The Jonah Series - Part 1: Jonah's Predicament

0:12 So if you have your Bibles, turn to Jonah Chapter 1. This is going to be a four-part series. It's going to take me four weeks to get through it. It's four chapters, so I'm going to do a chapter, one chapter per week. Today I want to talk about, if I was going to put a title on part one, the title would be Jonah's predicament.

0:41 Jonah is in a predicament. He has a problem, a challenge, an issue. verses 1 through 17 of chapter 1 of this of chapter one to 17 verses. I want to walk through these 17 verses.

1:04 I have seven points. Y'all supposed to say take your time, but it's okay. It's okay. It's too late. It's too late. It's too late. Y'all don't want me to take my time. I understand. I get it. So I'm going to try to rapidly run through these points in these verses. But ultimately, I want you to get the message that I want to try to present to you. Verse one. Let's go to verse one. Here's my first point is that God gave Jonah an assignment.

1:37 Jonah had an assignment. God's assignment is the first point that I want to make what God's assignment is. Verses 1 and 2. Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying arise go to Nineveh that great city and cry out against it for their wickedness has come up before me. so get the picture God gives to Jonah a responsibility an assignment a job God gives to Jonah this assignment go to Nineveh cry out against it their sins have come before me their issues their practices their disobedience to what my will is for their lives.

2:31 He says, go to the end of the world. Now, I give you that point because guess what? Jonah had an assignment and guess what? So do you. Everybody in here has an assignment from God. When you accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior, he also gives you a assignment. Amen, thank both of y'all. I thank you, I appreciate it. Thank both of y'all. I know you don't wanna hear it. I know you don't like it. I know you may not even know what it is, but you have an assignment. You have a job. God has gifted you. God saved you. He pulled you out of the muck and mowry clay, out of the sin that you were in, delivered you from your frustrations. And he didn't do that just for you to look at the back of the neck or the seat in front of you that you sit in every week.

3:17 He saved you because he has a purpose for your life. Everybody here has a purpose. Look at your neighbor and say, you got a purpose. Tell him, you might not know what it is, but you have a purpose. It's not that God is hiding his purpose from you. The fact is he's been communicating to you what your purpose is. Perhaps you have not recognized it. Maybe you have not listened to it. Maybe you don't want to know what it is, but you have a purpose. I don't care how low you have fallen. I don't care how nasty you have been. I don't care how much sin you have in your life. God redeemed you out of your wretchedness because he has an assignment for you. Amen.

3:57 For these young people here today, I'm so excited about these young people, how they worship God. Let me tell you what happened. Yesterday, I went to the, I happened to be up here walking around, working, and I was walking through, and these children were, children youth choir were having rehearsal. so the director of the children of the youth choir said can you come by here and talk to us about the Francis list y'all know what the Francis list is those are the people that we want to have on our list that we want to pray that they get saved friends, relatives, acquaintances neighbors, co-workers enemies and strangers so they start calling out what the Francis you know what I'm trying to say I think you know what I'm trying to say they said friends relatives, acquaintances neighbors and then they said we don't have jobs so we can't say co-workers then they said classmates Wow.

5:11 And Jonah here has an assignment given to him. He has a responsibility that God says, I'm gifting you and I want you to go to Nineveh and tell them jokers they live in jacked up lives. And that's what it tells us. Verse one, the Lord gave him that assignment. Now, God gives him that assignment. And in verse, here's point two. Point one was God's assignment. God gave him assignment. Point two is that Jonah sought to avoid avoidance. Jonah didn't want to do that. And so in verse three, it says, look at verse three. But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. so he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord now here's the problem God told him to go to Nineveh which is 550 miles northeast of where he was go to Tarshish 550 miles northeast he decides to go to Tarshish which is 2,500 miles west oh y'all missed that didn't y'all he went in the opposite direction of where God told him to go.

6:39 And I wonder how many of you in this building that are here sitting under my ministry have decided to go in the opposite direction of what God has told you and called you to do. this is a tough one here this is i feel the tension in the room there's tension amen you have an assignment and you're going in the opposite direction and that's what they did that's what he did he went in the opposite direction he went west when god said go northeast he did not go in the direction that god told him to do god gave him a clear assignment and he sought to avoid it. He sought to go in a different direction. And I'm here to tell you all today, whatever God tells you to do, whatever direction he points you to go in, go in that direction. Now here's an interesting thing. It says right here in verse number three, I want you to see a word that's repeated multiple times in this verse right here. It says, verse three, put verse three back up there. Jonah arose to flee the Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. By the way, let me stick a pen here. I don't care where you go. You can't run from God.

7:44 It don't matter where you go. When you get there, God is already there. Go ahead, lean over and tell your neighbor, God was at the club with you last night. I was on a couch. I'm going to couch. Wherever you go, God is there. You can't escape God. You can't run from God. You can't avoid God.

8:08 He's there. And then it says this, he went down to Joppa and arose and found a ship going to Tarshi. So he paid the fare and went down into it. Anytime you go in the opposite direction of where God tell you to go, you're always going down. some of your lives are jacked up because you're not going where God told you to go and you've been going down. Ooh, I'm preaching. Hey, look, I'm preaching whether y'all saying amen or not. If y'all can't say amen, say ouch. Say ouch, ooh.

8:42 Amen. If you're not doing, if you're not achieving, if you're not accomplishing, if you're not obeying the things that the Lord told you to do, you're going down. Jonah seeks to avoid what God told him to do and tries to get on. He gets on the ship. He buys the fear and goes in the opposite direction. Here's number three.

9:06 I want to talk about God's actions. What God did, the next thing God did in light of his disobedience. God took some action. Verse four. but the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea and there was a mighty tempest on the sea so that the ship was about to be broken up. because of this wind and because of this storm, their ship almost got broken into pieces. Some of y'all are living life that's torn up, broke up, jacked up. You know why? Because you haven't been obedient to God. You always encounter trouble when you don't do what it is God's calling you to do. God's calling you to do something. God's calling you to be something. God's calling you to achieve some things.

9:59 God's put some gifts in you and some assignments in you and some mantles on you to do certain things. And when you don't do it, you are inviting the judgment of God on your life. I know people don't like to hear that. I know they don't like that kind of preaching. But I'm trying to save you from the drama of what you might be going through.

10:19 You can't escape the judgment of God, what he has given you an assignment and a job to do. you can't escape it. Lean over, look at your neighbor, eyeball to eyeball and say, you can't escape God. Look on the other side and say, you might have all hell broke loose in your life because you're in a disobedient place. I wonder how many people are in here going through hell because they refuse to obey the assignment that God has put on their life. How many of you done lost job, job after job after job? How many people have gone through marriage after marriage after marriage. How many people have got jacked up? Your house got repossessed. Your car got picked. You parking your car around the corner because you're afraid that the repo pan might find it. You got judgment on you. Judgment. Somebody say, God's trying to get your attention. And you can't escape the fact that he's trying to call on you.

11:18 You can't escape it. You might as well. Your arms are too short to box with God. Here's number three. Or is this number two? What did I give you? Okay, number four. I'm just trying to see if y'all is paying attention. That's all. there's some people on the ship that want to attempt to assist Jonah.

11:51 That's verses 5 through 11. These are people who are attempting to assist. Somebody say they are attempting to assist. That's point four. Verses 5 through 11. Let me read it. Then the mariners were afraid, and every man cried out to his God, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had laid down and was fast asleep.

12:19 Ain't that like a, he must've been a black man. Come on, y'all holler back at me for a second. All the whole family trying to get everything together, you sleep in the bed. So the captain, verse 6, came to him and said, What do you mean, sleeper? modern day terms what do you mean negro being down here asleep when everybody arise call on your God perhaps your God will consider us so that we may not perish and they said to one another come let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us so they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah then they said to him please tell us for whose cause is this trouble upon us What is your occupation and where do you come from?

13:23 What is your country and of what people are you? So he said to them, I am a Hebrew and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, why have you done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. then they said to him what shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us for the sea is growing more tempestuous so the situation was getting worse the wind wasn't calming down it was getting worse and he down in the lower belly of the ship's sleep so they ask him what is the issue what's the problem what's the journey here point five are y'all still with me point five I want to talk about Jonah's answer matter of fact some of y'all might need to reword this and put your name right there and say Bruce's answer Claudette's answer God told you to do something here's what he says he said to them look at what he said verse 12 this is verse 12 pick me up and throw me into the sea.

14:43 Then the sea will become calm for you for I know that this great tempest is because of me. Now the one thing I want to celebrate Jonah for is at least he recognized he was the cause of the mess. A lot of y'all's problem is you don't realize you're the cause of the mess. Now the problem I have with Jonah is he knew he was the problem but he said throw me overboard. Look here, Joker, throw yourself overboard. That's hard. Yes. That's hard.

15:18 He's still not taking responsibility. He knew he was the reason. He knew he was the cause. He knew he was the person that was creating this drama for them. But the issue is he wants them to do for him what he should do for himself. Y'all know we got people in your relationships, in your family, in your coworkers, and people who know they've created drama. but instead of them handling it, they want you to do something about it. He wants them to do what he doesn't have the courage to do himself. but when we get to point six, I'm almost finished. let's look at these sailors actions here's my next point the sailors actions verses 13 through 16 here's what it says nevertheless the men rode hard to return to land but they could not for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them Stop, stick a pen right there.

16:29 You got friends trying to help you. Your finances all jacked up and people will loan you money to try to help you get out of your jam. But guess what? It still gets worse. You can know when you try to help somebody, you keep giving them money and there ain't nothing changed. They still need some more help. You are fighting a lost cause.

16:52 Therefore, verse 14, they cried out to the Lord and said, we pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man's life and do not charge us with innocent blood for you, O Lord, have done has it pleased you. So verse 15, this is a significant verse right here, verse 15. So they picked that joker up.

17:15 I'm translating it for you into ebonics. They picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea. There's some people you need to kick out of your life. they're not helping they're not benefiting you they're not helping you they're not they're not able they got drama in in their life and they they're hooking up with you and they're creating the drama in your life so they picked up that joker and threw him into the sea and and guess what and the sea ceased from its raging when you get some people out of your life ain't supposed be in your life, God will let you know. The storm will calm down. Can I get an amen right there for me? And then it says, then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.

18:11 They developed a relationship with God because of what happened in this circumstance. When they got rid of the troublemaker, when they kicked Jonah off the ship, they grabbed that joker and threw him overboard. and there's some people like that that you need to do in your own life some of y'all got friends and relationships that you know you ain't got no business being in if y'all all say amen together nobody will know I'm talking about you Let me close. I'm proud that these men made a decision that they're not going to lose their life off of his drama. and they threw him overboard and here's my final point God made some arrangements now this too is a very significant verse God made arrangements for Jonah verse 17 this is the last verse of chapter 1 and I'm done now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

19:28 Y'all missed it. Did y'all get that? He got thrown overboard but God had prepared an Uber to come by and pick him up. Are y'all listening to me here today? I'm trying to tell somebody when you get right, when you get off the boat and get headed toward where you're supposed to be, God will make arrangements for you to get to where you need to be. When you choose to obey God, somebody say, when I choose to obey God, when I choose to do what he tells me to do, when I choose to be obedient to the call and the manner that he has on my life, when I make a step, Here's what I know about God. You make one step in God's direction, he makes two steps in your direction.

20:15 If you just make one step in the right direction, in a few moments, I'm gonna give some of you the opportunity to make that one step toward God. You've been avoiding God, you've been disobeying God, you haven't been living for God, you haven't served God, but if you make one step toward the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, he will take some steps towards you. Do I have a witness from anybody here who knows that's true? He will make provisions for you. He'll make arrangements for you. You might get fired off your job, but guess what? Because you've been disobedient, you got thrown off the job ship. But guess what? When you do the right thing, God will have another job waiting for you to go where you need to go. Who am I preaching to today? Who am I talking to today? I'm just trying to get you on the right foot to make the right choice and say yes to Jesus.

21:07 He loves you and cares about you. He has a future for you. I am preaching up in here today better than y'all are saying amen. And what I love about the Lord, all he needs you to do is get your heart right and start moving in the right direction. You're going to be okay. Some of y'all are sleeping while I'm preaching.

21:38 Just like Jonah was sleeping while he was down in the belly of the whale. If you wouldn't go to the club at night, you could be awake while the pastor trying to preach to you. Amen. Amen. I'm finished. you know what the word is I have for you today did I tell you the series right in four weeks did I tell you did I tell you the name of today's message I'm sorry I got so excited I didn't even tell y'all it's Jonah's predicament did I tell y'all why y'all tell me I didn't tell y'all then Thank you.

22:30 All you need to do is replace Jonah's name and put your name right there. It's your predicament. Because you've been so busy doing everything else that you don't have time to be obedient to God. You know what I love? I'm closing. I'm finishing. no matter what you have how much you've disobeyed God regardless of how much you've forsaken God he has made provisions for you to be forgiven he's made it possible for your sins I don't care how low you are how dark it is how nasty you've been it don't matter Jesus died on the cross so you could be You