Sermon Central
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Sometimes It Takes A Worm
Contributed by Rev. Timothy Porter on Dec 23, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: Let's look at Jonah and his story and get a whole new take on it. I want you to see the story of Jonah as everything that comes into your lives – good and bad – as a means of seeing God’s provision.
SomeTimes It Takes A WORM!
With Pastor Tim Porter
Introduction:
Have you ever made a mistake? Have you ever messed up due to your on stupidity or disobdience?
Has there ever been a time when you were rescued because of your disobiedance and you couldn't explain it?
The prophet Isaiah had this to say about the mysterious ways of the Lord,
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”, Isa. 55:8-9.
The sooner you realizes this, the better off you'll will be! Of course, even though we can read this truth and we know that it is right, sometimes, the ways of God are still hard to stomach.
This was the case for Jonah. Jonah watched the Lord work His sovereign will in the city of Nineveh and Jonah did not like God's way at all!
We all have heard about Jonah and God’s call upon his life. Most of the time when we hear a sermon of Jonah, the first thing that pops into our mind is the story of how he was swallowed by a whale, spent three days on the belly of the whale, and then was thrown up on the beach at the closest point to Nineveh where he was supposed to go in the first place.
Consider this thought as my title "Somtimes it takes a WORM!
As we work our way toward the worm I need you to understand two other vital aspects or parts of this story.
I.} The Whale (rescue)
The bible says Jonah herd the word of the Lord didn't like it and headed to Tarshish. God wanted Jonah to go to this great city and preach repentance to the Ninivites (everyone there was lost) which is in todays terms is Asirya.
The Asirains were barbaric people, you could say they were terriost! This is the same place ISIS came from.
Just a few things they were famous for
1.} Impale people on sticks through their mid sections
2.} bury people standing up w/ a stick pushed their toung, scalp their head
3.} Skin people alive
4.} reach into their mouths a pull their toungs out
5.} They would build pyrmids out of human skulls
someone once said it like this Jonah’s reaction about going to Nineva has been described this way…
“…calling Jonah to go to the Ninevites was like asking a Jew in 1942 to go from New York to Hitler, and tell him that God loved him, and that everything he did would be forgiven if he would just repent. So the Jew got on a train, all right, and went to San Francisco; then got on a ship to Antarctica! He wanted nothing to do with it.”
?So Jonah heads to Tarshish to flee from the Presence of the Lord (don't you know you can't flee from the presence of the Lord) boarded a ship and paid his fare.
keep in mind anytime you disobey the Lord it will cost you something
when he got on the boat he went down under the deck ... anytime you run from God you go down.
Here they are on the boat he is going 2500 miles out of the way instead of going a days journey to do what the Lord ask ( Isn't funny we work harder trying to get out of what God ask us to do instead of obeying Him)
Everything is hunkeydory until the wind begins to blow and the storm comes! The ships crew people realize it has nothing to do with them and all to do with Jonah. They tell him to pray to his god and Jonah says "I can do that but it will do no good because this has to do with He and I. Here is what you have to do. Throw me over board and the storm will go away." So off the boat with Jonah.
? some of you need to get Jonah off your boat - You in the storm you in b/c who is on your boat - You running with people you got no business with - You living with someone you not married to - You in a abusive relationship - Jonah needs to go so the storm will calm down - You are dating the wrong person - working at the wrong place - Jonah has got to go! { take your phone swipe it right now and start deleteing the jonah's off of you fb, instagram, and your contacts! If you want the storm to stop get rid of the Jonah's.
?Jonah 1:17 (NKJV) 17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
