Some of you professional football fans know the guy on the screen, and by the way, his name is not misspelled, Teddy Bruschi, former NFL player, current ESPN analyst.
Today he is recovering from a stroke that he just suffered last week.
His family described what happened, as you read there.
Teddy recognized that he was experiencing the signs of a stroke, arm weakness, face drooping, and speech difficulties.
Do you know those signs?
We all need to know them as well as signs of a heart attack.
If we're wise, if we want to avoid the damaging or even fatal consequences, if they appear in our lives.
Well, today as we return to the book of Jonah, I want us to look at some of the signs that a person is going through, what I'm going to call a spiritual rebellion.
Signs of spiritual rebellion that Jonah displays throughout chapter 1, and there's even some more later on in this study.
What I want us to do is read chapter 1.
Notice as we go through this, some of them are obvious.
We're going to look at this and try to learn from Jonah's example how to avoid being in a state of spiritual rebellion.
How to wake up from a state of spiritual rebellion, if that's the case today.
Also how to avoid in the future drifting or rebelling and getting in that state.
Let's read Jonah 1.
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amtai, saying,
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.
But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish.
So he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his God.
And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them.
But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.
So the captain came and said to him, What do you mean, you sleeper?
Arise, call out to your God.
Perhaps the God will give a thought to us that we may not perish.
And they said to one another, that's the sailors now,
Come, let us cast lots that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.
So they cast lots.
And the lot fell on Jonah.
Then they said to him, Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us.
What is your occupation?
And where do you come from?
What is your country?
And of what people are you?
And he said to them, I am a Hebrew.
And I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.
Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him,
What is this that you have done?
For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
Then they said to him, What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?
For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.
And he said to them, Pick me up and hurl me into the sea.
Then the sea will quiet down for you.
For I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.
Nevertheless, the men rode hard to get back to dry land.
But they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.
Therefore they called out to the Lord, O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life and lay not on us innocent blood.
For you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.
So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea.
And the sea ceased from its raging.
Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly.
And they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
There are times in life that we just sort of look around what's going on.
And it seems, because everything's positive, that the signs are pointing to we're doing something right.
Some people even think that's a sign God's pleased with them and all is going well.
What I want us to do first is to understand sometimes if we look at signs this way, some such signs are deceptive.
They're misleading.
There are some deceptive signs that we see in Jonah.
Let's look at them.
Deceptive signs.
Some signs in life give the impression that all is well when it's not.
The first deceptive sign we see in Jonah, everything seems to be falling into place for you.
Is there ever a time when you just think life is good, all is well.
There's no bumps in the road for me.
It must be that I'm doing something right.
Well, Jonah could have thought that at the very beginning of his rebellion against God.
When he rebelled against God's call to go to Nineveh, he headed in the opposite direction toward Tarshish.
That was as far from Nineveh as he could conceive of going.
Nineveh was east and north.
Tarshish was as far as people traveled west.
It was on the coast of Spain.
Well, look at verse 3 again.
It looks like all is going well.
But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
He went down to Joppa and there was a ship going to Tarshish.
A ship that was sailing as far as he could get.
So he paid the fare.
There was a place for him.
He went down into it to go with him to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
What I want us to see here at the beginning, Jonah's path of rebellion was smooth.
Everything seems to be falling into place.
But that did not mean that all was right.
That didn't mean smooth sailing at first, that God was pleased with him.
So think of this.
If you're in the process of running from something that you know God wants you to do,
and we're not necessarily talking about something big.
Sometimes we know that God wants to do something in a relationship with someone like apologize.
Sometimes we know God wants us to do something in a situation where we just do the right thing.
It may cost us some money.
It may cost us some time.
But we know what God wants us to do.
But we just don't do it.
If you're in the process of running from what you know God wants you to do,
and everything is going well for you right now,
don't mistake that as a sign that God's changed his mind,
that he is okay with your disobedience.
As one wise sage said,
it ain't over till it's over.
Yogi said a lot of crazy things.
That is good.
If you're running from God right now,
and you think,
I've made it,
it ain't over till it's over.
Remember that right now.
A second deceptive sign is this.
Nothing seems to bother you.
You can sleep well.
Look at Jonah,
verse five.
Second part of it.
But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship,
and had lain down,
and was fast asleep.
Isn't that amazing?
The storm is such that
veteran sailors
are at their wit's end.
crying out to their gods,
throwing away their cargo,
what they're getting paid to deliver.
How could Jonah sleep
in the midst of that?
Well,
there's several reasons
why we could think of
people can sleep
in a situation like that.
He could have just been exhausted.
I mean,
he,
no doubt,
he's running from God.
We're talking about a man
who has a relationship with God,
who has served God.
He knows what God's calling him to do,
but he's running.
He has to be emotionally
and spiritually
worn out,
drained.
He could have literally
run from wherever it was
he heard God,
where he heard God's call
down to this seaport,
Joppa.
So he may be physically
worn out.
And there's just nothing
within him
that responds
because he's exhausted
to this storm.
Some people could sleep
like this
because they have peace
with God.
Jesus was able
to sleep
in the midst
of such a storm.
A small boat,
the Gospels tell us,
Matthew, Mark, and Luke,
he was asleep,
had his head
on a cushion.
How could Jesus
sleep
in such a storm
that his disciples
thought they were going to die,
those passages tell us?
Because Jesus always did
his Heavenly Father's will.
He always maintained
a close,
peaceful
relationship
with his Heavenly Father
so he knew
that no matter what,
all was right.
He was doing
what he was supposed to do,
where he was supposed
to do it.
He was doing God's will.
He knew he was
in control of everything,
even the storm.
So he could rest.
He could sleep
in the midst of a storm.
That's not Jonah.
We don't know
why he's asleep,
but we know definitely
because it's not
because he had peace
with God.
There's another reason
to explain
why some people
can be at peace
in the midst
of some of life's storms.
they've developed
a hard heart
or they've just sort of
tuned God out.
That may be
why Jonah can sleep
through this storm.
It may be that
he's just become
a little bit
hard-hearted,
developed,
developed a
calloused
conscience.
Maybe he's just
a little bit
spiritually and
emotionally numb
at this point
in time.
If you know
that you're not
right with God,
if you know
you're disobedient
right now
in the state
that you're now
living,
but you can remain
cool and calm
no matter what's
going on around you,
you need to be
concerned.
That's a problem.
It may be a sign
that you have
just zoned out
when it comes
to your relationship
with God.
It may be that
you have lost
your tender
conscience.
It is a reason
to be concerned.
We can see
from what's
happening in
Jonah's life,
he can sleep
in the midst
of a storm.
At first,
everything just
sort of fell into
place for him
to go in the
opposite direction
of where God
was calling him.
Sometimes,
when it seems
like all the
signs are
positive in
our life,
we need to be
careful that
we're not being
deceived,
that we're not
deceiving ourselves.
You know,
it's a terrible
thing to deceive
yourself into
thinking that all
is right with
God, all is
right with life,
when the truth
is you're a rebel
like Jonah.
You may be not
running from
something big,
but you are
running from
what you know
God has called
you to be,
as a man or
woman of God
in your home,
as a faithful
Christian out in
this community.
It's a warning
to us.
Let's move on
now, look at
some definite
signs of rebellion,
and we're going
to focus on one
this morning.
Jonah was a
true believer.
Don't, don't,
don't, if you're
not familiar with
this story,
you've not been
here before,
understand we're
not talking about
an unbelieving
person here.
Jonah was a
true believer in
God.
Jonah had been
used by God to
speak his word
that's recorded in
the book of
2 Kings.
He is God's
prophet.
But now,
he is running
from God,
and as he
does so,
he is acting
worse than
the unbelievers
around him.
Here's a
serious sign of
someone rebelling
against God.
You have less
spiritual awareness
than unbelievers
around you.
Look at verse 5,
the first part.
Then the
mariners were
afraid, and
each cried out
to his God.
Now, these
sailors were
pagans.
They were not
believers in
God, who had
revealed himself
to the people
of Israel, whose
word for them
was parts of the
Old Testament
that they had.
They were
pagans.
They did not
believe in the
true God.
And as it says,
the plural here,
and the little g,
they worshipped
multiple false
gods.
And at this
point in time,
they're crying
out.
They have a
faith.
Hey, put it
this way.
They're sincere.
One of the
stupidest things
that we can
think about
somebody's
spiritual life
is, well,
they're sincere.
As long as
a person is
sincere, they
must be okay.
That's crazy.
That's foolish.
These men,
who have no
clue about
God, they
are crying
out to
multiple gods.
The gods
they've heard
of, they're
wanting help.
Now, this is a
great illustration
of what Paul
described in
Romans chapter
one, when he
was talking about
how God has
revealed himself
to all people,
but people
reject God
as he is,
and replace
him with their
own gods.
I want you to
look at what
he says here.
In verse 19,
for what can
be known about
God is plain
to them.
He's talking
about how God
has revealed
himself, people
have rejected
that.
For what can
be known about
God is plain
to them, because
God has shown
it to them.
He's talking
about people,
universality of
sin and
rejection in
people's lives.
For his, God's
invisible attributes,
namely his
eternal power and
divine nature,
have been clearly
perceived ever
since the creation
of the world and
the things that
have been made
so that they
are without
excuse.
God reveals
enough of
himself to
every person in
the world to
cause them to
be aware of the
fact that God
is, that he's
real, that he's
the creator, that
he's the sovereign.
They don't know
everything that we
know by a long
shot.
They don't have
the scripture, but
they have enough of
God's revealing of
himself to know, but
they don't believe.
Look at it.
Go on.
For although they
knew God, they did
not honor him as
God or give thanks
to him, but they
became futile in
their thinking and
their foolish hearts
were darkened.
Claiming to be wise,
they became fools and
exchanged the
glory of the
immortal God for
images resembling
mortal man and
birds and animals
and creeping things.
The idea is God
reveals himself in
nature through his
creation.
And instead of
people acknowledging,
accepting this God
who is above and
beyond them, people
try to make a God
in their image or in
the image of part of
the creation like
birds and animals
and creeping things.
What Paul is
describing there is
what theologians
refer to as general
revelation.
God makes himself
known in a general
way.
Miller and Erickson,
the theologian, he
explains this very
well.
Look at it.
General revelation
serves to explain the
worldwide phenomenon of
religion and religions.
All persons are
religious because all
have a type of
knowledge of God.
from this revelation
religions have been
constructed which
unfortunately are
distortions of the
true biblical
religion.
What Paul says in
Romans, what Erickson
is saying about the
general revelation of
God, this is why
everybody is spiritual.
Everybody to some
extent at some times
is spiritually minded.
With rare exception,
everyone has an
awareness that God
exists.
Think about it this
way.
When tragedy strikes in
this country, and it
happens so often, and
even in countries around
the world, at some point
there will be a news
conference.
And there will be some
national leader, or in
some local situations, a
local leader.
They will explain what
has happened.
And at some point in
their news conference,
and at some point in
their explanation,
discussion of the evil
tragedy that's happened,
they will say something
like this.
let's keep the
victims, and maybe
sometimes the first
responders, in our
thoughts and prayers.
Now, a lot of people
say that because it's
just the right thing to
say.
They don't believe a
thing.
They don't pray.
But it's just something
that there's something
within all of us.
In some situations, when
we just don't know, we
can't do anything, as the
saying goes, all we can do
is pray.
And people will say that.
Now, there are some
officials, national and
local, they mean it because
they know God through faith
in Jesus.
They are as sincere as they
can possibly be.
You have heard some
officials.
I hope I don't get in, I
don't care.
I'm going to say, Chuck
Wright is the sheriff of
Spartanburg County.
I don't know him
personally, but I've read a
bunch of things he said.
I've watched him on TV, and
I really believe he has a
heartfelt faith.
And I believe when Chuck
Wright holds those news
conferences, and a lot of
times talks about Jesus and
faith in him, I think he
really does care.
He's really sincere.
He's really encouraging
Christians to pray.
But so many people aren't
like that.
And they just say it because
there's this universal
awareness of a God and the
need for him.
That's what these sailors are
doing.
They, in the book of Jonah
here, they believe that
believe in God.
But they don't believe in the
one true God who has
revealed himself in his word,
and ultimately and finally in
his son, Jesus.
They believe in God's.
Take your pick.
Here's what I want us to
think about, make this more
personal.
Almost everyone you know will
tell you that they believe in
God and they believe in
prayer.
Most of us in this room, we
don't know many atheists.
Some of us do.
But most of us, wherever we go,
whatever occurs, in some
settings, everybody will in some
way refer to God.
And maybe even talk about
prayer.
But what I want you to
understand is, that does not
mean that a person is a
Christian.
God has so created people that
we have an innate awareness of,
belief in a supreme being.
A God we will say.
Some of your family members and
friends are quick to tell you,
discuss with you, their belief in
God.
But they do not believe in our
heavenly Father that they know
through faith in Jesus.
They just talk about God in
really a general way.
There's no evidence in their
life that they are followers of
Jesus.
Their life bears no fruit.
We need to be aware of that.
Everybody dies.
People that you know and love
will die.
It will not give you one bit of
comfort when one, somebody you
love dies.
And all you know about their
spiritual life is, is they had
some vague, general belief in
God.
That means nothing.
Because most people throughout
the world believe in a general
God because God's revealed
himself in nature.
People in our life that we know
and love, and we're concerned
about their eternal destiny, we're
concerned about their relationship
with God.
Just because they have this
general spirituality, don't let
that keep you from sharing the
gospel with them if you really are
concerned that they don't know
Christ.
We need to understand that.
Now let's go one step closer to
ourselves.
This is extremely personal.
What do you believe?
What does your life clearly reveal
about the God you say you believe
in?
If people just watched you and
listened to you, would they get
this idea that you believe in just
the general idea of God?
And you just pray these general
mouthing words, prayers, especially
in a time of panic?
Or do you have such a real
relationship with God as your
heavenly Father?
You really are a follower of Jesus,
and it's obvious to people by the
way that you live.
Let's go back to Jonah.
There's a storm raging that God has
hurled on this ship, and it's
Jonah's fault.
Jonah is on board trying to get
away from God, and God is not going
to let him get away.
This is not the message this morning,
this will be later on.
But I want us to understand, if you're
a child of God, God is sovereign,
and if He has determined that you
are going to do something, you will
do it.
You may go through hell on earth.
You may go through a terrible storm.
But God will prevail in the life of
His children, because He is sovereign
God, and His will is done.
So, don't think.
I can just do what I want to do.
If you can think that way and sleep
good at night, you probably are not a
Christian.
You may claim to be.
You may have been baptized.
But you can't be a child of God, and
God has no place in your life.
Look at these sailors.
They just got a general knowledge of God,
and they've turned it into idolatry.
But I want you to see the sincerity.
That doesn't make them right, but it does
make them sincere.
They are sincerely calling out to false
gods that they don't even know with all
their heart.
And look at Jonah.
Jonah is a man of God.
He is a prophet, but he's doing his best to
ignore God and this storm.
Here's what we see.
Sometimes we, you and me, sometimes we as
God's children act more like atheists than
unbelievers.
That's right.
Practically speaking, sometimes we live like
an atheist in the way we relate to God, talk
about Him, serve Him.
Think about that.
How do you respond to a crisis?
You get the phone call.
Somebody close to you has been rushed to the
hospital, had an accident.
You get the bad news from the doctor about
yourself.
How do you respond when it seems like your
family is disintegrating?
How do you respond to a crisis situation?
Do you automatically, first thing, draw close to
your heavenly Father because you trust Him?
You don't know what to do, but you know He does?
Do you seek His wisdom in prayer?
His wisdom and guidance in His Word?
How do you normally respond in a crisis?
Do you do things like that or do you just fall to pieces?
Or do you just call somebody you know?
Or do you just cuss and fuss?
Or find somebody to blame?
How do you normally live your life when there's not a crisis
going on in relationship with God?
Think about it.
Do I seek to live in close fellowship with God just as a way of
life?
Here's the answer.
How much do you use God's means of grace to develop a
relationship with Him?
God's means of grace at the top of the list are prayer and Bible
reading.
This may sound overly simple, but this is a fact.
You and me, the closeness, the maturity of our relationship with
God, it can be measured right now, yours and mine, by those who
walk with us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and see how
much time we actually spend with God talking to Him in prayer,
listening to Him as He speaks through His Word.
I cannot overstate that.
I am a Christian, have been a long time, been a pastor for a long
time.
My personal fellowship, closeness with the Lord is dependent on my
regular spending time with Him.
And if I don't, I'm going to be distant from God.
I'm going to have a harder heart.
I'm not going to be in tune with Him.
I'm going to misread signs like Jonah has.
We looked at it at the beginning.
How do you normally live your life in a relationship with God when
there's no crisis going on?
That helps us see.
If you really want to know God, and if we're Christians, no one is
satisfied where they are in terms of their closeness to God, their
knowledge of Him, His ways, and their ability to do it.
No one's where they ought to be, where they want to be.
But if we want to grow, we just have to spend time with God and want
to and put forth the effort to listen, to talk, to live life with
Him and before Him.
How do you normally live your life in a relationship with God?
Are you quick to confess your sins that God convicts you of?
Or are you like Jonah and you like to run away?
It takes you forever to get honest with God and get right with Him.
If you are less spiritually aware or concerned than the people that you
know who only have a general awareness of God, then I want you to look at
Jonah as he sleeps.
That's you.
Think about it.
Let it sink in.
If you are less spiritually aware, concerned, expressive than people who have, who are not
Christians, they have only a general awareness of God, then you're Jonah as he
sleeps on this ship as he runs from God.
And that's a dangerous place to be.
It's a sign of spiritual rebellion or even worse, it could be a sign of being
spiritually dead, which means you're not a Christian.
We're going to continue looking at signs of spiritual rebellion next time, but I want
to conclude this message by looking at how we can experience the right kind of peace in
the midst of life storms.
See, Jonah had the wrong kind of peace.
He could sleep and he shouldn't have been able to.
But we can have peace, the right kind in the midst of storms.
The gospel tells us of Jesus in the boat with His disciples, as I referred to a moment ago.
They were crossing the Sea of Galilee when a storm suddenly struck.
The disciples were terrified and they woke Jesus, who was experiencing peaceful sleep.
They said, Lord, we're perishing.
Well, Jesus awoke and He calmed the storm.
Scripture says, He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace be still.
And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
Jesus calmed the storm because of His sovereign power as the Son of God.
He is still the sovereign Lord who can calm the storms in our lives today.
Jesus can calm the storm of God's wrath on our sin.
You see, Jonah's storm came up because of Jonah's rebellion.
Jonah's sin caused Jonah's storm.
Not always, but sometimes our sin caused our storms.
Well, Jesus died on the cross to take God's wrath against our sins.
And when we truly admit it, repent of our sin and trust Jesus,
we experience not only forgiveness, but we experience peace with God and the peace of God.
And if you're not a Christian and you want to experience that peace,
I want to encourage you right this moment to turn from your sin,
trust Christ, call upon Him to save you, commit your life to Him right now.
But could it be that you're going through a storm right now
and you are definitely a Christian?
Like Jonah, you know God, but you know you're disobeying Him right now about something.
Well, you can stop running from God if you want to.
You can come back to Him in confession, in repentance, in a renewed commitment to Him.
And I want you to know if you'll stop running and come back to Him,
God will receive you with open arms.
He'll forgive you.
He'll cleanse you.
He will restore you to close fellowship with Him and give you a fresh start.
Scripture tells us if we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If you're away from God,
if you're not enjoying close fellowship with Him,
that can change now.
Look at the Word.
Listen to the Word.
Obey the Word.
And experience God's forgiveness and restoration and peace now.
He offers it,
but you've got to take it.
Let's pray together.
Father,
show us now
what we need to do,
everyone individually, personally,
in light of what
you have said through your Word and your Spirit
in this message.
Father,
help us to see ourselves as we are,
and then help us to be honest
and obey you now.
And then an attitude of prayer,
let's just do that.
All of us.
You pray.
You listen to the Lord.
You do what He's telling you to do.
I would be happy to pray with you
at this very moment.
I'll be here at the front.
But the next few minutes,
it's just designed for everybody
to be still and quiet
and listen to the Lord
and do what He's telling you to do.
Let's do that.
Thank you.