Life on the Run | Text: Jonah 1:1-3 Opening Statement: Rather than heading toward Nineveh in obedience to God’s word and will you’re headed to your Tarshish in disobedience to God’s word and will! Which direction are you headed? Nineveh or Tarshish? Obedience or disobedience? That’s what chapter 1 is all about! We find this prophet like some of you running in the wrong direction. Let’s see what Jonah’s story meant then, what it means today and what it means for us personally. I) Jonah Gets a Word from the Lord (1:1-2) A) Jonah Received a Personal Word. Now remember Jonah was a real man who lived in a real place and like today God called him to a task. God had a personal word to say to His servant. You need to know that God still speaks a personal word to us! How? He speaks to us through the Scriptures! He speaks to us through His Spirit! He speaks to us through His Saints! B) Jonah Received a Pointed Word. Verse 2, Do you sense the urgency in those words? “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city” Just the mention of their name brought out the passions of the Israelites. And how they longed to see God wipe them off the map! In fact, I think the main reason Jonah ran was that he knew that if they heard the gospel that they would repent, and that God would forgive them. And rather than forgive them he wanted God to destroy them 4.2! C) Jonah Received a Purposeful Word. And now God instructs His prophet to go THERE to the wicked and godless city of Nineveh to preach the gospel! It was the last place on earth Jonah wanted to go! Verse 2, “cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” II) Jonah Gets Away from the Lord (1:3) And don’t think that Jonah was simply running from the will of God, he was running from the presence of God. Now as he tries to run from the presence of God, I want you to notice with me a few things you need to know especially for you who are running from God today! A) Consider the Direction of His Steps. (3) What direction were his steps as he began running from God? D O W N! “He went DOWN to Joppa …. and went DOWN into it ...” Do you see it? He went down to Joppa he went down into the boat. Later we’re going to read that he went DOWN into the belly of the fish. Jonah’s life was spiraling down, down, down. Learn this: you will never go up while you’re living in rebellion against God! Down is always the direction when there is rebellion against God! B) Consider the destination of his ship. (3) By the way whenever you run from God the Devil will make sure that there is a ship for you to get on! Why Tarshish? I’ll can tell you why! Because Tarshish was as far away as any place on earth in that day! Most believe that Tarshish was in Spain over 2000 miles from Joppa! Tarshish was as far West as you could go. C) Consider the desperation of his soul. (3) Every time you run in the wrong direction it’s going to cost you! There is a price to pay! In fact, the rest of the book of Jonah shows us just how much running from God cost. Have you ever stopped to consider the price you’re paying for running from God? Remember the old saying, • Sin will take you further then you ever wanted to go; • Sin will keep you longer than you ever wanted to stay; • Sin will cost you more than you ever wanted to pay. There’s a high price to pay for running from God. In Closing: You can run, but you cannot hide from God. It’s time you stop running from God and enjoy the fellowship and blessing He longs to give you! Watch us on our YouTube channel, our website or our Facebook page https://www.youtube.com/@midwaybaptistnc1670 https://midwaybaptistnc.org https://facebook.com/midwaybaptistnc