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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Song number 196. 196. Let's sing it out together on the first. I will sing the one, the story of the wise who died for me. I will act as one with harmony for the glass of gravity. Yes, I'll sing the one, the story of the wise who died for me. I will sing it out, sing it out, sing it out, sing it out, sing it out, sing it out, sing it out, sing it out. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. I was lost when Jesus came down the chain and ran astray. He was loving, walking, crowning, doing right as I was In the name of the Lord, the Son, and the Holy One, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, one and only, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Should a better place stand where I see you shall follow me O'er the land of the days of my life? Should a better place stand where I see you shall follow me O'er the land of the days of my life? And I shall live in the last one of the world For heaven there shall be no potatoes for me Should a better place stand where I see you shall follow me O'er the land of the days of my life? O'er the land of the days of my life? Alright, and now let's see, Brother Victor, go ahead. Ninety-six. Talk number ninety-six. God leads us along, song ninety-six. Ninety-six, sing it out on the first. In shame, in compassion, so rich we shall see God leads his dear children along Where one and two fair things will keep us free God leads his dear children along Sound through the waters, sound through the water Sound through the fire, hear the rock, hear the bell Should you praise your word, loud and strong In the last season, you are my God Alright, let's see, Brother Johnny, go ahead. Four hundred and fifteen. Four hundred and fifteen? We're going to sing it out, one the second. O'er the land of the days of my life? O'er the land of the days of my life? O'er the land of the days of my life? O'er the land of the days of my life? O'er the land of the days of my life? O'er the land of the days of my life? I am a stronger God forever I wish that God will shine Not to the strong, he is a banner Not to the swift, he is a race Not to the true, he is my battle His grace for all is through me And we'll sing it, go ahead. Twenty-four on the third. Song twenty-four, you guys know how to sing this one out, amen. Sing it out, on the last. O'er the land of the days of my life? O'er the land of the days of my life? O'er the land of the days of my life? I now run, I now run, to fame and crime My chance to love, my honor, my strength I'll go on, I'll go on, I'll go on, I'll go on Through the holiday of peace and love How can it be that thou might not choose the glory? This is the last one, Miss Lohrbaat. One thirty-eight. One hundred thirty-eight. One, three, eight, an even of rest. Sing it out, on the first. My soul shall never have my sin, So glad I can sing of his friends. To our first rejoice, say we are joys, And never turn the gate of rest. I give my soul in the image of rest, I'll sail my seas from home. And if they may sleep, all of us will be dead. In Jesus' first day, I will cry. Amen, all right, well let's go ahead and take our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements real quickly. If you do not have a bulletin, raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we'll get one for you. The verse this week, a couple of verses Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path. And that's a good verse there. A couple of verses would like that. If you look at our service, I am Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m. And we do invite you to be with us next week on Sunday morning on the Lord Saver Church. We're glad you made it out tonight for the evening service. And we do invite you to be with us on Wednesday night for the midweek service. We're studying through the book of Job on Wednesday night and we'll be in Job chapter 22. If you want to read ahead and be ready to study that together with us, that would be great. If you look at our sorting times, our main sorting times on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. And then we have additional sorting times on Sundays and on Thursdays at 2 p.m. If you are a soul winner, don't forget to add your salvations on the communication cards. So we can add those in the bulletin. Don't forget to turn in your maps. If you finish them, you can just discard them and we count those as being done. But if you did not finish it, please clearly mark what was done and what was not done. There's a bin in the foyer. You can turn those in there and that way we can finish those up during the week. And if you're running late, don't forget to call us or text us at the number there. 916-868-9080. Let us know your plan on being there, but you're running late. That way we can make sure we have a partner for you and a map and anything you need. Of course, we're a family integrated church. Children and infant are welcome in the service. We don't separate children from their parents for any reason. We do have mother baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events on Sunday mornings, we're going through a series called for such a time as this. We have two sermons left in this series. We have chapter 9 this coming week and then chapter 10 after that. And we'll be done with the Esther series just in time for Easter. And then we'll be on to a new series after that. When animals attack in the Bible started as a joke and then actually turned into a series, which was great, but we're ending it tonight. So we're looking at this last story. There's more animals that attack in the Bible than the ones I've covered, but I'm just kind of done with the series. So we're moving on to something different. But we'll be looking at Jonah and the whale. We of course can't miss that one. Vision offering is Sunday, March 28th. If you would take a moment to look through the card and pray and ask the Lord how he might move in your heart for you to help with our vision offering. We would appreciate that. Nine chapters a day challenge. Make sure you check for your name. Coronavirus precautions are there. Adult choir, they have practice today, 5 p.m. They're practicing for Easter. Upcoming cleaning crew, if you can check for your name, we appreciate your faithfulness there. Homeschool group, PE class is on Thursday, March 18th. Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off. Replace them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody. But look at the back of the bulletin. Birthdays and anniversaries for the month of March. This week, we have brother Scott Sweeten's birthday is on the 10th. And Miss Casey Taylor's birthday is on the 11th. And my mom's birthday, Gremis Jimenez, is on the 12th all this week. Praise report, money matters. You can see all of that there. We had 207 in church this morning and we have 166 in church tonight. So praise the Lord for that. Those are all good numbers there. One thing about the vision offering. The main thing we're raising money for right now is the expansion and remodeling of the auditorium. And we're going to have guys working all week long. But tomorrow, it looks like we're gonna have guys here all day long. So if you can come, you know, starting 10 a.m. or something like that, we would appreciate that. Make sure you talk to Oliver or talk to me. Let us know. But if you can help, we're going to be moving stuff. We're going to be taking down this this room here that we currently use for storage. We're going to have the scissor lift here tomorrow morning and we're going to start putting insulation up in that side. So if you can help with any of that, we would really appreciate the help. And you can you know, there's a lunch in it for you or whatever. As long as you like $10 pizza, that'll be great. So anyway, I think that's it for all of the announcements. My wife hates it when I do this, especially since our son started being in the orchestra. But I'm going to change the music up on you if that's all right. I just like to keep them on their toes. Sometimes they on their tippy toes, they sound too good sometimes. You know what I mean? You just kind of have to switch things up. So we could sing page number 375. Page number 375. Work for the night is coming. 375. And we'll sing. Work for the night is coming. Work through the morning hours. Singing out on the first. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do come to you tonight asking that you bless the offering. Lord, we pray that you would bless the time set aside for preaching. Fellowship. Lord, we pray that you continue to bless our church. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. We'll read the entire chapter as our custom. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. So we've been doing it. And it's been fun learning about when God judges people through nature. Of course, we started with a sermon on just the animal kingdom and how God sees it and perceives it. We've been looking at these different stories. We're ending tonight with one of the most famous stories in the Bible of when animals attack in the Bible. And of course, it's Jonah and the whale. And there's several things we can learn from the story. And I want to point those out to you. If you look at Jonah chapter 1 and verse 1, the Bible says this. The word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. And of course, we see that God commanded Jonah to go preach to the capital city of Assyria of the nation of Nineveh. And I'm not preaching about this tonight, but I just want to point out the fact that the heart of God has always been a heart of evangelism. And he's sending Jonah as a missionary, even in the Old Testament. That's what they were supposed to be doing in the Old Testament anyway, going out and preaching the gospel like we talked about this morning. Sometimes God had to push people and maneuver people in situations to get more people saved. But here, God sends Jonah to Nineveh to preach his judgment and of course, to turn them to belief in Jesus Christ. And of course, as you know, the very famous story of Jonah, verse 3, the Bible says, but Jonah rose up to flee. Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord and went down to Joppa and he found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. And I'd like you to keep your place there in Jonah, if you would, and go with me to the book of Nahum later on in the Old Testament there. You have Jonah, Micah, and then Nahum, Nahum chapter number 3. Just by way of introduction, let me just make this point. In Jonah's defense, and I'm not, obviously I'm not saying what Jonah did was right, what Jonah did was wrong. We're going to learn that in the story. But in his defense, I want you to understand that the reason that the Bible says that Jonah rose up to flee, the reason that Jonah did not want to go and preach to these people is because Jonah hated the Assyrians because the Assyrians were pretty bad people. I mean, God says to Jonah, go and preach and cry against it, go to that great city, and Jonah basically says, no, I don't want to, I'm not going to. And the Bible says he runs away from God. But the reason he does that is because the Assyrians were pretty bad, and they had been pretty bad to the nation of Israel. In fact, in the book of Nahum chapter 3, we actually read about the destruction of Nineveh. Now, when God wants to destroy Nineveh, Jonah eventually goes to Nineveh, and the people believe on God, and they're spared from judgment. But later on, they turn away from God, and then God ends up destroying them anyway. Nahum tells us of that destruction. And in Nahum chapter 3 and verse 1, I want you to notice how the Assyrians are described. Nahum chapter 3 and verse 1, the Bible says, woe to that bloody city. It is all full of lies and robbery. The prey departeth not the noise of a whip and the noise of the rattling of the wheels and of the prancing horses and of the jumping chariots. The horsemen lifted up both the bright sword and the glittering spear. And there is a multitude of slain and a great number of carcasses. And there is none end of their corpses. They stumble upon their corpses. Look at verse 4. Because the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts that selleth nations through her whoredoms and families through her witchcrafts. I want you to notice that this place sounds like a pretty bad place. I mean, it's full of lies. It's full of robbery. It has a great multitude of slain. The Bible says that they stumble upon their corpses. It talks about the whoredoms, the harlots, the witchcraft. I mean, it kind of sounds like the United States, to be honest. But it sounds like a bad place. And because of this, and the Assyrians had persecuted God's people. So Jonah did not want to go. Jonah chose to flee. And Jonah decides to run from God. He gets backslidden. And he decides to flee from where God told him to go. In fact, it's interesting, and I don't have a map up here. You can look this up on your own. But if you were to look at a map and look up the locations where Jonah goes, Jonah travels from one side. If you look at a map of the Bible lands, you'll notice that most of the events that take place in the Bible are in the lands that surround the Mediterranean Sea. And Joppa, which is where Jonah is, is all the way on the east of that Mediterranean Sea. And Jonah decides to go to Tarshish, which is on the west over by Spain. Literally, Jonah chooses to go as far as the developed travel route would allow him to go. God says, I want you to go to Joppa. And he says, I'm going to go as far in the other direction in the civilized world where the travel routes would allow me. I'm going to go as far away as I can. Nineveh being 500 miles inland from Joppa, he goes as far as he can. And he decides to run. And go back to Jonah, if you would, Jonah chapter number one. And let me just say this, and I'd like you to jot some thoughts down. I've got some things for you to consider in regards to this story. And on the back of your course of the week, there's a place for you to write down notes, or maybe you bring a notebook or something like that. And it's always good to write notes at church. You're here to learn the word of God, so you can apply the word of God. And we want you to learn these things. Look, I don't stand up here, and I hope this sounds okay. I'm not saying this in an arrogant way. But my goal is not to stand up here to preach to be heard. My goal is to preach to be repeated. I hope that you will take what you learn here and repeat it to your children. Repeat it to your converts. Repeat it to your neighbors. Repeat it to your co-workers. Our goal is to further the word of God and the things that we learn from the word of God. So I want you to write some of these things down. Now, I want to talk about runners. Because when I think of Jonah, this is what I think of. The guy runs. He runs away. And what I've noticed over the last 10 years of ministry, the ministry kind of gives you a very good foundation into human beings, human interaction, psychology, if you will, and just how people think. What I've noticed is that there are many people in this world who choose to run. When things get difficult, they run. When things are not as they'd like them to be, they run. When there's something that needs to be dealt with, something that needs to be done, they run. Now, you might think, well, I don't know that I know people that run. You might use a different word. You might use the word quit. But when you quit school, or maybe you might use the word dropped out of school because it was hard, you know what you were doing? You ran. You might use the word divorce. When you got a divorce because things weren't going well, you ran. You might call it, well, I just kind of switch jobs every two years, or every two months, or every two weeks. But when there are some people, there are some people who just kind of take that fight versus flight, and they just kind of take that flight mechanism. And that's why they're always wanting to move. They're always wanting to go. Because whenever things get difficult, uncomfortable, they're not going the way we want them to go. It's not what God is asking me to do, something that I don't want to do, Jonah would say. They run. They choose to run. So I want to give you some lessons, especially for those of you that are runners. And I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand, but you know who you are. I want to give you some thoughts in regards to running. Things you got to consider before you run. Jonah chapter one, look at verse three. But Jonah rose up to flee. We've got our reluctant hero. He's going to run. Now notice what the Bible says. Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish. Now I want you to notice the emphasis here, and you might want to even underline this in your Bible. Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish. Notice what God emphasizes, what the word of God emphasizes, what the Holy Spirit emphasizes. From the presence of the Lord. And went down to Joppa, and he found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish. Notice what God emphasizes, from the presence of the Lord. Look at verse 10, same chapter. Skip down to verse number 10. Then were the men exceeding afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled. Notice what God emphasizes, from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Keep your place right there in Jonah. We're going to come back to it. Go with me to the New Testament book of John, if you would. John chapter number six, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. John chapter number six. The Bible says this about Jonah, that he ran from the presence of the Lord. In verse three, the Bible says this about Jonah. Twice in verse three, that he ran from the presence of the Lord. From the presence of the Lord. In verse 10, it says that he ran from the presence of the Lord. In fact, Jonah understood this, because in verse 10, the Bible says that the men knew that he fled. The men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he, Jonah, had told them. I think Jonah had no qualms about. He had no issue. He understood. If you ask Jonah, Jonah, who are you running from? Or where are you running from? He would have no problem saying, I am running from the presence of the Lord. However, I think if you would have asked Jonah, Jonah, where are you running to? He would have had problems answering that question, because what I've noticed when we run, and for those of you who have a tendency to run, something you should consider before you run is not only who you are running from, it's not only where you are running from, but who you are running to. Because when we run, when we quit, when we leave, when we go, when we decide we've had enough, this is too hard, this is too difficult, that's not what I signed up for, that's not what I wanted, when we decide to run, usually, we may not verbalize it like Jonah did, usually it's very clear though in our minds and in our hearts what we're running from, but before you run from something, you might want to consider, what exactly are you running to? Before you run, ask yourself, where are you going? So, in John chapter 6 and verse 66, we find a story of the Lord Jesus Christ, where He basically just had a big church split, and He looks at His disciples, and most of His disciples, the Bible says they left, John, it's interesting, look at these numbers, 666. The Bible says, from that time, many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, will ye also go away? This is one of my favorite passages. The apostle Peter, you know, we often cite Peter for putting his foot in his mouth, and he says a lot of dumb things in the Bible, but he says a lot of great things too, and Peter's this type of guy, when he's on, he's on, you know, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, I mean, sometimes he's like, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, and sometimes Jesus telling him, get thee behind me, Satan. That's just kind of how Peter was. But here we see Peter, in a moment of clarity, in a moment of spirituality, when Jesus says, will ye also go away? Will ye also quit? Will ye also run? Are you also going to run from me? Peter, in a moment of clarity, says, I'm not too worried about where, if we did leave Jesus, I understand who we'd be leaving with, but I'm more concerned with this, who would I be going to? John 668, then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, notice these words, to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of eternal life. See, before you run, before you run, you ought to consider, not only who you're running from, you've thought about that, not only what you're running from, I'm running from my husband, I'm running from my wife, I'm running from my children. You've thought about that. But before you run, you ought to consider, not only who you're running from, but where you're running to. See, the problem with runners is that they're often only concerned in what they're leaving, and they're usually not cognizant of what they, where they are going to. I've told you this story before, actually, when I'm making this exact same point. When I was a kid, I don't know, maybe 10 or 11 years old, I ran away from home twice in one week, and it was summer vacation, and, you know, it was just us at home, and it was me and my brother, who are close to age, and then my very mean older sister. And I don't remember what the problem was, but I'm sure it was her fault. And I decided to run away from home. I packed my bags and I left. I knew exactly what I was running from, but once I got out that door, I wasn't really sure where I was going to, and I ended up spending a couple of hours at the school across the street from our house, and by the time it was dinner time and I was starving, it came back home. The point is this, people often run, and when they do, and when they do, they're very clear about what they're leaving, what they're running from, where they're going, but they often don't stop to ask the question like Peter did, to whom shall we go? I mean, I can leave this situation, look, whatever it is. People get mad at church and say, I'm going to leave that church. Okay, well, what church are you going to go to? And look, I'm not saying this is the only church that God is working in, but people don't often stop to answer that question, and they don't stop to think, well, what's the problem? Because let me just let you in on a little secret. All of your problems, according to the Bible, the Bible says that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? The Bible says that out of the heart of man proceedeth evil things and murders and lying and stealing and covetousness. And here's the truth of the matter, that whatever you're running from probably has something to do with you, and wherever you run to will still have you. So before you quit, before you flee, before you run, before you go, you ought to consider not only who you're running from, not only where you're running from, but where and what and to whom are you running to? See, there's nothing wrong with leaving something if you're going to something better. I mean, we celebrate people here all the time who leave. Our church in the last 10 years has started five different churches, and there is this tension between church growth and church planting, because usually when we send somebody to go start a church, we send the cream of the crop. We don't send the worst church members we've got, we send some of the best church members we've got. And of course, there's a tension there because you spend time loving people, investing into people, helping people grow, and then sometimes we send them off on their way to go do something. You say, well, how do you feel about that? Well, we celebrate that. We hold special ordination services, and we have potlucks, and we take pictures, and we have parties, and we celebrate the fact. Look, there's nothing wrong with somebody leaving and running from Verity Baptist Church if they're running to Manila to go start a church. Nothing wrong with leaving Verity Baptist Church if you're going to Boise, Idaho to start a church. Nothing wrong with leaving Verity Baptist Church if you're going to Vancouver, Washington, or Fresno, and Pampanga. Nothing wrong with going somewhere. Nothing wrong. Sometimes God moves you. Sometimes God tells you to go. Sometimes God has you run in a different direction when you're running to. When you're running to something, nothing wrong with that. If God has called you to do that, do it. But when all you're doing is running from, that's a problem. I'm not running to anything. I'm just trying to get away from my marriage. I'm not running to anything. I'm just trying to get away from my spiritual walk. I'm not running to anything. I'm just trying to get away from the responsibilities of God. Look, when you're running from, you're the problem. And you'll find when you get there that you still have the same problems, because the problem is you. The problem is me. So before we run, sometimes we have ministry problems. Sometimes we have problems in ministry. Sometimes we have issues in the ministry. I think every pastor, if they were honest with you, and maybe they won't be honest with you, but they're honest with me when I talk to them, I think every pastor, you know, from time to time wants to quit. Sometimes people ask me, you ever want to quit? And I think, you mean like today? Are you asking, do I ever want to? Or how many times a week do I want to? But you know, I could go, I could, I could, my wife and I could pack up our bags, say, see you. You know, you guys don't like us or you don't want to be nice to us or whatever. We'll go somewhere else, but we'll deal with problems there too. The problem is me. I've got to work through it. I've got to grow through it. I've got to mature through it. See, the problem is not going. If God's calling you to go, then go. But when all you're doing is running from the presence of the Lord, you would have asked Jonah, Jonah, what are you doing? I'm running from, but where are you running to? It doesn't matter. See, you know, we celebrate people going through something. We don't celebrate people just going. I'm leaving the church. I'm going to go move somewhere. You know, we don't celebrate that. Before you run, you got to consider not only who you're running from, but where you're running to. Let me give you a second thought. Go back to Jonah chapter one, if you would. Jonah's running from the presence of the Lord. He's running from God. He's running from something. And in verse four, the Bible says this. Jonah gets on a ship, travels out in the middle of the sea, Mediterranean Sea. Verse four, but the Lord sent a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Look at verse 17. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish. Here's our when animals attack. To swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Go to Psalm 139, if you would. In the center of your Bible, you have the book of Psalms, Psalm 139. If you're jotting down some notes, you can write this down. Number one, before you run, you ought to consider not only who you're running from or where you're running to. Number two, before you run, you ought to consider... I'm talking to you runners. Before you run, you ought to consider. You ought to consider this. Jonah learned this the hard way. See, Jonah said, God, you want me to go to Nineveh? I'm in Joppa. You want me to go to Nineveh, 500 miles inland? No, I'm going to go all the way to the other side of the Mediterranean Sea. I'm going to run from the presence of the Lord. And Jonah didn't really care where he was going. He was just running from. He wasn't thinking of where he was going. He just needed to get away from what God had called him to do. So he gets on a ship. They said, we're going to Tarshish. We're going through the sea. He said, fine with me. He goes down that trip, and the wind meets him. The storm meets him. The whale meets him. And Jonah learns this lesson, which is a lesson that I think we should all learn, and it is this. Not only before you run should you consider not only who you're running from, but where you're running to. But number two, before you run, you ought to consider this, that you can run from God, but you cannot outrun God. And you can get on a ship and run away from your family. You can get on a ship and run away from your ministry. You can get on a ship and run away from your responsibilities. You can get on a ship and run away from your debt. You can get on a ship and run away. But when you get there, God will meet you there. Psalm 139 and verse seven, are you there? Notice what the Bible says. Notice what the Psalmist says. He says, whither shall I go from thy spirit? The word whither means to what place? He says, what place? Jonah should have asked these questions. Whither shall I go from my spirit? Or whither shall I flee from my presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Jonah should have read that. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. Let me tell you something. God is at work in your life, whether you like it or not. God is working on you, whether you like it or not. We've been studying it in the book of Esther. God is allowing a series of unfortunate events to come into your life, to mold you and to chip you away. You say, what is God's will for my life? God's will for your life is that you would be conformed to the image of his son. I heard somebody say recently that they were interviewing a sculptor and they were talking about this person who would take a piece of rock and marble and turn it into a beautiful face and the likeness of famous individuals and people like George Washington or, you know, people from history. And somebody asked this individual, you know, how do you, how do you start? You know, when you, when you start, you walk into your, your, your, your location where you do this work and all you see is a piece of, of rock, a piece of marble. How do you, how do you do it? And the individual said, well, what I see is the face, the image that is coming. And when I take my chisel and my, and my hammer, I just begin to chisel away at everything that doesn't look like the picture that I'm trying to bring forth. And God is the same way. God sees, look, whether you like it or not, God sees his son in you. God sees you conform to the image of his son. And sometimes he has to take his chisel and his hammer and start chipping away at some things. And God is at work and God is working. And you say, I'm going to run from God and I'm going to go to the uttermost part of the sea, but God will meet you there. Look, you can quit your marriage and marry somebody else. God's still going to work on you. You can quit this church and join some other church. God's still going to work on you. You can quit your job. You can quit. Look, you can run from whatever you want. And you'll learn the lesson that Jonah learned that you can run from God, but you cannot outrun God. And you can get on the ship and you can go down to the sea and God will meet you there. The storm met him there. The great fish met him there. Jonah teaches us this idea that before we run, we ought to consider that not only who we are running from, but where we are running to. Before we run, we ought to consider that you can run from God, but you cannot outrun God. God has invested in you and he has invested in you. If his son died for your sins, he's committed to you, whether you like it or not. And you can run from him and you can run for a while, but you can't outrun him. The prodigal son learned this lesson. He can run from dad, but he can't outrun the heavenly father. You can live in riotous. You can have the riotous living, but eventually the famine comes. Eventually the whale shows up. Eventually the storm comes. Eventually you realize that God will meet you there. So before you run, consider that you can run. You can run from human beings. You can run from all of us, but you can't run from God. You can run from him, but you cannot outrun him. Even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. Wherever you run, God will meet you there. And God will continue. See, God doesn't let you skip levels. He's going to continue to work on you, continue to chip away at you, continue to do his work with you. Go back to Jonah chapter one, if you would, look at verse four. Let me give you a third lesson. Jonah chapter one and verse four. The Bible says this, but the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea and there was a mighty tempest in the sea so that the ship was like to be broken. And the mariners, the mariners were afraid. Now look, did the mariners get a call to go preach to Nineveh? No. Did the mariners have anything to do with Jonah? No. Other than the fact that the mariners were on the same journey with Jonah, but Jonah is running from God. And the Bible says in verse five, then the mariners were afraid and cried every man unto his God. Notice the lowercase g there. And cast forth the wares, the word wares means merchandise, that were in the ship into the sea. This is a common practice if you think the ship is going to sink to start lightening the ship and they're taking all the wares and the merchandise and throwing it into the sea to lighten it of them. But Jonah, notice, but Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship and he lay and was fast asleep. You ever meet people like that? Seems like their whole lives falling apart and they're just asleep. We often call it, man, are you asleep at the wheel? Jonah was asleep at the bottom of the ship, fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him and said unto him, verse six, what meanest thou, sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God. If so be that God will think upon us, notice what the shipmaster says, last part of verse six, that we perish not. And they said, everyone to his fellow come and let us cast lots that we may know for what cause this evil is upon, notice the emphasis, us. So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, tell us we pray thee for what cause this evil is upon us. What is thine occupation and whence comest thou? What is thy country and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which has made the sea and the dry land. He says, you know, my God controls the sea, the sea that we're in trouble in right now. Yeah, that sea. Look at verse 10. Then were the men exceedingly afraid and said unto him, why has thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. Here's point number three, lesson number three. Before you run, you ought to consider, I said, number one, not only where you are running from, but where you are running to. And I said, number two, you ought to consider that you can run from God, but you cannot outrun God. Number three, you ought to consider this, that when you run, you will wreck havoc in the lives of those that are traveling with you. Look dad, you can go ahead and ruin your life. You can go ahead and be a dirtbag dad. You can go ahead and just live your life for yourself, but whether you like it or not, you will wreck havoc in the life of your children. You will wreck havoc in the life of your wife. You ladies, you can leave. You can be mean. You can decide to divorce. You can decide to go. You can commit adultery, but there are people that are traveling with you. You kids, you teenagers, you can go ahead and be that prodigal son. There's no new thing under the sun. We already know. Look, you're not the first prodigal. We've seen a few of them over the years. They all end the same way, the way the story ends in the Bible, eating swine's food, realizing that they weren't as smart as they thought they were. You can go ahead, but look, in the process, while you run, you break the heart of your parents. You break the heart of your preacher. You break the heart of your pastor's wife. You break the heart of the people that have invested. Look, before you run, you ought to consider that when you run, you're not just ruining your own life, Jonah. You're wrecking havoc in the life of everyone that is on that ship with you. You will hurt your father. You will hurt your mother. You will hurt your wife. You will hurt your husband. You will hurt your pastor. You will hurt your fellow church members. You will hurt your coworkers. You will hurt your grandparents. You'll hurt your aunt and your uncle. You'll hurt everyone that is traveling through this journey with you. You say, I can get on this ship. I don't care if the ship sinks. Yeah, but what about everybody else on the ship with you? So you can run. Do what you want. But you ought to consider, where are you running to? And you ought to realize that you're going to run from God, but you cannot outrun God, and God's not going to let you get away with it anyway. God is going to meet you there, and God is going to work on you, and he's going to continue to chip away at you there like he's chipping away at you here. The only difference is, in the process, you'll wreck the lives. You'll wreck havoc upon the lives of the people traveling with you. And look, it doesn't have to be a physical run. You can say, well, I'm here physically, but I've disengaged spiritually. You're still ruining the lives of people around you. Jonah chapter one, let me give you the last one tonight. Jonah chapter one, look at verse seven. And they said, everyone, to his fellow, come and let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause is this evil upon us? What is thine occupation, and whence comest thou? What is thy country, and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am in Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. I think that's a very interesting question. Why has thou done this? Look, you don't want to get to the end of your life and have the people around you say, why'd you do it? Why don't you just stay? Why don't you just submit? Why don't you just humble yourself? Why don't you just get right with God? Why don't you just ask forgiveness? Why don't you just give the forgiveness? Why has thou done this, Jonah? Verse 11, then said they unto him, what shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto thee? For the sea wrought and was tempestuous, and he said unto them, notice what he says, take me up, cast me forth into the sea. So shall the sea be calm unto you, for I know that for my sake, this great tempest is upon you. Jonah says, I know it's my fault. Just throw me into the sea. Now at this point, at this point, Jonah's thinking to himself, here's what he's thinking. He's thinking, I have made a mess of everything. I mean, I've just, I've just, everything's messed up. Just throw me into the sea. Just, just, just give me up for a human sacrifice. And at least the wrath of God won't be upon you anymore. Jonah had given up on himself. And by the way, the people around him had given up on him too, because if you read the story, they throw him into the sea. But you know who hadn't given up on Jonah yet? Notice what the Bible says. Verse 15. So they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea, and the sea seized from a raging sea. I want you to notice verse one of chapter two. The Bible says, excuse me, I'm, I had you look at the wrong verse. Look at verse 16, Jonah chapter one, verse 16. I wrote down the wrong thing. I apologize. Look at verse 12. Then he said unto them, take me up, cast me forth into the sea. So shall thy sea be common to you. For I know that for my sake, this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless, the men rode hard to bring to the land, but they could not for the sea wrought and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord and said, we beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not be afraid of the sea. But they against them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord and said, we beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life and lay not up upon us innocent blood for thou, O Lord has done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea and the sea seized from a raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and feared a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. This is what the story is known for. This is what when you hear about Jonah, you hear about Jonah being in the belly of the whale. The interesting thing about the story is that this is where Jonah would have had the story end. Jonah thought just throw me into the sea and it'll all be done. And right when Jonah, look, here's the thing about running. You say, well, maybe I'm running right now. How do I know when I'm done running? And again, you can look at the prodigal son. The Bible says when he came to the end of himself, when you're done fighting, when you're done running, when you just say, I'm done, it's over. Throw me into the sea. God is just getting started. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Verse one, chapter two. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord has gone from out of the fish's belly and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord. And he heard me out of the belly of hell, cried I, and now heard is my voice for thou has cast me into the deep. Think about that. Jonah chapter two, verse three. Who's Jonah talking to? God. For thou has cast me into the deep. Now let me ask you this question. Who cast Jonah into the deep? I mean, we just read it. I'm not trying to trick you. It was the sailors. The sailors cast Jonah into the deep, but that's not what Jonah said. Jonah said thou has cast me into the deep. It's this theme we've been learning about over the last several weeks, this series of unfortunate events. Let me ask you this. Who sold Joseph into slavery? It was his brothers. But you know who really it was? It was God. Who threw Joseph into prison? It was Potiphar's wife. But you know who really it was? It was God. Who cast Jonah into the sea? The sailors cast him into the sea. And Jonah acknowledges the fact that all of the series of unfortunate events was orchestrated by God. When he ran from God, and when he quit on God, and when he left God, God orchestrated. And then Jonah cries from the belly of the well. He says for thou has cast me into the deep. And here's lesson number four. Before you run, consider this, that God will do what he needs to do to get you back. Now this is what we think. We think God's trying to get back at me. God is not trying to get back at you, but he is trying to get you back. Sometimes God has to move us in the direction that we would otherwise be unwilling to go. Sometimes it takes a whale. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 11, my son despised not thou the chastening of the Lord, neither beware of his correction, for whom the Lord loveth he correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighted. You can run. You can run. But before you run, let me just let you in on a little secret. God will do whatever he needs to do to get you back. You say, why would God do that? Because you're a son of God. Because you're a daughter of God. Because you're a child of God. You say, is God trying to punish me because I quit on him? No, no, no. God's not trying to get back at you. He's trying to get you back. God will do whatever he needs to do. God will meet you wherever he needs to meet you. God will go wherever he needs to go. When you get wherever you're not even sure you're going, God will meet you there and say, are you ready now? What if we throw you into the deep? Are you ready now? What if I have you swallowed by a whale? Are you ready now? And eventually you might say, God threw me in prison. Eventually you might say, God caused me to go through bankruptcy. Eventually you might say, God put me in the hospital. Eventually you might say, God had me go through this difficulty and that difficulty. Eventually you might say that God was at work in my life when I ran. Not to get back at me, but just to get me back in his will, in his way. So look, before you run, before you run, just remember that you can run from God, but you can't outrun God. And God will do whatever. God will do whatever he needs to do in your life to mold you, to sculpt you into the image of his son. So you know what would be better, Jonah? If you don't run. Because in the book of Jonah, we have this chapter 2 and chapter 3 where Jonah goes and does what God told him to do. And we didn't have to have chapter 1. I often tell my kids this. My wife and I, you know, we'll tell our kids to do something and they decide to, you know, go clean your room, whatever, and they decide to throw some fit. They're not gonna do it. You know, I try to, it's hard to talk to them when they're in that fit, kind of like some of you. I try to explain to them, you're gonna do it anyway. You're gonna do it either way. Now you can do it pleasantly or you can do it with a lot of spankings. That's up to you. I'm not trying to get back at you, but I'm gonna get you back. Sometimes God looks down at us and says, you can run, but you can't hide. And I'm gonna get you back. The road you decide to take is up to you. So before you run, consider that God will do what he needs to do to get you back. Not to get back at you, but to get you back in his will and his way. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for the Bible. Thank you for the story of Jonah and the whale. And Lord, I know how tempting it is sometimes to run, to want to run, to want to quit, to think we can just start over somewhere else, with something else, with someone else. But it's not true. Running won't solve anything. Whatever problem we're running from, we'll just deal with that problem when we get wherever we're going. Help us to be like Peter, ask that question, to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of life. Lord, help us not to run. Help us not to quit. Help us like Esther, like we learned this morning, that life just has difficulties sometimes and you can help us through them. Lord, help us not to be quitters. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen. Now, Brother Matt, come up and lead us in a final song. Just want to remind you a couple of things. First of all, if you haven't seen your name yet in the foyer for the nine chapters of eight challenge, please make sure you do that. And then also just want to remind you about cleaning and working in this building tomorrow. We should have guys here at 10 a.m., starting at 10 a.m. I realize some of you guys are at work and that's fine. Don't feel guilty about that. But if you happen to be free, if you're able to come, or if you'd like to come in the afternoon or whatever, please talk to Brother Oliver, let me know. But we have lots of things we want to try to get ahead on and start doing. So if you could help us with that, we'd appreciate it. Wednesday night, Job 22, make sure you read it, be ready to study God's Word together. If there's anything that we can do for you, please let us know. Brother Matt, come up and lead us in a final song. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. There's nothing in the ground for me. Amen. You're good singing before you leave here. salvation, church membership, or baptism, pastor will be at the door, I'd love to talk to you, or direct you to someone who's trained to talk about that. Go ahead and bow your heads, have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we just thank you for the preaching tonight, Lord, and pray that you'd help us to apply these things to our lives. Lord, that you would help us not to run from you, Lord, but to follow you each and every day of our lives. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.