God can speak through people

Intro:

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Series overview

Last week recap

So, let’s continue to look at the story of Jonah and discuss another way in which the Lord speaks to us today.

Passage exposition

Jonah 1:1–6 NIV

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. 4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”

Last week we talked about how the Word of the Lord came to Jonah and how for us today that we will never understand God’s voice until we really know God’s word.

This week we see God speak to Jonah again, but this time through people.

More specifically we see him speak to him through the captain

But, what we have to see first is that obedience is the key in hearing God’s voice.

Jonah’s reaction to the word of the Lord is disobedience.

Jonah 1:3 NIV

3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Everything from here on out that we see God do in Jonah’s life is because Jonah decided to run from that which God commanded him to do.

He is reminded of the word of the Lord through people but only because of his disobedience.

So we have to answer honestly, do you trust God?

I’m not talking trust God like “yea I trust God with all of these things.”

If you don’t really trust God then there’s no point in constantly pursuing the voice of God?

More than likely, He’s going to tell you something you don’t like or don’t want to do

But if we do, then we must decide to be obedient.

John 6:28–29 NIV

28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

The word “believe” can be translated in the GK to pisteuo (pissteewo)

It means to show confidence in, trust, assurance, reliability

So, as believers part of the gospel and according to John the work of God is to relax in Jesus.

This does not mean to sit around and do nothing

What it means is that we must realize that God is sovereign over all

He is in control

Our world is out of control. There is more angst and worry and panic right now than I’ve ever seen

The world doesn’t need the church to panic with it

Here at Cornerstone our goal is to become more like Christ that is what we want

Show me a verse where you see Jesus’ panicking

He doesn’t! It can be said that if you are losing your mind right now then you are not being like Jesus

Preparing is one thing. It is wise. Panic is another. It is ungodly

Part of the gospel, the good news for us, is that we get the peace of mind in knowing that Jesus is in control. There’s no need to be anxious about anything

Philippians 4:6–7 NIV

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I know that this is easier said than done but this should be good news.

If we are serious about our trust in the Lord

If we trust His character

If we trust His heart

If we trust Romans 8:28

Then it leads to peace and relaxation

So as we are searching for the voice of God, trying to figure out the question “God is that you?” We must ask ourselves “Do we really trust Him?” “Are we ready to obey?” Because if you don’t then 2 things will happen.

God will send a storm like He does for Jonah

Or even scarier, God will release His hand from you and allow you to chase after what you desire

So I ask the question again, “Will you obey?”

Jonah hears the Word of the Lord. He knows what to do. There’s no questioning it. There’s no doubting it. But, Jonah chooses to disobey the Word of the Lord and he runs.

Now God sends a storm

This storm roles up on them and everyone starts to freak out

they begin praying and throwing stuff overboard

And they find Jonah in a deep sleep.

Jonah was in a terrible place in his heart.

He hated the Assyrians so much he ran and disobeyed God

Then you see that he cared so little that he was able to sleep through a storm

I don’t know about you but when I’m wrestling with something in my mind my body is the first one to tell me

I can hardly sleep, eating is weird, I start getting sick

But ole Jonah is getting some good sleep down in the boat. He isn’t worried about nothing

Then the captain come to him and says “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god!”

Now we have to realize that the captain doesn’t seem to believe in Yahweh, the same God Jonah believes in

But he’s willing to try anything to help the situation.

Also notice the phrasing the captain uses

Now we don’t know what Jonah is thinking in this moment but we do know the captain uses very familiar phrases as what was spoken to Jonah through the Word of the Lord.

The phrase “Get up” and “call on” would have been the same phrases in Hebrew that God used when he spoke “Go to” and “preach against.”

Jonah would have only been able to recognize this because He had heard it before

God can speak to us through those around us

In the south what we like to say is “that was a ‘good word.’”

a “good word” can come in unexpectant places

Numbers 22 (Balaam the seer and his donkey. summoned by Balak, king of the moabites)

We see through Scripture that a “good word” is a gift from God

Proverbs 19:20–21 NIV

20 Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. 21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

The watch-out and danger is that we also see throughout Scripture that a good word can be wrong

Romans 16:17–18 NIV

17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.

Just because something sounds good, doesn’t mean that it is good.

You could go jump on the prosperity gospel train. It sounds good.

Proper moralism isn't the gospel

We taught this to our youth at united this week - Eph 2

God doesn't come to make bad people good he came to make dead people alive - Ravi Zacharias

So if you want to try to work for your salvation or if you want to just become a better person have at it but that is not the gospel

So although God can speak to us through those around us we have to be careful who and what we are listening to.

people are fallible

God’s word is not

A good word must always be tested by God’s word

1 John 4:1 NIV

1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

My job is not to teach you some new thing that the Bible doesn’t say

My job is to be a constant reminder to you of God’s word

My job is to always reflect you back to God’s word

Yes, maybe I will help you learn how to apply it or interpret it or show it to you in a way you haven’t seen before but my primary job is to remind of what God’s word says

I am not your moses. I am not the only one in the room with access to His word. We all have the responsibility to be digging in ourselves.

No matter who you are listening to you should always test what they say against the Word of God

People are not the source of God’s word but can be a great reminder of it

and can also help confirm it in you.

If we actually look at the whole of Scripture we see that there are more warnings about trusting in man’s knowledge, than those that teach how God can speak through people in our lives.

We must be extremely discerning and not put equal weight on everything we are told

I have seen where this has been used wisely and done right and it is a beautiful beautiful thing

I have also seen where this has been done falsely and unwise and it has been devastating and detrimental.

This is why it is of the utmost importance to surround yourself with Godly people

One of the ways we try to orchestrate that here at Cornerstone is through groups and so I’m going to have Wade come up and talk to us for a few moments about groups and what we have going on.