You Can Run But You Can’t Hide January 25, 2015 Sermon #667

You Can Run But You Can’t Hide 

Introduction: Do you know that it is God’s will for you to be a witness? If you are a Christian everyone should know it! I mean everyone! The Church, the family, the neighbors, the boss, the customers, those who serve you! Everyone! 

Mark 16:14-20(NKJV) – 14Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15And He said to them, ”Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. 

2 Corinthians 5:20-21(NKJV) – 20Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

ILL: An ambassador carries the power of his government and the word of his government. Paul writes that all Christians are “ambassadors.” To fail to walk in our assignment is to be a traitor to His Kingdom--to be in sin. We can run but we cannot hide!

I. The Commission 

Jonah 1:1-3(NKJV) – 1Now 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.” 3But 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.

ILL: There is a hymn that we sing in church sometimes - it’s called: “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”. One of the stanzas in the hymn says:

“Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wand’ring from the fold of God,

He, to rescue me from danger, Interposed his precious blood,

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.

O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be!

Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee”

I read those words and think about how quickly we are prone to wander. I think how far we can go. And I think how easy it is to deceive ourselves and others when we have stepped out of the will of God. These searing words speak to an inner battle we all feel from time to time -- a battle we sometimes win, sometimes loose. Sometimes we walk in God’s will, other times we don’t.

“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.”

Anytime we walk out the will God we sin.

Have you ever heard anyone complain: “God is too loving. God is too kind. God is too forgiving. God shows too much mercy.” No, I have never heard anyone say that either. But, that is what Jonah thought. God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach to them. Jonah wanted Nineveh punished. But Jonah knew that if he went to preach to them that God might just let them off the hook. God might forgive Nineveh. So Jonah ran away. He ran as far as he could. He booked passage on a ship headed to Tarshish. He didn’t miss the boat. He got on board. Jonah was confident that He had outrun God. He went down in the hole and he took a nap. 

II. No One Can Out Run God!

Jonah 1:4(NKJV) – 4But 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.

A. God works through providence

B. I’ve known a number of people who tried to run from God - the results were disastrous 

III. God Sends the Captain (Pastor)

Jonah 1:6(NKJV) – 6So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”

ILL: There are times when the word has to be harsh to wake us up to keep us from “perishing” 

IV. What Did the Heathen Sailors Do? 

Jonah 1:7-8(NKJV) – 7And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”

It must have been a really bad storm because these men who were professional sailors, who had seen it all -- were afraid. They had never seen anything quite like this storm. They were hardened sailors and were used to the dangers of a life at sea, but this storm was worse than anything they had encountered before. 

Notice that they did two things to try to save their lives.

A. They prayed.

B. They threw the cargo overboard.

We all know that life can change in a moment. There can be storms. There can be troubles. There can be sickness. There can be death. There can be financial collapse. Problems can happen at any moment. The best thing we can do is to start with prayer. Then take action to help the situation. But did the storm get Jonah’s attention. No! Jonah was still fast asleep.

Before I move on let me point out a fact: 

Others suffer because of our sin. We think that when we sin we are only hurting ourselves. That is not true. Look at the story: Everyone on board the ship is endangered by Jonah’s sin. We are all in the same boat. Jonah was the sinner in this situation, and yet his foolish rebellion endangered everyone around him. Please ponder these four words: We never sin alone. We may be alone when we sin, but we never sin alone. Our sins, our compromises, and our deceit always injure those around us -- our spouse, our children, our friends, and our family. Every step we take out of the will of God hurts those around us.

Jonah 1:7-8(NKJV) – 7And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 

Proverbs 16:33(NKJV) – 33The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord.

V. Forced to Testify

Jonah 1:9-12(NKJV) – 9So 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.” 10Then 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. 11Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous. 12And 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.”

ILL: There is a message in this for us all isn’t there? If you’re a believer you need to live like one. You need to act like one. You need to talk like one. You need to walk like one. You need to pray like one. Why? Because you can’t out run God. God wants us to always behave like a believer.

VI. Type of a Savior

Jonah 1:12-16(NKJV) – 12And 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.” 13Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. 14Therefore 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.” 15So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.

Romans 10:14-17(NKJV) – 14How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” 16But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ”Lord, who has believed our report?” 17So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

VII. Jonah Needs To Be A Missionary! 

Jonah 1:17(NKJV) – 17Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

ILL: Not a whale, not any fish, one prepared fish! 

Matthew 12:39-41(NKJV) – 39But He answered and said to them, ”An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. 

Conclusion:

Where do you suppose the sailors were -- the ones converted on the ship? They arrived in Nineveh before Jonah. God always prepares the way before us when we will obey. Every Christian is called to be a missionary. You can run but you cannot hi