Don't forget to pray. ( Mark 14 v 37 - 38 ) 4

So Jonah started on his journey, not to Nineveh ,but in the opposite direction to  a place called Joppa were.he found a boat that would take him Tarshish. He paid the fare and so started out on his journey. then things began to happen, the Lord sent a storm, that was threatening to sink the ship.As someone puts it, this storm was an agent of the divine will,it was aimed at Jonah ,and it would have a divine purpose for all on that ship.The people on the ship were religious and they each prayed to their god, but to no avail, there is only one God   Jehovah (Isaiah 44 v 6). The prophet of the only one God, was asleep, why was he asleep? he was wakened up and told to pray to his God.Then the question arose who among them caused this terrible storm, so they cast lots,and the lot fell on Jonah. The bible says be sure your sin will find you out,and so it came to pass,Rosemary Nixon writes,' God does not always address us through saints; he is just as free to use sinners as vehicles of His call. Surely Jonah must have been stung into remembrance'. Never once do we read in all this of Jonah praying to God,but there will come a time in which he will pray ,as we will see..

                                            'Could it be that it is time you prayed 

                                             to God?.'

He is everywhere . ( Psalm 139 )3

 When Moses received his call from God,he replied to God in negative terms ,and God patiently listened and reassured him.When Jeremiah was called he also replied in negative terms,likewise God listened reassured him.But when it came to Jonah,he did not want to speak to God,did not want to hear what God had to say.He had heard enough ,it was not what He wanted to hear,so he took up running,not as an exercise ,but to get away from  God. How absurd it was a race he could not hope to win,read Psalm 139,which clearly tells us that God  is omnipresent,He is everywhere.Later Jonah would say that he worshipped the God of heaven,who made the sea and the lamb (1 v 9).So why did he think he could run away from God?, sheer blind abstemious, but this would not be the end of the story,God would have the last word,and he would bring Jonah back into line. God will always have the last word,be it with his rebellious children,or with the ungodly.

                                                    'There is no escape from God'

Jonah went AWOL. ( Mark 5 v 1 - 15 ) 2

 As a young lad of fifteen I joined the army, as a boy soldier,I must confess I did not like it,and  I remember going AWOL,that means absent without official leave,well that's what Jonah did, he went AWOL.He was not prepared to do what God wanted him to do, there was a reason for this,Nineveh was the capitol of Assyria. Rosemary Nixon writes,' It is quite possible that we are meant to understand Nineveh as that which constitutes the very opposite of everything that Israel held dear. This view is vividly spelt out by the Jewish writer Hayyim Lewis.' The Assyrians were the Nazi storm- troopers of the ancient world. They were the pitiless  power crazed foe. They showed no quarter in battle, uprooting entire peoples in their fury for conquest. They extinguished the Northern Kingdom of Israel. For Jonah, Nineveh  was no ordinary city ; it carried doom - laden , tragic memories, it stood as a symbol, of  evil incarnate'. One other person writes,'To go to Nineveh means,for Jonah, to go to hell'.There are many people whom have felt the call of God to the most ungodly places,and may have said  ,'I cant go there'. 

                                                               William Booth.

                                           'Go straight for souls, and go for the worst.'

Jonah.( Acts 26 v 19 ) 1

 Not all godly people act godly,one thinks of Jonah who was a prophet,he was supposed to do what God said,just do it , oh yes the prophets could ask questions,the prophet Habakkuk did.It is alright to ask questions , but it is not alright to be disobedient,disobedience to God is never right. One commentator says  his name means,' Jonah the son of faithfulness', but unfortunately,he did not live up to his name. As Christians do we live up to that name?,the Lord declared to the  at church at Sardis,' you  have the name of being alive,and you are dead.'( Revelation 3 v 1 )Matthew Henry writes,'This church was not really what it was reputed to be. There was a form of godliness but not  the power,a name to live,but not a principle of life'. The book starts,' Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah',in 2 kings 14 v 25, Jonah had a word of deliverance from God to Israel,who were oppressed,and it was fulfilled,under king Jeroboam.That was fine,but when  it came to delivering the word of the Lord  to Nineveh that was another matter.As regards proclaiming the word of the Lord we are not to discriminate.The gospel is for the whosoever.no matter what race they are,no matter what colour they are,no matter what gender they are,we are to be faithful.

                                       For the next 11 days we will be looking at the book 

                                      of  Jonah,I hope it will be helpful.

We will get there. ( John 14 v 1-6 )

 Recently we  looked at Psalm 107 and at those sailors who were delivered from certain death,due to a terrible storm.When the storm had died down we read,'He guided them to their desired haven' v 30. Like those sailors we as Christians will face many storms in life,some life threatening,you know your life's history,and I know mine,and we know how God has brought us through . Like the saints of old we are foreigners and strangers on earth,this world is not our final home,we are looking for something better a heavenly one. CP Hebrews 11 v  13 - 16.This world and all that dwells in it are,are temporal,it will all pass away,we fix our eyes our on an eternal home CP 2 Corinthians 4 v 18./ 2 Peter 3 v 10 .Many of the saints of old when they were singing about heaven,had an eternal look upon their face.As Christians we all have to overcome so many obstacles in on our journey to our heavenly home where our Saviour is. Bruce Milne writes ,'God has claimed us from the beginning; the Son will raise us up at the end,' 

                                            'Long before time began you were part of His plan.

                                             Let no fear cloud your brow; He will not forsake you now'.

                                                       'He will guide us to our desired haven'

The only true security ( John 10 v 27 - 30 )

Where does true security lie ?, in riches  ,that's a false security, in 1 Timothy 6 v 17, we are commanded not to put our hope in wealth, which is so uncertain,but to put our hope in God.What about the fitness regime, good health,well even the strongest gets a cold, and grows old.From a basic human  point of view there is nothing absolutely secure,nothing,all our assumed breaches can soon be destroyed.Goliath in his pride laughed and boasted, and mocked God,but a young lad defeated him.Now there are many religions in the world,but will they bring eternal security?, no they won't,they are false securities,which those who follow them  will unfortunately find out ,alas to late.One of the good things we read in the book of Jonah ,is when everyone was saved from  drowning,the men in the boat stopped praying to their false gods, and prayed to the only God. Bruce Milne writes the following,'The only true security is in having no security except the  mercy of God. To believe is  to be brought to the place where one knows, that one has to rely  completely on Jesus,and on Jesus alone'.

                                                  'My hope is built on nothing less,

                                                   Than Jesus blood and righteousness;

                                                   I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

                                                   But wholly lean on Jesus name,

                                                   On Christ the solid rock ,I stand;

                                                   All other ground is sinking sand'.

Eternal glory. ( Philippians 3 v 7 - 14 )

 When I was young  we played a game  called,'follow the leader',it meant, were the leader went you went,simple. It is recorded in the gospels, how Jesus,said to certain people,'follow Me', and most of then did just that.It was not a new thing for Rabbi's had disciples,people who followed them,they listened to what the Rabbi said,wrote it down or memorise it, so the followers of Jesus did the same.Follow me He said ,nobody else,Peter had to be reminded of that, when he got distracted (John 21 v 20 -21).There are many charlatan's in life,especially in the religious field, Elmer Gantries there are in plenty,they are in it to fleece people.Unlike Jesus, he made it clear that there was a cost in following Him . It was a way of denial,of suffering,of cross bearing,even martyrdom, and that there would be a reward in the future.Let me say if we are not prepared for that ,then don't follow Jesus.Initially  the disciples had thoughts that Jesus was an earthly Messiah, in which He would rule an earthly kingdom,but early on he showed that this was not so. (John 6 v 15). Before Pilate the Roman governor, He made a clear statement of the nature of His kingdom (John 18 v 36 ). Following Jesus means not going for earthly glory, but for eternal glory.