Gtcotr/ss051720
Jonah 1
1 ¶ Now the word of the LORD
came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that
great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before
Me.”
3 But Jonah arose 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 from the presence of the LORD.
4 ¶ But the LORD sent out a
great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the
ship was about to be broken up.
Interesting
to note that the Lord God Jehovah sent out this great wind that caused a
hurricane-like storm to trap the ship in its tempest. When the men sailing the
ship realized that Jehovah had sent the storm because Jonah was trying to get
away from Him … they became exceedingly afraid.
10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and
said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the
presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
11 ¶ Then they said to Jonah,
“What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?” — for the
sea was growing more tempestuous.
12 And he said to them, “Pick
me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I
know that this great tempest is because of me.”
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to
land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous
against them.
14 Therefore they cried out to the LORD and
said, “We pray, O LORD, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do
not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O LORD, have done as it pleased
You.”
Bless
these mariners hearts … they tried everything they could do to keep from
throwing Jonah overboard but alas …
15 So they picked up Jonah
and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and
offered a sacrifice to the LORD and took vows.
It is a sad day when the only way to stop the storm is to get some
person off the boat. But
… it happens …
Fast
forward about 850 years to the time of Jesus and there was another boat filled
with skilled mariners who were in the middle of a great storm. Only this time
the storm seems the storm had not been sent by God but rather by the devil.
Matthew 14
22 ¶ Immediately Jesus made
His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He
sent the multitudes away.
23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He
went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone
there.
24 But the boat was now in
the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.
25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus
went to them, walking on the sea.
32 And when they got into the
boat, the wind ceased.
Jonah
– The Lord sent a storm …
The
Disciples – The devil sent a storm …
The
storm stopped when they got Jonah off the boat.
The
storm stopped when Jesus and Peter got in the boat.
Seems
like many times, life may not be any more complicated than either getting somebody
either off of or into your boat.
The
Good News …
Salvation
·
Get
the “old man” off your boat.
·
Get
Jesus and the “new man” on your boat.
You
may say Preacher … I have been saved and following Jesus for a long time, but I
am in the middle of a storm that feels like it is going to tear my ship apart.
What should I do?
Well,
glad you asked.
You
see, there is a third storm spoken of in the Bible. You can find it in the book
of Mark, chapter 4. This works every time …
Mark 4
35 ¶ On the same day, when
evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.”
36 Now when they had left the
multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats
were also with Him.
37 And a great windstorm
arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.
38 But He was in the stern,
asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not
care that we are perishing?”
39 Then He arose and rebuked
the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there
was a great calm.
40 But He said to them, “Why
are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”
This
time the storm came up to try and keep Jesus and His followers from bringing
deliverance and salvation to people who were lost and afraid. This storm was
not the work of God but clearly was the work of the devil. Jesus had given His
followers their orders to take Him to the other side. They were busy doing the
will of God and Jesus was right there with them … nonetheless, the storm came.
When
things finally got so bad that the disciples imagined they were going to perish
they cried out to Jesus and He did two things:
1.
Jesus
rebuked the storm and it ceased.
2.
Jesus
rebuked His disciples for not rebuking the storm themselves.
This
gives us a clear picture of what Jesus expects from us and what He is yet
willing to do for us.
So,
what is our take-away from the message God gave us today?
·
Sometimes
you need to get the wrong person off the boat.
·
Sometimes
you need to get the right person on the boat.
·
Sometimes
you just need to rebuke the storm yourself in the mighty name of Jesus.
·
Still
… when all else fails - - - call on Jesus and He will save you!
