The Belly Of The Whale

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. 

Thank you Heavenly Father; we praise you Heavenly Father; we bless your holy name; we give you thanks. This is your program; I pray you would bless every person listening to this message that you have given me, especially those whom you have called to preach the Gospel. This message is called, The Belly Of The Whale. Let’s turn to Jonah 1:1, Now the Word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me. But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord sent out 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. Then 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. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. So 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. Then they said to him, Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you? 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. Then 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 had told them. 

Then 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. And he said to them, Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me. 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, please 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 they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 

Chapter 2, Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish's belly. And he said: I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice. For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me; all Your billows and Your waves passed over me. Then I said, I have been cast out of Your sight; yet I will look again toward Your holy temple. The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; the deep closed around me; weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the Earth with its bars closed behind me forever; yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple. Those who regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Chapter 3, Now the Word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you. So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the Word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk. Then he cried out and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown! So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. 

Let’s turn to Rom 10:8, But what does it say? The Word is near you, in your heart and in your mouth, that is, the Word of faith which we preach: that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Gospel of peace; who bring glad tidings of good things. Verse 17, So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. They must hear the Word of God, spoken by a preacher who has been sent by the Holy Spirit, in order to believe. 

Let’s turn to Acts 13:1, Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. Barnabas and Saul were sent that day through their brothers to the work that God had called them to. They obeyed and went forth, preaching the Gospel in the synagogues and in the streets. This work started in Antioch: the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Gentiles in Antioch, and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Paul and Barnabas ministered there, and they were sent out by the Holy Spirit from that church, first into Galatia, then into Macedonia, and Achaia, and then into Asia. Eventually Paul went to Rome and preached the Gospel there. From this work to which the Holy Spirit called Barnabas and Saul the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ began to spread over all the Earth. How important it was that they fasted and prayed and ministered to the Lord that day, and the Holy Spirit spoke and sent them out to the work, and they obeyed Him and followed Him. And though they suffered many persecutions and trials, they continued to follow Him and preach the Gospel wherever He sent them! How important it is that Peter and John and James and Jude and Luke and Paul and Silas and Timothy; Matthew, Mark and many, many other men of God, throughout these many years,  have obeyed the call of God on their life. Their simple act of seeking Him and obeying His voice and doing the work of preaching the Gospel where He has sent them, has brought about many great salvations all over the Earth. 

Are you called of God? If you are called of God, I want to encourage you this day to seek Him with fasting and prayer and worship until He speaks to you and He sends you to the work that He has called you to. You cannot preach the Gospel unless you are sent by the Holy Spirit. You can go and preach, but there will be no lasting fruit from your preaching. When He sends you, He will go with you as you follow Him to speak the Words that He gives you by His Spirit where He sends you. Remember what Jesus said in John 6: It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The Words that I speak to you are Spirit and they are life. If you have not been baptized in the Holy Spirit, with evidence of speaking in other tongues, you are not equipped to do this. You need to seek the Lord and ask Jesus to baptize you in the Holy Spirit. You need to learn to be led by Him, because it is only as you yield to Him and follow Him that you will be able to preach the Gospel, and it will bring forth good fruit in the lives of those who hear you. 

God sent Jonah to Nineveh to preach to them the Words that He would give him. At first he disobeyed and tried to run away from the presence of the Lord; he ended up in the belly of the whale, and he prayed there: When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto you, into your holy temple. Are you in the belly of the whale? Are you called of God to preach His Word, and you have not obeyed His calling, but you have been running from His presence, and you are in various trials and great distresses? Jonah prayed to the Lord there and God brought him out and sent him again to Nineveh. And when Jonah preached the Word that God gave him to preach, the entire city believed God, and they turned from their evil ways in true repentance, with fasting, and God spared the city from the judgment and destruction He was going to bring upon them for their evil ways. Over 120,000 people were saved from destruction through Jonah’s preaching. Those of you who are reading this message and you know that God has called you, and you have not obeyed His voice, I exhort you this day to repent to Him and begin to minister to Him with fasting and prayer, and seek Him until He sends you by His Holy Spirit. Wait till He sends you; seek Him till He sends you. Don’t run to Bible school. You don’t need to go to Bible school. You need to humble yourself before the Living God and take your Bible every day and read it and study it and ask Him to teach you by His Holy Spirit. When He is ready, He will speak to you; He will send you. 1 John 2:27, But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 

Interpretation of a message in tongues:

I am God Almighty! Those of you whom I have called, you know who you are. Hearken to My servant Rob this day. I have given him these Words to exhort you; to look to Me now. Seek Me now in this hour. I want you to obey My voice; I want you to speak My Gospel in the Earth as I send you, where I send you. I will be with you. Fear not! Fear not a man! For I am the Living God; no one can stay My hand; no one can prevent Me from protecting you and keeping you, and I will do so as you obey My voice. But you must humble yourself before Me and receive My calling and obey My calling in your life. I will send you by My Holy Spirit, says the Lord.

Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com . May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen.