Sermon title: LIVING WITH NO REGRETS
Sermon text: Jonah chapter 1
Introduction
Last week for school our 7 year old daughter Lilia had to write an answer to the question
“What will you be like when you are 100 years old”?
Lilia wrote
“When I am 100 years old I guess I’ll live in a nursing home. I’ll have white hair with bald spots. I will sleep with my eyes open. I will not have any teeth. I hope that people will visit me.”
What will we be like if we live to be a 100 years old is really a great question.
We might have no control over where we live. We might have no control over what we look like. But one thing we do have control over is this:
When we are 100 years old will we be living with regrets or will we be living with no regrets
I'm beginning today a sermon series from the book of Jonah called LIVING WITH NO REGRETS
Living with no regrets depends on only one thing!
What do we do when the word of the Lord comes to us?
What we do when the word of God comes to us determines whether we live with regret or whether we live with no regret
“The word of the Lord came to Jonah…” (1:1)
There are 2 kinds of words found in the Bible that come from the Lord
The first kind of word found in the Bible that comes from the Lord is
1.A verse(s) of scripture that tells us what God wants to do for us
We call these kinds of words from the Lord- promises from God. The Bible is full of those kinds of words from God.No doubt many of us have our favorite promises from God.“I will never leave you or forsake you” or “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.”
It’s always very exciting to get these kinds of words from the Lord.
We underline them in our Bibles. We write them down.We memorize them. We share them with others.
But there is 2nd kind of word that comes from the Lord
This second kind of word from the Lord is the one that determines if we live with regret or not
It’s a verse(s) of scripture that tell us what God wants us to do for him.
nWe call these kinds of words from the Lord - commands from the Lord
This is the kind of the word from the Lord that Jonah receives (v2)
2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."
When I read this word from the Lord I can’t help thinking that’s a hard and dangerous thing God is asking of Jonah
2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."
But it’s only hard and dangerous because I’m not Jonah.God never asks us to do something we can’t do successfully! I remind us of this because we might think differently
Example: Moses
God’s command: “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.
Moses concern: But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?
God’s confidence: And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who has sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt you will worship God on this mountain.” (Exodus 3:10-12)
What will Jonah do with the word from the Lord? Will he do something he won’t regret or will he do something he will regret?
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.
Jonah runs away from the word of the Lord? God said go east but Jonah goes west. Jonah is running away from a life of no regrets
Jonah didn’t run away from God because the word was hard and dangerous. Jonah ran away from God because he didn’t like what God was asking him to do.
“But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.” Jonah 4:1-2
At least Jonah is honest!If we are honest we don’t always like what God is asking us to do. Remember God cares more about our holiness than about our happiness.
Definition of regret
Doing what we want to do instead of doing what God wants us to do
The lesson of Jonah Chapter 1 clearly tells us we’re far worse off when we do not do the things God is asking us to do.
(v4) Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.
We are never better for not doing what God wants us to do!
The lie of Satan – Eve you will be better off for not doing what God wants you to do.
Not every storm that comes into our life is because we are disobeying God. God allows some storms to come into our life in order to build us up!
James 1. builds patience and character
Here in Jonah 1 God sent the storm not to build up Jonah but in order to break Jonah down
C.S Lewis was right when he said that pain is God’s megaphone
God sends storms into our lives in order to break down our resistance to the word of God. God sends storms into our lives in order to break down our pride. Why? Because he wants us to finish our lives having no regrets.
How quickly do we get back on track with God’s word? Not quick enough at times.
“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, and we will not perish."
If we are like Jonah we try
1. To ignore the storm
Everyone else around us sees that it’s a storm but we try to ignore the storm. We hide ourselves below deck. We deny the reality of the storm. What storm we say. I don’t see any storm! Just like Jonah we are asleep as the storm is all around us.
2. We try to ride out the storm.
We try to outlast the storm. We dig our heels in. (Jonah went below deck) Some people are in storms that are years old. The truth is that the storms are not going to go away.
3. What we really need to do is cry out to God in the storm!
This is the only way to get relief from the storm. I need to admit my disobedience to the word of God. I honestly tell God I don’t like what you are asking me to do but I’m going to do it anyway.
Now the devil will tell us it’s too late for us to change. We’re too far away from God to receive help. The storm is too great! We’re beyond help!
God knows where we are today! He can and wants to deliver us today. He always provides away of escape!
We can always throw ourselves at the mercy of God
Do you feel like Jonah today? Are you living with regret? You don’t have to live with regret any longer! Jesus can save you. Jesus can give you a new desire to follow God!
