Jonah Wk. 1

INTRO- ME/WE: Contrary! I just don’t like that/That wasn’t what I was thinking

Why are we doing this series? VALUE OF THE W.O.G. 2 TIM3.16- “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Jonah 1:1-16

The word of the Lord comes to Jonah and tells him to go to a certain place and perform a specific task. PREACH AGAINST!

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While we do spend a lot of time looking for elements of commonality of what we are FOR there are some situations where the Word of the Lord is clear that we stand AGAINST!

GO AND PREACH, to preach is to declare the truth of the Word of the Lord.

If it doesn’t disclose truth and it’s not from the Word of the Lord, it’s not preaching and you’re just wasting your time listening to a talker than a preacher.

God specifically says to Jonah, GO PREACH AGAINST IT, BECAUSE IT’S WICKEDNESS HAS COME UP BEFORE ME.

WHO ARE WE DEALING WITH HERE? WHO EXACTLY WERE THE NINEVITES? the WHY behind the WHAT,

Assyria= superpower // In 2 Kings 17, introduced to Hoshea, who is labeled as the Last King of Israel.

Paying tribute annually just to leave them alone. The problem with that system is that it eventually is never enough. It must grow and it also points to a lack of trust in God.

The People of God should never be paying someone else to leave them alone, that doesn’t show/demonstrate trust in the infinite power of God, it demonstrates fear of others.

Hezekiah, king of Judah, which was a remnant of Israel was also caught up in all this and was taken captive also, He had this to pray/say about the situation.

2 Kings 19:17-19, “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”

Now here’s the trouble, and this is where we find some of our own frustrations.

God is a gracious loving merciful God. Can i get an amen. Can I get someone to testify that God is good, all the time?

Can I get two people to stand up and shout out that they believe that God is gracious, merciful, abundant, loving, providing, generous.

Can I get one more to raise their hands in honor of the One who heals, who forgives, who is patient.

Can I get ONE WHOLE CHURCH to shout out and testify that there is no one like our God. There is no one who does the way he does. There is no one who loves such as he.

Now that you’ve testified to his splendor, majesty, grace and mercy, I need to know, full discloser that, remember, a preacher is only a preacher if he discloses the truth in the Word rather than just the things you want to hear.

GOD IS ALSO GRACIOUS, MERCIFUL, LOVING, KIND, VINDICTIVE, PASSIONATE, FORGIVING TO YOUR ENEMIES.

AND WE CANNOT, IN GOOD CONSCIOUS, ACCEPT THE GOODNESS OF GOD BUT ONLY TO US. WE HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE HIS GOODNESS GLOBALLY.

So WHY not want to be a part of that?!

God is telling him, I want you to go and preach truth, which is not very comfortable. Truth is corrective. Truth brings realignment. Truth hurts. And I want you to go and preach that truth to YOUR OWN ENEMIES, the ones who have been trying to kill you, silence you, squash you, CANCEL YOU.

<< keys beginning >>

The Lord said, Jonah, you go. Jonah keeps his mouth shut and walks the other direction.

Fear. That these people would kill him // Frustration. God demonstrate grace to ppl who “don’t deserve”

HAVE YOU EVER AVOIDED SOMETHING GOD WAS CALLING YOU INTO BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T AGREE WITH HIS DECISION?

THE PLAN OF GOD DOESN’T HAVE TO MAKE SENSE TO YOU, YOU JUST HAVE TO FOLLOW AND OBEY.

DISOBEDIENCE IS COSTLY. // WHAT KIND OF COLLATERAL DAMAGE ARE YOU CAUSING PEOPLE BECAUSE OF YOUR DISOBEDIENCE?

JONAH PAID A FARE TO GET ON THIS BOAT. THE COST OF DISOBEDIENCE IS NEVER REIMBURSED.

There are some situations you can never avoid. Some terrible things are the plan of God.

today is the day of realignment / one of the most important decisions you can make in your life is the admission that you made a mistake.

Here’s my close. God, I disobeyed. Let’s call it out today. There was a moment that you disobeyed the word of the Lord.

You disobeyed a calling he placed on your life and you feel that there’s no way to recover from it. It’s been too long since that word of the Lord came, no way to recover it.

You disobeyed his commandment to you and you made a decision that compromised your calling. A sinful something that prevented you from something the Lord wanted to do in your life.

You are currently disobeying and you are feeling and seeing the cost happen to people around you.