Resistance to the Bitter End
From Ruin to Reward • Sermon • Submitted
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Series: From Ruin to Reward
message title: Resistance to the Bitter End
Scripture text: Jonah 1 – 4 (focus: Jonah 1:1 – 17)
1 The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai:
2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”
3 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 for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.
4 But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.
5 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 was sound asleep down in the hold.
6 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.”
7 Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit.
8 “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?”
9 Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”
10 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 groaned.
11 And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?”
12 “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.”
13 Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it.
14 Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.”
15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once!
16 The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.
17 Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.
INTRODUCTION:
I. THE SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS GIVEN (Jonah 1:1 – 2)
I. THE SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS GIVEN (Jonah 1:1 – 2)
1 The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai:
2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”
A. The directions were personal. (Jonah 1:1)
A. The directions were personal. (Jonah 1:1)
1 The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai:
1. God's directions to us are always personal.
a) Note some biblical examples:
(1) Abraham (Genesis 12:1)
1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.
(2) Samuel (1 Samuel 3:6 – 10)
6 Then the Lord called out again, “Samuel!” Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” “I didn’t call you, my son,” Eli said. “Go back to bed.”
7 Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before.
8 So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy.
9 So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went back to bed.
10 And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”
(3) Peter (Acts 10:19-20)
19 Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you.
20 Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them.”
B. The directions were pointed.(Jonah 1:2)
B. The directions were pointed.(Jonah 1:2)
2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”
1. God's directions are specific.
a) Example: Nicodemus (John 3:7)
7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’
b) Example: Paul (Acts 18:9 – 11)
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent!
10 For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.”
11 So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God.
II. THE SHAMEFUL RESISTANCE GENERATED (Jonah 1:3 – 15)
II. THE SHAMEFUL RESISTANCE GENERATED (Jonah 1:3 – 15)
A. Jonah's resistance and rebellion.
A. Jonah's resistance and rebellion.
1. Jonah attempted to run from God. (Jonah 1:3)
3 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 for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.
a) It is impossible to run from God. (Psalm 139:7 – 12)
7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.
2. Jonah went the opposite direction from where God said to go. (Jonah 1: 3 b)
3 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 for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.
a) God values our obedience far more than monetary or ritual offerings. (1 Samuel 15:22)
22 But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
B. Rebellion brings serious consequences (Jonah 1:4 – 17)
B. Rebellion brings serious consequences (Jonah 1:4 – 17)
1. In the middle of an unnecessary storm (Jonah 1:4).
4 But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.
2. Thrown overboard by companions. (Jonah 1:15)
15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once!
3. In the whale's belly 3 days. (Jonah 1:17)
17 Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.
III. THE RESISTANT SURRENDER GRUDGINGLY MADE (Jonah 2 – 4)
III. THE RESISTANT SURRENDER GRUDGINGLY MADE (Jonah 2 – 4)
A. Jonah’s surrender was made as a result of God's chastening hand. (Jonah 2:1)
A. Jonah’s surrender was made as a result of God's chastening hand. (Jonah 2:1)
1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish.
1. God will chase and his rebellious children. (Hebrews 12:6)
6 For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”
2. We have a choice:
a) Obey
b) Repent before chastening
c) Repent because we are chastened
d) Continue to rebel
B. Jonah made an impact upon the city of Nineveh. (Jonah 3: 1 – 10)
B. Jonah made an impact upon the city of Nineveh. (Jonah 3: 1 – 10)
1. Recommissioned (Jonah 3:1 – 2)
1 Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time:
2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”
2. Revival (Jonah 3:3 – 10)
3 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.
4 On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!”
5 The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.
6 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.
7 Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all.
8 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.
9 Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”
10 When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
C. Jonah continued his path of rebellion. (Jonah 4)
C. Jonah continued his path of rebellion. (Jonah 4)
1. Jonah became bitter of heart (Jonah 4:1-3)
1 This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry.
2 So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.
3 Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.”
(Ephesians 4:31)
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.
2. Jonah shelved by God.
(Hebrews 12:15)
15 Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.
a) Jonah was not heard from again in Scripture until mentioned by Jesus in the Gospels.
b) There is no scriptural indication that Jonah was used by God again.
c) It appears that Jonah remained resistant to the bitter end.
CONCLUSION:
