Jonah 1:3

Jonah 1:3 says, 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.  Jonah had been called by God to go and witness, but he chose to attempt to run from God.  He didn't just say no, but he went to a lot of effort and at least some expense to get away from doing God's will.  If we today know that God is calling us to a specific task and we attempt to run from His calling, it is going to cost us.  It may not cost us materially, but it will cost us spiritually.  Again, we will still be God's child, but we will lose the joy of that relationship.  Jonah was actively trying to separate himself from God.  I'm not sure why he chose Tarshish, except it was away from the direction of where God wanted him to go.  Matthew Henry says it may have been the first ship he could get passage on or he may have had friends there, but for whatever reason, he chose Tarshish, he was trying to run from God.  Where do we go today if we attempt to run or hide from God?  We may not physically go anywhere, but we may run spiritually.  It is possible to be sitting in the church building and running from God.  Just as Jonah was to discover that there was no place to successfully hide from God, if we are His followers, no matter how quickly or how far we run He will always be with us.  We cannot follow God if we don't let Him lead us. When we know what He wants us to do, there is no reason to delay. We need to go quickly to do His bidding and not quickly to run away.  Jonah was willing to go and pay the expense of going, but he wanted to go his way instead of God's way.  We need to be careful that we do not do the same thing.

Jonah 1:1

Jonah 1:1 says, Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,  We need first to realize that Jonah recognized God's voice.  We as His followers today must recognize God's voice if we are to serve Him.  There is a lot of noise and confusion in the world today.  People tell us and promise us many things that may sound appealing, but first we must listen for what God tells us before we act on any other call to action.  Jonah was identified as a specific person, and God identifies us today specifically and individually.  He knows each of us from our beginning to who we are now.  We are born to be a part of His plan.  Again, we still determine if we will follow God or not, but we do have a purpose when we are born, and especially when we are reborn.  Verse two says, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me."  God specified Jonah's mission.  He did not leave Jonah guessing as to what He was to do.  I don't believe that God leaves us guessing today.  First Jonah was told to arise.  We may know God's will for us today, but in order to do it, we must first arise. Jonah was told where he was to go and why.  We, as followers of Christ, have already been told where we are to go and why.  We are to go into all the world and make disciples, because the wickedness of the world has come up to God.  Again, when we think of the evil in the world today, we need to realize that it is nothing new.  When we see all the ethnic wars today, we can simply look back to Nazi Germany to see that it is nothing new.  God sends us to cry out against evil.  We are called as individuals to be a part of the overall mission, reaching the world with the gospel, and it is up to us how we respond, just as it was for Jonah.

John Review Concluded

I will examine one more area before moving to a new book, and that is the second coming of Christ.  When Peter asked Jesus about what was going to happen to John, Jesus said if John tarried until He came, what that was to Peter.   Jesus's then said "Come, follow Me."   As I stated earlier, many of the early Christians were sure Jesus would return in their lifetime, but their call was not to watch and wait, but to follow.  In every generation since, some have felt certain that Christ's return would be soon.  Many Christians today are certain the second coming is to happen in their lifetime.  What we do know is that we are told that He will come as a thief in the night, when least expected, and that Jesus Himself does not know when this will be, but only the Father.  We are given signs that the second coming is approaching, but are told that the signs do not mean that it is now.  For the Christian, for us as followers of Christ, the second coming is a glorious thing, but for the lost it is an everlasting death sentence.  Selfishly, we may want Christ to return, but we need to pray that He will tarry for those who are lost to be saved.  We are told that there is one thing that must occur before Christ returns again, and that is that the gospel must be spread to all the world.  It is possible that at some point in history this has happened everywhere, but I cannot say for sure.  I can say that we, as followers of Christ, should be spreading the gospel, and more so if we feel that the second coming is getting closer, as indeed it is every day.  We are not called to sit and interpret signs, but to follow Christ and reach the lost world.  I believe we need to look to the second coming not from the point of our own release from the troubles of this world, but from the view of those who are lost.  As long as Jesus tarries, we are simply to follow Him.  He came to seek and save those who were lost, and we must carry that message to the lost world today.  We cannot view it as bad people getting what they deserve, but as lost people being lost forever.  If we lose our compassion for all lost people and want only what is best for us, then we are not living by what Christ taught.

John Review Continued

Continuing with the summary of John, we need to realize what a call to follow Jesus means.  The disciples were called away from the life they knew to follow Jesus wherever He led them.  Though we may not be called away from our life physically, we are called away spiritually.  Our faith and hope cannot be in this world or the things of this world.  If we begin to see God as a way to bigger and better things, I believe we are missing the true teaching of Christianity.  The disciples relied on Jesus to meet their daily needs, but not to make them rich.  They may have thought that was what was going to happen, but Jesus always corrected them.  He came to suffer and die, and the servant is no greater than the Master.  We are called to be servants.  Jesus did not attempt to destroy His enemies, but He continued to love them, even from the cross.  We as His followers cannot promote hatred, even to those who hate and would destroy us.  On the cross, Jesus did not ask the Father to avenge His death, but to forgive those who crucified Him.  The Jews saw themselves as morally superior to the rest of the world simply because they were born as Jews.  Jesus taught that all are equally valuable.  The Jews were chosen to be God's people, not because they were great in the eyes of the world, but because of faith.  They continually failed God, and too often we as His followers do today.  When a tragedy happens here in America, we become angry and want revenge.  When something worse happens elsewhere in the world, we think they deserved it.  This is not what Jesus taught.  I don't profess to have all the answers, but if we, as followers of Christ, live by the same rules as the lost world, something is wrong.  Morality has to matter in all of life, not just part of the time set aside for God.

John Review

I think today I will do a brief review of some of the things John taught us about being a follower of Christ.  We must first acknowledge the eternal nature of Jesus.  He did not come into existence at His conception, as we do.  He was there at the creation of the world.  I almost said He came into existence in His human form at birth, but it is clear that He was in existence in human form nine months prior to that.  In Mary's situation, today many women might feel that His conception was inconvenient and He might never have the chance to be born.  I believe the Bible teaches us that human life starts at conception.  We also learned that Jesus was always obedient to the heavenly Father.  He did not look for what would be easiest or bring Him the most glory.  We are called to do the same as His followers.  We do not become children of God to extol our own virtues, but to follow the will of the Father in humble obedience.  This is the example that Jesus set for us.  Jesus called disciples to follow Him.  One , Judas, betrayed Him and was never restored.  One, Peter, showed great faith, but denied Jesus in a crisis, but repented and was restored.  One, Peter,was a true follower and one, Judas, wasn't.  If we are truly His followers, we will never stop being His.  We will fail at times, some more than others, but we are still His.  We are born again.  There is a difference between being a good person and a born in again believer.  We cannot restore ourselves, but must go to Jesus for forgiveness and restoration.  The disciples were called to follow Jesus first and put everything else second, and so are we.  They were to reach the world with the gospel, and we are to also.  They were to nurture fellow believers, and so are we.  Following Jesus is a lifelong calling, not a situational one.  We cannot separate life into secular and religious as His followers.  Everything we do must be to glorify God.

John 21:23

John 21:23 says, Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die; yet, Jesus said not unto them, he shall not die; but, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?"  The brethren were spreading the words of Christ incorrectly. They misinterpreted what Jesus said to conform to what they wanted to believe.  Many early Christians thought Jesus would return in their lifetime.  There are those today who base their beliefs on misinterpreting what the Bible says.  One aspect has to do with the second coming, which the brethren in that day were looking to also. Nearly every generation of believers has felt that Jesus's return was imminent.  The world of the early Christians was an evil place, and it has remained so ever since.  John corrected them by stating what Jesus really said.  We need to base our understanding on what the Bible actually says, not on what tradition may teach.  As for the second coming, we are not to make it the focus of our hope.  Spreading the gospel is our calling and there are fields white with harvest.  We need to be busy witnessing, realizing that when Christ returns, those without Him are lost forever.  Verse twenty-four adds, This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.  John did tarry longer than most of the disciples, and he recorded his time with Christ so we would have an accurate record of that time.  There are those today who say they have additional scripture, but those writings contain things that Jesus never taught.  Some today only believe the Old Testament to be scripture, while others want to discredit the Old Testament and follow only the New Testament.  We as followers of Christ must believe the whole Bible to be true.  Verse twenty-five continues, And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. We have recorded what we need to know in order to follow Christ. Though many other things could have been written, like what He looked like, these are unnecessary for salvation.  We simply have to believe what is recorded.

John 21:20

John 21:20 says, Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also laid on His breast at the supper, and said, "Lord, which is He which betrayeth Thee?"  Peter realized that John was still following them.  John was the one that Jesus had told who was going to betray Jesus, after Peter had asked John to ask Jesus.  Matthew Henry says Peter may have looked to John because Peter was now in the position closest to Jesus.  We need to be concerned not only with our own relationship with God, but that of all believers.  We are not to judge, but we are to look and see if they are following.  John was.  Verse twenty-one adds, Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, "Lord, and what shall this man do."  I don't believe Peter was asking out of jealousy, but just out of concern.  He had at least temporarily taken his eyes of Jesus.  Matthew Henry says even the best Christians can become distracted by other things, but we must try to keep our focus on God through everything.  We need to concentrate on what God has called us to do without being overly concerned with what others are called to do.  Verse twenty-two continues, Jesus saith unto him, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?  Follow thou Me."  Again, our concern should be following Jesus.  John did not die as a martyr, but as an old man.  He was not promised that he would live until the second coming, but God did come for him through death.  Sometimes today we may wonder why someone died so young and at times violently while faithfully serving Christ, and yet others live to old age in relative peace.  What we need to do is remember our calling, "Follow thou Me."  Those followers who die young and those who live until they are old both go home to God.  We simply need to keep our focus on Jesus.