially to help get the gospel of Jesus Christ out. Help me share Jesus, help me, Lord, help me. Jesus. I don't want to be backslidden. God did a miracle through Jonah's lie.
Tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, maybe a million people we don't know until we get to heaven. We see everybody from Nineveh, standing there in Jonah and ask how many of these people accepted Jesus How many of these people got right with God
Well, I was first
saved in Chicago When I was 17 years old. And I went to Milwaukee with a friend, Dana, to try to start a Jesus newspaper. We went to a weekend gathering in a church. And at the end of the evening, we're invited back to a house to fellowship and enjoy a meal.
The lady had said before we went to her home, could you please pray for me We said, well, what about she says, my husband left me about five days ago. I don't know where he's at but he's left. And he's abandoned me. We got on our knees and we pleaded with God, oh God, please move in this life. Holy Spirit, wherever he is, speak to his heart, get them right with God. Get him right with Jesus. Convict them of a sin is and bring him back. We cried one after another. About six of us prevailed in prayer for him. We got back to the house, dinner was ready. We began to pray. And as we prayed, the door flew open and the man started running in saying somebody telling me so many times y'all to get right with God.
So many times that'd be. I said, who is that That's her husband. Somebody said next to me. And he said, somebody, please tell me how to get right with God. I was brand new Christian. I said, Dana, please tell him. So Dana explained how he could confess the sins to Jesus who died on the cross and came back from the, and how he could get right with him. And he led them in the prayer and he said, dear God, forgive my sins. Forgive me for running off on my wife. Forgive me, Lord, for everything I've done to hurt her and to harm my own life. And I ask you Lord Jesus, to forgive my sins and to become my personal SAVIOR , change my life. Lord, make me a better man in Jesus name. Amen.
We would leave the next day and there in front of a place of worship, the lady found us and she said, are you an angel Are you two angels We said, no. Well, close your eyes. See if we disappear. Oh, it didn't disappear.
But yet God used us in a marvelous way and God can use you. I don't care. How backslidden you are. If you got to get up from where you are at, there's a God of grace who wants to restore you. And to say my calling it gifts and calling of God are without repentance. And I want to use you to spread my message as a restore you by my grace. I'll restore your family by my grace. And by my law, let's preach Jesus. Let's lift them up. And When the word of the Lord comes, maybe we respond like Isaiah. Here am I Lord send me.
