True Happiness
Gtcotr/ws010704
I. An ounce Of Prevention
Ephesians 6 (NIV)
10 ¶ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13 Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
A. Dressed for the day of battle
1. Prepared before the fight
2. I can imagine several families began building boats the day after it started to rain.
B. v. 16 KJV says, “Above all …”
* Faith is designed to act as a shield … not a pair of tweezers.
C. Faith, in its best application, is covering and a preventive measure. It’s a relationship with God before hell gets hold of you.
D. Many times, however, people make their greatest demand on faith only after disaster strikes and the enemy breaks through.
E. It is my goal as a shepherd to offer you an opportunity to prevent the common troubles of life and ministry.
With that in mind let’s look at:
II. Jonah’s Roller Coaster
* In the first chapter of Jonah we find God revealing His will to this prophet.
Jonah 1:2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me."
* The following verse tells us that Jonah rose up and made plans, even paying his own way, to go to Tarshish not Nineveh.
A. Jonah was disobedient
* The continuing story describes the consequences of Jonah’s choice.
> He went through a great storm
> His selfish unconcern was revealed to others
> He was cast overboard
> Swallowed up by the great fish God had prepared
> Ended up at the bottom of the mountains with weeds wrapped around his head and the depths closed about him.
* Evidently disobedience does not produce tolerable consequences.
* As a result, Jonah’s soul fainted and he remembered the Lord.
Jonah 2:7 "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.
* Jonah realized that in his own vanity, he had believed and cared more for himself than for God and by that had become his own worst enemy.
Jonah 2:8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
* Jonah prayed and told God that he would obey Him.
* The fish is commanded by God to spit Jonah up on dry ground.
* Jonah is delivered
* Jonah hears a fresh word from God.
Jonah 3
1 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
* verse 3 says …
B. Jonah was obedient
* Jonah went and preached the word to Nineveh and they repented and God forgave and restored them.
* Jonah was perhaps the most successful prophet/evangelist of his day.
* Jonah’s obedience fulfilled the will, purpose and plan of God.
* Common sense would tell us that:
1. Disobedience caused Jonah hardship and failure.
2. Obedience brought success
3. Disobedience left Jonah unhappy
4. Obedience and fulfillment of God’s will should make him happy.
5. Why then was Jonah still so unhappy?
* Chapter Four:
1 ¶ But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.
2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
3 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."
4 But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be angry?"
* Let’s get this straight:
1. Jonah was disobedient to God’s word and will and didn’t like the results.
2. Jonah was obedient to God’s word and will and still didn’t like the results.
3. Jonah was in a place where nothing would make him happy or satisfy him for very long because Jonah was not submitted to God and not committed to anyone other than himself. Jonah did not care about making God happy and without sowing those seeds, he could not reap happiness.
Jonah 1:3 … to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
II. Jonah Lived An Unfulfilled Life Of Service
A. Jonah
1. Went outside of the city and sat down
2. God attempted to get through to Jonah
Jonah 4
5 ¶ Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city.
6 Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine.
7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered.
8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."
3. Jonah just didn’t get it!
9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die."
B. Jonah was disobedient to God’s word, God’s will and God’s way
C. Jonah was obedient to God’s word, God’s will and God’s way
D. Jonah was never happy to do God’s word, God’s will and God’s way
III. True Happiness Results From Making God Happy
Greater, much greater, than just the fear of intolerable consequences should be our desire to be ever pleasing to God. This desire is born out of a deep and abiding love and respect for Who He is and what He has done.
John 8:29 “I always do those things that are pleasing to him."
Psalms 40:8 “I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart."
Romans 7:22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
IV. Psalms 16:11 In Your presence is fullness of joy.
A. Delight is a fruit, a product of intimacy with God.
B. Delight is a powerful force
Psalms 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Isaiah 58:2 Yet they seek Me daily, And delight to know My ways … They take delight in approaching God.
C. Where Do I Find Delight - True Happiness?
Isaiah 58:13 ¶ "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words, (NT Sabbath is not a day, but a lifetime)
Isaiah 58:14 Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken."
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Jonah never found it … He did not care if God was happy … but he did not realize … If God ain’t happy - ain’t nobody happy!
