Called, Chosen, but Unfaithful // Taj Pacleb GYC 2015

father thank you thank you thank you for being a god that is incredibly interested in lowly man Lord we are but dust and you still know the hairs on our head you still have an incredible care and concern and love for each person here and father I pray that you would pour out your Holy Spirit on these morning devotionals I pray that you would speak through Tosh and I pray that our hearts would be open to your working Lord we give you permission to do an awesome work here at GYC and this is not about the speakers this is not about us this is about you and so we give you all the honor and glory this morning we love you we invite your presence to be here with us as we continue to worship you and father would you silence the noise of our heart the distractions and we want to turn our eyes upon Jesus in your name amen amen I measured out my day life carried me an O in my soul I had to follow God but knew I'd never be so strong I looked hard at this world to learn however could be gay just to end where I began where human effort was all in pain were it not for great I can tell you now some pointless Lord to nowhere with my salvation heart to me I know how that can go the battles I will forever running but losing the race were it not for Bray's so here is all my prey expressed with all my heart offer to our friend who took my place and read of course I could not start and when he saw in full just how much his love would call he still with the final mile between me and heaven so I would not be lost were it not for grace I can tell you right wandering down some pointless war to nowhere with my salvation heart to me I know how that can go the battles I would face forever running but losing the race were it not for grace forever running but losing the race were it not for grace good morning GIC good morning I didn't hear anyone respond is it a good morning all right I want to just share that it's a very high honor and a great privilege to stand before you here this morning and sharing in the morning devotionals I want to thank God first and foremost as well as the GYC team for orchestrating this wonderful opportunity for us to come to press together in preparation for our Lord Jesus soon return how many of you are thankful to be here at UIC amen to begin this morning I want to make a few comments upon this year's theme called chosen and faithful these solemn words come from a very powerful prophecy in the book of Revelation chapter 17 a prophecy pointing to a time when the nations of the world are going to come together not in a one-world government or some type of New World Order but a ecumenical unity where differences are going to be put aside for the common good of all it's a time when the nations will come together in one mind the Bible says one goal one intent one resolve one agenda and they're going to come together in unity and unity sounds good in a world that is fragmented and divided in torn apart but the Bible tells us in this solemn prophecy in the 17th of Revelation that the inevitable results of this unity is that they're going to look upon the Beast and they're going to give their power and strength to the beasts and it says that they're going to make war with the lamb and as the world is coming together in unity to fight against God and the truth of God and ultimately the people of God the Bible tells us that in this controversy the lamb wins and they that are with him are called chosen and faithful I'm so thankful friends that in this war between good and evil and as the world is coming together today to fight against God and the truth of God that we are on the winning team when we're on the Lambs team amen that we don't have to be afraid of the beasts as long as we are connected with the wonderful land Jesus Christ and so this morning and the other in the following morning's for our morning devotional time I want to share with you some messages that have been crafted to remind us that we don't have to be afraid of what's happening in the last days we just have to be with Jesus we want to share some messages to remind us of what it means to be called chosen and faithful I want to share with you two messages really broken up into four parts that deal with that theme and so this morning's presentation is entitled called chosen but unfaithful called chosen but unfaithful I invite you to take your Bible and open with me to the book of Matthew and we're going to go to the 12 chapter as we begin our Bible study this morning Matthew chapter 12 as we study called chosen but unfaithful Matthew chapter 12 and notice in this passage the scribes and Pharisees and religious leaders of the during the days of Christ presents a very vain and immodest request to the Lord Jesus notice what it says here in Matthew chapter 12 beginning with verse 38 but let us pray first father in heaven we thank you so much Lord for gathering us together as your children in this place that we might press together that we might draw closer to you and Lord we just pray that your Holy Spirit would fill this room fill our hearts give us clarity of thought and an open heart to receive the message of this hour speak to us Lord not only corporately as a church but personally and individually as your child this is our prayer in Jesus name Amen Matthew chapter 12 and verse 38 if you're there and if you're ready to study the Bible this morning would you let me know by saying Amen the Bible says in Matthew 12 verse 38 then some of the teachers excuse me then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered say teacher we would see a what they want a sign from thee here the Pharisees and scribes are asking Jesus to perform some type of sign to prove his Messiahship now we have to understand that these seekers were skeptical but they had no reason to be skeptical because they had abundant evidence in the Word of the character mission and identity of the Messiah these were the guardians of the Torah the expositors of the sacred writings these were the facilitators of the temple services the shepherds of the flock of God the priests of the Most High these who have been entrusted with much light must much knowledge are asking Jesus to perform some type of silly sign some miracle to prove himself to them but Jesus responds to this presumptuous prayer request in verse 39 and he answered and said to them an evil and adulterous generation seeks after sign and there shall no sign be given unto it Christ here refuses to satisfy the sight of their eyes he would not perform some type of miracle some silly sign to prove his Messiahship why because these religious leaders as I mentioned already had sufficient evidence that he was the Messiah in the prophetic word and therein in the Bible the scrolls of the prophets was the character and the identity of the Messiah revealed but these religious leaders are like many religious leaders and religious people today the instead of going by what the Bible clearly teaches they wanted to be satisfied with their eyes they want some type of outward demonstration some type of burning in the boot bosom but Christ refused to do it friends because our faith is not to be found there upon some sign or Wonder or miracle but upon the Word of God this is the foundation of faith Bible tells us we walk by faith and not by sight and faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God and so Christ refused to perform the miracle he met he performed many miracles but he never performed the miracle to prove himself because miracles are not the evidence of true faith God wants us to live by the word however there is one sign that Jesus would perform that would unmistakably verify his identity verify the fact that he is the Messiah and notice what this sign is in verse 39 he continues the rest of verse 39 he said but the sign of the Prophet Jonas verse 44 as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whales belly so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth then the men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonas and behold a greater than Jonas is here so here we find Jesus telling the Pharisees that there is one sign that he would perform they would verify his Messiah and that was the sign of the prophet Jonah another is Jonah or Jesus is likening the experience of Jonah to that of himself as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whales belly so he would be three days and three nights not in the grave but in the heart of the earth this my friends this singular sign is the sign that Jesus gave to prove his Messiahship and we're going to see today as well as tomorrow that it's the same sign that proves our discipleship to Jesus it proves his Messiahship but it also proves our discipleship we're going to see that this sign is the evidence that we have been called and chosen but it's also the power that enables us to be faithful in the last days and so the question is this what if Jonah teaches us about Christ and what if Jonah teaches us about ourselves well now I invite you to take your Bible and turn to the Book of Jonah as we look at this very famous story and see some things that perhaps ever seen before notice what the Bible says we're going to the Book of Jonah chapter 1 and as you're turning there first of all who was Jonah it was a prophet of God he was the runaway prophet of the Lord but nonetheless he was warned that God had caught and chosen to do a special work Jonah is a worshipper of the true God he did not worship idols he was the worshipper of Jehovah the true God but the question is what constitutes a true worshiper of God well Jesus told us in the book of John chapter 4 that the true worshipers worship God in a spirit and true not just in spirit not just in truth but both of these two things together constitutes a true worshiper of God this is who Jonah is for notice in his very name we find his identity and by extension his mission and his message notice Jonah chapter 1 and verse 1 the Bible says now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of what is his daddy's name I'm a time now I want you to stop right there that word Jonah in the original it means dumb that's what the word Jonah means it means dumb now what is the Dove a symbol of in the Bible it's a symbol of the Holy Spirit of God and the Bible tells us that Jonah's father's name was Amitai and that word Amitai in the original hebrew it means my truth what does it mean everyone my truth and so when you look at the very name of Jonah which means dove a symbol of the Spirit the son of Amitai my truth we see that in Jonah's very name we find his identity he is a son of truth that is to be feared with the spirit a true worshiper that worships God in spirit and in truth at least this is what he was called and chosen to be in other words his identity is found in his very name which by extension points out his mission and defines his message in other words Jonah's message is rooted France listen listen to the point Jonah's message is rooted in his name or his identity he is to be a messenger of spirit and truth and that's the same for us now what specifically is Jonah's message well let's jump down to verse 9 Jonah chapter 1 and notice what Jonah said in verse 9 this is when he was on the boat speaking to the Mariners and he said to them I am a Hebrew and I do what everyone fear the Lord the God of heaven who did what made the sea and the dry land so notice what Jonah says here's his message I am a Hebrew this is who I am this is my identity and by extension of Who I am I fear God the one that made the sea and the dry lands the true creator that made all things I fear God the one that made all things and by the way when Jonah went to Nineveh he gave a message of judgment did he not basically when he came to the the kingdom of Nineveh Jonah's message was that the hour of God's judgment is come and so when you put that all together that sounds very familiar doesn't it I fear God the one that made all things and I'm here to tell you that the how his judgment has come friends this is exactly what the first angel declares in Revelation chapter 14 and verse 7 the point is this phrase Jonah's message is very similar to ours our message and our identity is the same as that of Jonah God is calling us friends not only to be recipients of the message but he's calling us to be participants of the mission we're not always to be on the receiving end God wants us and is calling us to be gone on the giving it and so if you have received the gospel if you've heard the truth if you have been a recipient automatically the enrolls you to be a participant because Christianity is not a spectator sport God is calling us to receive so that we can give and so the word came to Jonah first he received this commission and I want you to notice what God called Jonah to do verse 2 notice what it says what is the first word that the Word of God said Jonah or call Jonah today what is that first word in verse 2 it says our eyes my friends I like that word our eyes it's a word that calls us to come up higher you see when the word of God comes to us God's Word is an uplifting word man's word brings us down but God's word brings us up whenever the word of God comes to us it's always a call to come up on higher ground it's a call out of the darkness of deception and into the light of truth God's Word and call to us is a call to come up out of the valley of despair to stand upon the mountain of hope it's a call to come out of the raging waves of worry and on to the peace for Shore of calm assurance it's a word that calls us out of the bondage of bitterness and into the freedom of forgiveness out of the slavery of sin and into the security of full salvation and so my brothers and my sisters today if you find yourself discouraged by your depressing circumstances the Word of God calls you to arise arise and be encouraged by the reality that God is still the sovereign king sitting upon the throne of the universe and come what may he is still in control our eyes realizing that God can make a way when there seems to be no way for he is the way the truth and the life he can open the Red Sea like he did for Moses and provide a plain path before your feet or he will give you the power to walk on water like Peter did as a rider of the storm and so I call you in the name of Jesus today to our eyes our eyes on your discouragement if you feel yourself ridden with guilt and shame because of the mistakes of your past God's Word says to arise arise and receive the blessed assurance of the pardon and forgiveness that is so freely offered to us in Christ Bible tells us that we can come to Jesus just as we are broken filled with issues messed up God's love accepts us just as we are but he loves us enough not to leave us as we are amen stop allowing the devil to rub your past in your face arise and wash in the fountain filled with blood flowing from Emmanuel's veins because the blood of Jesus is the best detergent to cleanse every stain of sin upon the garment of your life and so today if you're ridden with guilt and shame or eyes if you find yourself enslaved by the power of your own sinful flesh perhaps is the paralyzing addictions of drugs and alcohol maybe it's the consuming fire of lust pornography adultery fornication or for others it could be the chains of materialism in the form of gambling wasteful spending or selfish hoarding that holds you as a slave in the bondage to your stuff maybe it's the captivating lights and screens of of the entertainment of the world the computer screen or the TV screen or your phone screen in the church Hollywood entertainment and social media and world music all the sound bites and the flashing lights whatever the sin friends big or small our sovereign God sees it all and today his word is calling us to her eyes arise and recognize that Jesus blood not only pardons our path past but it gives us power to live a new life a victorious life in the present our eyes stop eating the pigs food why will you live like beggars when your father's rich I rise like the prodigal son did and go back to the father's home arise and come back because you've been gone for too long your father misses you his heart weeps for you and heaven is not going to be the same if you're not there our eyes and let the father cover your wretchedness with his perfect righteousness that's what God's Word calls Jonah to do and friends when we do that we will see that the chains of bondage will fall off from our hands as we raise them up into surrender to our great God of heaven for he my friends is the great chain breaker he is the burden lifter the undefeated Emancipator our faithful father and so in the name of Jesus I call you today to her eyes that's what God called Jonah to do it was a call out of idleness and into action it was a call to not be afraid or ashamed of his name his identity his mission and message it was a call to stand up and to stand out and not be afraid to speak up and speak out for the cause of Christ and so our eyes our eyes and do it notice what is the very second word God says to Jonah our eyes and then the second word is what go our eyes and then go why friends because where you are now is not where you ought to be so you have to go go why because you've been spiritually stagnant for too long and if you want to grow you got to go go why because God says I know the thoughts that I think towards you thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope but you won't know unless you go go why because there is someone that's waiting for your arrival someone that needs to see the things that your eyes have seen someone that needs to hear the words that your ears have have heard someone out there in the world that must know the things that you know and they won't know unless you go go and share the message with others that's the same word jesus said to the disciples now write in that Great Commission the Lord said go to all nations and preach all things is he friends human nature is such that we are so quick to spread bad news and so slow to share good news isn't that right the gospel the God is calling us to go and give as good news but why is it friends that we are so hesitant to witness and share the gospel you see many books have been written many sermons have been preached many seminars have been conducted to teach people how to share their faith and you despite all the books that have been written and all the sermons that have been preached there is still a lack of Labor's to reap the great harvest that's all around us first I want to submit to us this morning that what we need is not so much more opportunities to be trained what we really need and what we really lack is a personal encounter and experience with the divine trainer there's lots of training available to us but what we lack is not training what we lack is an experience you see my friends when you experience something good it's not hard to share it with someone else if you tasted a good food it's not difficult to convince someone else to try it out the expression on your countenance and the enthusiasm in your voice is enough to convince someone else that what you have is good and they ought to try it for themselves I'll never forget one Sabbath morning I was getting ready to preach and that morning I was going to share a message on the importance of witnessing and sharing our faith and with the mental preparation I also needed the physical preparation of breakfast and that morning or a few days before that some wonderful church member gave my wife and I a bag of mangoes and that's what I had for breakfast I must have eaten four or five mangoes that morning and it was wonderful how many of you like mangoes if you don't like mangoes this is probably because you've never tasted a Hawaiian mango our mangoes in Hawaii are so good and I remember I was eating these mangoes mango after mango and and I was hunched over the sink just devouring these men the juice was flowing down my hands and arms and all the fiber was getting stuck in my teeth but I didn't care it was a happy Sabbath that morning let me tell you and as I'm eating these mangos and preparing in my mind to preach that morning I'm asking God Lord what can I do to help others to see how sweet you are Lord what can I share this morning in church that will encourage someone to share their faith with their neighbors and then I started thinking about the mango that was in my hand and and how sweet and juicy and wonderful that mango was it was filling it was satisfying and God impressed me just tell the people to taste and see that the Lord is good taste and see for yourself you see friends when we taste and see for ourselves and people see us tasty then they're going to want to taste it for themselves as well and so I started thinking about that mango and I and I thought about the word mango and in the word mango are two words man go that's the Great Commission friends man go that's what God called Jonah to do you see friends here's the point it's not hard to fulfill the Great Commission when we have experienced the sweetness of the great commissioner training is helpful but remember that which is your greatest qualification to go is your experience with God when you have an experience with the divine mango then it becomes easy to invite others to taste and see Amen I hope and pray you'll never look at a mango the same way ever again I love it what Ellen White said in the book in reviewing heroine I want you to notice as we read this quotation do you think that it is those men only who have been ordained as gospel ministers there are to work for the uplifting of humanity here's her answer no no she says it twice everyone who names the name of Christ is expected by God to engage in this work how many people friends everyone the hands of ordination may not have been laid upon you but you are nonetheless God's messengers if you have what the next word tasted that the Lord is gracious if you know his saving power you can no more keep from telling this to someone else then you can keep the wind from blowing the point is this friends when we have tasted an Essene for ourselves when we have an experience training is helpful but it's not really the most important thing what we really need is an experience when the wind of the Holy Spirit blows the fire of evangelism is going to grow I'll never forget when I first came to the Lord I was 16 years old and time will not permit me to share my whole testimony but let me give you the short version as a 16 year old I was not raised up in the church or any church growing up I had no idea what was God or who was God totally ignorant of spiritual things and as a result of not having a strong spiritual foundation I made a lot of mistakes that was me I was a druggie burning up my brain cells chasing the world not caring about anyone but myself and in this lost condition God sent someone to my door another young person who was 16 17 years old and these two individuals knocked on my door and they invited me to a Bible prophecy seminar have you ever heard of something like that before and I went to those meetings for the first time in my life I learned about Jesus in the context of his prophetic word in the three angels messages and as these wonderful truths were being presented Jesus was magnified and the Lord in those meetings rescued me from the terrible life of draw and emptiness he set me free from that love lifestyle in one prayer and he set me ablaze he turned me on fire for him I knew him and as result my greatest desire was to make him known to us to know Christ and to make Christ know because what God is calling us to be and do and so what happened was this I was 16 years old and I went back to my old public high school the place where people used to know me as a chronic as a stony boy as a pothead I went back to that public high school and I just let the light shine I would pass out steps to Christ all over campus in this public high school I would go back to my friend twice to do drugs with an out witness to them and they would try to tempt me and say oh you want to get high don't you I would say no thanks I found a better high a spiritual high you got to taste it for yourself I would preach in English class and I'll be sharing my faith in the security guards whenever they saw me talking to someone during class they left us alone they didn't tell us to go to class because they knew that I was encouraging and and giving counselor to other students and I held Bible studies every lunch period every single day and I would invite the whole school to come I was 16 years old I was the only one in that school that that I knew of that was interested in these things and I would invite all my friends and and many people multitudes would come to this Bible study students as well as teachers would come I loved what John Wesley said catch on fire and people will come for miles to see you burn and so people are coming to these Bible studies and and they saw the fire in my life and because of that they were open to hear it proclaimed on my lips now you have to understand for us that I was not trained to give Bible sticks I've never gone to some type of Bible training seminar at that point I was 16 years old just recently converted in baptized and I was the least likely candidate to preach I was slow of speech and introverted and very shy my vocabulary was very limited but nonetheless there was a fire in my heart and I just had to share it with others and so every lunch period I would just open my bye boy and open my mouth and the word of God would speak and has a result of those Bible studies six of my friends and their family members were baptized accepted Christ as well as the great truths that we believe amen it was wonderful now friends I share that simply to say this I'm just a beggar trying to share some bread nothing special with me nothing that I have to boast about except the mercy of God on my life I share that simply to encourage you that if God can use someone like me surely he can use any one of us amen so our eyes and go training is helpful but the most important thing that we need is an experience with a divine trainer so come and taste for yourself then go and share with others you are called to come you are chosen to go man go but go where God notice verse 2 our eyes go to Nineveh that great city and cry against it for their wickedness has come up before me so notice God called Jonah to go to Nineveh and Nineveh was a great city and Jonah was to give a loud cry message to Nineveh does that sound familiar in Revelation 14 8 and 18 for we find the same thing another great city called Babylon a wicked city that God is calling us to give a loud cry message to so friends Nineveh and Babylon are r-type Nineveh is a type of Babel Babylon is a reflection of dinner Nimrod was the same founder of Nineveh and Babylon and in the Bible both Nineveh and Babylon are symbolized by the same animal that of a lion the point is this Jonah's missing mission was to give a message of spirit and truth a loud cry message to Nineveh and that's the same mission that God has given to us so our eyes and go and give the loud cry my friends let's never be ashamed of our name our identity our mission in our message Jonah had a god-given name that stood for something and so God has given us a name notice what it says in the book faith I live by page three or four we are seventh-day Adventist are we ashamed of our name we answer no no we are not it is the name the Lord has given us it points out the truth that is to be the test of the churches the name seventh-day adventist carries the true features of our faith in front it will convict the inquiring mind like an arrow from the Lord's quiver it will wound the transgressors of God's law and it will lead to repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ Jonah had a name that stood for something God has given us a name that stands for something as well let's never be ashamed of our name or our identity for our name friends points to the great truth of the great god that made all things in six literal days and rested on the seventh day of the week to remind us that he is the true God the true creator that we are made in His image and he has a plan and purpose for our life seventh day reminds us of the god of creation and the word Adventist reminds us of that same God that made all things who's coming back he's returning to restore all things the name seventh-day Adventist points to the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end and everything in between it encompasses the entire Gospel message the everlasting gospel from beginning to end the Lord of creation and the Lord of restoration it glorifies the one that made all things and is soon to return to restore all things not only that but our name points to the great truth of righteousness by faith for the Sabbath friends listen carefully the seventh-day Sabbath rightly understood highlights the fact that we cannot save ourselves by our own works it invites us to rest in the completed work of Christ at the cross and the continued work of Christ for us in the most holy place that's what our name means and so friends don't let anyone tell you that your name is not important don't let anyone ever tell you that the distinctive doctrines that we hold don't really matter for everything that God has revealed from Genesis to Revelation is significant and important and irrelevant jesus said concerning the scriptures these are they which testify of me and the testimony of Jesus is revealed in the spirit of prophecy and that's not just one prophet in the last days but it's God speaking through every single prophet from the beginning all the way to the end and so friends let us arise and let us go and give our whole message to the world a message founded upon the word focus in Christ framed in prophecy and filled with the spirit let us go beware of one-sided preaching that throws us off-balance and let us not have anything to do with this ecumenical unity this counterfeit unity is sweeping across the world today a unity that sacrifices the truth for the sake of the Spirit the Bible says that we are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather expose them and why not because friends got it like Jonah has given us a name that points to our identity and our identity that defines our mission and a mission that reveals our message and so when we water down or change our message a results in an identity crisis so let's not forget our identity let's not neglect our mission let us arise and let us go and let us live up to the god-given name that he's placed upon us amen that's what God called Jonah to do God called Jonah he chose Jonah he was called chosen but unfortunately he was unfaithful called chosen but unfaithful because notice what happens next verse 3 what did Jonah do but Jonah arose to flee to where Tarshish from the presence of the Lord and he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord so notice friends Jonah turns from God's mission he rose up simply to go down in disobedience and he's fleeing to Tarshish a land of luxury to quiet his conscience you see friends Tarshish was a port city located on the southern coast of Spain and this city in the Bible was known for their wealth known for their gold in fact and if you were to do a word study on the word Tarshish in the Bible you'll note that Tarshish was it was a proverb it was a symbol of a place of ease a place of wealth a place of comfort and a place of luxury and this is where Jonah is going to in order to avoid his mission instead of doing that which was right he was seeking to do that which was comfortable because in this crowded City he was trying to silence the voice of reason he was trying to escape his duty instead of doing that which was right he was seeking to do that which was easy and which direction did he go instead of arising and going up the Bible says that he went down down down to Joppa that word Joppa in the Bible means beautiful he's seeking for a place of ease and luxury and beauty and even though he's seeking for beauty things are about to get ugly for Jonah why was Jonah so hesitant in going to Nineveh there are two main reasons number one Nineveh was way out of his comfort zone you see Jonah like the rest of the Jews looked upon other nations as unclean fit only for destruction Jonah was far more comfortable preaching and being with his own people he had experienced a lot of success preaching to Israel but now God is calling him to Nineveh it was way out of his comfort zone and Jonah was not willing to do it the second reason why Jonah was so hesitant to go to Nineveh is because Jonah had a reputation to preserve he knew that if he went to Nineveh and said that it was going to be destroyed and if they repented and God spared the city then Jonah would have been looked upon as an alarmist on extremists a false prophet he would have been labeled as such and so Jonah did not want to risk this taint in his reputation two reasons it was out of his comfort zone and because he did not want to taint his reputation for his Jonah's so many times like a lot of us we who are too concerned or more concerned with our own comfort instead of God's Commission we live many times to guard guard our own reputation instead seeking to glorify God we prioritize that which would bring us recognition and success while the mission is neglected we're willing to do something for God as long as it doesn't inconvenience our nice easy comfortable lives lord have mercy one day Jesus called a man to follow him and he said Lord let me first go and bury my father now that sounds like a reasonable request but the problem was that this man's father was not dead yet what he was basically saying to Jesus wait until my father is dead and I don't have this responsibility then I'll have more time to follow you that's what he was saying many people are essentially saying the same thing they're saying to God wait until I'm finished with this project then I'll follow you after I graduate from college after I establish my business let me first settle down and get married there are other things there more more of a priority at this time and when things are more convenient then I will follow you there are people who are saying to God Lord I will go if I can go to Israel if I can go to Tarshish but if you want me to go to Nineveh you're gonna have to wait until I'm old and I can't do anything else many people are one are giving the leftover of their lives to God and making God a retirement plan but young people why not give the best years of your life to the Lord amen Jesus gave his best for us let's give the best years of our life to him you see friends in this journey called life God does not want us to make him the spare wheel that we resort to when we're in trouble God is not to be the spare wheel he's to be the steering wheel that steers the direction of your life God knows what's best and when we put him first he will never lead us astray amen Jesus responded to this man and he said to him let the dead bury their dead but you go and preach the kingdom of God what Christ was saying is this don't put off for tomorrow what I'm calling you to do today let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead let those who care not for realities deal with the temporal things of life that those who do not know the truth deal with earthly affairs why because you my child are called to a much higher and holier work than caring for the dead you're called to live for something more than just flipping burgers and growing produce you're a call to live for something more than building houses and fixing cars and counting money and teaching math and pulling teeth and filling cavities and prescribing drugs and performing surgeries and singing songs and preaching sermons surely God can use us in all of these different contexts and capacities but remember that these things are not an end in themselves this is just a temporal means to an eternal end it's the means of connecting with people and all those all of those different contexts so that we can connect them to Christ it is a making it's making a living so we can show people how to live it's making money so that we can move forward the mission I heard it once said that your job is what you're paid for but your calling is what you're made for don't allow your job or your career too many to be an excuse for neglecting your calling but let God use your job and career to fulfill your calling amen you don't need a title or a position to work for God just do the duty that lies nearest be faithful in the little things and though no earthly hand is laid upon you make sure that your life is in the hands of God amen so chapter 1 talks about the fact that Jonah was called and chosen he had a name which reflected his mission and his message but instead of being faithful he went to Tarshish he was hiding and running from his calling he was unfaithful God sent the storm but the storm did not wake Jonah and so God provided a fish for Jonah not for him to eat but a fish to eat him and tomorrow morning we're going to continue our study in Chapter 2 to see that what Jonah experienced in the belly of the fish is the same thing that we need to spirits in order for us to be called and chosen and faith and so today as we close are you running from your mission like Jonah why are you wasting your time and money doing your own thing chasing your own dreams instead of following God's will all invite your friends to taste and to see that the Lord is good and let him be in control of your life to put him first wake up from spiritual sleepiness arrive from the comfort

Channel: GYC

Views: 62,241

Keywords: GYC, 2015

Id: CO4MBW7MKNY

Length: 47min 53sec (2873 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 31 2015