Jonah: My wants vs His will
Notes
Transcript
Intro: Imagine if God called you to go to one of the most intense, aggressive, murderous nations to bring the gospel to them. Imagine if he called you to go to Iraq, or Iraan, or Saudi Arabia, to tell them about Jesus. Obviously you know that they’ll want to kill you for what you’re doing. What would be your response to God? What would you say?
1. God’s Word (v. 1-2)
1. God’s Word (v. 1-2)
a) His Will
— He had a will for Jonah, to go and preach to his enemies
— He has a will for us too, to go and preach to everybody
—-- Arise and go
How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard?
When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
Proverbs 6:9
— Preach
And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
:
It is God’s will for you to be a witness. It is missions month here at the church where missionaries come and we learn from them and we always hold them in such high regard because of what they do. And that's a good thing, we should respect them for what they do, but we should also be missionaries. We should be witnessing to people wherever we are at.
750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers and Writers 169: Evangelism
In the spring of 1992 fourth-grade students in Portland, Maine, carried out a novel experiment. Their teacher, Pamela Trieu, was teaching the kids about the ocean, specifically about the Gulf Stream that flows along the East Coast and then turns toward Europe. According to Reuters, she had the kids put messages with their addresses in empty wine bottles, and then a fisherman took the twenty-one bottles away from shore and threw them into the ocean. They hoped that some of the bottles might drift to England.
Three months later, two bottles washed up in Canada. The class heard nothing else and assumed that the rest of the bottles were lost at sea. Two years passed. Then one of the students, Geoff Hight, received a surprise letter from a girl in Pornichet, France. She found one of their bottles while walking with her father on the beach.
Our efforts at evangelism are often like tossing a bottle with a message into the ocean. We share the gospel with others however we can—giving them a piece of literature, a personal testimony, a prayer with someone in need. We see no response and think our message is forgotten, “lost at sea.” But years later we learn that the Spirit of God—like the mighty Gulf Stream—has carried our message to its destination.
You may think that any invitation to church or mentioning of the gospel is insignificant, but you never know what will happen.
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
** To know God’s will for your future, you must be doing His will now.
** What is His will for me now?
His Word tells us:
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Our Reply (v. 3)
Our Reply (v. 3)
a) Rise
— Sometimes we have no problem with the rising part, we get up, but we don’t do the rest of the job.
— Jonah arose, but he didn’t go the right direction.
*Doing half the job that God asks you to do is not doing God’s will
b) Flee
Jonah ran in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to go. Sometimes our knee jerk reaction when God asks us to do something out of our comfort zone is to run the other direction.
c) Sleep
Sleeping is sometimes used as an escape from reality, just like some people use drugs or alcohol to escape the real world, some people sleep.
How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard?
When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
God’s Restoration (v. 4-17)
God’s Restoration (v. 4-17)
It may seem at first glance that we don’t always do what God asks us to because we don’t think that we are strong enough to do whatever it is, but At the root of the issue, we don’t believe HE has the power to work through us. It is true, we are not strong enough to do what He asks us to, but Christ is strong enough to work through us to accomplish His will.
a) God Cures our Doubt
— through His Power
If we allow Him to, we can see God do awesome works through us.
We can see how He has used other insignificant people.
He used Moses, an old man who had a speech impediment, to lead a nation
He used Samson, a man overtaken with lust, to defeat an enemy nation
He used David, a poor shepherd boy, to take down a giant
He used a rag tag team of 12 undesirable people, fisherman, tax collector, a political zealot, all to be the first people to spread His gospel
He used Paul, a former murderer of christians, to be one of the greatest missionaries who ever existed
*God loves to use insignificant people to do significant things*
— My testimony of being insignificant but God still using me
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:
— through our decision
God wants to use every single person in here. He has a specific will for each and every one of you, and He will accomplish His will, but you have to allow him to use you.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
b) God Corrects our Route
— through chastening
God will correct us the same way a loving father corrects his child. Sometimes it takes a punishment to to get the child back on track to where He needs to be.
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
**Illustration of Toby being chastened
God will chasten you until you obey His will or until He decides to call you home
— through His Word
Reading His Word will renew our minds and put us back on track to spiritual things
Reading His Word will convict us of our sin and encourage us in spiritual things
Isaiah
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:
It shall not return unto me void,
But it shall accomplish that which I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Conclusion:
**Illustration:
In A Slow and Certain Light, Elisabeth Elliot tells of two adventurers who stopped by to see her, all loaded with equipment for the rain forest east of the Andes. They sought no advice, just a few phrases to converse with the Indians.
She writes: “Sometimes we come to God as the two adventurers came to me—confident and, we think, well-informed and well-equipped. But has it occurred to us that with all our accumulation of stuff, something is missing?”
She suggests that we often ask God for too little. “We know what we need—a yes or no answer, please, to a simple question. Or perhaps a road sign. Something quick and easy to point the way.
“What we really ought to have is the Guide himself. Maps, road signs, a few useful phrases are good things, but infinitely better is Someone who has been there before and knows the way.”
Read
Don’t be a chapter 1 Jonah, be a chapter 3 Jonah
To know God’s will for your future:
Larson, C. B. (2002). 750 engaging illustrations for preachers, teachers & writers (p. 222). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
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