Introduction
You can’t hide from God!
- Jonah 1:1-10, 17; 2:1, 10; 3:1-2 – Jonah tried to escape God’s command but could not.
- Romans 10:9, 10; Acts 2:38 – God has commands for us today. We cannot run and hide from them!
- Psalms 139:1-12 – God knows even our thoughts. There is no hiding from Him! He knows everything about us.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
- Matthew 12:36
- Hebrews 4:12
- If we can’t hide anything from God, how can we cope with that?
- Romans 3:10
- The only option is to throw ourselves on his mercy.
- I John 1:9
God’s word works.
- Jonah 3:1-10 – This is possibly the most successful instance of preaching anywhere in the Bible!
- Jonah’s message was simple and negative.
- Luke 10:27-29 – When the Bible message is simple, leave it simple!
- Matthew 12:41
- There are negative elements to God’s message. We cannot try to hide it or take the teeth out of that message.
- Matthew 7:13
- We do ourselves and others no favors to pretend that hell is not real.
God expects us to love souls.
- Jonah 4:1-11
- The Assyrians were a brutal and merciless people. Israel held a deep-seated resentment against them.
- God wants us to love everyone’s souls!
- Luke 9:59-62
- Luke 23:34 – If Jesus could have this attitude toward His murderers, can’t we love others also?