What made this program so exciting was that every week the character he played was staying just one step ahead of the law. He was running from the law because he had been falsely accused of killing his wife. He had been convicted and sentenced to prison, but somehow he escaped.
After he escaped, his one goal was to find the man he had seen leaving the scene of the crime. He did not know a lot about the man, except that he had only one arm.
Some weeks he would come very close to catching the man, but somehow the man always managed to escape. Likewise, as he traveled across the country seeking to capture this man, he had many close calls with the law but was always able to escape and run to the next town Always he sought the man he saw leaving the scene of his wife’s murder, and always he was fleeing from the law.
That character reminds us a lot of people who SPEND THEIR WHOLE LIVES RUNNING FROM GOD, in much the same way a fugitive runs from the police.
This is what Jonah did as soon as God gave him an evangelistic assignment he did not wish to carry out. Then he soon found out something that most of us have yet to learn...A MAN CAN NOT RUN AWAY FROM GOD!
When we try to run from God we are admitting some things. For instance...
I. OUR RUNNING FROM GOD IS AN ADMISSION WE HAVE HEARD FROM GOD.
If this were not true, then why would we be running?
Look at Jonah 1:1-2. We read, “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.”
Jonah heard from God and knew exactly what God wanted him to do.
Illus: When you talk to some people they want to give the impression they would like to do God’s will, but God won’t tell them what it is. In other words, they would like you to believe it is not their fault they are walking in sin; it is God’s fault.
There is not a person here who does not know what God wants him to do.
The problem is that people find themselves in the same dilemma Jonah found himself. They only have one life and their plans are contrary to God’s.
The Bible states that Jonah clearly heard the voice of God.
Verses 1-2 say, “Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah...saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.”
WHAT DID JONAH DO? He did the opposite of what God told him to do. HE RAN IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION!
Now remember what I told you, OUR RUNNING FROM GOD IS AN ADMISSION WE HAVE HEARD FROM GOD! Otherwise we would not be running!
People are no different today than Jonah was in his day.
For example, God can speak to a man’s heart about...
• Witnessing to someone, and he will go everywhere except to that person’s house.
• Praying, and he will have time for everything except prayer.
• Tithing, and he will have money for everything except his tithe.
• Going to church, and it is amazing -- he will be too sick to go to church, but not too sick on Moonday to go to work, or other places he wants to go.
The problem today is not that people do not know what God wants them to do. The problem is that Satan has seen to it they have filled the life God has given them to use for Him with so many other things.
When Jonah heard the voice of God, he did what many today are doing. He ran in the opposite direction as fast as his legs, and that boat, would carry him.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS IRONIC? This is the kind of reaction you would expect from a heathen, not from a child of God! Yet, we can’t help but wonder how many times we have done the same thing.
The lost world walks in the darkness of sin, but we are children of the light. Christians should know better!
WHEN GOD SPEAKS TO A CHRISTIAN HE SHOULD RESPOND AS PAUL DID ON THAT DAMASCUS ROAD. THE CHRISTIAN SHOULD SAY, “LORD, WHAT WILT THOU HAVE ME TO DO?”
OUR RUNNING FROM GOD IS AN ADMISSION WE HAVE HEARD FROM HIM!
II. OUR RUNNING FROM GOD IS AN ADMISSION WE BELIEVE WE CAN ESCAPE.
That is, the reason we even try to run is because WE BELIEVE WE CAN ESCAPE. Why else would we run?
There is no doubt about it. Jonah knew what God wanted him to do but he felt he could outrun God and do what he wanted to with his life.
Look at verse 3. We read, “But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; 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.”
You English students notice, this verse begins with a conjunction. That is, God had specifically told Jonah what He wanted Jonah to do. Then we read, “BUT...”
WHY DID JONAH REBEL?
Again, be reminded, Jonah did not like the cruel and evil Ninevites. He would rather have had them be destroyed than to be “saved.” He certainly did not want to waste the one life God had given him on such low-down critters!
How many times has God spoken to you about witnessing to a person you did not care very much about? Maybe you did not like the...
- Way he looked.
- Way he behaved.
- Way he combed his hair.
- Attitude of that person.
One thing was sure, you DID NOT LIKE THAT PERSON!
Yet, the Lord wanted you to witness to him. The last thing you wanted to do, with the one life you have, is spend your valuable time, wasting your valuable time, on someone you did not care about.
God tells us, “Go...” and we say, “BUT...”
The word “but,” in response to God’s will for our lives, is indicative of a spirit that is contrary to allowing God to take control of us.
Those who live their lives like this are called “Billy Goat” Christians.
Illus: These are always “butting” something that God wants them to do. Every time God speaks to them about something He wants them to do they lower their heads and say, “BUT I can not do it!”
Jonah fled from God. However, he did not get far. He learned what we must learn; there is no place we can escape from God.
The psalmist rightly recorded for us, Psalm 139:1-12. We read, “To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”
When we hear God’s voice and we flee, we are in for a rude awakening! We can NOT RUN FROM GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT?
Conclusion/Summary: Before we close, I would like you to see one more thing from these verses.
Verse 3 tells us, “But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; 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.”
Notice, the Bible says, “...and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof...”
“Tarshish” means: “Contemplation, or examination.” Jonah had made some bad decisions before, like all of us, but that was the worst decision he had ever made. If we make a decision to go against what we know God would have us do, we are making a terrible decision and we will have to pay the cost.
The Bible says this is what Jonah did, “...so he paid the fare thereof...”
Satan will never let a person know what the cost of sin is. If people knew what it was, they would never yield to it.
Everyone here can choose to obey the devil, but there is something you had better learn, that is, it is going to cost you.
Illus: Everyone here, at some time or other, has ridden on a toll road. The longer you ride, the more you have to pay.
Lost person, I am here to tell you today that the longer you choose to ride on the highway of sin, the greater the cost will be.
Illus: A man came to the Lord. He tells the story of how Satan tempted him to leave his wife and two children. He said that when he was facing the temptation all he could see was pleasure after pleasure. But, several years have gone by now. He has remarried and so has his wife. He said, “Preacher, the day I chose to walk out of that house and leave my wife and children, I had no idea what a price I would pay. If I could do it over again, knowing what I know not, it would be no temptation at all. But then I was blinded by sin!
God gives the account of Jonah so that we may learn from his mistake. How about it? Are you willing to learn from his life?
I. OUR RUNNING FROM GOD IS AN ADMISSION
WE HAVE HEARD FROM HIM.
II. OUR RUNNING FROM GOD IS AN ADMISSION
WE BELIEVE WE CAN ESCAPE.
