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All right, we're here in Jonah chapter 1, and we're continuing our series on the alphabet of characteristics. We're looking at being realistic, being realistic. We're going to basically look at two characters here today, and we're going to look at Jonah, and we're going to also look at Pharaoh. And so we're here in Jonah chapter 1, and I would say that Jonah is probably the most likable book of the Bible. I don't think anybody dislikes reading Jonah. It's one of the most exciting stories. There's not a dry moment throughout the book of Jonah. It's a great book. There's a lot we can learn from here. And when it starts, Jonah is unrealistic at the beginning, and we see that in Jonah chapter 1. Notice what it says in Jonah 1, verse 1. Now the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So the Bible tells us here in verse number 3 that Jonah tried to run away from God, okay? It doesn't really get more unrealistic than trying to run away from God. You know, I don't care if you're Usain Bolt in your prime. You're not going to run away from God. It's kind of similar to like when a little kid is five years old, and it's like, you know, you don't let me eat those gummies. I'm running away from home, Mom. And then you're like, okay, here's your suitcase, you know, good luck. And then they're like getting toward the front door, they're waiting for you to buckle or whatever, and then it's like they changed their mind, right? Now I'm glad this never happened to us yet with our kids, but I know it is a common thing where kids want to run away from home, and they don't mean that. It's just an emotional thing that they do. But it's a pretty foolish thing because how is a young child going to survive on their own? They're not going to be able to, right? Or you know, another example of being unrealistic and foolish that's similar is when people run away from cops. It's just like they're going to catch you. Your fine is going to be higher. You're going to be resisting arrest, which isn't a fence. I mean, it's just like, hey, they got you. It's just like, you know, just give in. Give up, right? I mean, it just is what it is. It's not a smart thing to do. But even more so with Jonah as he's trying to run away from God because obviously God is everywhere. God is omnipresent, so what are you doing? And we read this and we think Jonah looks so foolish, but keep in mind a couple of things. Number one, Jonah was a great man of God. He's not just in the book of Jonah, he's also mentioned in 2 Kings as a great man of God, a great prophet of God, and obviously he hates the Assyrians because the Assyrians were the Assyrians. They were wicked and evil people. But the other thing is keep in mind that all of us also run away from the presence of God all the time because here's the thing. God wants to meet with you every single day, and if you don't spend personal time with God on a daily basis, you know what you did that day? You ran away from God. God's like right there. And I'm not saying you're audibly going to hear a voice, but I mean God's basically like read me. I'm right here. I want to spend time with you. And you do everything under the sun rather than just read your Bible and spend time with God. Or you know, God's presence is in church. And you do everything to get out of going to church. What are you doing? You're running away from the presence of God. There's no other way to look at it. And that's what Jonah's doing, but realize that we also, he's literally doing it which makes him look very foolish, especially when it's in the Bible for all eternity. But I'm also glad that all of my mistakes are not just out there for all eternity because all of us have many of them, right? Turn in your Bible to Psalm 139, Psalm 139, Psalm 139, Psalm 139. And in Psalm 139, it's a great passage to show the omnipresence of God, that God is everywhere. And in Psalm 139, verse 7, notice what the Bible says, Psalm 139, verse 7, whether shall I go from thy spirit or whether shall I flee from thy presence. So where could I go to get away from the presence of God? Because literally it said Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord. So where could Jonah go? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. Obviously God's presence is in heaven. And I mean everybody would agree with that. There's nobody that would say they're a Christian that would say God's presence is not in heaven, right? Nobody would agree with that. Notice the next part of that verse, if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. I mean who's been in church before? And you'll hear a pastor say that the worst and most painful part about hell is eternal separation from God. I mean I've heard that many times from preachers saying that the worst part about hell is separation from God. And I'll be honest, when I was newly saved and I didn't really know my Bible, you know, I didn't think it through, but I just thought in my head, isn't like being on fire the most painful part of being in hell for all eternity? It sounds a little bit worse than being out of the presence of God, but it's very foolish because number one, the Bible says the opposite. God's presence is in hell because God is omnipresent. And number two, a lot of unsaved people and wicked people, they don't want to be in God's presence. They want to be away from God's presence. I promise you, people that are reprobates, the last place they want to be is in God's presence. But unfortunately for them, hell is not a party like some of them seem to think, but they're actually going to be tormented day and night forever and ever in the presence of the lamb, the Bible says. You say why? Well, because think about this. What do you think keeps the center of the earth hot after thousands of years? God. The presence of God is what's keeping it hot. That's the only reason why it's still hot. And you're tormented in the presence of the lamb, the Bible says. So look, God's presence is everywhere. There's nowhere in this earth or this universe or world or whatever you want to say where you're going to escape the presence of God. If you go up to heaven, God's there. If you go to hell, God's there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. You could be in the middle of the ocean, just the middle of the water, just underneath sinking and you know what? God's presence is also there. God's everywhere. That's what the Bible teaches. Go to your Bible to Jonah 1, Jonah chapter 1, Jonah chapter 1. And it says in Jonah 1 verse 3, But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. What are we seeing? We are seeing that he is being unrealistic. He's being foolish. You cannot run away from God. You cannot avoid God's presence. And it says, and went down to Joppa. Symbolically speaking, when you sin or backslide, you're going down, right? You're not going up. He went down to Joppa, and he found a ship going to Tarshish, so he paid the fare thereof. And it's interesting that when people live sinful and worldly lives, they actually pay financially for it. You don't cost money if you have a lot of vices and things such as that. And so we see Jonah trying to resist God and resist his presence and run away, and he's going down to Joppa. He's paying the fare thereof and went down into it to go with him on to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He's trying to get away from God's presence. Verse number 10, and this is later on in the story, and of course there's this big tempest in the sea, and they're wondering what's going on. Everyone's crying out to their gods. And then in verse 10, then were the men exceedingly afraid and said unto them, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. So Jonah says, Hey, I can tell you why God's mad. I ran away from God. And I'm sure the reaction is like, What? Are you an idiot? You ran away from God? Because look, I don't care what the religion is. Pretty much everyone that believes in God believes God is omnipresent. And I'm sure when they're hearing this, because he tells them, I ran away from God's presence. God told me to do something. I ran away, and they're just like, What kind of stupid are you? You can't run away from God. That's foolish. It doesn't make any sense. But that's what Jonah does, right? Verse number 17, Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Now, when it comes to this great fish that swallowed up Jonah, in another place, the Bible says he is swallowed by a whale, because in God's classification of animals, it's a bit different than ours oftentimes. A great fish would be a large, or a whale, I should say, would be a great or a large fish. Okay? So it's not a contradiction. Was it a whale or was it a fish? Well, yeah, in our modern day, we have distinctions of various animals, but a whale is just a big fish. Okay? Obviously, the Bible speaks about sea monsters. It doesn't describe all the animals that we classify today, but God has a different sort of system. Now, this great fish that swallows up Jonah, it's possible that God just created it out of nowhere at that second, and then it swallowed up Jonah, and either it stayed in the water or it just kind of vanished away afterwards, or it's possible it was a giant fish that was existing during that day. I really don't know. There have been a couple modern day examples of people being swallowed by giant fish, and they live to tell about it. But I've always looked at this as a miraculous event. Maybe you don't. I don't think we need to scientifically explain it, though, because you know what? Some things are miracles, right? So however you look at that, God prepares a specific fish, and Jonah's cast into the water, and I guess he thinks he's going to drown, and then all of a sudden, he just gets eaten by this giant fish, and he's in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Now, go to Exodus 7, Exodus 7. So we see that Jonah is unrealistic at the beginning of the book of Jonah. I'll show you another unrealistic person in the Bible named Pharaoh. Pharaoh during the days of Moses was a very unrealistic man. Notice what it says in Exodus 7, verse 14. And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, he refuses to let the people go. Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning, lo, he goeth out under the water, and thou shalt stand by the river's brink, against he come. And the rod which was turned to a serpent, shalt thou take in thine hand. And thou shalt say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me out of thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness, and behold, neither to, thou wouldest not hear. Thus saith the Lord, And this thou shalt know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will smite with the rod that is in thine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink, and the Egyptians shall loathe the drink of the water of the river. And the Lord spang unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone. And Moses and Aaron did so as the Lord commanded, and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that was in the river died, and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river, and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. Now, do you know what a normal person would do in a situation like this? I give up. You win. Please, can you turn the blood back to water? Can we please just have the water again? We'll let you go. We'll do anything that you want. Please, just pray to your God, or do whatever. Turn it back to water. But Pharaoh's not a very realistic man. That's not what he does. Verse 22, And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments. And Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them, as the Lord had said. What does it mean by the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments? It means they also turned water to blood. Wow, that's really helpful. When the water's been turned to blood, and you turn the rest of the water to blood. Good job, you idiots. I mean, Pharaoh's like, hey, that's not impressive. We can do the same thing. I mean, if I was Moses and Aaron, I would be struggling not to laugh. It's like, what is wrong with you? It's like, do you not realize you're being foolish? It doesn't make any sense. Why would you also turn water to blood? But that's what the Bible says they did. The magicians also turned the water to blood. It just, out of their mind. But you know, when people are being unrealistic, they just act foolish. They don't use any logic or any common sense. That's what the magicians do. So we see that Jonah starts being very unrealistic. He's trying to run away from God. And then you've got Pharaoh that is clearly losing this battle, fighting against God. And guess what? He still goes forward and tries to fight it. Fight to the bitter end. Go to Jonah 2, Jonah 2. Now look, if they had turned the blood back to water, that would be impressive. But turning water to blood doesn't, I mean, I don't see how anyone could look at that as an accomplishment. I'm sure. I'm sure. Because the way I picture this story, and you know, when they're coming before Pharaoh, I picture there being a lot of people that are witnessing this. And maybe you don't. Maybe just because I saw movies in the past that they're doing it in the presence of people. That's the way I picture it. But I don't think that everybody in Egypt was just an idiot like Pharaoh, or just completely unrealistic. I can just imagine some people watching this, and then the magicians are turning more water to blood, and they're like, what are you doing? I was going to drink that water. And so they're witnessing this, and then they're just seeing a man acting really unrealistic and foolish, and we're seeing the magicians do the same thing. So Jonah starts being unrealistic, and then let's see what we see in Jonah 2, verse 1. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, and said, I cried by reason to mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me. Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou hurtest my voice. Now I want you to realize something, that in Jonah 2, Jonah is inside of a whale's belly, or a giant fish's belly, and we see a man that was acting very unrealistic. If you act very unrealistic at some point in your life, there is going to be a manifestation of your foolishness. There's going to be a manifestation that you're acting unrealistic. He tried to run away from God. What a shock. It does not work. Now you're inside of a whale's belly, and there's all the evidence in the world that you're acting like an idiot. Right? I mean, Jonah's witnessing this. He's inside of a whale's belly. He's in the water, and then out of nowhere, it's like the whale eats him, and then all of a sudden, it's just like, oh, man, okay, this is not what I expected. He's inside of a whale's belly, and he's probably thinking, man, God, I just wanted to die. Why wouldn't you let me die? It's like, nope. It's like, I'm not done with you. So he gets swallowed up, and he's praying, and he says, out of the belly of hell cried I. Now, was Jonah literally in hell? No, he was not. He was not in hell. I've heard some people teach that before. I think that's out there. But when he says out of the belly of hell, what he's doing is he's prophesying. I mean, this was a prophet of God, and he's prophesying. Remember, he's in the whale's belly for three days and three nights. That sounds familiar to Jesus being three days and three nights in the heart of the earth or in the belly of hell, right? And he says out of the belly of hell because obviously when Jesus Christ died, his soul went where? It went to hell. You say, well, why would his soul go to hell? Well, because of the fact, what is the punishment or penalty for our sins? The penalty for our sins is to suffer eternity in hell for each and every one of our sins. Well, here's the thing, dying on the cross and being crucified is a very painful way to die. But that's not the completion of what our sins give to us, because when we die in our sins, we don't just get crucified on a cross. We pay for our sins in hell for all eternity. So if God took the place for us, which he did, that means his soul had to go to hell in order to pay for our sins. And so he died on the cross, and people have a problem with that. They say, but wait a minute, when Jesus was alive, the Bible says it is finished. You know, the Bible says it is finished many times in the book of John. And you know what you're saying when it is finished? This one stage or step is finished. It doesn't mean everything is finished, because there's one very important part or one aspect that certainly had not taken place that nobody could deny. That's the resurrection of Jesus. I mean, didn't Jesus have to rise again for our sins? So was it 100% completely finished, nothing else had to be done when he was crucified or right before he died? No, he had to rise again. So don't tell me that everything was done because he still had to rise again, even if you disagree that his soul went to hell for three days and three nights. But look, this is what the Bible is teaching us. And the Bible reiterates this in the New Testament. As Jonas was in the will's belly for three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, in the belly of hell. So the soul of Jesus was in hell for three days and three nights. And that's an interesting topic because that's one Catholics are right about, and it's the Baptists that are wrong. Because often or usually Baptists will say, no, no, no, I mean, when you die, you go to the good part of hell. And you know, it's funny because when I was a kid, I didn't know much about the Bible. Let me tell you something I knew. Hell is a bad place that you don't want to go. And if you were to go on the street and say, hey, would you like to go to the good part of hell, people are going to look at you like you're crazy. But for whatever reason, in Baptist churches, it's become a big doctrine that no, no, no, Jesus, he didn't burn and, you know, how to pay for our sins, even though the offerings in the Old Testament were burned, he was just in hell proclaiming victory like we won, we won the battle. No, his soul went to hell for three days and three nights, just like the Bible said. Just like Jonah is prophesying about. And Jesus reiterates the story of Jonah to prove that point. Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me in the deep, in the midst of the seas, and the floods compassed me about. All thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even of the soul. The depth closed me round about. The weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. And by the way, this is something they've just discovered in the last couple hundred years, that the bottom of the ocean is just filled with mountains. Something they didn't know, catching up to what the Bible said once again. Then it says, the earth with her bars was about me forever. And see, what I believe is that when Jesus went to hell, he suffered an eternity of hell for each and every one of us in those three days and three nights. Now, of course, I can't fully comprehend all this, but we realize that God created time, and God is outside of time. And somehow in those three days and three nights, he suffered an eternity of hell. And it would go along with this verse, the earth with her bars was about me forever. And I believe he's been symbolically speaking about the penalty of hell is forever. And that's what Jesus suffered for us. Yet has thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. And so the manifestation of Jonah's foolishness just hits him right in the face. All of a sudden, I presume he's in a very dark place. I presume that in the center of a whale's belly, he can't see anything, right? I don't know from personal experience. If you do, I'd love for you to tell me your story. We'll, you know, make a video of it, put it on YouTube. I'm sure it'll get a lot of views. But my assumption would be if you're in a whale's belly, you can't see anything. And it's kind of like, that's a pretty scary thing. I wouldn't say I'm a person that's afraid of the dark, but there's a limit to that. I mean, you're inside of a whale's belly. I mean, who knows what the smell is like? Who knows what the sound is like? I mean, it's going to be a very miserable place. And he has the manifestation right there hitting him. OK, I messed up. I made the wrong choice. Go to Exodus chapter eight. Exodus chapter eight. Exodus chapter eight. And by the way, let me just say this, that if you live your life making foolish and dumb choices and acting very unrealistic, eventually there's going to be a manifestation. It's going to be seen. I mean, people drink alcohol on a daily basis. Oh, it's not going to affect me. No, no, no. Eventually, there's going to be a manifestation. Eventually, you're going to have to go to the doctor's because you feel this pain or whatever, and it's like, oh, you're destroying your liver or whatever, right? Eventually, there's a manifestation when you make stupid and foolish choices and you're unrealistic. That's what we see with Jonah. We see the same thing also in the story of Pharaoh. Exodus chapter eight, verse one. Exodus eight, verse one. And the Bible says in Exodus eight, verse one, And the Lord spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go that they may serve me. And I refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs. And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house and into thy bedchamber and upon thy bed and into the house of thy servants and upon thy people and into thine ovens and into thy kneading troughs, and the frogs shall come up both on thee and upon thy people and upon all thy servants. Now, I think frogs are a really cool animal. I think they're one of the most fascinating animals that God has created, but that's because I don't have any frogs inside of my house. I mean, I'm not particularly afraid of frogs, but there's none in my house. You know, I see, you know, mice or rats in public. I see, you know, EPs or cockroaches in public, and guess what? Doesn't scare me. I see them run by. It doesn't really make me jump at all. You know, at our old house, we have mice sometimes, and guess what? Even though I knew they were there, once you start seeing the move, it's just like, you know, you cannot help but have that reaction, or, you know, it's like, you know, you're trying to do whatever, and then all of a sudden, a cockroach just right beside you, it's just like, oh, that's nasty, right? And so the frogs are everywhere, and I mean, it's interesting in these verses. I mean, it's very, very detailed. It's going into your house, into your bedchamber and upon thy bed, so, you know, you're going to sleep at night, and then you wake up because a frog jumped on you. I mean, they're everywhere. I mean, can you imagine that? You're just trying to sleep, and all of a sudden, it's just like, you know, frogs on top of you. Yeah, that would kind of scare me. I'd probably, you know, just throw the frog and scream, but they're everywhere, right? And it says, and into the house thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens. You know, you're just trying to cook breakfast in the morning, or lunch, or something like that, and then all of a sudden, a frog pops out, right? Now, I've eaten frogs before. They taste pretty good, so maybe just turn on the temperature, and, you know, you get to cook that frog and eat it. I guess that's fine, but when they're everywhere, it's going to be a pretty miserable thing. So what are we seeing? Well, we're seeing a manifestation of being unrealistic and foolish with Pharaoh. I mean, it's right there. There's frogs everywhere. There's nowhere you can go. I mean, it's all throughout your house. Every room you see it, it's like, okay, I'm foolish. I should just let the people go. That is how a normal person would react. That's not how Pharaoh reacts. Verse 5, and the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. Now, look, I'm sorry, but if I was Pharaoh, I would require my servants to pass an IQ test before they work for me. Unless that's Pharaoh's suggestion. It's like, there's frogs everywhere. Well, I'm not impressed by that. Watch this. And then there's more frogs. Once again, I just imagine the people, and it's just like, no, what is wrong with them? Like, they're so stupid. Like, what are you doing? You just created more frogs. And they're just acting foolish. But as I said, when people are unrealistic, it's like they just act insane. Like, it doesn't make sense what they're doing, and it's like going straight over their head. Now, eventually what you do see is they can no longer create the miracles of God. That's actually good for them, when they're no longer able to create them. And what it shows is, on a side point, that magic is not a game or a joke. I mean, magic is a real thing where the devil can actually give powers. And it's like, when I was a kid, I think I believed all magic was just fake and not real. But it's not all fake. And it's a pretty scary thing. It's like, yeah, with people like Albularios or people like that, it's like, yeah, there's some scary stuff, witch doctors and stuff like that, where people do have powers to do certain things. And it's like, as Christians, you say, what do you do? Well, as Christians, completely stay away from it. But here's something. How about don't watch movies that are glorifying magic? Well, I mean, Harry Potter, he does the good magic. Yeah, did you know that's exactly what Albularios say, too? They do the good magic, not the bad magic. And guess what voodoo doctors say? They do the good magic. We don't practice black magic. We practice white magic. And I just think to myself, because, you know, if that's white magic, I'm really scared what dark magic is, right? But it's all bad, because it's not coming from God. It's from the power of the devil that they're doing this stuff. It's not something for Christians to watch and to glorify. Sorcery has the death penalty in the Old Testament. And under God's perfect nation, that's what the law would be. So guess what? Yeah, every Albulario would be put to death, according to God's law. Every voodoo doctor would be put to death. And Harry Potter, if he was real, in real life, he'd be put to death, according to the word of God. Bible says in verse number eight, then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, entreat the Lord that he may take away the frogs from me and from my people. And I will let the people go that they may do sacrifice under the Lord. And Moses said unto Pharaoh, glory over me, when shall I entreat for thee and for thy servants and for thy people to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only? Now ASAP, please pray right now and get rid of the frogs. Isn't that what a normal person would do? I mean, if you're being realistic, you look at your situation, you've got the manifestation right in front of you. You're a fool if you don't say now, get rid of them now. And he said tomorrow. I mean, when you're reading this, it's kind of like, I mean, I remember the first time I read this because the first time you read these stories, you don't know all the finer details and you're reading it, it's very interesting. And you're like, what is he possibly thinking? Now we look at this and I think oftentimes we kind of just distance ourselves from this and think, yeah, what an idiot. I mean, I would never do anything like that. But hold on a second because we act foolish and unrealistic all the time and it's kind of like, well, when are we just going to wake up and do what the word of God says? I mean, your life is a mess from the music you listen to and the movies you watch. You're hearing the Lord's name in vain all the time by the garbage you watch. You're getting filled with all kinds of sin from the world. And you've heard me preach about it a thousand times. You know what the Bible says. You know it's wrong. You know it's going to harm you. You know you're going to be miserable and when are you going to get rid of it? Tomorrow. One day. And look, I can just say this is one of the frustrating things as a pastor because you kind of look at the outside and you pay attention to things and I'm just thinking, why don't you just fix it now? But one day, one day you're going to fix it. Oh, okay. I guess we'll see. You've heard me wrong but I doubt it because if you haven't fixed it for years, I doubt you're going to start fixing it now. Go ahead and try to figure it out on your own because that's really what you're doing when you just reject what the Bible says and just try to do it on your own. Don't they say it's insanity to do the same thing over and over and over again and expect a different result? What you're doing isn't working. And what's frustrating is you know it. The manifestation is right there staring you in the face and you just deny reality. And it's just like, what are you doing? I mean, there's people here, right now your marriage is a mess and you know it. You know everything is not going like it's supposed to go. You're not happy. You're miserable. Every time you see your spouse, you're upset. And it's like if you would just do what the Bible said, it would fix most of those problems. But instead, you're going to figure it out on your own. Good luck with that. Maybe instead of just being mad at what Ephesians 5 says, just do it. As a husband, lay down your life for your wife and love her and care for her. And as the wife, show respect on your husband and look at him as the leader. And guess what? Most of your problems will vanish away but you don't want to do that. Or you're waiting for your spouse to do it first. Okay, good luck with that. Just keep remaining miserable and I'm just going to start calling you Pharaoh because that's what Pharaoh is doing. Tomorrow. Yeah, because you're trying to figure it out on your own. Let's see if the magicians can make some magic spell and just figure it out before tomorrow. It's like foolishness. But that's what they're doing. But look, we do things like this all the time. One of the things that I commonly preach at this church is to read the Bible every day. Right? I mean, that's a pretty common thing that I talk about. Read therein all the days of thy life. Read the Bible every day. Spend personal time with God every single day. Right now, you have so many problems in your life and you cannot figure out why. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out. Here's the reason why you're bitter and angry and miserable. Because you're not reading your Bible. Well, I can't believe you'd say that. Is it true, though? I mean, look, the manifestation is there. You're bitter. You're prideful. You're mad. You're backslidden. You know that's true. All you can think about are things of the world, but you're still not willing to just do what the Bible says. It's like, well, good luck. Go ahead and do whatever you want. And honestly, I don't understand why people come to a church like this, but they don't apply what the Bible says. What's the point of even hearing if you're not going to do it? If you want to fix your problems, here's the answer. Instead of trusting in yourself, because when you got saved, who did you trust in to be saved? You put your trust in Jesus Christ. You put your trust in God, right, to be saved. But then after you got saved, instead of trusting God, you just trust your own wisdom. You trust what seems right to you. Even though the Bible says, there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Even though the Bible says, lean not unto thine own understanding. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not unto thine own understanding. But that's exactly what you're doing. Even though the Bible says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? So you're letting your feelings and your heart lead you, and then you wonder why you're miserable. Maybe because the Bible's correct when it says, do what God says and you'll end up happy. Maybe because God's word is correct. But what most people do, well, tomorrow, one day, I'll fix the problems. Okay, Pharaoh, I hope you do one day, but why spend 10 years being miserable? Why not just fix it now? And he said, tomorrow, and he said, you know, and he said, Moses and Aaron are probably trying hard not to laugh, right? Be it according to thy word, that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God. Go to Jonah chapter 2. Why is it that people try to figure things out on their own instead of just doing what God says, instead of just admitting the truth when reality is staring right at them? Because if you say, I've got to make a change, what you're basically saying is, I've been messing up. And guess what? People don't like to admit responsibility. They don't like to admit responsibility. I mean, it's like whenever you see like high profile cases of, you know, somebody being like a killer or something, and you have interviews from the parents, it's like, you know what they often are just like, you know, we did everything right. It's like there's no responsibility whatsoever that they attach themselves, they did everything right. Well, I mean, the manifestation says otherwise. By the way, let me just say this, that the last thing that I want to do in my life in terms of denying reality is to deny reality when it comes to raising my kids. You say, what do you mean? Because every single parent in the world, you get the manifestation that you're making some mistakes. I mean, I've seen it with my kids before where I'm like, okay, something's not going right, I'm messing up, we need to make a change. I mean, everybody, every parent, if you're honest, and if you say, I've never had that happen, okay, good luck with your kids then, because what you're doing is denying reality. But you know what, if you are a smart and a wise person, you're going to be honest with yourself and say, you know what, yeah, I've seen it before with my kids, they're doing something wrong. Look, I think my kids are great kids, but yeah, there's been things where it's like, yeah, you know, we need to make a change because there's something going wrong. We see, obviously we're around them all the time, and it's like, well, why are they doing this? We've got to make a change. But okay, if you don't want to do that, if you don't want to admit responsibility, just allow your kids to grow up and be rebellious and get worse and worse and worse. And good luck. I hope, legitimately, I hope they turn out right even if you don't do your job as a parent. I'm going to be honest with you, that if you're not going to put in the time and effort, and you're going to deny reality, they're probably not going to turn out right. Because it takes work to be a parent. Point number one, we see that Jonah is being unrealistic, just like Pharaoh. Point number two, both of them get the manifestation of their foolishness. With Jonah, wakes up in a whale's belly. With Pharaoh, he's got frogs everywhere. He's got every plague imaginable. Everything is just falling apart. I mean, imagine how humbling this is. Egypt is the power of the world. Nobody can withstand Egypt. The Bible says in the Book of Nahum that the power of Egypt, her power was infinite, meaning it doesn't get any higher than the power that Egypt had in an earthly sense. And then one man stands before him, and it's like, you're just getting defeated left and right. I mean, yeah, it's a pretty humbling thing. But the manifestation is there that what you're doing is not working. I mean, it's like, just give up, Pharaoh. Point number three, we see with Jonah, Jonah becomes realistic at the end. Jonah 2, verse 7. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. Now, verse number eight. So basically, when everything falls apart, all of a sudden Jonah prays to God. And I want you to look at verse 8, and I highly recommend that you memorize this verse or take note of this verse. Jonah 2, verse 8. It's a verse I often quote. It's a verse I often think about. It's a very overlooked verse, I feel like, but it really kind of ties us together. He makes a statement, They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. And what Jonah's saying is that you could be in a whale's belly and refuse to admit responsibility. Okay, no mercy from God then. That's what he's saying. He's saying that if you end up in a whale's belly and you say, I did nothing wrong, I've done everything correct, okay, the Lord's mercies are new every morning, but you're not going to get any mercy if you're not willing to admit that you messed up, that you did wrong. And look, one thing that I love about God is that the fact that we sin on a daily basis and sin against God and we have a guilty conscience, but we can come to Him every day and He will forgive us. I mean, great is Thy faithfulness, right? His mercies are new every morning. Praise the Lord that God will forgive us even when we sin. Because the reality is I'm not as patient with my kids as God is with me. They mess up a couple of times and I'm in a bad mood. But God is very merciful to us. But here's the secret, here's the caveat. You've got to admit responsibility. If you observe lying vanities, you're forsaking your mercy. See, you can really screw up your life, but if you actually come to God in an honest and sincere heart, you know, God will be merciful to you. If you refuse to, good luck. Verse 9, But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed salvation is of the Lord, and the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. Go to James chapter 3. James 3. And so Jonah wakes up. Jonah realizes it. Okay, I'm being foolish. I'm being unrealistic. I was foolish for thinking I could run away from God. I messed up. I did wrong. And guess what? God's merciful to Jonah. The Bible says in James 3, verse 14, here's another verse I highly recommend that you memorize. James 3, verse 14, But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. There's something that I've noticed within the last, like, probably, you know, ever since I started being a pastor, or when I first started the church, I was an evangelist, but when I first started running this church, and, you know, I just never really thought about it. I guess I kind of knew it, but then you just kind of see it all the time, and it's really this phenomenon of people that lie to themselves. Like, the truth is there. The manifestation is there, and they deny reality. It's right there, and then they deny it. It's astonishing. And this is what the Bible's saying in James 3, verse 14. You've got envying and strife inside of your hearts, and then you're lying and saying, but I didn't do anything wrong. Look, if everywhere you go, you're mad at everybody, it's not everybody else's fault, and you know that. You know that's true, but you don't want to admit it. You're filled full of bitterness and strife and covetousness, and you know it, but you don't want to admit it. It's such a foolish thing, because by not admitting it, it doesn't change reality. It's like, what are you doing? You want to shake people up? They're, like, living in a dream world, and then it's just like you can't get through to them. I'll give you an example outside of Christianity. Let's say you're talking to someone, because in this world, it's like a 50-50 split on is abortion okay or is abortion wrong. It's not actually that complicated. Abortion is murder, and there's 55 million ways you could prove that the baby's alive inside the belly. Explain to me how the baby has a heartbeat, and you see all the parts of the body, but you're saying it's not alive until it comes out of the womb. That's dumb, and everybody knows it's dumb, but if you were to talk to people that defend it, they just deny reality right in front of them, and it's very frustrating to talk to people like that, because it's like, what am I supposed to say, because you don't care what the truth is. It doesn't matter to you. Now, look, I expect that from the unsaved world, but then when saved people do the same thing, it's very frustrating, because the truth is that the problems in your life are not actually that complicated to fix. I like how Pastor Mendez puts it when he does counseling with people, because he speaks about this being frustrated where it's really an easy solution, and it's just like, hey, here's a solution. Stop doing drugs. There you go, and then it's like people have every excuse under the sun why that's not possible, and it's like you don't even care how to fix your problem. Why are you here? You're just wasting my time. But people do this. They just lie against the truth, and look, it's such a stupid thing, because when the manifestation is right there in front of you and then you deny it, it's like you're insane. I mean, imagine, imagine, and turn your Bible to Exodus 10, Exodus chapter 10. I mean, imagine if I started off the New Year, and I had a goal to just lose 50 pounds, let's say. I'm trying to lose 50 pounds. Well, along the way, you're going to have some checks to see whether or not you're being successful or unsuccessful, right? Like for example, you weigh yourself, right? You'll weigh yourself on a weekly basis or a daily basis or whatever, or as a guy, you can look at how tight are your belt loops, right? You can feel that. That's another way to tell are you successful or not, and it's a way to kind of see whether or not you're being successful. So let's say, for example, I'm trying to lose 50 pounds at the start of the New Year, and then I weigh myself three weeks later, first time I weigh, and I've gained 10 pounds. You know what that would tell me? This new diet of only eating Reese's Cups isn't working. I thought it was going to work. I mean, I watched a YouTube video. They said it's successful. Just eat Reese's Cups. It's not working, right? You'd be foolish to keep doing the diet because the evidence is right there. The manifestation is right there. You know the way we live our lives? You know, we ought to have some checks to see whether or not we're successful in various areas of our lives. Let me give you a helpful tip to see whether or not you're successful in your Christianity. Do you find yourself thinking and meditating upon God and the Bible more now than you did before or less? If it's less, let me help you out with this. This is the word for that, backsliding, right? You used to spend an hour a day with God. Now you spend five minutes. Those are your checks you see along the way. Why are checks so important? The reason why checks are important is because everyone lies to themselves and likes to act like they're spiritual when they're not. Everyone wants to justify their actions and act like they're spiritual and act like everything's okay even if all the evidence says otherwise. You used to think about God all the time. You used to read the Bible. You used to love soul winning. You used to be so excited to come to church. But now walking into church, that's the last place you want to be. I'm sorry, but I don't think my preaching has changed much in the last year. I think it's the same preaching. I think a year ago you would have loved this preaching. And if you don't love it now, I don't think it's a problem with my preaching. I think it's a problem with your heart. And here's what's frustrating. You also know it's a problem with your heart. But you don't want to admit it. But you know it. This is why I said this is so frustrating because people know that what I'm saying is correct. But it doesn't always shake them to get back into reality. A lot of people just like to lie to themselves and act like everything's okay. Let me help you out. It's okay to admit to yourself and to God, hey, I've been messing up. Help me just start fresh. That's okay. Let me explain to you. The Christian life of getting closer to God every day which should be your goal, it doesn't work this way. Nobody works that way. Let me explain to you how the Christian life works if you grow over the course of 20 years. It's like you get excited and then you start fading. You get back up and you're going down. It's like a parabolic curve that hopefully is going this way. That's the way it works. It's not like every single day it's just like you're excited for everything. You're just doing what's right. No, you're going to slip up. You're going to mess up. But a just man follows seven times and rises up again. A just man doesn't quit fighting. A just man and a just woman, they stay in the fight and say, hey, you know what? I've messed up, but you know what? I'm going to get back up and start over and do things again. But that's not what Pharaoh does. Let me give you an example of denying reality though before I show you the story of Pharaoh. This past Wednesday, we had a soul winning marathon in Pampanga during, what was it? Labor Day was this past Wednesday. We did a soul winning marathon also in Pampanga. Sometimes when I give the gospel in Pampanga, I make a bit of a joke or a statement when I talk about how Jesus died for us and he's crucified and beaten. I said, it's not like Magdarame where they beat themselves and crucify themselves. That's what they called in Pampanga, Magdarame. It's not like Magdarame. We don't have to beat ourselves. They're usually laughing. All of a sudden this guy that I'm talking to, he has his phone and he's flipping through and he shows me a photo of himself and he's a Magdarame practitioner. He's a guy that on Easter time, on Good Friday, he beats himself every year. He's showing it to me and that's never happened to me before. Where all of a sudden he pulls out a picture and he's got a hood on. I'm telling you, in Pampanga it is incredibly prevalent. We went soul winning there this past Easter and it's amazing how many people are actually out doing it. It's a real thing. So this guy showed me this picture and I'm giving him the gospel. It took a long time. I'm giving him the gospel, giving him the gospel. This guy was a sincere person. He just did not think he could be forgiven so he's just doing whatever hoping God will forgive him. I literally told him towards the end of the conversation, I was just like, hey, maybe because this sermon was in my mind because I had already looked over my notes for my sermon coming up this week. I said, hey, what you're doing is not working. I was like, you are beating yourself. You're hurting yourself but inside you're still not for sure you're going to heaven because you keep messing up. He's like, yep. I said, it's not working. The truth is right there in front of him. I'm glad I have a happy ending to this story because this man, he believed in the Lord. He called upon the Lord to save him and he told me afterwards he knew for sure he was going to heaven. I mean, it took a long time. I believe he truly got it. I do think it's possible more likely to have false conversions in situations like that but he seems sincere. He said he knew for sure he was going to heaven. He's like, yeah, I was wrong but the Catholic church said I was wrong and I believe he got saved. I mean, praise the Lord for that. I remember to myself when I heard the gospel when I was 18 years old and I knew nothing about the Bible and the person's giving me the gospel and, you know, I'm arguing and arguing. I mean, it was my friend I had met in college a few months earlier so I'm arguing and saying, no, you got to be good. You got to obey the commandments. No, you can't commit suicide. That will send you straight to hell. I'm arguing and arguing and arguing and you know what I was really doing? I was denying reality because I believed the Bible and I knew nothing about the Bible and there's verse after verse saying it's a free gift. It's a free gift. It's a free gift. It's a free gift. And yet I was just denying reality. I just did not want to admit I was wrong. There's probably a lot of people in this room that were similar when you got saved. You just did not want to admit that what you've learned and believed your whole life was wrong. But you know what a wise person does? They eventually just say, okay, I was wrong. Or you can just be a fool your whole life. And look, there's many people that do that. Many people you give the gospel to, what they believe makes no sense whatsoever. And they can just do that their whole life and be unrealistic. But you know what? When you're a saved person, it's like why don't you just look at the manifestation of the truth and just admit it? I mean, if you know it's true, why are you denying it? Because it doesn't change reality. That's what Pharaoh does, though. Exodus 10, verse 1. And the Lord said unto Pharaoh, or the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servant that I might show these my signs before him, and that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them, that ye may know how that I am the Lord. And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? Let my people go that they may serve me, else if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow will I bring the locust into thy coast. And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth. And they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field. And they shall fill thy houses and the houses of all thy servants and the houses of all the Egyptians, which neither thy fathers nor thy father's fathers have seen since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself and went out from Pharaoh. And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? Let the men go that they may serve the Lord their God. Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? And they're like, Pharaoh, when are you going to figure it out? And you've got to realize, you don't rebuke the leader, especially Pharaoh. I mean, he's probably going to have some spell to try to turn you into crocodile or something if you try to rebuke him, right? You don't rebuke Pharaoh. He's going to kill you. But they're so desperate, they're like, What are you doing? You're acting insane. I mean, Egypt's destroyed. Look at it. And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh, and he said unto them, Go serve the Lord your God. I'd imagine that those that were listening, they're like, Yes. Yes. Go serve the Lord your God. But... He has to add but, right? It has to add but, right? It can't just be, Go serve the Lord your God. I give up. I quit. You win. Go serve the Lord your God. But who are they that shall go? And it's this never-ending cycle with Pharaoh. He never figures it out, does he? He just denies. I mean, the reality is right there. And he just denies it over and over and over and over and over again. You know, what I would say is, this is how most people live their lives. They just make the same mistakes over and over and over and over again, and many times the answer is right here in the Bible. And they don't do anything about it. They just refuse to just do what the Bible says. And I guess it just shows a real lack of faith in God's Word, because if you really believe that the Bible has the answers to all the mysteries in life and all of our questions, you would think you would just live your life and just do what the Bible says. I mean, we expect this from the unsaved, because you see with the unsaved world, it's like they look at the LGBT in this country and they cannot figure out there's a problem. I mean, like, it's madness. I mean, you see Vice Pong eat everywhere in the Philippines on billboards. Now he's like on McDonald's. It's like, man, you know, it's like, I already hated McDonald's. I just hate it more now. But it's my kids' favorite restaurant, so what am I going to do? It's like walking into McDonald's yesterday. It's like, do I have to see that? Right? But, I mean, people see this, and they just want to deny reality. They don't want to admit that there's a problem. I mean, some other examples. It's like, you know, how about the public school system? I mean, how can principals and teachers really believe that what they're doing is working? I mean, when I was a math teacher in high school, it's like if you were to tell kids what's three times five, it's like, it's like, I know not everyone's a math person, but when you're in Algebra 2, and you don't know three times five, because when I was a kid, didn't you just memorize the times tables as a little kid? I mean, three times five? I'm not even exaggerating on this. Like, literally, it would be like six plus seven, and then you'll see people that are 16 years old, and then they would use their phone. I tried. I mean, I had to be respectful. I'm the teacher, but I'm just like... I tell you, I was really shocked when the principal called me in one time. He said, you know, we want you to teach the kids that you're teaching. We're going to be adding calculus next year. We want you to teach them in calculus. I'm like, they don't know what six plus seven is. Like, what? How are they going to learn calculus? You've got to be kidding me. I mean, literally, the school systems are a joke. I mean, people are learning nothing in today's world, and everybody knows that the truth is there, but they just deny it. They don't want to do anything about it. They don't want to admit, well, obviously, what we're doing is not working. How about Baptist churches in 2024? What are Baptist churches trying to do in 2024, largely? They're trying to be like victory in CCF. That's what they're trying to do. They look at CCF. Look at how CCF has grown. If we do the same, we can grow. What are they doing? They're changing the music. They're changing the sermons. They're changing the Bible versions. They're changing the doctrine. That's what Baptist churches are doing. I mean, even with churches where the pastors are saved, what are they doing? Well, we're going to kind of be like Baptists and kind of be like CCF because they want to have more people at their church. Well, here's the thing. As a pastor, you know what? I don't care about having a lot of people here. I care about having a lot of people here that love God. And that's a big difference. I mean, if this room was filled, and obviously we couldn't fit 500 people in here, but if this room was filled full of 500 people that didn't love God, I'm not interested in being the pastor of a church like that. What I'm interested in is being the pastor of a church where we have 80-plus people on Sundays and three-quarters of them are going soul-winning. That, to me, sounds like success. That, to me, sounds like a good thing. I'm not interested in having a church full of a bunch of people that don't love God. And yet, you know what Baptist churches are in 2024? Churches where people don't love God. You say, well, how can you really say that? Here's how I can say it, because all the kids growing up in those churches are getting pregnant out of wedlock. All those churches' kids are growing up and joining the CCF when they get older. They're listening to the rock music. They're not standing firm on the things of God. They're not reading the Bible on a daily basis. And here's the thing. The pastors of those churches, they know that's true. They see it right in front of their face. And what do they do? They deny reality. They're just unrealistic. They just won't admit, hey, maybe we should have just stuck to the old paths. And look, whatever other people do, that's fine. But for you that are a member of this church, you're saved. You've got the Holy Spirit of God inside of you, because here's the thing. You can say whatever you want about me, and that's fine. If you don't like me or I say something that gets on your nerves, it's like, look, I try my best. I try to preach in the right way to show kindness and compassion, but also preach the Word of God and preach the truth without apology. And guess what? It's a tough balance to actually do. But here's the thing. It's like when I preach, one thing you cannot deny is I send the truth right there into your body. Right? The Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. You know what? I don't just slowly bring... It's like I don't use the slowly pull off the Band-Aid approach. It's like I just rip that Band-Aid off. I try to show compassion, but look, it's spiritual surgery. And you know what? Yeah, that sword just goes right there in you. But then you've got the choice. Are you going to make the change? Are you going to fix it? Or are you just going to deny reality? You know, one of the things that's interesting in the parable on the sower, when it talks about the last group of people, the people that are soul winners their entire life, one of the things it says about them is they have an honest heart. Have you noticed that before? You say, what does that mean? It means they don't deny reality. I mean, I used to wonder myself, what it means is they don't lie against the truth because you get confronted with the truth all the time, and here's step one. Just be honest about it. See, in the world, you've got people that are drunks, but they don't want to admit it, even though they know it's true. Even though there's the manifestation, you're driving drunk, you got fired for showing up late and being drunk at work and everything. All the evidence is there, and you know it. But what do people do? They deny reality. Most drunks would deny being drunk. That's just the way it is. You know, as a saved person, when the Word of God goes and you get the truth, look, just admit it. Make the change because you can deny reality and just be a fool your entire life, or you can just say, hey, you know what? I've got to admit, I've messed up. I've done wrong. God, forgive me. Help me to start again fresh tomorrow. That's the difference between Jonah and Pharaoh in these examples. Jonah, he's unrealistic. The manifestation comes, but when he sees it, he's like, okay, I'm in a whale's belly. I need to make a change. And look, when you end up inside of a whale's belly, symbolically speaking, just admit, okay, I've messed up. I need to make a change. Let's close with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and ask you to help all of us apply this sermon to our lives, including myself and my family. Help us to be people that, when we get confronted with the truth from either sermons or from reading the Bible or in any way that we do, God, that we're willing to just admit it and be honest with ourselves and be honest with the truth, and not to deny reality, God, but make the necessary changes. Help us to be people that are willing to be both humble and honest our entire lives. God, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.