Verses 1, 2, and 3 are the first episode in this book. Let's hear the word of the Lord. Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for the evil has come 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. This is the word of God. Thank him for it. Now Jonah is a name that means dove. How would you like that for a name? Hi, my name is dove. All right. And it's important because if we read in the Old Testament in Hosea chapter 7 and verse 11, this passage says this, Ephraim or Israel is like a dove, silly and without sense. Jonah is going to live up to his name. And we're going to see that today. Yet, he is also called in verse 1, the son of Amittai. What do you think Amittai means? Amittai means son of my faithfulness. Son of my faithfulness. Throughout this grand story, God will demonstrate His great faithfulness by pursuing Jonah. Silly in some sense prophet with a love that will never let go. Born to wander, Lord, I feel it. Born to leave the God I love. Now, does that remind you of anyone in your life? Perhaps it reminds you of the person who looks back at you in the mirror in the morning when you brush your teeth, huh? Silly and senseless, yet seized by God's steadfast love. Isn't it amazing how many stupid things we do and God continues to love us anyways? His mercies are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness. Now, the great Dutch reformer, Abraham Kuyper, summarized the human condition this way. Here's what he said. Our heart is continually inclined to rebel against the Lord our God. So ready to rebel that oh so gladly were it but for a single day, we would take from his hand the reins of his sovereign rule. Imagine that we would manage things far better and direct things far more efficiently than God. Now, let me ask you this. Do you agree with that? Is it the inclination to rebel against the Lord our God in your life as well? Well, it's that inclination that we will focus on in our meditation this morning. Now, in verses 1 and 2, we're going to consider the root of our rebellion. And then in verse 3, we're going to explore the route that a rebellion often takes. So let's start then with the root of our rebellion. Now, in these two short verses, we see two observations about the human heart and its inclination to rebel. Now, folks, before we go on, let me make a point that's very important. Even the believing heart You and I who have trusted Christ Jesus as Savior, even the believing heart has an indication to rebel, doesn't it? So what are the two observations? Observation number one is, is rebellion can happen to anyone. And observation number two is this, rebellion can happen to anyone at any time. Rebellion can rise up in anyone. Look at chapter 1 and verse 1 again of Jonah. Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying... Now Jonah, the son of Amittai, was a noble prophet. In fact, this narrative about him is not really a parable. It's not an allegory. It's real history. There was a man by the name of Jonah, the son of Amittai, who lived in Israel. In fact, it's the history of a prophet who grew up in the time of Israel's history when Elisha, that great prophet, had a school of young prophets. You remember that? Now, did Jonah, the son of Amittai, graduate from that school of prophets with an MDiv? I don't know. Bible doesn't say, but he lived in that same time period. So are you, in your own mind, kind of putting yourself into that passage of Scripture? Now, what I'd like you to do this morning is take your Bibles, keep your finger in Jonah, and turn with me to the book of 2 Kings chapter 14. 2 Kings chapter 14. Let's look at a little of the context of Jonah's ministry. Notice with me verses 23 and 24. It says, In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the second, the son of Joash king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned for forty-one years. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam and Amnibot, which he made Israel to sin. Now you folks know your Bible history pretty well, and you understand that Samaria is the capital of the Northern Kingdom. And at this point, the kingdom has been divided for about 150 years. And you remember after the reign of Solomon, there were the two Bohm brothers, Jeroboam and Rehoboam. And the nation was split into two nations. You had the southern kingdom where Jerusalem was the capital, and you had the northern kingdom where Samaria was the capital. And if you know anything about the history of Israel or the northern kingdom, what do you know? From the moment that Jeroboam took over, they began to go downhill, didn't they? In fact, if you was to take time to study this through, or even better yet, just look in your ESV study Bible, and look at all the kings of Israel, what would you find? Not a one of them was worth a pub nickel. They were all evil. They were all bad. And the only time they talk about these kings is when they're worse than somebody else, alright? And so what the Scripture is saying here is that Jeroboam II, who was named for Jeroboam, the first-born boy, he was as wicked as his father Heber was wicked. But in spite of this, all right, look what God does in verse 25. He restored the border of Israel from Lepo as far as to the sea of Deir Ezzor. According to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which He spoke by His servant Jonah, the son of Ammon, The prophet who was from Gath-Heper. How many people knew that? It was in another part of the Bible. Gath-Heper was in the far northern part of Israel. And I don't have it up here to show you, but why it's so important is that Gath-Heper was one of the border towns that were raided all the time. And sometimes they were in the control of Israel. Sometimes they were in the control of Syria, which happened to be the country northern. But frankly, most of the time, they were in the control of Syria. Now, don't confuse Syria with Assyria. But Assyria, all right, is modern-day Iraq, actually kind of comes to take power in the area and takes over Syria. And that's where Jonah was called to go. But the point I want you to see is that even though Israel was nasty, wicked, God restored the borders under Jeroboam II to the point where under King David he was off. So God is graceful and merciful and loving and kind to the nation that has turned their backs on him. God allowed Jonah to preach during that time of words Words of compassion and grace. And in spite of the evil king, in spite of the witness of the land, God said these words. Look at the next two verses, verse 26 and following. For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bound or free, and there was none to help Israel. But the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven. So he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joash. Under the reign of this wicked king, God brought salvation to his people. He extended the borders, and it was through the prophetic ministry of Jonah that this word was pronounced and fulfilled. What a privilege, huh? Yet now we come back to the Book of Jonah. And in spite of his accomplishments, in spite of his privileges, what do we see? Jonah is tempted to rebel against this glorious God. Now what is the lesson for us? The lesson is this. Rebellion can ripen anyone. The lesson is do not let the privileges of your past or the fruitfulness of your service in the past become an excuse in your mind for disobedience in the present. Somebody asked me the other day, well, when do you think you're going to retire? I hope I don't have to. I hope I just go out serving Jesus. But folks, listen. It's easy sometimes to set back and say, you know, I used to teach Sunday school. I used to sing in the choir. I used to. I used to. And then you set back and say, oh, great. Isn't that wonderful? Now it's the young people's turn. Outside of the priest, there's no retirement in the Bible. And the point I want you to see is that rebellion can happen to anyone. Jonah, the son of Amittai, was a great guy that God used in a wonderful way. And now look at him. Secondly, rebellion can rise up in anyone at any time. anytime. Look again at verses 1 and 2 of Jonah. Now, the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me. Now, when did that happen in Jonah's life? When we read the word of the Lord, it came to him in verse 1, right? Ladies and gentlemen, that has been a wonderful privilege. Don't you and I have to speak to the Lord and for him to speak back to us Don't we sass Speak, O Lord, your servant, heareth. And then the God of the universe comes and he speaks to us. And today he speaks to us through his word. And what does he tell us? That we're to declare his will throughout the world. But Jonah doesn't like what God says this time. You see, when it was Israel, when he was running around saying, hey, Israel, do what the kings and fight, and we're going to have a salvation, and we're going to take more. That's wonderful, right? I like that. I'm full of national pride. I love Israel. I love my country. I love my people. What a wonderful message. And he gladly took it. But then, too much time, and he says, I'm in on it. Now, we see two divine assumptions in this brief and stunning command. Two assumptions God makes about himself. Number one, God says, I have absolute authority over all the nations of the world. Absolute authority. He's not the God of Israel only, is he? He's the God of Assyria? He's the God of Nineveh. He's the God of China. He's the God of the United States of America. He's the God of Venezuela. He's the God of Colombia. He's the God of the continent of Africa. He rules the nations. So assumption number one is he has absolute authority over all the nations of the world. That's why when we read in Psalm 58, a psalm that is pretty grim in its statement of God's judgment upon wicked, sinful people, God says in Psalm 58, I can do that because of their sin. I'm righteous. But it's a portion of the word of God sometimes we need to hear. It tells us that God's authority is his, and he has the right to judge the world. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I know I've said this a million times, but I'm a preacher of the good news. But I can't be a preacher of the good news until I tell you the bad news first. And the bad news is what then? We've sinned against the holy and righteous God. We deserve damnation. But the good news is, is what? In his love and mercy and grace, he sent his son, Jesus, to take our place on the cross. Now folks, this idea goes way back to the book of Genesis. I'm gonna read from Genesis chapter 18, just two verses, 20 and 21. Listen to what the scripture says. Then the Lord said, because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me, and if not, I will know. So what's happening there in Genesis chapter 18? There is a cry rising up to heaven. And God notices and God hears. And he does not ignore the cry. Why? Because the God of the Bible is active, isn't he? Let me ask you this question. Do you think there's a cry from the United States of America coming up to the heavens? Does God hear it? Does God act? God notices and God hears. God looks down on this great city of Nineveh, which in modern day Iraq, simply across the river from the city of Mosul. And he says, what a wicked city. Now, folks, we've got to ask ourselves this question. Why did Jonah hate Assyria and Nineveh, its capital, with a passion? And the answer is that the Assyrian people were wicked. I mean, seriously wicked. When they would go in and conquer a land, one of the first things they'd do was they would find the pregnant women and then rip their babies out of their belly. I'd like the C-section to get in Edison Hospital, ladies. And then what they would do is, is they would put men on post, and they would fillet their skin from their bodies. Tell me how you think that feels. And then after they were in too much pain, they'd light them up, and they'd torture them in ways you cannot. What a wicked city. But God says this, I have absolute authority over Nineveh, and its crying has come up before me, and I'm sending you, Jonah, to warn the city. Announce to the city the judgment of God. So God says, I have absolute authority over all the nations of the world. The second assumption we see in this verse is this. God says, I have absolute authority over your life, John. You're mine. You belong to me. But as I read it, I think to myself, God says, I have absolutely over your life, Robert, and over every single person's life as well. You see, God comes to Jonah suddenly, and with sovereign authority, he speaks these stunning words. So you know what? God assumes he has the right over the lives of those who claim to be his people. Say where he wants you to go, how he wants you to go, and when he wants you to go, how he wishes. And he doesn't ask you for your name. God believes he has the right to rule our lives. And you know what? He expects obedience. Isn't that what we've seen through us? He comes to a man by the name of Abram, who becomes Abraham, right? And what does he say? Get out of your land and go to a place that I have promised you, the land that flowed with Melchizedek. Now, I don't remember in that text him saying, hey, if you feel like it, Abram, You got to hanker him too." No, no, he don't say that at all, does he? He comes to Moses, right? And says, Moses, go to Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world, and get this face and say what? Now, we know Moses tried to get out of the calling, but God wouldn't let him, would he? That same God comes to Mary, to this old teenage, non-wet gal, and says to her wife, you're going to carry the Christ child in the Emanuel. And that same God comes to us, doesn't he? He's the same God who said to his own son, Son, it's my will to crush you and put you to grief. I want you to do me a favor this morning. Turn your Bible and look at Hebrews chapter 10. It says, consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me. In burnt offerings and sin offerings, you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as is written in the count scroll of the book. When he saw you have neither desired or taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burn offerings and sin offerings. These are offered according to the law. Then he added, behold, I have come to do your will. He does away with the first in order to establish this. And by that will, we have been sanctified through the offering in the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every high priest stands daily in his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sin. But when Christ had for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a full feat. For by a single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears with us after saying, the covenant I made with them, after those days, declares the Lord, I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds. Jesus' response is what? After God says, son, it will be my will to crush you into grief. His response was, behold, Father, I have come to do your will. Perfect obedience. Unhesitating obedience. Why? Because Jesus trusted the Father. And He did life for you as well. Let me ask you a question. Is it possible to know a lot about God, yet in your heart not trust Him? Is it possible to love God, yet in your heart not trust Him? Folks, listen. Beware of letting your theology outpace your trust. Beware of letting your doctrine outpace your delight in the God whom you are learning about. You know, something that I try to pray and don't pray enough, and it's this, God, don't let me get over your all. Who is God? He's this glorious one, isn't he? You know, one of the problems I have sometimes as a pastor, who has to put together three, four lessons a week. I started looking at this as a textbook, looking for points of moment of prayer. It's not a textbook. It's God speaking to a servant. God, help me not get Lord, help me stay in all who you are. Folks, bottom line is this. There's a skeleton in a lot of Christian's clauses, isn't there? Just like Jonah, we don't trust God fully. The root of his mistrust is that he is harboring a bitterness in his heart. That bitterness soon spills over on God himself. Let me just say something about bitterness for a second. Somebody said, bitterness is an acid that only destroys the container. Good, eh? Someone said this, bitterness is drinking poison and hoping it hurts the earth. Jonah is bitter, he's angry, and resentful. These are the bombs that keep coming down and raiding his people and killing his people. Maybe it was his cousin one time who was impaled. He hates these people with a passion. They were Al-Qaeda in that day, ladies and gentlemen. You get my point? Here's the problem. Listen to this. Jonah knows enough theology to know that the God who is the judge of all the nations is also a God who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. You know, they're sinners and then they're sinners, right? And folks, this can happen quickly in any time to anyone. In a moment's time, you have issued a vote of no confidence in the sovereign rule of the universe. And that's rebellion. And that's mistrust. Mistrust is here. And the only remedy is to look to Jesus, the perfect obedient servant of the Lord, right? That's the only remedy to this problem. What had Jonah forgot? He forgot about the grace of God in his own life, hadn't he? Let me read a little something out of Ephesians chapter 4, starting with verse 22. It says, to put off the old self which belongs to your own manner of your life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. The only remedy is to look to Jesus, the perfect, obedient servant of the Lord. Now with the time we have left, let's look at the route of rebellion. And I want you to notice how easy it is to do. verse 3 but Jonah rose to flee to Tarsus from the presence of the Lord he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarsus so he paid the fare and went down into it to put the Tarsus away from the presence God said arise Jonah rose but instead of going to where God says he goes to Tarsus the western coast of Spain probably nobody knows for sure where it is He is getting as far away from God as he can possibly get, and from the Word of God as he can possibly get. No forethought, no deliberating, no prayer. Jonah is banking on what people have called divine gentleman theology. You say, well, what does that mean? It means that God is a divine gentleman, and he'll never go against your will. And you say, people don't really believe that, do they? Listen to a theologian who will remain nameless. Quote, God is patient in making a masterpiece out of your lives, taking a lifetime if necessary. He's also persistent. He will stop at nothing for our unwillingness to cooperate. That is a boundary that God has chosen not to cross. Really? Tell that to Jonah, huh? Because in verse 3, Jonah is sure hoping that this theology is true. But by the end of the chapter, he knows full well there are many boundaries God will cross. In fact, there's no boundary we can put on what God will not do. God does not have to respect our human freedom and will if he chooses not to. Nevertheless, in verse, when you rebel and go, doesn't it seem easy? Look again in verse 3. But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. But 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 him to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. He's going to where he won't hear God's Word. Where he won't experience God's worship. and where he won't be in fellowship with God's people. Why? Because sin makes us such a jerk. Sin puts us on the run. Sin cuts us off from fellowship, doesn't it? Now let me ask you on the run. Do God's people keep calling you, emailing you, Can you respond negatively? Proverbs 18, verse 1 says, whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire. He breaks out against all sound judgment. Isn't that happening here in verse 3? It's amazing that when we get to Jonah 1, verse 5, it says, and the mariners were afraid, and each cried out, God, hold the ark of the wind and the seed of life for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner parts of the ship. We get to chapter 2, verse 6, after he's in the belly of the fish. It says, in the roots of the mountain to the land, whose bars closed up forever. Now, this study Bible note says each step away from the presence of the Lord is one step closer to going down to death. Yet it seems easy, doesn't it? Now, you know why I like to think things true, and sometimes maybe too far. But I can almost imagine Jonah showing up in Joppa and getting there and saying, whoo, this must be from the providence of God. There's a ship leaving tomorrow morning. And they say, yeah, there's room for one more. And he said, God is so good, so kind and considerate. And not only is there room for one more, but he got bumped up into first class. You got the balcony, so you can look over the ship and see the ocean. Folks, if you toil with sin a little bit, Satan will bring you another day. But sin is not cheap, is it? Jonah gets on board. Sin is sweet. Jonah, the son of Amittai, silly and senseless, yet the son of my faithfulness is about to learn a vital lesson. You can run from God, but you can't outrun God. And as we look at this lesson, here's what we learn. We're busy in first. It's surprisingly easy to run from God, but you cannot outrun God when he's sitting on you. Isn't that amazing? Listen to the song earlier. Where shall I go with your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bow and show, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. Now listen. and delight in this all-seeing, all-knowing, everywhere-present God. These words, all of you. You can't outrun God when once he sets his affection on you. Born to wander, Lord, I feel. to leave the God I love. Do you know that the man who wrote that actually did wander away from God? Well, God brought him back to himself. There was a young girl on a trolley car who sang a song in his presence. His song. and it broke his heart, and he was restored to God. Listen, in a sense, if you began a good work in you, we'll continue it until the day of Christ Jesus. Aren't you glad? But even when we wander, God is faithful, and He won't let us go. We know the end of the story, don't we? It's going to take me six bird messages to get us there, but we know the end of the story. God doesn't leave Jonah there, does he? However, if you're running from him, these words all alarm you. If God has saved you, Christian, and you're not in the fellowship with him, then you ought to be. This loving God, this merciful God, this kind God in love will do whatever's necessary to bring you back to himself. Whom the Lord loveth, he what? He chases. Boy, I don't know about you, but I've been on the back end of that belt, that whip, and it hurts. But in love, God did it to bring him back to himself. Now, where does that leave us? Do these words comfort you? Or are you in a place where you're scared to death? Jesus, my friends, came and did what Jonah couldn't do. And fulfilled the will of the Father. He died and was buried and rose again. So we can be righteous in Christ. We can be made righteous in Christ. That's another way of saying it. Aren't you glad? And if you're here without Jesus this morning, you can have Him as Savior. If you recognize your sinfulness and accept His grace and His mercy and love in Jesus, repent of your sins, and put your faith and trust in this loving, merciful, kind God. If you hear you're already a Christian, I hope you rejoice in God's mercy, steadfastness, and grace, and love. Let's pray. Father, thank you for these words. Thank you for your son, the Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus, thank you for coming and doing for us what we could never do for ourselves. Father, I don't know the hearts here, only you know. But Father, I hope most of the people here trust in the light in this all seeing.