David Jeremiah - No Man Is an Island (02/04/2026)
In Jonah chapter 1, God commands Jonah to preach to Nineveh, but Jonah flees instead, causing a storm that endangers everyone aboard. God uses the tempest to confront Jonah's disobedience, leading him to confess his guilt and accept being thrown overboard, revealing that running from God is futile and that one person's sin affects many others.
The Futility of Running from God
We're studying the book of Jonah. If you have your Bible, you might want to turn to the first chapter because we're going to kind of just follow along right in the scripture. And if you don't have a Bible or you're too tired to open it up, we'll put it up on the screen for you, which I'm not sure we should be doing because we're making it easy for you to be lazy, but I don't want that to happen. So the scripture will be here as we go along.
Father, we thank you for the privilege of preaching the word of God to such a receptive congregation of people who care about what you say and want to be obedient to what you tell us to do. We pray that you will open our hearts today in a special way to your truth. Someone here today is struggling in their life. While we may not know what the struggle is, you do. Please send your Holy Spirit to their heart to help them and strengthen them. And Lord, if there's someone here today who doesn't know you as Savior, convict them of their need and bring them to faith. Bless your word today, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Voltaire was one of the most famous philosophers of the French Enlightenment. He was brilliant and witty and very openly hostile to Christianity. He mocked the Bible. He attacked the church. He predicted that faith would be replaced by education, philosophy, and human reason. He said it is impossible that Christianity will survive. Well, Voltaire died in 1778, convinced that history would prove that what he said was true and would actually happen. But less than 60 years after his death, Voltaire's former residence in Geneva became a center for the storage and distribution of Bibles and gospel tracts through the Evangelical Society of Geneva. And that's not all. There is a record that the printing presses he once used to attack Christianity were repurposed to print Bibles. And I have to think the Lord has a sense of humor as he looks at the things that people say.
History Shows No One Wins Against God
You know, history and scripture are filled with people who have tried to stand against God and lost. It is never good to get into a contest with the Almighty. No one ever wins that battle. The Lord wins 100% of the time. Jacob wrestled with God and lost his strength. Pharaoh defied God and lost his nation. Nebuchadnezzar exalted himself and lost his mind. If we would have been honest with his poems... Saul of Tarsus fought against Christ and lost his cause, and Herod Agrippa claimed God's glory and lost his life. When you fight against God, you lose. So that you can ultimately win.
As I think about the book of Jonah, it seems to me that it is really a book about a contest between God and Jonah. And it almost sounds foolish to say that, because, I mean, who would ever want to get into a contest with God? But that is exactly what Jonah did. He believed there was some way he could escape the will and purpose of God. But the psalmist, as I reminded you last week, sums it up. The psalmist says, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there.” The Bible tells us that God is omnipresent. That means he is always present, everywhere, all the time. There is never a place where you can go where the presence of God is not already there.
Jonah's Impossible Escape Attempt
So what Jonah tried to do was a rather foolish thing. I wish he had heard my message. Maybe he wouldn't have done that. Because twice in the opening verses, we are told that Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord. That is what he was trying to do. But it was impossible. Because no matter where he went, God was already there. I would not be surprised if maybe there is not someone here today who has been trying to do the same thing. I mean, you would not use those words. But in your heart you know that God has been speaking to you about some things. And you have chosen not to do what you know He has asked you to do. You have rebelled against him. And you have said, “I don't want to do that. I want to do this.” I hope that before we are finished today, you will see how foolish it is to try to run and hide from God.
Last week we began following the opening movement in the book of Jonah. We saw how clear God's command was. He gave Jonah three simple instructions. Commands the prophet could not have misunderstood. He said, “Rise, go, preach to Nineveh.” And then we saw Jonah get up. And instead of obeying God, he arose to flee. He went in the opposite direction of the will of God. Down to Joppa. Down into a ship headed for Tarshish. Whenever you run from God, the path is always down. Down, down. And that sets the stage for everything that follows in this story.
God Interrupts Jonah's Flight
So we begin today at verse 4 in the first chapter. And notice the disturbance of Jonah's plan. “But the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.” Verse 4 marks the moment in this story when God steps in. Jonah is running, but God is not going to let him go. So the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea. The phrase “sent out” is sometimes used in the Old Testament for throwing a weapon, like a spear or a javelin. And the picture is of God throwing a storm after Jonah as he's running away. Sometimes, even today, God has to use hard things to get our attention. You know, I don't mean this in a mean-spirited way, but some of you are really hard-headed. Or should I say, some of us are really hard-headed. Sometimes God can't whisper to us. He has to shout. And many times, the louder voice comes through difficult moments in our life. Through things we weren't expecting, through challenges we didn't anticipate, nor did we want.
Here's the truth. Sin often brings a storm with it. Bad choices usually come with hard consequences. Here's the hope for those who belong to God. Nothing is wasted. You know, the Bible says it this way, that “all things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.” God uses years of waiting and famine and disappointment to teach Abraham how to trust Him when nothing seemed to be happening. God used betrayal by his brothers to prepare Joseph to be the Prime Minister of Egypt. God used fear, failure, and 40 years in the desert to humble Moses so that he would be ready for the last 40 years of his life leading the people of God.
Storms Can Grow Us Spiritually
Not every storm happens because of sin. Don't get me wrong. Every storm can be used by God to grow us. Hard seasons can teach us faith. I've told you before that all the important things in my life I seem to have learned during difficult times. Sometimes they shape our character. They always draw us closer to God. And for many people, the hardest moments of their lives are the moments that led them to Jesus. I'm always amazed at the continuity of that message from our baptistry. When we hear people talk about how they came to Jesus, what God uses to bring them to faith, it's not usually a party. It's usually something that happened in their life that made them realize how desperately they needed God. Jonah did not understand it yet, but even in the middle of the storm, God's mercy was working. God was not trying to destroy Jonah. He was trying to get him to come back home and behave.
The disturbance of Jonah's plan is followed by the disruption of Jonah's world. All of a sudden, everything about Jonah's life is in disarray. Notice what happens next. So that the ship was about to be broken up and the mariners were afraid and every man cried out to his God and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the load. Jonah is on board. God sends the wind and the storm begins to rage. The waves grow larger and larger and the sea is violent and the scripture says the ship's falling apart. Stuff's falling off the ship. It's coming unglued. The sailors are terrified. They do not know what to do.
Desperation Leads to Prayer
So the first thing they do is they try to lighten the load of the ship so that it will ride higher in the water. They begin jettisoning the cargo. And then the Bible says they start to pray. I mean, they're really desperate. Every one of them is crying out to his own God. You know, these sailors weren't Hebrews. These were pagan sailors. They were polytheistic pagans. Each man had his own God. They did not know what else to do. So when they lost control, they started to pray. How many of you know that there are no atheists in the foxhole? People pray when things get tough no matter how anti-prayer they are before the incident happens. They may not know how to pray. They may not know who they are praying to. But there is something within the human heart that says when you come to the end of yourself, there is someone outside of you who can help you.
Now we know who that someone is. But even people who don't know Jesus pray. They pray out of fear. They pray out of desperation. People who do not know him pray the best way they know how. And that is how desperate these sailors were. They were petrified. They panicked. And they prayed.
The Moment Jonah's Sin Is Exposed
Now notice what happens next. The discovery of Jonah's sin. “But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship and lay down and was fast asleep.” Doesn't that seem strange? I mean, I don't think I would be sleeping in a storm. Here he is at the bottom of the ship. He is sleeping. And the captain came to him and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God. Perhaps your God will consider us so that we may not perish.” And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
As the storm continues to rage, the captain looks around and realizes someone is missing. I can almost hear him reasoning out loud, “Didn't we pick somebody up in Joppa? Where is he? Did he go overboard?” And one of the sailors said, “You know, captain, what I think I saw was that guy down in the bottom of the ship. And I think he's down there sleeping.” And the captain says, “You've got to be kidding me.” I just added that. I don't think he really said that, but that's what I would have said.
From Sleep to Being Singled Out
So he goes down to where Jonah is and notice the steps that take place. First there is inspection. They search the ship and they find Jonah asleep. Then there is interrogation. The captain asked Jonah, “What do you mean, sleeper?” Can you imagine how unbelievable that must have seemed to the captain? Everybody else is praying, throwing cargo overboard, probably sick to their stomachs, doing everything they can to survive. And here is this one man at the bottom of the ship, sound asleep. The captain is saying, “What are you doing? Don't you know we're about to go under? Get up and pray to somebody.”
Then there is intervention. This is one of the most interesting moments in the story. The sailors say, “Here's what we'll do. Let's find out who the problem is. Let's cast lots.” In their own way, they enter what we would call a lottery. They cast lots and the Bible says, “the lot fell on Jonah.” And I've read some people who say, “What a coincidence that was.” You know, I don't think that was... I mean, if God could send the wind and the storm, I think he could figure out how the lot was supposed to come out. And make sure it fell on Jonah, because that's who it should have fallen on.
So finally, there is the identification. Through their own pagan way, Jonah is singled out as the culprit. The lot fell on Jonah. Sort of as a reminder to us, be sure your sin will find you out. Jonah is now in the center of their target. One of the most sobering things that I've watched over the years as a pastor, is how often the discovery of sin comes long after the sin itself. The Lord never says exposure will be immediate, but he does say accountability is inevitable.
Sin Always Catches Up
I could tell you some incidents that come to mind when I say what I just said. Of people who got in trouble they shouldn't have been in. Nobody knew about it. And seven years later, it came to light. And destroyed their life. You know, we think that if we get away with something for a short period of time, we've got it made. And the Bible says, be sure your sin will find you out. Sin has a long, long tail. And you almost never get away with it. You may think you're clever, more so than anybody else, that you can cover it, and nobody will find out. But come and tell me the same thing five years from now.
Jonah has run from the Lord. He is asleep. He's trying to shut everything out. But God orchestrates the events so that Jonah is singled out as the one man to whom God has now directed his attention.
Jonah Finally Admits the Truth
Now we look at Jonah's discussion about his guilt. In verses 8 through 14, this is a discussion that goes on between the mariners and Jonah. Let's walk through this together. First of all, the concern of the mariners. Then they said to Jonah, “Please tell us, for whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? And what is your country? And of what people are you?” After they realized that Jonah was the cause of the storm, the sailors said to him, “Please tell us, for whose cause is this trouble upon us?” And then the questions start coming. One after the other. What's your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you? Later they will ask the ultimate question. What are we supposed to do with you? But here they are saying, “Jonah, if you are the reason we are in this mess, we need to know who you are.”
Now notice Jonah's confession. So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” If this verse were all there were in the text, we would say Jonah has come back. He's got everything back together. But unfortunately, this is not a confession of disobedience. It's just a confession of truth. I love this. Jonah was thinking a lot about dry land right then. Did you see that in his text? Isn't it interesting that Jonah could say something like this in the middle of his rebellion? He said, “I am a Hebrew. I fear the Lord.” Well, Jonah, you don't really fear the Lord enough because if you feared him the way you should, you wouldn't be where you are doing what you're doing.
Right Theology, Wrong Obedience
But here's the important point. Jonah's theology was correct and he was still disobedient. Isn't that interesting? You can have correct theology. You could know everything to the last drop. And just because you know it doesn't mean you're going to obey it. Some of the most brilliant men that I have ever known demonstrate what I am saying now. So brilliant. And yet disobedient to God. And the consequences are even greater when that is true. Did you know that the more we know, the more responsible we are? Listen to Hebrews. Hebrews has a very challenging verse. It says, think about how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God... It's one thing to sin against God in ignorance. It's quite another thing to sin presumptuously. To know the truth, to know God, to know what's right, to know what's wrong, to know what Jonah said about God in verse 9, to claim to fear God and then still choose to do wrong.
So Jonah confesses what he knows about God, but he has not yet confessed his disobedience. That does not happen until the next chapter when he reaches the lowest point of his life.
The Sailors' Growing Fear and Jonah's Bold Admission
We come now to confusion of the mariners. When Jonah finishes speaking, we're told that the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he told them. And they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?” For the sea was growing more tempestuous. All the time they were having this interchange between them. The wind was blowing harder and the waves were getting bigger. And the sailors said, “We got to come to some resolution, Jonah. If you're the cause and you're the reason, please tell us what to do so we can get rid of you and get back to calm.”
Now listen to Jonah. And Jonah said to them, “Pick me up, throw me into the sea, and the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.” Well, that's a pretty good start for Jonah. He's not all the way home yet, but that's a good place to begin. You know, when we finally come to grips with the fact that it's us, and we quit blaming everybody else, and we say, you know, like the old Negro spiritual that says, “It's me, it's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Not my brother nor my sister, but it's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.”
I tell people now more than ever, until we face the truth, we have nowhere to go. Jonah couldn't get back to where he should be until he was willing to be honest. Truth is the starting place for recovery and restoration. As long as we avoid the truth about ourselves, nothing will change. As long as you keep trying to cover it up, as long as you try to excuse it, as long as you try to make reason for it, it will never get better. Until you face up to what's happened and what you've done, honestly look in the mirror and say, “It's me. I'm the reason for this.”
One Man's Sin Affects Everyone
We are very good at shifting blame. We blame our parents. We blame our upbringing. We blame our schools. We blame our environment. Sometimes we blame our churches. We blame our circumstances. We just seem to always find someone else to blame. But the turning point comes when we stop deflecting and we start being honest. When we look in the mirror and say, “I'm the problem. This didn't happen to me. I made it happen to me.” So Jonah finally came to that moment of truth. And he said, “If you want to get rid of the storm, then you better get rid of me. That's me. I'm the reason for the storm.” And in a moment of courage, he said, “Throw me overboard and everything will be all right.”
Now I want you to pause for just a moment. I want to ask you this question. If you had been a sailor, how long would it have taken you to get to Jonah and get him out of the ship? You would have immediately grabbed hold of him. Grabbed hold of his clothes and thrown him overboard as fast as you could, hoping that this craziness that's going on in the ship would stop. But that's not what happened. Notice what it says in verse 13. “Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them.” Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, “We pray, O Lord, do not let us perish for this man's life, and do not charge us with innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.”
So if I'd been one of those sailors, the moment Jonah said that word, I would have grabbed him by the shirt and he'd been in the water. Can you understand that? You're the one causing all of this. You're gone. You're out of here. Hasta la vista. But did you see what they did? They rowed as hard as they could to shore. And the Bible says they prayed. They didn't pray to their old gods. Now somehow they've decided that maybe Jonah's God is the right one since he brought the storm. And they began to pray. Somehow through that conversation with Jonah, they had come to believe at least in some measure in the true God. And instead of crying out to their many gods, they're now calling on the Lord himself. “O God, do what you must do, but don't let us perish in the process.”
The Sailors Show Compassion
All of this is a remarkable testimony to the sailors' compassion for Jonah. They had no obligation to help him. They had every right to get rid of him. He was the reason they were in this storm. And yet they chose mercy over convenience. And that brings us to the determination of Jonah's fate. Verse 15 says, “They picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea. And the sea ceased from its raging, and the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.” The sailors finally picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea. And the moment they did, the scripture says the storm stopped. The waves calmed down, the wind quieted, everything changed instantly. And that's when the men knew that it wasn't a storm, that it was God. God was involved in this. And the Bible says they feared the Lord greatly. That means they were totally in awe of the Lord. They felt deep respect for God. They offered a sacrifice to Him. They made promises to follow Him. In one moment they went from fearing the storm to fearing God. And they didn't just survive the storm, they met the living God in that moment of crisis.
No Man Is an Island – Our Choices Impact Others
I called this message as I prepared it, No Man is an Island. And I want to make sure that I get this across as we bring this to a conclusion. People say it all the time. I've heard it many times over the course of my life. “It's my life. It's my choice. It's me. I can do what I want to. It's nobody's business but my own. I'm not going to hurt anybody. I'm just going to do my own thing.” But it almost never is just you. Sin complicates your life. And it complicates the lives of the people around you. If I would say, can I get a witness? Many of you would complicate. Those sailors would never have been in that storm had it not been for Jonah. One man's disobedience disrupted the lives of everybody around him. And that ought to make us stop and think. Whenever we step out of the will of God, we carry people with us. We take people down with us when we go. We do not mean to. But if you could sit in the counseling rooms of our offices for just one week, you would hear story after story of hurt in good and godly families. Because someone they loved took a turn when God told them to go straight.
Now let me contrast this for just a moment. Because this is one of the great blessings of studying the Bible. There is a fascinating comparison between this storm in Jonah's life and another storm in the New Testament that involved the Apostle Paul. Both Jonah and Paul were missionaries to the Gentiles. Both were on a ship in a storm. Both were witnesses to sailors. And both were used to deliver people from death. But the process could not be more different between the two. In Jonah chapter 1, the prophet is in a storm. In Acts chapter 27, the apostle is in a storm. The scenes are almost identical. Cargo is overboard. Desperation fills the ship and lives are hanging in the balance. But here's the difference. What is Jonah doing? He is sleeping. And what is Paul doing? He is standing in faith and strengthening those around him.
Faith vs. Disobedience in the Storm
Acts 27:23. Paul says, “There stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul, you must be brought before Caesar. And indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God, that it will be just as it was told me.” Here is Jonah, God's prophet, among pagan sailors. Because of his disobedience, they almost die. And here is Paul among pagan sailors. Because of his godliness, his faith becomes the means of their deliverance. This is how it is supposed to be.
You might think that just one person doesn't matter. But one person can make a big difference when even one person belongs to Jesus. God's presence goes with them into every space they enter. He goes with them into a home, a classroom, a team, or a friendship. And that one person can be you.
The Power of One Life Lived for God
One of the most memorable moments of my life in recent days was the graduation of my grandson, David Todd, from Liberty University. Don and I went to that event and we sat in the stadium there on campus that seats 30,000 people. 30,000 people came to my grandson's graduation. As we sat there and looked at that crowd, I don't know why, but it just came on me in a moment. I turned to Don and I said, “Do you realize what we're looking at here is all the result of one man's faith?” I remember before there was a school, before there was a graduation, there was Jerry Falwell who believed God for a great university where champions could be trained to serve the Lord. And from his faith came that school and from that school came that graduation where 30,000 people gathered together. One man made all that difference.
It is an amazing thing to stop and wonder sometimes about influence. In The Gift of Influence, Tommy Spaulding shares a thought-provoking statistic. The average person lives about 78 years and influences more than 80,000 people over his lifetime. That number sounds big, but think about family, friends, teachers, co-workers, neighbors, teammates, customers, strangers you see every day when you add up thousands of ordinary interactions over decades. The number becomes surprisingly believable. We influence three people a day. And then he paints this picture that will stick in your head as it has mine. He said, imagine standing on the 50-yard line of a football stadium filled with everyone you've influenced. Your spouse, your children, your friends, this is a secular book, your barista, the Uber driver, the coach, the co-worker, the neighbor. Now listen, he says. What's the sound of that stadium? Are they cheering because your life encouraged them? Or are they booing because you lived for yourself? Or silent because you were too distracted to even notice them? What do you hear?
When we meet the next time, Jonah is going to... I'm sorry about this. He's going to be in a whale of a mess. It gets worse before it gets better. But do not forget this. God is committed to you and he loves you. And you carry influence wherever you go. You can use it for the good or as Jonah did in this particular episode, use it for evil. Jonah, by his influence, almost cost men their lives. Only eternity will reveal how many times that has happened through people that you and I both know, perhaps even through us. But God gives us the opportunity to live for him. And we ought to pray as I try to almost every day, “Lord, wherever I go today, help me to take the influence of Jesus Christ with me so that people will not just see me, but they will see Christ. They will know him.” That's who we should be because the possibility that we have to influence people is beyond anything we have ever imagined.
You say, “Oh, Pastor Jeremiah, I'm just a humble person. I don't know very many people. I don't do very many things.” If you could see your life and your pattern of influence as it really is, you would be shocked. No man is an island. No man lives to himself. And once we realize that, we begin to realize there's a stewardship in life that goes beyond time, treasure, and talent. It's the stewardship of influence. How are you stewarding your influence?
Stewarding Our God-Given Influence
Did you know that Satan has as his number one goal to destroy the influence? The Bible says he goes about seeking whom he may devour. Who is he trying to devour? He's trying to devour the influence of God's people. But if you stand strong for the Lord and you let your influence be seen and felt and known, God will use you to be a change maker. And one day, if you ever get to see all the results, which I think we might, you will look back and say, “I'm sure glad I did that. I'm sure glad I didn't go there. I'm sure glad I made that decision.” We can never take for granted what happens through our activities and our conduct. It is really true. No man is an island. No man lives to himself. We are all responsible to God, not just for ourselves, but for the people we influence throughout life. I hope that will be a lesson we will not forget. Jonah teaches us that in very graphic ways. And there's still more to come.
Let's pray together. Father, all of us right now are probably thinking about all the times we didn't use our influence the right way. And we ask you to forgive us. Help us to realize that you've placed us on earth and given us a task and a role to play that might be beneficial and helpful to many people. Lord, we're standing in the middle of that stadium and we're listening. We want to hear people cheering us on because we made a difference in their life. Help us to take inventory this week of the people that we influence, the lives that we touch, the things that we do, that we might be faithful stewards of that which you've entrusted to us.
Father, someone here today has been impacted by this story because they're playing a modern day Jonah, not living as you asked them to. Help them to repent before this day is over, to bow and say, “Lord, it's me. I know I'm doing wrong and I ask you to forgive me. I'm going to do right. I'm going to turn around and go back and do the thing that you asked me to do.” Lord, you take control of every heart in this room today and across the network where this message is heard. May your word bear its fruit as you promised. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.