Jonah 1:1-3
When Christians Sin
What happens when a Christian sins? I am talking about deliberately,
intentionally sins. Sadly, we all have; but some still are. Some with
purpose, consideration, and deliberation are living in a state of
willful sin against God. Such deliberate sin has a high cost.
When I think of deliberate sin, I think of Jonah.
Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came unto
Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry
against it; for their wickedness is come up
before me.
3 But 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.
Let’s consider this text with three thoughts:
I. Jonah Sinned.
A. First of all, let’s get an understanding of what deliberate
sin is.
1. In \\#2\\ God tells Jonah to do something. In \\#3\\,
Jonah does not do it. In fact, Jonah does the opposite.
a. From this, we have a very practical definition of what
sin is for a Christian.
b. Deliberate sin is not doing what God tells you to do.
(1) In Jonah’s case, John did not do what God told
him to do.
(2) But you could reverse it to say sin is doing what
God told you NOT to do.
c. If you know what God wants you to do and do not do
it, you are in a state of deliberate sin.
2. But not only do we get a practical definition of what sin
is, we also get a personal illustration of how sin works.
a. Some may not know this but Jonah was a very godly man.
(1) In fact, he was one of God’s best prophets.
2Ki 14:25 He (Jeroboam II) restored the coast of
Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea
of the plain, according to the word of the LORD
God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of
his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the
prophet, which [was] of Gathhepher
(2) He had stood before Israel’s kings with honor in
his service to the Lord.
(3) In fact, you might look at this as a promotion
for Jonah.
(a) He had done such a good job for God in
Israel, that God was sending Jonah has the
very first missionary and evangelist to
another nation.
(b) This had not happened before and would not
happen again until God sent Paul and
Barnabas in Acts.
b. Jonah’s sin was extremely personalized.
a. You will not find a command in the Bible (except
for here) that says, "Thou shalt not go to
Tarshish" or "Thou shalt go to Nineveh."
b. The only person in the history of the world that
could commit this sin was Jonah!
c. A New Testament Bible verse teaches this precept:
Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do
good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
c. And consider that Jonah’s sin, on the surface, did
not appear to be a wicked sin.
a. I don’t think we could put what Jonah did on the
level of murder, stealing, or adultery.
b. Yet, it was bad enough that God went after him
for it.
d. I am certain that most of us would try to reason
with God, trying to lessen the awfulness of our
sinful behavior. However, there is no lessening
it.
a. He could have said that he was too busy, trying to
keep Israel straight.
b. I believe he did use the patriotic excuse
(1) You and I know that Nineveh was the capitol
of Assyria, that nation that will come to
judge and destroy the ten northern tribes of
Israel.
(2) Jonah stood before kings and knew what was
happening in the world.
(3) I believe Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh
because he did not want to aid Israel’s
enemy.
c. Regardless of his excuses, what Jonah did was
still plain, deliberate sin.
B. Most everything that happened in this book happened because of
Jonah’s sin.
II. \\#4\\ God went after Jonah!
Jonah 1:4 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.
A. There are at least six things that God did to bring Jonah
back to Him.
1. He sent the storm that had Jonah tossed overboard.
2. He prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah.
3. He had the fish vomit Jonah out on dry ground.
4. He prepared a gourd to shade Jonah.
5. He prepared a worm to destroy the gourd.
6. He prepared an east wind to torment Jonah.
B. That is six things in five chapters!
C. Why would God do all of that?
1. We might guess for the love of Nineveh and all of Assyria.
a. God did love them.
b. God loves the whole world, and wants everyone to be
saved.
c. Someone has said that God will send the gospel to
every spot on the globe at least once.
(1) We speak of the 10/40 Window, where 80% of the
people have not heard the gospel, most have
never heard the name of Jesus, and few even
know a Christian; but…
(a) The Apostle Paul walked through much of that
territory personally delivering the gospel
himself!
(b) The Apostle Peter signed his epistle from
Babylon.
(c) One of the first deacons, Philip, sent the
gospel to Africa when he would the eunuch
to Christ.
(2) Europe and America have certainly had our
opportunities.
(3) Some are speculating that this is the time for
the South Pacific, as the gospel is still
seeing powerful results in that part of the
world.
(4) Maybe this was Nineveh’s day.
2. However, I do not think it is just the love of the world
that moved God to go after Jonah but also His love for
Jonah.
a. Don’t ever think the worst case for a person is to be
in sin and to suffer for it.
b. The worst case for a person is to be in sin and to be
successful with it.
c. That person is likely forever lost.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth
with you as with sons; for what son is he whom
the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof
all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and
not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh
which corrected us, and we gave them reverence:
shall we not much rather be in subjection unto
the Father of spirits, and live?
III. So what happens when a Christian sins?
Jon 1:3 But 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.
A. This verse gives us three directional words. DOWN, DOWN, and
FROM.
1. These words are showing the deteriorating relationship
between Jonah and God.
a. God is up. Jonah was going down.
b. Jonah was going "from the presence of the Lord."
c. Of course that cannot be done, but Jonah was giving a
valiant effort to it.
2. Remember, Jonah had something with God, but for the sake
of sin, he was willing to give it up.
3. In these Scriptures we have not only a practical
definition of sin and a practical illustration of it, but
we also have a practical demonstration of temptation.
a. Here Jonah was being tempted to accept some of lesser
value for something of greater value.
b. While I know that does not make sense, it is what
Jonah was doing.
4. We do the same thing.
a. Six main categories of temptation:
(1) Wealth
(2) Acceptance
(3) Power
(4) Life
(5) Pleasure
(6) Companionship
b. Wealth is a big temptation.
(1) Judas sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
(2) I have known those who took a job that they knew
would knock them out of church for a quarter
rise an hour.
(3) I have known some who moved to a location with
no good church for retirement benefits they
might never enjoy!
(4) You say, "Preacher, are you going to judge me
for that?"
(5) No. I am telling you not to judge Judah for
a sin you would commit as well.
c. You need to…
(1) Acknowledge your temptation. I have some. I
will not speak of them for I do not want the
devil to hear what areas I am weak in and
increase the temptations there; but you need to
know what areas in your life you are weak and
fortify those areas. Get used to saying NO for
you will have to do all of your life.
(2) Pray and fast.
(3) Fall in love with God \\#Rom 12:21\\.
(4) Count of the cost of giving away your
relationship with God.
B. \\#4\\ When a Christian sins, God is obligated to deal with
him.
1. I am just speaking to Christians here. God has no
obligation to go after the lost.
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
1. As I already mentioned, there are two ways God can deal
with you:
a. God can stop you. (That is what the Book of Jonah is
about.)
b. God can let you go.
2. If God lets you go, be advised that sin has its own end.
Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seemeth
right unto a man, but the end thereof are
the ways of death.
3. If God does not intervene, sin will beat you to a pulp,
strip you naked, steal you blind, and leave you to a
slow, agonizing death.
C. \\#4-16\\ When a Christian sins, the innocent are troubled.
1. The innocents by-standers in this story were the mariners.
a. They had a life that Jonah put on hold.
b. They had families that could have lost their loved
ones.
c. They had cargo on the ship that was thrown overboard.
d. They had places to go and jobs to do that were
interrupted.
e. They had to throw a man overboard! They never knew
what happened to Jonah. They would have gone
through life supposing they had thrown him to his
death.
f. And of course, they were scared to death!
g. How cold and hard Jonah’s heart must have become to
put these men in those situation.
2. It is always the innocent that suffer when people
willingly sin.
D. When a Christian sins, his heart becomes hardened.
1. Oh how hard Jonah’s heart became! This cannot be the
heart of the man that God used to speak to kings!
a. He had no concern for the mariners on the ship.
b. He had no concern for the people of Nineveh.
(1) \\#1:3\\ He fled when he should have served.
(2) \\#1:5\\ He sleep when he should have repented.
(3) \\#4:1\\ He was saddened when he should have
rejoiced.
c. He had no concern for the position he left behind.
(1) He served kings by telling them the Word of God.
(2) What would they think of God, His Word, and His
work now? Jonah cared not!
2. Is this the man who served God before Israeli kings with
honor? I think not!
E. \\#4:11\\ When a Christian sins, the lost perish.
Jon 4:11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that
great city, wherein are more than sixscore
thousand persons that cannot discern between
their right hand and their left hand; and also
much cattle?
1. God says that more than 120,000 souls were about to
perish, but Jonah did not care.
a. He, a prophet of God, was more concerned for his own
happiness than for theirs.
b. What lead him to this pitiful condition? He sinned
deliberately and took it lightly.
2. When you and I cease to care for the lost, we lose our
worth to God on this earth.
a. That is why we are here. To witness to and win the
lost.
b. And when you risk doing damage to the kingdom of God,
it simply makes more sense for God to take you home
than to keep you here.
3. Is that what you want? To be less than worthless to God?
To become a risk that might hurt His name?
4. Then do not let yourself become this kind of Christian.
Do not deliberately sin against God.
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