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The life of Jonah is much more than a popular children's story. Details next on Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.

Dr. Michael Youssef: You would imagine after he experienced God firsthand, you would imagine that he would have been ecstatic and said, "Wow, Lord, you are calling me to greater witnessing? You are privileging me to a higher level of service of You? God, what a great honor that you are giving me! You want me to go where no one has gone before?" But instead, what did Jonah say? "Surely not me, and definitely not them."

Guest (Male): Leading the Way features the practical and discerning Bible teaching of long-time pastor and best-selling author Dr. Michael Youssef. Thank you for joining listeners across six continents for this new episode introducing his audio series looking at Jonah, "Surely Not Me, Definitely Not Them."

When was the last time you heard God speak? Maybe not audibly, but maybe an inner call to obedience. Along with that call, perhaps you've fought next steps because everything inside of you says, "Ignore that voice, run the other way."

Today on Leading the Way, Dr. Youssef takes you along for a look at the life of Jonah and the steps that led him to mature out of a season of running and disobedience. Let's listen together as Dr. Michael Youssef begins this episode.

Dr. Michael Youssef: "Surely not me, and definitely not them." In your honest moment, as in my honest moment, if you reflect carefully and thoughtfully in the presence of the Holy Spirit, you will have to agree that either you have been there or you are coming out of there, or you are still there. You are still where "Surely not me, Lord, and definitely not them" attitude. I know in my own life, more than once, I have uttered those words: "Surely not me, Lord, and definitely not them."

You know what? One of the characters that really illustrates this point, one of the ones who really articulates this attitude better than anybody else, is Old Testament prophet Jonah. A whole lot of people outside of the Christian faith know about Jonah because they know about the great fish. It's like somebody said, for years people have focused so much on the great fish that they have forgotten about the great God. I couldn't agree more.

In fact, Jesus Himself in Matthew 12:39 and following used the life of Jonah. For those who say it's a fiction, it's an allegory, if the Lord Jesus Christ Himself used Jonah as an illustration when He said people are seeking a sign, "I give you no greater sign than the Son of Man, like Jonah, will die and be buried and rise again on the third day." That, to me, makes it absolutely true from beginning to end with all the details.

I want to tell you something very important about Jonah that most of you probably did not know, even if you are familiar with the book, even if you've read the book, even if you know all about Nineveh and Tarshish and the call of Jonah on his life, God's call on his life. I'm going to tell you something many of you do not know, and that is that Jonah had been blessed of God before this time of the call on his life to go to Nineveh.

Jonah had heard the voice of God before and obeyed it. It's not the first time God called him. It's the first time he said no to the Lord. Jonah was not a novice about hearing the word of God and the call of God. Jonah experienced the goodness of God firsthand. Jonah firsthand saw how God is a God who keeps His promises and never goes back on His promises.

God's call upon Jonah to go to Nineveh did not just come out of the blue. We see many times prophets in the Old Testament; they will be shepherding their sheep or doing whatever they're doing, and then they hear the voice of God for the first time: "Go, do this for me, speak for me." But not this one. This man knew God. This man heard God before. This man obeyed God before.

But now, this call upon his life to go to Nineveh is God's way of saying to him, "Jonah, I am now going to take you to greater heights. Now I want to take you into higher ground of witnessing, higher ground of ministering. I want to take you to a bigger field of ministry. I want to give you, Jonah, a greater opportunity of serving Me."

Most people don't know about the call of God before this time. But at that point in his life, the man who knew God, who heard God, who obeyed God before, would have said, you would imagine after he experienced God firsthand, he knows how God keeps His word, you would imagine that he would have been ecstatic and said, "Wow, Lord, you are calling me to greater witnessing? You are privileging me to a higher level of service of You? You are wanting me to do something that is so great for You? God, what a great honor that you are giving me! You want me to go where no one has gone before?"

Oh, but instead, what did Jonah say? "Surely not me, and definitely not them." He hit me right on this one. I know the word of the Lord comes to every one of us. If you are a child of God, if you are born again, if you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you no doubt have heard the word of God spoken to you. "I want you to witness to this person. I want you to tell this person about my love for him or her. I want you to tell this person about Me. I want you to love that person for Me. I want you to show love to that person. I want you to tell them how much it cost Me to go to Calvary and die for them."

What's your reaction? How many times did we react when the opportunity came and we kept our mouths shut? Now to be sure, if we like the person that God sends us to, we are all over it. If that person means so much to you, you want to do it and say, "Yes, Lord, just give me the strength, I'll do it. I can't wait to do it."

I want to bring it down really to our level here of everyday life. You have a boss who's overbearing, somebody that irritates you, that you can't stand him, and then God says, "I want you to witness to him." Oh, come on, Lord, that's, not me. Surely not me, and definitely not him. Oh, I'll pray about somebody else can minister to him. I'll pray that you would send somebody else. Or if you want to be blunt about it, what you want to do is you want to pray that a lightning comes from heaven and strike the guy, right? I mean, you want to pray that God would move him to another city or another country. Surely not me, and definitely not him or her.

Or God says to you, "You know that jerk in your office or in your company? You know the one that constantly mocking Christians and Christianity? You know that one, the one you can't stand? I want you to love him, and I want you to love her on my behalf. Tell them about my love and Calvary's love." And you say, "Lord, he's a jerk and everybody knows that guy is a jerk, and I don't want to even want to be seen talking to him, let alone witness to him. Surely, Lord, not me, and definitely not him or her."

Or that neighbor of yours, you know I'm talking about the one whose dog always comes in and messes up your beautiful garden? You know I'm talking about the guy that every time walks by your house, you want to turn the sprinkler on and call it baptism? And God says to you, "Go love that person for Me. Tell them that I died on a cross so that I might redeem them, that I might give him life and give her life and give it more abundantly." And you say, "Come on, Lord, abundant life to these people? I want them to have no life at all. Surely not me, and definitely not them."

And now I want you to turn to the book of Jonah. Two verses only. The word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai. You see, it's very important to know whose son he is because when I show you later on, you're going to say maybe it's a different Jonah. No, it's the same guy. The same guy.

And the word of the Lord came to him and says, "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, for its wickedness has come up before Me." Please listen to me very, very carefully. There is no way any human being can explain to you or even comprehend the ludicrousness of that call of God. It is so ludicrous that you can't even comprehend it, and you can't fathom it if you lived at that time. This is not just somebody you don't like. Jonah couldn't understand why would God want him to do that.

Nineveh was as pagan as they come in all of history. It was founded by Nimrod shortly after God changed the language when the people were trying to build the tower of Babel, which is really a temple of the zodiac and worshiping Satan, and God changed their languages. And that moment Nimrod built that city in Nineveh, today is a city, it's still in existence just outside of Baghdad in modern-day Iraq.

But back then, Nineveh was so developed as a capital city of the Assyrian Empire. It was so developed they had roads that are 20 miles long. The wall that surrounded the city was 100 feet tall. That wall was so wide that three chariots were literally can ride on it abreast, three chariots all at the same time. It was a developed city, and I hope you get the picture.

Imagine Jonah's feeling, a lone voice going to that city, proclaiming a message from the God of the Hebrews. I mean, it did not make sense to him and it still would not make sense today. Who in the world would listen to him? They would laugh at him; they'll probably use him as an entertainment, as fun.

But not only that, Nineveh, who is the capital of the ancient Assyrian Empire, it was so wicked that they were known to skin alive their enemies. The atrocities, I can't even go on and describe to you the atrocities and the horrors that these people inflicted on anybody who just looked at them the wrong way.

And Jonah no doubt began to wonder, "Lord, what's going on here? What are you doing? What's wrong? I thought we are your people. We're the ones that you love. We're the one who should be the recipients of all of your grace and of all of your mercy and all of your forgiveness. We are your chosen people. These are wicked people. God, I thought your idea is that you were to sock it to them, not love them, not forgive them."

And you know there are some people running around in the Christian community teaching that the God of the Old Testament is the God of justice and wrath, but the God of the New Testament is the God of love. That's an error from the pit of hell. Obviously they have not read the book of Jonah.

Listen to me. God loves a repentant sinner, whether it was in the Old Testament or the New Testament. But I want you to notice something that's very important here in verse two of chapter one. The verbs in that chapter are all in the imperative mood. Go! Preach! Not "go if you feel like it." Not "go if the circumstances are feasible." Not "go if you really like the person." Not "go if they belong to the right social circles."

No, go and speak the words of God that He puts in your mouth and give that message. Go and deliver My message that I have given you to do. Go and cry out. Go and cry out.

And I thought about this long and hard. There was a time when believers wept over sin. But you know why we laugh at sin now? We don't weep over it. And the reason we don't weep over sin is simply because we, the children of God, are up to our knees in sin and disobedience and self-centeredness.

Please listen to me. Our most desperate need in this nation is not for more education, it's not for more psychology, it is not for better economic conditions, it is not for more slick politicians, it's not for more laws. Our greatest desperation in this nation is to weep over sin. Our greatest problem is sin and wickedness and disobedience. That's our greatest problem today. Our most desperate need is for God's people to cry over their sin first and then the sin of the nation. To repent of their own sin first and then on behalf of the nation. To obey God first.

And Jonah did not like his assignment any more than most of the believers are liking their assignments today. Like Jonah, we want to flee to Tarshish. I'm going to say more about that in the next message. Listen to me. There are a whole lot of cruise ships that are heading for Tarshish, and it is filled with believers fleeing from their call to witness.

There are a whole lot of cruise ships that are heading to Tarshish that are fully booked by believers fleeing their call to love the unbelievers for Christ. There are a whole lot of cruise ships that are heading to Tarshish, and they are overflowing with believers who are fleeing their call to cry out to God. In fact, I dare say whole churches are heading to Tarshish.

I told you earlier that Jonah was very selective in his obedience to the word of God. He really was. This is not the first time God called Jonah. It's the first time he said no to the Lord, but not the first time He called him, just like you, just like me.

I want you to turn with me, if you can, 2 Kings chapter 14, beginning at verse 23, but particularly verse 25. 2 Kings 14, particularly verse 25. There you see the word of God saying that the word of God came to Jonah. And just to be sure that nobody would say, well maybe it's a different Jonah, said the son of Amittai. It's the same guy. It's the same guy.

Oh, but listen! That time, Jonah jumped at the chance. As soon as God called him, he said, "Yes sir, how soon can I go? How soon can I pack my bags? I'm ready to do it." And you would say, but why? Why did he jump at the chance and why did he refuse to go the second time around?

Well listen carefully, please. Listen carefully because the message that God gave Jonah the first time was a message to announce blessings upon Israel. Oh man, you call me and send me out to announce blessings, I'm ready for it. Tell me that God will prosper me and I am a willing vessel. Tell me that God is favoring me and I will tell you, preach it, brother.

You tell me that God wants me to be obedient? Oh yes, that's a real downer, isn't it? Tell me about crying out over my sin and the sin of the nation and that God wants to use me to bring a revival to the land. That's a real downer. That's a real downer.

Tell me to lift up the name of Jesus in my workplace, in my neighborhood, in my school, in my community. And that's a real downer. Oh, tell me to be fruitful for the kingdom. Tell me to be faithful with my tithe and offering. Man, I'm out of here. I'm going to find me a warm and fuzzy preacher. I'm sorry, I'm just not one of them. I'm going to tell you the truth. I'm not going to tell you what you want to hear, but I'm going to tell you what God wants you to hear. Amen.

There's one thing you need to know about Jonah. Jonah was not a doubter. He really was not a doubter. No sir. He knew God, and he knew God to be the God who keeps His promises if it takes years. He knew God to be the God who will have mercy and would have mercy on the Ninevites if they repented.

He knew God to be the God who will forgive them if they turn to Him. He knew God to be the God who will bless the Ninevites if they turn to the Lord. He knew all that, and that's why he didn't like it. That's why he didn't like it. He thought the blessing should be all his.

The problem is the blessings of God was not in Tarshish; it was in Nineveh. Beloved, the blessing of God is in the obedience. It is not where you want to be or what you want to get. The real blessing of God is in obedience. And that's why Jonah headed the other way.

I'm going to say more about Tarshish in the next message. It's very significant. But the question that I want to leave you with is this: are you on your way to Nineveh or have you bought your ticket to go to Tarshish? Those of you are opting to leave your spouses and your marriages and walk out, are you on your way to Tarshish or you are going to Nineveh where God called you to be?

Are you on the road to obedience or you have been sitting in Joppa waiting for your ship to go to Tarshish? Or are you in the battleship that will bring you victory, that will bring you true blessing, that will bring you true joy, that will bring you true contentment?

Today you can say, "Lord, the cruise liner that I've been on for so long brought me nothing but dissatisfaction and discontentment and a mediocrity in my Christian walk with you. Today, Lord, I want to get off the cruise liner and I want to get on the battleship."

Father, You've created us for a purpose. You created us to serve You. You created us to glorify You. You've created us to be salt and light. You did not create us to hide. And so Father, I cry to You that You will begin with us, begin with me. That Father, we would say with the apostle Paul, "I am not ashamed of the gospel. I will not hide, but I'll go." In His name I pray, Amen.

Guest (Male): "Surely Not Me, Definitely Not Them." That's what Dr. Michael Youssef is calling his series on Leading the Way. And we thank you for making time in your day to listen.

Do you have unanswered spiritual questions? Would it help to speak with a compassionate pastor or counselor? Well, connect with a Leading the Way pastor or counselor today when you fill out a short contact form at ltw.org/jesus.

As we bring today's episode to a close, I want to take just a moment to speak with Dr. Youssef about his newest book, *An Unholy Alliance*. Dr. Youssef, in your newest book, *An Unholy Alliance*, you tell us how there are many Christian leaders who are afraid to speak out about the threat of radical Islam. Why is that?

Dr. Michael Youssef: You know, the problem with radical Islam is that they operate on one basis, and that's fear. Once they instill fear—fear of terrorism, fear of being killed and attacked as they're doing all over the streets of Europe and even in some parts of the United States—once they instill fear especially in the law enforcement authorities, if they instill fear in them, they have won. And that's their modus operandi: fear.

But we do not have the spirit of fear as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the spirit of courage and self-control. And therefore, instead of being fearful, we need to be courageous and to tell the very people who are trying to conquer us, "Jesus loves you. Repent and turn to Him." And you never know; maybe another Saul of Tarsus becomes Paul. Persecutors of Christians becomes an apostle or a missionary. And this is happening in parts of the Middle East, and it can happen in the West if God's people get serious and stop praying and then working.

Guest (Male): Join readers across the world who've read and appreciated *An Unholy Alliance* when you visit ltw.org. Order your copy. The website is ltw.org. Or one of the ministry representatives can answer ordering questions when you reach out to the call center at 866-626-4357.

This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth around the world. Learn more at ltw.org.