HOW TO STAY CLOSE TO GOD

Part 1 of 5

Jonah 1:1-9

Tonight I am going to begin a new five part series from the Book of Jonah that I have titled, “Getting A Second Chance From God.”  Isn’t that good news!  God is the God of the second chance.  Moses broke the tablets of the law, but God gave him a second chance.  Samson sinned, but God gave him a second chance.  Peter cursed Jesus, but God gave him a second chance.

Jonah is a story about a man who rebelled against God and then was swallowed by a great fish.  But the Book of Jonah is not about a fish; in fact, only three verses deal with the fish.  The other forty-five verses tell us the real message of Jonah’s story.  It is a story of someone like you and me.  It is a story of his struggles, problems, and prayer life.  It is a story of his second chance, his successes and failures.  We are going to study about a real person who lived in about 800 B.C. and whose message is as relevant today as this morning’s newspaper.

In order to understand this book you must look at it from two very different perspectives.

O.S. Hawkins wrote a book about Jonah called, Meeting the God Of The Second Chance.  In it he outlines the book of Jonah in the following ways:

When you examine it from Jonah’s perspective you will find a story of a man’s pilgrimage.  Chapter one deals with his rejection of God’s will or purpose for his life.  How do you deal with or relate to God’s will and purpose for your life?  Chapter two deals with Jonah’s reflection.  There in the belly of the fish Jonah began to reflect, pray and praise God.  Chapter 3 deals with Jonah’s correction.  After the fish regurgitated Jonah onto the shore God gave him a second chance and he corrected his ways.  Then chapter four deals with Jonah’s objection of God blessings on someone else.

When you examine the Book of Jonah from God’s perspective you will find a very different story about God’s providence in our lives.  Chapter one deals with God’s election.  It shows us his sovereignty and how He is in control of everything.  Chapter two deals with God’s protection.  It shows us how God took care of Jonah even though he disobeyed Him and prepared a fish to swallow him so he wouldn’t drown in the ocean.  Chapter three deals with God’s perfection.  One of God’s main purposes for your life is that you be like Him. (Romans 12:2) Then lastly, chapter four deals with God’s affection.  In other words, God loves you.

The great preacher, G. Campbell Morgan once said about the Book of Jonah, “Men have been looking so long at the great fish in Jonah that they have failed to see the great God of Jonah.”

Tonight our text is found in Jonah 1:1-9 and the title of my message is, “How To Stay Close To God” and I’d like us to look at four essentials that are needed.