What God Does When We Final - SUNDAY MORNING SERMON with Pastor Jeff Shipley

For those of you that grown up in church Jonah chapter 1 is gonna seem like the same old thing.

You've always heard I Want you to look at it from a new paradigm or a new perspective through a new paradigm

I want you to see yourself not as Jonah. I don't want to see yourself as Nineveh I want to see yourself as you are right here right now and then ask yourself this question

What is God do and how does he react when you fail?

How many of you were blood -sucking godless heathen pigs sometime this week the rest of you are liars

Okay, that's the only two ways it's gonna be Man, have you ever been in that place when you start praying but you feel so guilty about all your failures

You don't even feel like you need to pray because God ain't gonna listen to you anyways, cuz you're a big fat stupid loser

Well guys join every single individual found in Scripture save Jesus Christ himself

Every single other individual in there had those moments and Jonah is no different Let's read

Jonah chapter 1 verses 1 through 3 Jonah chapter 1 verses 1 through 3 and Then we'll get from there.

The Word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai get up Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because their wickedness has confronted me

However, Jonah got up to flee to Tarsus from the Lord's presence He went down to Joppa found a ship going to Tarsus shish shish shish

Spain he paid the fare and went down to it to go with them to Spain from the

Lord's presence guys You know how God reacts to our failures the same way now now watch this have you ever seen a kid get in trouble and The first thing they do is go.

Well, Josiah would did it, too you know, I Used to smack my kids for that because I said you speak for yourself and yourself only you're not allowed to speak for someone else

But guys, I want to do that today a little bit If you are a complete failure as a

Christian I want you just to take a look at the colleagues you have in your camp with you like a guy named

David Paul Peter oh my gosh, we spent three months talking about how much of a loser he was right

Jonah is no exception And you know, what's really cool about that. Is that this is what happens when we fail

God Stays the same his call stays the same his grace stays the same his

Standards stay the same. You see God is holy and there is no middle ground for God I know a lot of preachers today don't talk about sin anymore

But I'm here to tell you God still hates it and he's not gonna punish sin

Listen to me. He's going to destroy sin and anything it touches

Anything it touches guys you better wake up and listen to this So the first thing you need to understand today, is it the call of God?

Remains the same look at this passage here It says in verse 2 get up go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it

You know what? I want other than a drummer Andrew. Where are you? Andrew brother

Andrew I should say I want two smoke machines

Huh, I Want two smoke machines right here and then I want a mechanical lift

So that as I come up out of the floor the smoke because see that will get people to come here more

Church when Did it become the strategy of the church?

To be different from God that we are supposed to go out there not get them to come in here If you're here today and you're here looking for a children's program

Don't come here. We got the best one in the city, but I don't want you

I don't want you if you're here looking for a good youth ministry. I don't want you

I want warriors of the Living God Who are not afraid to get out in the community that ain't wearing polo shirts and who speak maybe 18 different?

Languages and tell them about Jesus Christ our job the call of God that has remained the same from Abraham Noah Adam up until this point is to get off our lazy

Apathetic we're ants get outside of this building and be the church instead of inviting people here to have church

Because you can't have church There's no such thing You can only be

God's Church and listen to me. We are failing

One of you folks came to me a couple of months ago and said pastor. We got a lot of visitors

But they don't come back Why is that you know what my answer was?

I don't know son. Why don't you tell me? What was their name? Well, I don't know Let me give you just a second why the irony of your statement kicks you in your own rear end

Why don't you know? Well, I didn't talk to him. That's not the problem guys with the church

I know a lot of church to say well, we need to make them feel welcome I'm here to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ against sin.

I'm not here to make you feel welcome But here's the bigger question How did they get from out there in here by you guys?

Who's the preacher in this place? If you are a born -again believer in the Son of God and had the blood of Jesus Christ imputed to you for your righteousness

You are a preacher of the kingdom of God and if you're not doing that You're failing but here's the good news.

The call still remains the same. It's disgusting 300 pastors in one setting we taught a thousand pastors

This little church did had a thousand pastors and Two of them could tell me the difference between grace and mercy.

You think we've forgotten our calling We've gotten so busy trying to seek people to build and fill our pews

That we forgot that we're supposed to go out there and let the Holy Spirit fill them You cannot lead someone to Jesus You cannot do it only the

Holy Spirit does John 6 says no one comes the Father unless I draw them

What we need to do is be the candlestick that Jesus is held up in and then let him do the work

But instead we're so busy trying to get folks in that ain't our job Our job is to get up and go out now here

Look what else it says preach you're supposed to preach but look what it's supposed to say

It says get up Get up go and preach

Smile Jesus loves you God bless you

God loves you right where you're at No, he doesn't he doesn't like right where you're at You know why he sent his son to die a horrific death to get you out of right where you're at You're a totally depraved sinful human being and then without the blood of Christ You're going straight to hell.

It says preach against them Well, brother Jeff you're preaching sometimes offends my family when they come here

Guys, it ain't my preaching that offends them It's called the conviction of the Holy Spirit found in the

Word of God because this ain't Jeff Shipley talking. Trust me I'm quoting from a little thing.

We called the inspired absolute Inerrant Word of God and if you feel conviction you have two choices this morning

You can try to blame everybody else or you can submit and repent. Well, brother

Jeff God's forgiven me. Have you repented? No, well, then he ain't forgiving you Forgiveness does not come unless you repent

Jesus didn't start his ministry by saying hey feel good about yourselves. The kingdom of God is at hand

He got up and said hey people you need to repent Right here right now

You know what stays the same the message and the call of Almighty God you are a sinful lost people, but I Jehovah Jireh will provide a way number two

It's not just the call of God that stays the same It's two hearts that stay the same the heart of man, but thank

God the heart of God man Constantly fails this morning.

Can I ask you a question? Why are you here? Why are you here? Because it's

Sunday Because your parents made you come Because you finally got tired of your wife nagging you to come to church so that her social status could go up a little bit

And women a lot of times that you want your men to come to church It really has very little to do with the holiness of Almighty God other than your social standing with other women

Is that too much truth for you? I'm sorry. I Feel bad now. Never mind.

That's gas Do you pursue the holiness of Almighty God? What stays the same the heart of man

Brother Jeff, I need to get back in church because my marriage is shamble. Hey ding -dong

Do you really think showing up an hour every Sunday is gonna fix your marriage or is your repentance from your arrogant?

Self -centeredness gonna fix your marriage Well, I'm supposed to be the head of the household within quit smoking weed and go get a job

That might really be a good thing to do why don't you act like the head of the household instead of trying to demand it

What stays the same? Here's what stays the same the heart of man Guys, we are totally

Depraved Church try to wrap your head around this please for just a second The street walking crack -smoking whore on Jackson Avenue is no worse than any of us in this room

Wrap your head around that you 1980s

Bill Gothard Christians need to grow up past the maturity and sanctification of a one -year -old

Okay We're no better. I Just have been saved.

I have the grace of Almighty God, but even with that grace There is no meritorious work that I can achieve even in the grace of God That brings me one step closer to the salvation of God for once.

I am saved. It's not once I've always saved It's those who come into me.

I will in no wise Cast them away The total depravity of my heart and of Jonah's heart praise.

God does not change the grace of God's heart That's what stays the same look at this with me for a second.

Just look at this Look at rebellion, how many of you are in total rebellion against God?

Yeah, well pastor I Walked down the aisle when I was You walk down But anyways, it says right here

God said Right here. God said get up and go

Get up and go and Jonah said No now notice that word at the beginning of verse 3

Notice that word some of your Bibles may translate it but but Holman translates it.

However We were talking with a young couple who were stressing because their children are rebellious

They came to me and they said you have five kids that are perfect and I went

Ha ha ha ha ha Kid and perfect will never be synonymous.

I don't care who raised them. They're stupid. They're selfish They're they're just kids.

They're dumb. Oh, no, man Your sons are so your daughter is so How do you think they got that way?

Do you really think there's a gene? Really? Because I asked Joe Because I didn't carry that gene, okay, and when married me so that tells you what kind of character she had right a

Little insecure wanted to date the bad boy mentality She had daddy issues too.

That's why she dated me Insecurity and codependency. How do you think it got that way?

Well, here's how it got that way. I Fought Very hard against one thing.

I never spanked my children for spilling milk ever. I Never spanked them for being stupid kids, but you know what

I beat their brains out for rebellion if I said

Die, this is what I used to tell them. I expect your heart to stop beating and you drop dead at my feet.

I Know that sounds weird, doesn't it? I Demanded absolute obedience

Guys Rebellion is the father of all sin.

What do you think started all this mess? What did Satan do against God? Well, he had pride.

Yeah, which is the seedbed of Rebellion guys rebellion is what you have to discipline for Well, Jeff, I don't agree with that, but okay, it's job security for me

It really is you keep raising your children according to Oprah Winfrey You keep needing another government sponsored

Oh, this drives me crazy these big stars come on TV and have these little 30 -second government commercials

Hey, you need to eat dinner with your children every night Really you got to use my tax dollars to tell these idiots this you know

Why this is problem because the church is sitting down and God's saying getting up We're preaching something other than the gospel that God said to do.

I didn't know how to raise kids So, you know what? I did I got the Word of God and I wrote down every verse that had to do with being a father a mother a kid or parents

I Think I said that twice, but you get my meaning. I Didn't graduate high school

But those things guys listen to me The heart of man is desperately wicked the heart of a child is worse because they're wicked and they stink

And they're irritating you've got to discipline it But now notice this notice the grace of God in the heart of God Did God get surprised when

Jonah did this go that way boy, right? Do you think

God said oh, I picked the wrong one messed up here Do you really think he did that?

So now watch this by implication of that understanding by the predetermined sovereign counsel of Almighty God God chose to pick a guy he knew that would fail

He chose to pick a guy that he knew that would rebel You know what that just did that opened the floodgates of hey all ye come

That ain't a joke. God said I know you're big fat stupid loser

But here's what's really cool through you being a big fat stupid loser Then finally learning to obey in that sanctification process

My name's gonna be glorified because they're gonna go why I didn't think he would be the one to do that You see it gives

God greater glory, but when you act like a pious jerk and everything's okay God can't get no glory

Brother Jeff. I'm really not understanding what you're saying, okay? Anywhere Church USA Sunday morning.

Hey, how are you doing Vicki? I'm doing great. How are you? Oh, well good. God bless you Or I think

I got cancer or my my daughter's smoking weed or I'm not doing real good.

I haven't picked up my Bible in three weeks See God can get glorified through that but if you're perfect all the time pastor

I here's the one drops me at the wall pastor. I need prayer, but I don't want you to tell anybody

Then why are you telling me? Oh, well, you're the pastor So I got a bat phone to God The same spirit of God's name a same spirit of God's in you and that little thing that what was it?

Who was it Kierkegaard or can't or Nietzsche that said confess your faults one to another that you may feel better about yourself

Oh, no, it was the Holy Word of God that said confess your faults not to a priest a pastor to each other that you may be

You want to get better in your spiritual life have a little bit of accountability Have someone look at you and go why didn't you read?

Why didn't you read have the heart of man come face to face with the heart of God in the heart of God?

He has given us his son But he's also given us the church to hold us accountable to keep us all moving in the right direction

See, but we can't do that Hmm See the heart of God stays the same church

Stop coming up with a different plan Because it ain't gonna work and what's really scary and more important.

It's not God's plan guys. We need to stay focused next thing

Why? Did he go left? Or right

Spain Mediterranean Java, yeah, it'd be one of the four Why did he go to Spain rather than go to Nineveh?

Okay. Well, let's talk about that for a second Number one who was Nineveh? Remember Wednesday night people who's

Nineveh? Capital of Thank You Jeff a

Syria. I want to tell you how much I appreciate studying 20 hours a week on biblical history and a

B P G instead of a B C D just remember a

B P G Assyria Babylon Persia and Greece those are the empires in succession of who came in order

Okay. All right now watch this. They were the capital of the Assyrian Empire You see what they would do is they would gather their huge army together

And when they felt like taking something over they would go there and surround the city if the city did not surrender

Immediately if they had to shoot one arrow if you made me sweat getting here.

Here's what we're gonna do We're gonna take you over Anyways, then we're gonna grab all your families and we're gonna grab all the parents and we're gonna sit them outside the wall

Then we're gonna take all your children and while you watch we're gonna skin them alive so you can hear it

Then we're gonna stake them and put them on poles on the road leading into the city Then we're gonna kill you

So now you decide do you want to like be John Wayne in the Alamo or you won't go ahead and just give it up And most people just gave it up right because there were no

Rambos back then. Okay, and So everybody hated Nineveh, but you know why

Jonah hated Nineveh? It wasn't because of that. You know why he hated him because They were not

Jewish. You know what? Here's the problem with the church We get so focused on all this garbage that doesn't matter how many you people

Did not grow up Baptist in here No, it's not keep your hands up look around Do you know in most

Baptist churches? You could not be a member of this church unless you were rebaptized into the

Baptist Church Well, yeah

John the Baptist started this 1609 in Holland, that's the first Baptist Do you know that most churches practice closed communion?

You know what that is? Y 'all know some of you guys know what close here's what closed communion is unless you are a member of this church

You can't take communion here because we don't know what your life is really like. I Membership is like oh, yeah, really cuz two of them are in my office for counseling every week

Didn't Paul say let each man examine himself It is not my responsibility to get you to a place where you should take communion

That's your responsibility. My job is to preach you the truth what you choose to do with it's up to you

We're holding each other accountable But we don't hold each other accountable because of our failures or where we come from God is not punishing us or wanting us to live in our failures

He's wanting us to get to a place where we actually do something about him So he gave us the church ladies and gentlemen, if you have failed, that's one thing but your failure to do something about your failure

That's another thing and it has nothing to where you come from what you look like or what you've done

How many of you people have ever stolen a car in here besides me? How many of y 'all ever beat someone into unconsciousness

How many of you ever done drugs? How many of y 'all have ever raped a woman? How many of y 'all have ever molested a child?

You know, what's really horrible is I'm in the same boat as those people Oh, no pastor.

They're a lot worse than you The divisions that we keep using to segregate who and what we are

It's one of the greatest weaknesses and yet the power most powerful tools Satan has to try to bring the church down There is one church.

It's existed since the breath of Adam I'll do you a little dispensation list. Hold on since the breath of Adam.

It was implemented at Pentecost and there is no defining entry except for the blood of Jesus Christ I don't care whether you're

Methodist black Puerto Rican Presbyterian you are a totally depraved human that is in need of the blood of Jesus Christ Last thing and I'm done

Man's condition and God's heart stays the same You know what else stays the same

The pursuit of God and the change that happens when he catches you look at verse 9 for a second watch this

For those of you that aren't familiar with this God says get up go preach Nineveh Jonah says no

I'm getting on a boat and I'm going to Tarsus. It was about three 2 ,000 miles away.

It was all the way across the Mediterranean on the Iberian Peninsula Well as he gets out into the thing

God sends a wind big storms happening Anyways, the ships rocking back and forth and you know dogs are sleeping with cats.

It's total pandemonium total chaos, right? And so they're out there and the men go. Hey, we need to pray with our gut to our gods

And so everybody starts one. I remember that movie the mummy where the guys and money has all the different religion things.

He's like Shalom and nothing's working. That's what all those guys are doing.

They're all praying to their false gods to get them out of the storm Right, where's Jonah Church if there isn't a metaphor for the church right down America I don't know what is in the chaos of everything that's going on.

Where was Jonah? He going to sleep Church, he going to sleep

Well, I invited someone to come to Jesus. Oh, you're such a loser So he's down at the bottom of the boat to sleep the captain of the boat

Goes down there and once again The irony is too thick to miss and says get up the same word

God used in verse 1 He's going get up get up. Aren't you afraid that we're gonna die pray to your

God? Maybe your God's gonna work Jonah goes Uh, yeah, this whole thing's happening because of me

Dude, what you knew that? Yeah, I knew that you say even in sin

Jonah knew that God was still gonna provide Now you're talking about taking something for granted you talking about familiarity breeds contempt

Jonah had walked with God so long that even in his rebellion. He knew God's grace wouldn't fail so he can go to sleep

Yeah So he goes and takes a nap They say get up pray to your

God he says it is my God I serve look here It's a look at verse 9.

He doesn't put any two bones about it. He goes he answered them. I'm a Hebrew I worship Yahweh the

God of the heavens who made the sea and dry land Well, did he make the animals take note?

Listen to what he's saying. He's going no I served the only real God there is he made this

He made it What's the captain say Then verse 10 the men were even more afraid and said to him

What is it that you've done? The men knew he was feeling fleeing from the Lord's presence because he had told them

What what is it you done? Jonah said he said go right I went left man

Can you? Wooga -wooga -wooga, somebody stole my Honda. Can you do something cuz we finna die here

Yeah. Well, here's what you need to do. Throw me overboard Everything will be alright

Just toss me overboard The men are like, oh, no. Remember these are godless heathens

They didn't want to do that. They had more morals Now watch this for a second

The Christian Wouldn't go to Nineveh because he knew God would save the people that he hated that were not like him

He didn't don't want to go there. We'll get to that next week. But now here's these men.

They're not Christians Hey, Southern Baptist white Anglo -Saxon Americans that live in the south these people

Don't know anything about that, but they had more moral fortitude and a better Moral compass than Jonah did because John was like throw me overboard man.

We can't do that That's murder and they were afraid to do it. Jonah finally said it's like this either throw me overboard or we're all gonna die.

I Said okay, so look at this watch this It says right here

They rode harder To get back to dry land, but they couldn't so they called out to the

Lord now The heathen are now praying to God How many sermons has

Jeremiah army has Jonah preached none How many altar calls has he given none?

But see when God's presence really shows up instead of being manufactured by smoke machines music and emotion

It doesn't matter man You could walk up to Nineveh like in a few days Jonah's gonna do and say hey you better repent cuz

God's angry and the whole City repents, but we'll get to that next week, too But now watch this look at the here in verse 14, please

Yahweh don't let us perish because of this man's life and don't charge us with innocent blood

Let that sink in for a second We're in this storm because of you We're in this storm because you disobeyed this

God who's now punishing us all but we still don't want to kill you and we still Consider your blood

Innocent there was another guy That walked around a city of antiquity about 2 ,000 years ago

And people hated his guts Because instead of dressing right talking right and doing all the right socially accepted things he sat down with prostitutes

He went to the drunkards He went to the outcasts the lepers the sinners

And this one guy made a statement You'll find it in the

Gospels They looked at Jesus Christ and they said this guy cannot be anything great for this man

Sits down speaks and eats with sinners Thank you,

Jesus Thank you Jesus because watch this his innocent blood

Was imputed what's imputation mean? Was credited my account now watch this just focus for a second

See, we all really get the whole idea that Adamic sin was imputed to all of us

Meaning we are as guilty as if we were there But they didn't stop there.

See God's command of all man's has fallen Came with this caveat named

Jesus Christ Well, yes, but all your sin is going to be imputed upon the cross of Christ.

How do I know that? Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani My god, my god, why have you forsaken me

God forsook him so he wouldn't have to forsake me But he gets even better than that You see the most powerful part of the imputation of the atoning blood of Jesus Christ is this is that the righteousness of Jesus?

Christ is imputed back to me When I stand before God, it is not my works of the flesh

Nor being a pastor nor of helping an old lady across the street It is the righteousness of Jesus Christ himself that God sees

Because my sin has been removed to a place where I bear it no more

This morning. Do you comprehend that? You see because you're here this morning and either you are not a

Christian Because some idiot long ago Said for you to say this prayer and you repeated some prayer at a youth camp and you thought that changed you

The sinner's prayer is not found in Scripture anywhere Inviting Jesus Christ into your heart baby

Lord Savior ain't in Scripture Walking down the aisle is not in Scripture.

You see it's by faith You are saved in other words. Have you come to a place where you put your faith in Christ?

For not just your sin But your life. Well, I want to give Jesus my sin, but I want to keep this don't work that way

It's either all or nothing Number two if you have done that in faith if you have done that in faith

Let me ask you a question. Are you living like it? Are you asleep while the world goes in chaos?

Are you here in a place this morning? Listen to me? Well, you have forgotten a powerful

Powerful imputation of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Do you walk around defeated by your failures?

If you do, let me show you what you need to do Let me show you what I told my sons to do after they got a whipping.

I'd say pick your head up Pull your shoulders back stop sniveling. You did wrong.

You got licked now learn from it Righteous man falls

Six times, but how many times does he get up? seven You failed welcome to the human race.