We read in Jonah 1:3, “But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. And he went down to Joppa. And he found a ship going to Tarshish. And he paid its fare, and went down into it, in order to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.” (AFV)
As we continue our study of the life of Jonah and the church today, we may not see any obvious similarity at the outset. However, as we study this in depth, we will be amazed to see how much we as a church can learn from Jonah’s life. In the last sermon we looked at God’s call for Jonah to go to Nineveh and in verse 3 we see that Jonah fled from this call of God and chose to go to Nineveh.
In Jonah 1:1, we read, “And the Word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,” (AFV)
It is an astounding thought that the word of the Lord came to Jonah right where he was.
For many long years we have been going to church to hear the word of God being preached. When I was a child I remember that televisions were scarce, and most of the time we only listened to the radio. I can recall my Dad trying to tune into FEBA radio to listen to some messages that were aired. However, today with the advancements in technology, the word of God comes to us in numerous ways right into our homes.
What is the blessing of receiving God’s word?
We read in John 10:35, “If He called them gods, to whom the Word of God came (and the Scriptures cannot be broken), (AFV)
This is a reference of scripture from Psalm 82:6, which Jesus gave as a retort to the Jews who came together to stone Him. To put it simply Jesus implied that when a person receives the word of God, they become an extraordinary people. As a result they are also entrusted with a huge responsibility and authority that is given to them to live by that word and obey it.
We also read in Exodus 7:1, “The LORD answered Moses, "I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron is your prophet.” (GW)
This was the privilege that Moses received when he received God’s word to go as a deliverer for the people of Israel. Moses was also endowed with a huge responsibility to stand before Pharaoh on behalf of the people.
Jonah on the other hand when he received the word of God, fled from the presence of God in disobedience.
In the beginning God created everything by His word and when God made man, He made him in His own image and likeness. An important aspect of being in God’s likeness is that man was given the authority to rule over all that God had made. If you are wondering what this would have looked like in Adam, we can see this being lived out by Jesus. Jesus executed this authority over nature, over every kind of disease and this authority was evident throughout his ministry on earth.
This is recorded in Genesis 1:27-28, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (ESV)
There was only one thing God forbid Adam and Eve, and that was that they should not eat of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was the will of God that man should depend entirely on Him, so that He could lead him to do the right thing and to reject the evil.
However, when the serpent cunningly decided to deceive Adam and Eve these were his words as recorded in Genesis 3:5, “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be like God, deciding good and evil.” (AFV)
Look at the words of Satan to Eve. He conned Eve by making her believe that her disobedience to God would result in them becoming like God. They were already given the authority by God to rule over creation. Instead of enjoying what was already theirs, Satan cheated them into believing his lie that they had nothing. Satan is a trickster who is clever in twisting the truth, and sadly Eve fell for his lies. Eve and Adam ate the fruit thinking that they could themselves decipher between the good and evil and up until today mankind is trying to do the same.
Have you noticed how in yester years doctors would have prescribed some medicines, which they claimed was good for us. With time, things change and the very same medicines are sometimes banned because they are considered detrimental to our health. So also, those things which were ones considered evil are now deemed good. This was the reason why God kept this concept of good and evil with Himself, so man will look to Him for guidance.
Some people are unable to accept God’s word for what it is and doubt all that God says in His word. When we doubt God’s word, we will not obey it and the consequence of disobedience is that we lose out on the blessings that God has in store for us.
Let me give you some examples from the bible of disobedience.
We read in Genesis 9:1, “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” (ESV)
This is God’s word to Noah and his sons to be fruitful and fill the earth, but watch what the people did in Genesis chapter 11.
In Genesis 11:4, They said, "Now let's build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth." (GNB)
Instead of being scattered as God has commanded Noah and his sons, they decided to build a tower and stay in one place and the consequence was confusion. The place was called Babel because God confused their languages and God had to scatter them all over the earth.
God’s word to Jonah was specific too when he was instructed to go to Nineveh. Jonah rebelled, chose to disobey God’s word and decided to go to Tarshish.
As the church we have the privilege to receive the word of God. God’s word has transformed us and the greatest privilege of receiving God’s word is this.
We read in John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name:” (ASV)
To all those who receive Him and believe on His name, we have the blessed entitlement of being called the children of God.
This is the commandment that we have received as children of God. These are the words of the risen Lord in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age." (GNB)
We are called to go and make disciples of all nations, and there is an important aspect is to teach them everything that Jesus has commanded us. So, a disciple is one who hears the word of God and lives in obedience to all that God has commanded us.
Areas in our lives where we can be in disobedience to God’s word
• Today as a church we have failed to obey the commandments of God, and therefore we are in a crisis situation. Let me explain this to you a little more clearly. The Great Commission of the Lord Jesus commands us to ‘Go’ but woefully many are content to just stay inside the church and are unwilling to go out and be a disciple maker. We are not called to just sit inside the church year after year, hear the word and receive it for ourselves. Instead we are called to be those who will ‘Go’ and make disciples of those who are outside the flock.
• The church must wake up from our slumber because we have compromised with the world and allowed many things that are contrary to the word of God to infiltrate the church. The word of God is against homosexuality, for God detests this practice and it is an abomination to Him. Sadly, this aversion is being attested by many and there are some churches who are even willing to conduct these same sex marriages.
• Also there is no place for divorce in God’s word, but grievously this too has become common practice among the people of God. Whenever there are misunderstandings or conflicts between couples, they glibly tell each the other that they would opt for divorce. It is important that you decide that you will never use this word in your marriage, and if you have done so ask the Lord to forgive and heal your marriage relationship. We live in days where what God calls good is considered evil, and vice versa. The church must get back to the place where we accept as good what God calls good, and reject as evil what God calls evil.
• There is also the practice of being debt-free, which we need to practice. The promise of God in Deuteronomy 15:6, is that we will lend and not borrow. The question may be, ‘Is it possible to be without debt?’ If you pray fervently, and ask God to change your situation, you will come to the place where you can be free from every debt. Instead of praying that you get the loan approved or that you have enough money to pay back the loans, ask the Lord to help you live a life free from debt or loans. The Lord is faithful to His promises and He will certainly hear our prayers if we are sincere about it.
• This is the cry of John the Baptist in John 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”(ESV) Strangely, we are more eager to make a name for ourselves. If there is such a desire in our heart we must change. This craving for power and position which has become an issue even inside the church must definitely change. Our hearts longing must be that Jesus alone will increase in and through our lives and God alone needs to be glorified in our churches today.
• The commission of the Lord Jesus to us His disciples is that we should ‘Go’, but strangely there is a loud call for people to come together to build buildings or towers. When we do those things that God does not approve of, there will be utmost confusion and chaos.
• God’s word cautions us against giving or taking bribes in Exodus 23:8, “And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.” (ESV) However, many people justify giving and taking bribes because others in the world say so.
• There is also clear instruction from God’s word that we must not speak ill of one another. James 4:11 says it this way, “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law.” (ESV) Nonetheless, today people use their freedom of speech and run down others, their fellow brothers and sisters, even those who are in ministry, using the social media for this purpose. Let us be cautioned that the Lord does not approve of this kind of hate speeches and circulation of such videos.
The consequence of disobedience
If you are wondering as to what would happen when we choose to live in disobedience to God’s word, Jonah is a fine example.
We read in Jonah 1:3, “But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.” (ESV)
Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord, and that is exactly what we too will forfeit if we decide to live in disobedience to God’s word.
In Genesis 3:8, we read “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” (ESV) When Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command, they hid themselves from God’s presence.
We also read in Genesis 11:8, “So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.”(ESV) So also when the people conspired together to build themselves a city against the Lord, they were scattered all over the earth and God prevented them from doing so. They ended up in total chaos and confusion.
It is recorded about Cain in Genesis 4:16, “Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.”(ESV) Cain when he was overcome with hatred and killed his brother Abel, he left the presence of the Lord and was a wanderer all his life.
All of us are in desperate need of God’s presence in our lives. If we want to have the ever-abiding presence of God in our lives, we must accept God’s word as it is, learning to discern what is good and evil as God defines it to us. If we fail to do this, we will have huge churches, but there will be the absence of real disciples. There will be great plans but we will lose out on God’s presence. Let us not be satisfied to just be regular attendees to church, but rather be those who will be obedient to God’s word, and be those who will live constantly in the presence of the Lord. God will do a great thing through us, if we will commit to live in obedience to His word as the church of God.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
