Running from God

The title of my message today friends is running from God and I suggest to you that there are several ways a person can run from God. The first is in salvation, the second is in service, and the third is in self-preservation. Let's look at the first of these as seen in the story of the prodigal son from Luke's Gospel in chapter 15.

Here is a young man full of life and he wants to go out and enjoy life, experience it on every level like some of you friends. He wants to indulge every lust, taste every pleasure, so he tells his father to give him his and then he takes off into the world and this man is running from God. He runs away from his father's house to go to a far country where he can send all he wants to.

That's what some of your college kids do today. You'll get out from under your parents house, go away to school to get out from being under their eyes so you can go do what you want to and that's what this man did. He went to a far country so he wouldn't be under his father's eye so he could go do what he wanted to do.

And we read in verse 14, and when he had spent all there rose a mighty famine in that land and he began to be in want. This young man was running away from God in a mad pursuit of this world and its pleasures. People do that today.

They chase this world and try to grab as much of it as they can with no thought to eternity and they chase the wind until it runs out. That's what this young man did but God had to bring him to the end of himself. Maybe God has been dealing with you friend and bringing you to the end of yourself.

Well God ended up saving that young man because he repented. He returned to his father's house and he was restored to fellowship. He was given a robe.

When you get saved you get a robe of righteousness. Next we see a man running from God in service. All you have to do friends is to open your Bible to the book of Jonah to see this very fact play out.

Here was a prophet of God who is running away from God in his call to service. God told him to go do a thing, to go cry against Nineveh, but he wouldn't do it. We see in verse 3 of Jonah, but Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

This man's running from God. Maybe it's your story friend. Perhaps God has given you a call to service and you packed your bags and went the other direction on your run from God's call on your life.

Perhaps he called you to be a pastor but you don't want to be poor so you ran from that call. Maybe he called you to the mission field but you know the sacrifice and demands of that and you were on the run from him. Jonah was like that but God had to put him in the midst of a storm and almost drown him.

God had to conquer him to get him in obedience to him. Maybe God will have to conquer you as well friend. Then lastly we see a man running from God in self-preservation.

But first he's running toward God. In Mark's gospel we see a rich man tested who ran up to Jesus in his emotions and said, good master what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus told him what he had to do but he wouldn't do it. The gospel has rights and claims on a follower of Christ Jesus.

That young ruler turned his back on God and walked away. I don't believe friends that that rich young ruler ever got saved. I believe when God's Spirit stops arresting, convicting, troubling, awakening and calling then the door is shut on that person and they become reprobate silver.

You hear me now. God deals with the hearts of men according to his sovereignty. But I believe God's Spirit will only strive so long with a person.

I believe that's scriptural. God says so in Genesis 6 3 where he says, and the Lord said, my spirit shall not always strive with man. These three individuals did three things and God did three things.

I want you to take note of that friends of how a holy and sovereign God deals with the souls of men. The first individual on the run from God came to the end of himself and he saw his need and repented and God saved him. The second individual on the run from God had to be conquered by God to be brought back into obedience to God.

The third individual walked away from God and God left him alone. I was playing golf with a giant of a man years ago. He stood six foot six and weighed over 300 pounds.

He had a lot of money and he also had one of the filthiest mouths I ever heard on a man. Every time he missed a golf shot he cussed God and took Christ's name in vain. God will hold a man accountable for taking his name in vain.

You don't cuss and curse the very God who created you but this man did. Finally I had enough of his filthy mouth and as we were standing on a tee box I asked him, I said, can I ask you a question, friend? He said, shoot. I said, how was your relationship with God? He smiled a big grin and answered, fine, I have a great relationship with God.

I leave him alone and he leaves me alone. That's what the old boy said but there will come a day in his life where his money won't help him when it comes time for him to die and he stands on the brink of eternity and he dies and his soul leaves this world for another world he is quite unprepared for because God left him alone. There are two verses of Scripture that trouble me when I read them.

One is Proverbs 29.1. Proverbs 29.1 states he that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy that speaks of God striving with a person only for so long then it's hell to pay because if you die without the remedy for sin in the person of Jesus Christ then it is hell to pay. The second verse that bothers me is Isaiah 55.6 which states seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near.

That verse disturbs me because I've been in meetings where God was dealing with men and it was obvious he was near but they were unwilling to do what God required of them as seen in the following verse of Isaiah. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return on to the Lord. I pretty much think friends that sums up the rich young ruler who had the Lord of glory staring him in the face telling him what he needed to do to gain heaven and eternal life and he wouldn't do it.

Jesus crossed him at his point of rebellion put his finger on the sore spot in his life in which in his case was his money but he was running from God in self-preservation and with tears in his eyes Jesus watched him walk away and he left him alone from that point on. Hell is full of people like that whom God at one time strived with dealt with and wooed by his spirit for there was a time in their life when he was near but they weren't ready nor were they willing to comply with the terms of salvation. Listen to me friends you better put aside this cotton candy carnival gospel they hand out in our churches today that smells sweet and looks good and sticks to your hands a little until it washes off.

I'll end this message friends with the following story a Baptist Church one time gave me a coffee mug when I joined their church and on that mug were two things the name of that Baptist Church was on the side of the mug and on the bottom of the mug it said made in China that mug lasted about eight months because it was made in China meaning it was made cheaply and one day after about eight months when I reached for it one morning the handle broke off and the mug came crashing down the gospel that Baptist Church handed out wasn't much better than that mug it did the job for a little while but fell apart in the end. If you are pastor or an evangelist friend you better be dead certain you are true to the souls of man because many only have so many opportunities to come to Christ like we saw in our message today and if they are thirsty and God is near and you hand them a deficient mug of a gospel there'll be hell to pay. Listen to me friend if God's been dealing with you then you better get serious with him and seek him while he is near until you find him a saved person has found Christ let us pray