Title: " Bail, Bail, or Bawl "

Text: Jonah 1:1 - 3:3 (esp. 2:12) ;

Matthew 8:18-27 ; Mark 4:35-41 ; & Luke 8:22-25

INTRO:

1. A Long Time Ago I Preached a Message Entitled : " Storms are God's Servants Too " ...

2. Everyone is Going to Have Storms in Life.

John 16:33 & Matthew 7:24-27

3. These Verses are a Beautiful Picture of those Storms in Life and of 3 Ways that Man will Typically Respond to them. Note: The Stories in the Gospels are One, and the Story in Jonah is Another.

4. BOTH STORIES TAKE PLACE ON A SHIP AT SEA

a. The Boat is a Beautiful Picture of Our Life , and the Water is a Picture of All that is In the World Around Us ( &, therefore, Worldliness ) .

b. The Christian is IN the World -- but Not OF the World as These Men were IN the Midst ot the Sea - but Not Of the Sea ( Like a Fish ).

John 15:19

c. The Christian is Called to be IN the World -- but to Keep the EVIL OF the World on the OUTSIDE of his Vessel.

John 17:14-16

d. The Men in Our Stories were Perfectly Safe as Long as the Water Stayed Outside of the Boats !!!

e. The Christian Can Survive Being IN the World -- Even though he is Not OF the World as Long as he Keeps the World Around him on the Outside of his Heart and Life.

1.) The Christian Must Make Sure there are No Breaches in the Hull of his Heart where the World can Freely Flow In -- Even when there Are No Storms to Contend with.

Ephesians 4:27

2.) Jonah was Just ASKING for Trouble when he Decided that he would Try to Run Away From God !!!

Jonah 1:1-4

f. A Christian can Survive the Storms of Life as Long as he can Keep the Waves of Adversity from Bringing the Waters of WORLDLINESS INTO his Heart & Life.

1.) During the Storms of Life, however, the Christian Who Starts Out Well Faces Two Potential Problems .

a.) Water (Worldliness) Splashing In from Without

b.) The Ship Breaking Up from Within with Tiny Breaches or Gaping Holes

2.) It is Not the Battering of the Storms of Life that will Ultimately Sink Our Ship BUT the MANNER in which we RESPOND to the Breaches we See Developing & the Water ( Worldliness ) we See Flowing In Through the Breaches OR Splashing Over the Sides & Into Our Vessel ( Our Heart & Life ).

g. Consider the Lessons We Can Learn from this Story .

I. Some of the Storms we Face in Life we Bring On Ourselves.

Jonah 1:1-4

II. Some of the Storms we Face in Life are the Direct Result of Answering the Call of God & Obeying His Will.

Matthew 8:18-27

A. Notice the Commandment & the Call .

Verses 18 & 22

B. It was the Will of God that they Not Only Sail to the Other Side but that they Encounter a Storm On the Way ( In the Path of Obedience ).

Matthew 8:18-27

C. The Storm Gave God a Chance to Demonstrate His Glory in the Person of His Son.

Matthew 8:27 c/f John 1:14 & John 17:4

D. The Disciples would have Missed the Glory if they hadn't Followed Him Into the Storm.

Matthew 8:22-27

E. It is Better to be on a Stormy Sea With Jesus than to be Alone on Solid Ground .

Philippians 1:20-23

III. Some People like Jonah Decide to Bail Out on God when the Storms of LIfe Come Upon them.

Jonah 1:10-12 c/f Jonah 1:15 - 2:1

A. Jonah was So Hardheaded that he would Rather Die than Submit to God's Will for his Life.

Jonah 1:1-4 & 1:10-12

B. Jonah was So Bullheaded that he Continued to be Unrepentant for Three Full Days After Bailing Out & Being Swallowed Up .

Jonah 1:17 - 2:1 c/f 2:7

C. God will Always Bring a Man Back to the Command he Refused to Obey, when the man through Chastening has Decided Again to Seek the Lord.

Jonah 2:7 - 3:3

1. Because of this Principle in the Scriptures, it Behooves Men to Obey God the First Time -- Instead of Trying to Run Away & Disobey.

2. Man will Save himself Untold Grief and Wasted Time by just Obeying God the First Time he Hears God Speak.

3. To Run Away from God and Disobey His Will is Completely Inconsistent with Our Profession of Faith as Christians.

Jonah 2:9

4. There are Many People Today who are Runing from God, Paying a Price to do so, and Headed for Chastening Who

would Not Like to Admit that their Life is Inconsistent with their Profession of Faith.

IV. Some People like the Disciples Decide Not to Bother the Lord with their Problems. Instead, they Bail & Bail & Bail : Trying to Deal with their Overwhelming Circumstances In their Own Strength the Best they Know How for as Long as they Can, and they End Up in Jeopardy.

Mark 4:36-38 & Luke 8:23-24

A. To Bail Out the Water ( the Effect of the World Around Us & It's Capacity to Produce Worldliness Within Our Hearts & Lives ) that Splashes Into Our Life During Our Stormy Days is Better than Bailing Out on God to Become Utterly Immersed in Worldliness .

B. To Be Willing to Do Our DUTY in an Effort to Minister to the Lord - whether He Arises from His Seeming Indifference or Inattention to Save Us or Not - is Truly a Noble Ideal .

C. The Noblest Ideals Concerning Bothering Jesus with Our Problems though are Doomed to Fail from the Very Start.

Mark 4:37-38 & Luke 8:23-24

1. We Cannot Bail the Worldliness Out of Our Heart & Life as Fast as the Devil Can Pour it In Without the Help of Jesus.

Mark 4:37 & John 15:5

2. Trying to Deal with the Encroaching ( or Invading ) Worldliness that Seeks an Entrance Into Our Heart & Life Without Jesus will Only Put Us Into Jeopardy.

Luke 8:23 & Ephesians 6:10-13

V. The Best Way to Deal with Our Storms in Life is Bawl Out (Cry Out) to God and then Bail Out the Worldliness that Invades Our Life with His Help.

Luke 8:24

A. Our Life is Inclined to Leak In Worldliness -- Even Without a Storm in Life.

Romans 7:14-24

B. We Cannot Keep the World on the Outside of Our Heart. Without the Lord's Help it will Utterly Overwhelm Us.

John 15:5 ; I John 5:4 ; & Romans 10:17

C. We Must Cry Out to the Lord for the Help we Need, so the Storms of Life & Our Carnal Nature within Won't Ultimately Sink Us in a Sea of Worldliness & Destruction.

Luke 8:24 ; Philippians 4:6-7 ; & I Peter 5:7-8

D. We'll Still Have to Bail Out what we Find In Our Boat, but the Lord will Be Our Savior from the World's Destruction.

Mark 4:37-39 c/f Jude Verse 24