Introduction
SLIDE Jonah 1:1-3
“Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai,
saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; SLIDE and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.”
SLIDE Jonah was a Jew.
Nineveh was the capital of Assyria (Upper Mesopotamia) (Syria/Iraq/Iran).
The Assyrians were a cruel, warlike nation.
They would regularly move south from their homeland into Israel.
They would capture people to take back as their slaves.
They would confiscate cattle, sheep, and crops; whatever they wanted.
They would torture men, women, children, & babies with glee.
They were a hateful, vile, ungodly people.
When God (Jehovah) called on Jonah to go and testify to the Assyrians,
he said, “Nope, No Way, Not me!”
Perhaps he was thinking, “They are hateful, mean, thieves, murderers,
demon-filled, terrible, horrible people, with no redeeming qualities of any kind. Let the judgment of God fall – and fall hard and long!. They deserve everything they get.”
Or he may have simply thought, “If I (a Jew) go into Assyria
and preach against them, condemning their sin –
they are most likely going to kill me!!
Nope, No Way, Not me – (Chicken of the Sea)
Do you know people like that?
Drunks, Drugies, Rapists, Murderers, Molesters, vile people.
You wonder why they are allowed to remain a part of the human race.
Are you somewhat like Jonah?
Are there people you would never witness to
because you are fine with them going to Hell?
Oh, we would never admit that – but we would never witness to them So, in practice, we don’t care if they go to Hell …..
Will God have to give you a “whale ride” to get you to
"...go into the world and preach the gospel to EVERY creature?"
SLIDE
As Jonah is cruising from Joppa (coast of Israel) to Tarshish
(running away from God)
Tarshish is as far from Israel that Jonah could get by Sea.
Bible Scholars debate, but most believe Tarshish is Spain.
God sends a storm (a storm caused by Jonah’s rebellion)
Jonah is taking a nap in his stateroom.
Jonah is sleeping, while the heathen were praying.
The heathen were concerned about their souls, their lives,
and Jonah just slept on……
The heathen were trying to save Jonah
rather than Jonah trying to save them!
They were trying to do any and every thing
they could think of to stay alive –
and all the while, Jonah had the answer –
but Jonah just slept on …..
SLIDE
We spoke, not too long ago from Micah 6:1-8.
One of the things God expects from us is “…..to do justly…..”
We discussed 3 things that “to do justly” entails:
Principle - a Bible truth given by God
Conviction - my belief in that Bible truth given by God
Standard - making my belief in that principle (from God’s Word),
and my conviction (my belief in that principle
from God’s Word) a reality in my life.
SLIDE How would this apply to Jonah?
The Principle (a Bible truth) is:
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it;
for their wickedness is come up before me.”
-God’s judgment is about to fall on Assyria
-Arise – get up, quit doing whatever you are doing
-Go to Nineveh – travel from where you are
into the Land of the Assyrians (to their very Capitol)
-cry against it – decry their sin, preach against wickedness,
let them know that Jehovah knows their sin
and is preparing for judgment against them.
-call for them to REPENT and turn to God for forgiveness.
The Conviction ( a belief based on a Bible truth) is for Jonah to
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it;
for their wickedness is come up before me.”
-Arise – I, Jonah, must get off my posterior
-I am to go to Nineveh – make travel arrangements from
where I am now, and go into the land of the Assyrians
(to their very Capitol)
-I am to cry against it – Jonah is to decry their sin,
Jonah is to preach against wickedness,
let them know that Jehovah knows their sin
and is preparing for judgment against them.
-I am to call for them to REPENT
and turn to God for forgiveness.
The Standard then, for Jonah, is to “Arise”,
make travel arrangements to go from Israel to Tarshish,
and preach against sin to NO ONE
and to call NO ONE to repentance and forgiveness
RIGHT? (Chicken of the Sea)
Now, you’re thinking, “Preacher, you’re being foolish.
That’s a ridiculous conclusion.”
Obviously,
The Standard then, for Jonah, is to
-“Arise”, get off his posterior
- make travel arrangements to go from Israel
into the land of the Assyrians,
moving toward the capitol of Nineveh,
-as he travels, he is to preach against sin and wickedness
and to call everyone within hearing,
to repentance and forgiveness
RIGHT?
Of course ……..
We should always try to make a Biblical principle,
into a personal conviction
so that we can make it a standard in our daily lives.
So – let’s see how this works …..
SLIDE
Romans 10:9, That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
PRINCIPLE – CONVICTION - STANDARD
SLIDE
Romans 12:10, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love,
in honor preferring one another;”
PRINCIPLE – CONVICTION - STANDARD
SLIDE
Hebrews 10:24, “And let us consider one another to provoke
unto love and to good works:”
PRINCIPLE – CONVICTION - STANDARD
SLIDE Acts 1:8
“But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem,
and in all Judaea, and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
The Principle (a Bible truth) is:
-Power is available only after the Holy Ghost come to us
-That power will allow us to be witnesses
-This witness will occur in Jerusalem (our town)
And in Judaea (our Piedmont Triad area)
And Samaria (our state of NC)
And throughout the entire earth.
The Conviction ( a belief based on a Bible truth) is:
-When we are saved (born-again, made spiritually alive),
then and only then, the Holy Spirit will come to live in us
and at that time – we have the power to witness
-We are to be witnesses in (our town)
-We are to be witnesses in (the Piedmont Triad area)
-We are to be witnesses in (our state of NC)
-We are to be witnesses in the entire world!
The Standard then, for all of us, is:
-BE SAVED (born-again, made spiritually alive),
thus the Holy Spirit will, without doubt, come to live in us.
-We should then make use of this power of the Holy Spirit,
that now live in us, to:
-Pray for those unsaved in our town
-Pray for those unsaved in the Piedmont Triad area
-Pray for those unsaved in North Carolina
-Pray for those unsaved throughout the World
RIGHT? NO?
Maybe ……
-Give money for OTHERS to go be a witness in our town,
for OTHERS to be a witness in the Piedmont Triad area,
for OTHERS to be a witness in North Carolina,
for OTHERS to be a witness throughout the World.
RIGHT? NO?
I hope you’re thinking, “Preacher, you’re being foolish.
That’s a ridiculous conclusion.” And you would be RIGHT!
The Standard then, for us, is to
-BE SAVED (born-again, made spiritually alive),
thus the Holy Spirit will, without doubt, come to live in us.
-We should then make use of this power of the Holy Spirit and
-We should witness for those unsaved in our town
-We should witness for those unsaved in the Piedmont Triad area
-We should witness for those unsaved in North Carolina
-We should witness for those unsaved throughout the World- RIGHT?
The Biblical principle is to be saved, filled with power and witness,
The conviction is that I should be saved and I should witness with power
The standard, then, is that I must be saved
And as a result, I am to witness via the power of the Holy Spirit – to all!
THEN WHY DON’T WE?
Are we OK with people going to Hell?
Are we OK with people dying without Christ?
I’m OK, (hopefully) my family is OK.
I guess that’s good enough…..
Let not be like Jonah and go kicking and screaming,
fighting tooth and nail against what God has clearly commanded us!
SLIDE (Let’s not be the Chicken of the Sea)
God is still in the business of saving people from Hell,
And He still wants to USE US (and He will give us the POWER).
