From the Chosen series, Pastor Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries are pleased to offer the Chosen graphic novel. Here at Harvest, we want to reach unexpected people in unexpected places with an unexpected message. And I can't think of a better way to do that than with the Chosen graphic novel. It's going to be a great tool to share the story of Jesus.
So get your copy of the chosen graphic novel for your gift of any size. Available at harvest.org. Hey there, thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners. I'm Greg Laurie, encouraging you. If you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org.
I heard about a young girl who went out. To share her faith on a street corner, a little crowd gathered. And she was speaking. A well-known atheist had been listening and. Kind of made his way up to the front of the group.
And while the young girl was talking about Jesus, he said, I have a question for you, young lady. She said, Yes, sir. Yes, you're a Christian, right? Yes, yes, I am. Oh, isn't that nice?
And as a Christian, you believe the Bible is the Word of God. Is that right? She said, yes, I do believe it's the Word of God. Oh, is that so?
Well, if that is the case, do you believe all of those stories in the Bible? She said, yes, I believe all of them. Oh, do you believe in the miracles of the Bible? She said, yes, of course I do. Oh, really?
Oh, then you must believe the story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale? Yeah, I believe that story. How is that even possible? She said, well, when I get to heaven, I'll ask him. And then the atheist said, well, what if he's not in heaven?
She said, well then I guess you could ask him, I don't know. Get it?
Okay, so. Jonah and the whale. Was he swallowed by a whale?
Well, here's what the Bible says: it says he was swallowed by a sea creature. that was specifically created by God For this event.
So it could have been a whale, it could have been some creature that is no longer here, it could have been a one-off creation. We don't know, but yes, it was sushi eating in reverse. He was swallowed by some kind of a sea monster. Why do I believe this?
Well, among other things, Jesus himself validated it. People said, we want to see a miracle. He said, no sign will be given but that of the prophet Jonah. And as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Effectively, Jesus was saying, you guys want a miracle?
Here's your miracle. Just as Jonah was in that sea monster and came out, I will die on the cross, rise again three days later. That's the sign. That's my message. But he validated the story, so I don't see any reason to doubt it.
But I want to talk about another creature in the story of Jonah, not the whale. I want to talk to you about Jonah and the worm. You heard me right. There's a worm in the story of Jonah. But you have to get all the way to the end of it to find out the role the worm played.
But the story of Jonah is not about a man swallowed by a whale. That's only a few verses. The story of Jonah is how God used a very flawed individual. to be instrumental in bringing about a spiritual awakening. And it's also an encouraging book to us to show us how we could do something similar.
Jonah was called to preach to Nineveh, which God described as a great city. Then he refused, and the Lord said a great wind. Then he was thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish. But the real story of Jonah is out of a great God who showed great love. to a lost city like Nineveh.
And it's also the story of receiving a second chance. I wonder if I'm talking to somebody here that could use a second chance in life.
Someone that missed the ultimate opportunity given to you by God.
Someone who was walking with the Lord and walked away from the Lord, and you wonder if you could ever walk with him again. The good news of the book of Jonah is God gives second chances.
So here's point number one: Jonah had a great message. Jonah had a great message. God told him, go and preach to Nineveh. We too have a great message. We, in fact, have the greatest of all messages.
And I wonder if we would take a step of obedience and let the Lord use us, if we too would not see something amazing happen. But this all happened after God got hold of Jonah's heart. After he was swallowed by the whale, the fish, whatever it was, there in the belly of the beast, wrapped in seaweed, with humidity like you can't even imagine. He finally came to his senses, but not straight away. You'd have thought the moment that fish swallowed him, he'd have been calling out to God.
Oh no, he was so stubborn, he waited for three days to say anything to God. Finally, he comes around. He acknowledges his sin. And you might say he had a... A personal revival in the belly of the sea creature.
And you know, before you can bring An awakening to someone else. You have to experience it yourself. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11: that which I received of the Lord, I have passed on to you. Listen, it can't happen through you until it has first happened to you.
So you have to have that own, your own encounter with God, your own relationship with God. And what was Jonah to preach? The message God gave him. Look at Jonah chapter 3, verse 2. Arise, the Lord says, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message.
I tell you.
So Jonah arose, went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord.
Now, Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk, and he cried out, 40 days, and Nineveh will be overthrown.
So this is after. He's been barfed on the shore of Nineveh.
So he's been revived and roufed. He's been um He's made victorious and now vomited. I can just go on with those okay, but you know, so here he's doing it now.
Okay, Lord, I'm gonna do it. And what a simple message. Eight words. Eight words. 40 days in Nineveh will be overthrown.
That sounds kind of depressing, but in a way, there was hope in this message because there was 40 days. You guys, lose paraphrase, have 40 days to get your act together. You have 40 days to repent and turn to God. Listen, in contrast, God gave no warning to Sodom and Gomorrah. He was looking for one righteous person in the city and couldn't find anyone with the exception of Lot.
So at this point, there's hope for this city, and though that was the message God gave him, and God has given us a great message: it's the gospel, which means good news.
Now, we throw the word gospel around a lot, preach the gospel. I believe the gospel. Great. What is the gospel? If I just point it to you, could you give me the gospel in maybe a few moments?
It's really not that complex. But I wonder if most people have heard an accurate and biblical presentation of the gospel. Here's the gospel, super simplified. God loves us. God has a plan for our lives.
God wants a relationship with us. But there's something that separates us from God called sin. There's nothing we can do to get rid of that sin. All the religiosity in the world won't do it. We need him to help us.
But while we were yet sinners, the Bible says Christ died for us.
So Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, walked this earth, went to the cross, died on the cross in our place, and rose again from the dead three days later. If we will turn from our sin, if we will repent of our sin and put our faith in him, we can be forgiven and know that we will go to heaven when we die and find the meaning and purpose of life. That's the gospel, simplified.
Now you all know that I haven't said anything you haven't heard before, but I'm telling you, if you know the simple thing I just said, you are armed and dangerous. And you know a lot more than most of the people out in this world today.
So Jonah was called to preach his message. 40 days and then it will be overthrown. And we're called to preach this message. And here's what we need to know: there is explosive power in the message of the gospel. I don't need to add to it.
I don't need to take away from it. I just need to proclaim it in its simplicity and watch God work. This is why Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes. And the word that Paul used there for the power of the gospel, the power of God rather, is a word that translates to explosive.
So there's explosive power in the simple message of the gospel. And so we need to deliver that message. We're delivery boys. You know? When I was a kid, I had a paper route.
I work for the Daily Pilots. And that little newspaper is still out there. I delivered the daily pilot and I had my little super cool Stingray bicycle with a stick shift on it. It was made by Schwinn. I still write it today.
It's kind of small. But it's cool. No, I don't ride it anymore. But actually, this little bicycle, I have my bags on it and all my newspapers on it. And I became fairly adept at throwing the paper.
You've seen my skills throwing t-shirts. It was similar, sort of a sideways fling, you know, because it'd be wrapped in plastic, and then kind of the over, you know, over the hedge throw and then, you know, all the different ways you would get that paper. But my job was not to write the news. It was not to make the news. It was just deliver the news and then go and collect.
You had to collect money from people. And I was amazed at how people wouldn't tip me. And my paper route was in Corona del Mar and people didn't tip me. That's probably how they came to live in Crona del Mara. I don't know.
Don't tip the paper boys. Just save your money. But. We're called to deliver the news. That's all.
Just deliver it to people, give it to them. And that's what Jonah was called to do as well. Another thing I noticed about Jonah is he did not procrastinate. He didn't put it off. Once he knew what he was supposed to do, he did it.
The hardest people to reach. are members of your own family. Isn't that true? They're the hardest. And this might surprise you, but even Jesus.
did not reach the members of his family at first. Did you know that?
Now, sometimes it's said Jesus never had any brothers or sisters. That's simply not true. There are multiple passages in the Bible that allude to the siblings of Jesus. Can you imagine being the brother or sister of Jesus? You'd be compared to him.
Honey, why can't you be more like Jesus? Mommy's like perfect. Jesus never complained. Jesus always did his chores. He always made his bed.
He hit the teen years. He was the model teenager. He was the perfect son. He lived a flawless life, never a shade of hypocrisy, but yet we read his brothers and sisters did not believe in him. In fact, on one occasion when he was speaking, they came to take him home because the scripture says they thought he had lost his mind.
Now, later they believed when he died on the cross and resurrected again. But my point is: who was a better example than Jesus?
So, if Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, had trouble reaching his own family, then you're going to have challenges when you try to reach your family. Jesus said: a prophet is not without honor except in his own town. But later, as I said, they did believe. But it's hard. Hard to have that conversation with your parents.
Hard sometimes to have that conversation with your children. Maybe you came to faith later in life. And you didn't raise them as Christians. And now you are a believer. And now you're trying to make up for lost time.
And you're telling them they should follow Christ. They're not interested. It's hard to reach brothers and sisters. I remember the hardest thing for me was reaching my own mother. I would be preaching in stadiums and arenas and Calling people to Christ all over the place.
My own mother was not really a believer. And whenever I would raise the subject with her, she always said, I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about it. But one day the Lord directed me to go to her, and I drove over to her house. She was surprised to see me.
She didn't know I was coming. And I said, Mom, I want to talk to you. She said, about what? I said, your soul. She said, I don't want to talk about it.
I said, today we're going to talk about it. And that resulted in my mom making a commitment to Christ.
So I'm so glad that I went when He directed me. The Lord might direct you to do the same. I remember an opportunity I had with A member of our extended family, her name was Frankie. She's the great-grandmother of my granddaughter Stella and Lucy, and Frankie is Jewish. And so I would see her at family gatherings, and she's a very kind lady and came to our church a few times, but had not believed in Jesus.
Being Jewish, she felt it would be like a betrayal of her Jewish roots to become a Christian. And the fact is, if you are Jewish, it's the opposite of a betrayal. It's the fulfillment of everything the Old Testament was pointing toward. You will be a completed and fulfilled Jew.
Now, if you want to call yourself a messianic Jew instead of a Christian, that's fine. The main thing is you need to believe in Jesus Christ as your Messiah. And so, when I would be with her, we would be in larger settings with other people around, and I thought, I need some time alone with her because I feel she would make this commitment to Christ. But that opportunity never came. And then COVID hit.
And tragically Frankie got COVID and it was severe and she was in the hospital and in fact she was dying. from it. And so I went down to the hospital and I tried to get in to see her. They said, well, you have to do a COVID test.
Well, how long will that take?
Well, there wasn't enough time. And I said, I need to get in and see her. They wouldn't let me in. Very frustrating. A lot of bad things were done.
during that time of COVID. And in addition to the very reality of COVID itself, there were a lot of restrictions that were created where people would die alone in hospital rooms without their family there and standing socially distanced in lines and all these random things that the CDC later said weren't based on any particular science. Very frustrating. Now, I know I offended a few people. Yeah, I'm leaving.
I'm going to get in my Prius and I am going to. Get a soy latte. and drive alone in my car with a mask on. And chuck on my cat.
Now I've offended.
Now I've offended you. They're just jokes people chill.
Okay But back to Frankie, this is not a joke.
So there she was in her hospital bed. I couldn't get in this year.
So I asked, can someone hold a phone up to her face close so she can hear me? And I don't know who this nurse was, and if I ever meet her, I want to thank her. Because she very patiently held that phone right up to Frankie, and I shared the gospel with her one more time. And I could see the fear in her eyes. She knew she was going to die.
My heart was really troubled by this. I just felt she needed people around her. And I said, Frankie, we've talked about this before, but. Jesus can be your Messiah. Would you like to ask him to come into your life?
She said yes. And I led her in a prayer. And in the prayer, instead of saying, come into my life as my Lord and Savior, I had her pray, come and be my Messiah. And she prayed that prayer and Jesus came into her life. And shortly after that, she went to heaven.
So I was glad for that opportunity. There's an urgency. It's interesting how it says that Jonah cried. He cried this message out, Jonah 3.4. He cried in the belly of the fish, too.
And he called out to God, and now he's crying out to these people. And when we give this message, there needs to be an urgency in what we are saying. DL Moody, a great evangelist from days gone by. Said this, and I quote, winners of souls must be first weepers of souls. You have to care.
There has to be an urgency. Don't procrastinate.
So Jonah was ready to give this message, and it was clear and definite. The gospel is clear and definite. I don't need to apologize for the gospel. I just need to give it to people, and it should be given in a way where it's understandable. I think sometimes people overly complicate it.
They had too many things to it. They used too much religious verbiage that doesn't make sense to people. Break it down. The Bible says of Jesus, the common people heard him gladly. That means the regular folks understood what Jesus was saying, and people should understand what we're saying as well.
I jokingly sometimes say we need to lose the Christianese. Right.
So we go up to a non-believer and we say, hey you, heathen, come here. Uncircumcised Philistine, let me say this to you. You're lost in your sin. You need to repent. You need to be washed in the blood.
And you need to become part of the body of Christ. What do you say? What did you just say to that person?
Now I know that's biblical verbiage and it's good. But don't assume A person on the street would understand what you're talking about. You just told them to get washed in blood and. Become part of some body. I mean, that sounds weird.
You gotta make it understandable. Even the children understood Jesus. Jonah gave a very clear message, and there was a great response. That's my second point. First, it was a great message.
Number two, there was a great response. Jonah 3:5, the people of Nineveh believed God. God promises his word will not return void, but will prosper in the place where he sends it. The greatest revival in the history of the world came to Nineveh because Jonah preached God's message, not what the people wanted to hear. And he gave it faithfully, and we need to do the same.
His message was direct. But it was hopeful. You say, how was it hopeful? 40 days. You got 40 days, and then the Nivea will be overthrown.
Our message is the same. Take John 3.16, for instance. I love John 3.16. How many of you have memorized John 3:16? All of you should.
So good. Let's put it on the screen. Memorize this first. You can do it.
So let's see. There it is. Let's say this out loud together. Ready? For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
That's the gospel in a nutshell. And notice how it gives the offer of love, for God so loved the world. But then there's a warning. Whoever believes in him should not perish.
So it's obviously implied: if you don't believe in him, you will perish. And then the next verse, John 3:17 says, For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but that the world through him might find life. And so, you know, we want to give him the good news, but you can't leave out the bad news. Another verse that sums it up perfectly is Romans 6.33. which says the wages of sin is death.
But then it goes on to say, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So there's the warning: the wages of sin is death. But But the gift of God is eternal life. Years ago, I was in. Hawaii, on the island of Oahu, walking down Kalakawa Boulevard and Waikiki Beach. That's sort of the main drag there.
And there was some guy standing on a street corner with a sign with this verse on it: the wages of sin is death. And he had flames painted on it for good measure. And he was yelling at people walking by: You're going to hell. God's going to judge you. You're going to hell.
I thought this guy's doing more harm than good.
So I'm standing there watching him. You're going to hell. He keeps saying this over and over.
So I walked up to him still. You're going to hell. You're going to hell. Excuse me. You're going to hell.
Excuse me. What? Um I had a thought. Why don't you take your sign, the first part, it is the Bible, the wages of sin is death, but on the flip side, put but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Flip it around every now and then, you know.
Then he told me I was going to hell.
So I killed him. Let me explain. No, I didn't. In my heart, maybe. No, not really.
But I mean, he's only giving half the message. But you could do it the other way, too. You could just say, God loves you, God wants you to go to heaven, but you don't warn them of judgment. See, that's the same thing. I got to give the whole message.
I can't fully appreciate the good news until I first understand the bad news. The bad news is, I am hopelessly separated from God, and there's nothing I could ever humanly do. To make this right. But the good news is, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
So Jonah gave this balanced message, and we need. to do the same. If God could bring a mighty revival to Nineveh, With no better representative than Jonah and no more gospel than he preached in their streets, surely the Lord could do the same for America. That's why we're doing the Harvest Crusade. That's why we've been doing it for 35 years.
That's why we're always looking for new and creative ways to reach new people. Reach unexpected people in unexpected places with the unexpected message of the gospel.
So the whole town of Nineveh turns to God. Look at Jonah chapter 3, verse 4. On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds, 40 days in Nineveh will be overthrown or destroyed. And the people of Nineveh believed God's message, and from the greatest to the least, they decided to go without food and wear sackcloth to show their sorrow. Drop down to verse 8.
Everyone was required to wear sackcloth and pray earnestly to God. Everyone must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. And who can tell? Perhaps even God will have pity on us and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us. When God saw they had put a stop to their evil ways, he had mercy on them and didn't carry out the destruction he had threatened.
Mm, listen. The Bible says God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Yes, God is a holy God. Yes, God is a righteous God. Yes, God is a loving God.
Yes, He is a merciful God. But He doesn't want to judge people. That's why he put his judgment on Jesus, who died in our place. But if we reject his offer of forgiveness over and over and over again, and we end up one day eternally separated from him in hell, we have no one to blame but ourselves. But here you see the mercy of God, and this did not make Jonah happy.
So he had a great message, he had a great response, and now we come to a great Contrast. Look at Jonah 4 verse 1. This change of plans upset Jonah, and he became very angry.
Now, what change of plans? God just pardoned them. God just forgave them and chose to not judge them. Yeah, this upset Jonah. And he complained to the Lord about it saying, Didn't I say, before I left home, that you would do this, Lord?
This is why I ran away to Tarshi. I knew you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. I knew how easily you could cancel your plans for destroying these people. Just kill me now, Lord. I'd rather be dead than alive because nothing I predicted is going to happen.
And the Lord replied, Is it right for you to be angry about this? Aren't you glad God doesn't answer all your prayers? I mean, what kind of a prayer is this? Just kill me, God. I'm upset.
because you forgave the people of Nineveh. And God's like... Should you be angry like this? And the word that is used here for anger could be translated to burn. God says, You're burning with anger.
You should be rejoicing, and instead, you're filled with rage. And just kill me, he says. I mean, here's a guy. who survive being in the stomach of a whale or a fish for three days and three nights. He repents, he preaches.
A massive spiritual awakening took place. Such a man would never mess up after this, but here he is sinning. You know, sometimes people say they're concerned about new believers not changing quickly enough. I have less concern with new believers changing. Fast enough.
I am more concerned with old converts who stopped changing. I love hanging around new believers. You know, they're rough around the edges. Maybe they say a word. Yeah, we don't really say that word.
Christians. You know, but their heart's in the right place, they're learning, they're growing. It's good. It takes a little time. But then there's older saints, seasoned saints, people that have been around for a long time, they've stopped changing.
They're stagnating. They're living in the past. They usually like to start their statements with, I remember the time. And they're stalled, and they're not moving forward as they should. Maybe they've turned from old vices like immorality and drugs and drinking.
But what if they've replaced them with sins like pride, backbiting, gossip, and bitterness? And it frustrates me when I see people get this way in church. You can become jaded in church. Your heart can get hardened in church. How you say?
Every time you hear the word of God, you have a choice. You can respond to it, you can obey it, you can embrace it, or you can resist it. And the same son that softens the wax, hardens the clay. The same message that will liberate one can cause another to say, Oh, I've heard that before, you become a sermon connoisseur. instead of a fisher of men.
And you're missing out on what God has. You know, you might be sitting in there right now, you got your arms crossed. All the people with their arms go side size. I'm under an air conditioning vamp, okay. It's cold here.
But you know, you're resistant to what God wants to do. Jonah was angry with God. Are you angry at God? Is there anyone here that maybe feels like? The Lord has shortchanged you.
He didn't answer your prayers the way you wanted him to. Your life did not turn out as you hoped it would. Or God really blessed someone else more than you, and you're jealous of that. You know, the funny thing about Jonah. Is he wasn't wondering why a good God would allow bad things?
He was wondering Why a good God would allow good things to happen to bad people. And the Ninevites were bad people. But They turned to God and they repented. And so He forgave them. But he was thinking God was going to judge him.
In fact, he had his beach chair and he set it up. You know, he was ready to watch it. He had his popcorn and his milk duds. That's what I get when I go to a movie theater. Popcorn and milk duds.
Who knows why? That's what I do. And um The other day, I was watching a movie, and I'm eating these milk tubs. I thought, I'm going to pull a filling out of my teeth with these. I just feel it.
It didn't happen, thankfully. But. He wanted to be entertained. Hey, judgment. Nothing is more entertaining than judgment.
Here we go. Let's go. And it didn't happen. And he was frustrated. Enter the worm.
I promised you the worm, here it is. Jonah 4. Verse 5. Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see if anything would happen to the city. And the Lord arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah's head, shading him from the sun.
This eased him from some of his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But God also prepared a worm. And the next morning at dawn, the worm ate through the plant, and it soon died and withered away.
Well, this is. The last chapter of Jonah is unbelievable, isn't it?
Now the King James calls this plant a gourd. It was a palm tree-like plant, offering him ample shade.
So he's sitting under his little personal palm tree. He has his little gourd, and then it withered.
So Jonah was literally out of his gourd.
Now what's the story about this worm? Is this a big worm? Is it a very hungry little worm? I don't know what it was, but it's funny because the same verbiage that's used about the whale or the great fish is used of the worm. The Lord prepared a great fish, the Lord prepared a worm.
that ate this plant, ate the stem of the plant, and it withers and now he's upset. He's upset because he's lost his shade. Wow. And he's more upset about that than anything else. He was more interested in his personal comfort and the salvation of thousands of people.
And that brings us to one final point. We have the great message to give today, the great commission, we call it.
So it was a great message. And it was a great response. And then an unusual Shift here in the story. But we have our marching orders, and sometimes we can be a little bit like Jonah.
Well, you know. I don't really want to go. I went three years ago or five years ago. I went to the first Harvest Crusade. I was there.
Good, very nice. But what about now?
Well I don't know.
So crowded. You have to go and wait in line. Just sit there. It's too inconvenient. Besides, I don't know.
I wanted to hear this artist, and this artist isn't there this year. You know, hello. Hello? This is not about your personal comfort. It says not about your little personal palm tree.
This is about the salvation a people who are separated from God. And I'm not saying this is the only way God can reach them. But what I am saying is, this is a really great opportunity to reach them. And we've seen, you've heard.
Well, over 600,000 people go down on that field at Angel Stadium and make a public profession of faith. And here's the thing: it's great, isn't it? And here's the thing: they were brought because someone brought them. They came because someone took them there with them. Here's an interesting statistic: 80 to 90 percent of people who have heard the gospel shared with them heard it from people who had known the Lord for two years or less.
I want to say that one more time. 80 to 90% of people who have had the gospel shared with them heard it from people who've known the Lord for two years or less. Why is that? Why is it that those that know the least do the most and those that know the most often do the least? Shouldn't it be the opposite?
I mean, the new believers, oh, you know, just grow in your faith, come to church. No, I want to go out and evangelize. Why?
Well Because God saved them. And they've seen what God did for them, and they want to see God do it for others. But now we've known the Lord for five years, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years. And some of us can't remember the last time that we've shared the gospel. And why would we not go to the crusade?
Well, that's going to be uncomfortable. It's going to be hard for me. I don't, you know, hello. Get out there and do something with it. I know a guy, his name is Larry.
And he's here at church. And Larry is bringing 16 people to the crusade. Larry, stand up. Stand up, Larry. This is Larry.
He's also an amazing designer of the most incredible eyewear you've ever seen in your life. He's a very successful businessman, but he uses His business, he uses his life. To share the gospel. And if you don't mind me sharing this with him, Larry, he's 87 years old, 87 years old. Larry, you're the coolest looking 87-year-old I've ever seen.
But I just love this because if I had a church full of Larry's, I wouldn't have room enough to get everyone in. I'm bringing 16 people. That's awesome. How many are you bringing? Uh Yeah.
You know, six, five, four, three, two, one. And some of us, well, I wasn't really planning and going, come on. See, that's a great example for all of us. And this is a great opportunity. And I want to say one last thing about Jonah before we leave his story.
Because, you know, he did mess up. And he admits it, but here's something to remember about the book of Jonah: Jonah wrote the book of Jonah. If I wrote the book of Jonah, I would have left the last chapter out. Because it didn't present him in the best light, did it? It's sort of like, you know, you take a picture.
Let's do a picture together. The picture's taken, let me see it, delete it. Why?
I don't like the way I look. I look fat. But you are fat. I know, but. I even look fatter.
Take it out. You know, we want to be presented in the best light. If I wrote the book of Jonah, there wouldn't have been a chapter four. I would have just ended it and there was a great revival and everyone lived happily ever after. I wouldn't have put in the part, yeah, and then I was mad at God and then He had a plant grow over me and a worm ate it and I still mad.
I mean that. But it's honest, isn't it? And Jonah gave God the last word. Look at Jonah 4, verse 10. The Lord said, you feel sorry about that plant.
And you did nothing to put it there. And a plan is only at best short-lived. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention the animals. Shouldn't I feel sorry for that great city? Yeah, that's right.
We all live in Nineveh were called to. We all have an opportunity before us. Because here's what we know: God wants to save people. The Bible says, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
So when we're praying for non-believers to believe, we're praying according to the will of God. And we know that heaven rejoices when one sinner comes to repentance according to Jesus, right?
So this is something we know God wants to do.
So let's pray for a moment. Father. We come before you. with people we know, people that you love. that need you.
We think of family members. We think of friends, maybe friends we haven't talked to for a long time. We think of neighbors. We think of co-workers. Or we think of people we just might run into before the day is over.
And Lord, would you now? Lay on our hearts. Those That you would like to move in their lives, those that you would like to save. And use us, Lord. As an instrument.
Now we know you can reach these people and all people without us. But yet your word says, How will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they be sent? How beautiful are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things. You want to use us.
We don't know why. But you do. And you will. If we will step out of our comfort zone and make ourselves available to you. And we ask you to do a mighty work.
And we ask it now. In Jesus' name. Amen. Hey everybody, thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries, follow this show and consider supporting it.
Just go to harvest.org. And to find out how to know God personally, go to harvest.org and click on know God. Mm-hmm.
