There are many promises in the
Word of God which it does the Lord's people good to reflect
upon and to take to themselves. And our Lord Jesus Christ left
every sinner with a wonderful promise when he declared, all that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. and him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. That verse was spoken to his
disciples. You find it in John chapter six
and verse 37. And it is a wonderful promise. It is a promise that our theology
should never diminish. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. There is a glorious statement
of fact in that verse. All that the Father giveth me. There is a people that have been
given to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
declared it to be so. And I don't care what your church
background is. I don't care what your doctrine
or your theology is. I do care what the word of God
says. And I care what the Lord Jesus
Christ has testified. Here is one in whom there was
no sin. Here is one in whom there was
no falseness. Here is one who told the truth
and who is the truth. and he has declared that there
is a people that have been given to him by the Father. That people were committed into
his care. He was given responsibility for
looking after the eternal well-being of that people. in the purposes
of God, in what we call the decrees of God, which is another way
of saying the promises of God, or the contractual covenant of
God. He in his triune persons, placed
his love upon a people, and determined in eternity to secure their everlasting
salvation and well-being. And took that people, that named
people, for he knows every one that are his, and gave them in
their entirety into the hand of Christ. And the Lord Jesus
Christ willingly and voluntarily undertook to preserve that people,
to deliver that people, to atone for that people, to provide everything
needful for the salvation and redemption of that people. And
when we look to Calvary, when we look to the cross, when we
look to that sacrifice that was made there by the Lord Jesus
Christ, we see Christ accomplishing all that God required of him
to do in order to safeguard and secure the eternal well-being
of the people that were committed into his charge. You know, our
Lord is no failure. Our Lord is no failure. When
the Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross, he accomplished the
salvation and deliverance of his people. And so the testimony
of Christ is that all that the Father giveth to him shall come
to him. And we preach the gospel knowing
that that group of people that were committed into his charge
are out there in the world somewhere. And we preach the gospel because
we know that day by day, one and another of those individuals
that are numbered amongst that precious people are being called
by the gospel into a knowledge of the truth, into a knowledge
of Jesus Christ as their saviour. Do you know, the work of preaching
the gospel is the most blessed work imaginable on the face of
this earth. I'm not saying it's the easiest
work, but it is the most blessed. Because we take a message that
we know will be successful, and we declare it liberally, freely,
to all men and women. that God has a people, that Christ
has saved that people, and that God the Holy Spirit is taking
and applying the work of Christ to the hearts and lives of men
and women and gathering them day by day to himself through
the work of conversion by the preaching of the gospel. All
that the Father giveth me, says the Lord Jesus Christ, shall
come to me. Not one will be lost. Not one
will fail to come. Not one hurdle, one problem,
one difficulty will fail to allow that which Christ has promised
to come to effect. People say, well, what about
man's free will? Don't people have the free will
to choose whether they want to come or not? All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
said. And I'm not going to disagree
with the Lord Jesus Christ because someone's got some ideas that
they want to say that man's free will ought to be more powerful
than the purposes of God. We believe the Bible doctrine
of election. We believe in predestination. We believe that God has a people
whose eternal destiny he has secured and he is bringing in
all the circumstances of life and all the providences of this
world, He is bringing to completion that purpose of His grace. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ
upon the cross secured and accomplished and achieved the salvation of
that people. And they will, they will come
to Christ. However, however, there's two
parts to this promise. And here is the other part. No
one who comes to Christ will ever be turned away. No one who
comes to Christ will ever be turned away. And that's a promise
too. So I can say to you this morning,
do you have a desire to be saved? Do you have a desire to come
to Christ? Do you want to feel that easing
of conscience? That peace in your heart? Do
you want to know in the depths of your soul that your sins are
forgiven? That heaven is your home? That
the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for you? Then come
to Him. Come to Christ. There is a promise
here that none who come will ever be turned away. And here
is the blessed authority of the Lord Jesus Christ testifying
to this great fact. This is a promise. All the Father
giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. That's a wonderful, wonderful
truth right there in that verse. Are you laboring? under a weight
of guilt. Are you distressed in your conscience
about the life that you've lived, the things that you've done,
the things that you've said? Are you aware that in the scales
of God's justice, you fall far short of the standard of righteousness
and holiness and perfection that he requires? Welcome to the club. You are
seated today amongst the biggest group of sinners that this world
has to offer. And there's not a sin that hasn't
passed through the mind or the heart or across the lips or by
the hands of people in this congregation. that isn't replicated out there
in the world. You see, the whole point is that
there isn't a heart before a holy God that isn't black with sin. And yet every single one who
comes to Christ, feeling the need of a saviour, has this promise
that they will be received. Do you want peace with God? Are
you convicted in your heart? Have you come to an end of yourself? Do you confess that you are a
sinner? Then come to Christ with this
promise in your hand. He will not cast you out. You tell me, I don't deserve
grace. I tell you to come to Christ.
You say, I can't forgive myself. I say there is forgiveness with
him. You imagine that your sin is
unforgivable. And I tell you that the Lord
Jesus Christ has come to turn men from darkness to light. and from the power of Satan unto
God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among
them which are sanctified by faith. That is a wonderful thing
to look forward to. That is a wonderful hope to have. to know that there is an open
door, to know that there is a way of life and salvation, to see
in the one who died a means by which salvation is effected for
sinners like us. You think you're not good enough
to be saved? Why is that? Because you're a
sinner, Christ came to call sinners to repentance. That's not your
preventing problem. That's your eligibility. That's what makes you able to
be saved. I dare say, that we have just
grounds for thanking God that we're sinners, because it's only
sinners that can be saved. If we would know that salvation,
we come to the Lord Jesus Christ. If we think for a moment that
we are good enough for heaven by any other way, then we are
wrong. In Mark chapter two, verse 17,
we read these words. They that are whole have no need
of a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. And I fear that there are not
too many in this world who see themselves truly as sinners. You know, it's one of the big
lessons that God has to teach us. We said earlier in our hymn,
teach me thy way, O Lord. Was there anybody who wasn't
singing? So we all want to be taught the
way of God. And what happens if that lesson
is to teach you just what a mess you really are? Just what a sinner
you really are? What happens if the way of God
is to take you down some paths, down some roads that you would
rather not travel? You see, the wonderful thing
about the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ that all the Father
giveth to him will come to him is this, that no matter how much
like Jonah you are and want to run in the opposite direction,
God will bring you to himself even if he has to put you in
a fish's belly. And that might not be a literal
fish, but it will be a dark, difficult, hard experience to
undergo nevertheless. The Lord will not let one of
his little ones escape. Their salvation has been secured
and they will come to Christ and this promise will be upon
their lips that they will not be turned away. They will come
with hope and they will come with confidence because they
will be brought by faith to trust in the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Let us think about this man Jonah
for a few minutes. The story of Jonah. Once When
I was preaching, I made reference to the story of Jonah and one
of my congregation told me afterwards, don't say story. I said, well,
what do you mean don't say story? Well, he said, it makes it sound
as if you've just made it up. It makes it sound as if it's
not true. Okay. The history of Jonah. Because I want us to realise
that here is something that is amazing and extraordinary and
wonderful set before us here in scripture. It's a miracle what happened
to Jonah. Such a miracle, in fact, that
we might be tempted to say it's only a story. But what we have here is more
than that. There are wonderful things transpired
in this little prophecy. Amazing things, things that just
stumble people. when they think about what is
declared here. But I, for one, am ready, upon
the basis of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ himself said
this was a true story, to believe that everything that happened
in this prophecy happened just like it says. And you might say
to me, but how is it possible that a man could be swallowed
by a fish, be in that fish for three days, and then be vomited
up onto the beach and still be alive? How is that possible? There isn't a fish known that
that is anatomically possible. How is that possible? Well, I
believe it because I believe that the creator who created
all things had it well within his power to create a fish that
would take this man into its belly, keep him there for three
days, and then put him out onto a beach somewhere. And if you've
got a problem with that, well, I'm sorry, but that's what the
Bible says. But if you think that's amazing,
you ain't seen nothing yet. You ain't seen nothing yet. Because
what we have in this passage today, in chapter three of Jonah,
is way, way more amazing than what we saw in chapter two. Way
more amazing. I'm going to tell you a story. let's say a history of the greatest
city of the ancient world repenting in its entirety at the preaching
of a man and finding deliverance from the judgment of God. Listen,
I find it amazing when one person, one measly person, has some sort
of spiritual interest. Here are tens of thousands, maybe
hundreds of thousands of people. and they are all brought to a
change of heart and mind. How is that not amazing? How
is that not extraordinary? How is that not more wonderful
than simply a man being kept inside the belly of a fish for
a few days? When we come to think about Nineveh,
we think about the scale of the place. It was the capital of
Assyria. It was the greatest city of the
ancient world. And repeatedly, the prophecy
of Jonah tells us that it is a great city and an exceeding
great city. It's almost as if the writer
is anxious. Jonah is anxious for us to try
and get some sort of concept of the sheer size and scale of
this city. Three Days Journey, it is called. It is a city that was envied
for its grandeur and feared for its military power. It was the
centre of an empire. It had architectural wonders
that no one had ever seen before. It had a culture. It had a military
power base. It is what we now call Iraq. And it was a Gentile city full
of every idolatrous religion on the face of the earth. And
it was known for its wickedness. I don't know whether you've ever
spent any time in big cities, but New York, San Francisco,
London, it doesn't matter where those cities are, That's where
wickedness finds its opportunity and its vent. And it seems to
be that big cities draw in people who want to exercise their wicked
ways. But that doesn't mean to say
that there's no wickedness outside of big cities. It just means
that very often those big cities are the places where wickedness
seems to find its greatest expression. And that was true of Nineveh.
There was a godlessness in that city. There was a violence, there
was a wickedness, there was an evil. These people had no concern
about their conscience, no concern for their neighbour. They were
feeding off one another and whatever wickedness you can imagine in
the lusts and the perversions of men and women, they were present
and evident in Nineveh. Indeed, the Lord God declares
repeatedly that the wickedness of this city had come up to him. It was almost as if, of all the
wickedness in all the world, this was the sewer from which
the greatest stench emanated. It had come up to him with such
disgust that he says to Jonah, Jonah, you go and tell those
people that I am about to blot them off the face of this globe.
I am about to destroy that city. And we notice that this warning
is given by God. He had noticed the wickedness
of the people. And we ought to remember that
today. In all we, We ought not to forget
that God takes notice of wickedness, be that in the sight of a nation
or of a city or of an individual. God registers wickedness. The book of Revelation makes
it clear that in the day of judgment books will be opened and men
and women will be judged upon the basis of the things that
are written in those books. Not that God needs a written
record of the sinfulness of man, but it is told to us like that
because of the implication of demonstrable proof and verifiable
evidence. The record is being kept and
don't think you'll ever be able to Put your sins out of the sight
of God. He knows exactly what you've
done, exactly where you've been, exactly what you said and thought
and did. And a record is being kept and
a book is open with your name upon its pages. Galatians chapter
six, verse seven says, be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap. And men try, they try to mock
God. They mock God with their hypocrisy. They mock Him with their legalism.
They mock Him with their atheism. They mock Him with their philosophical
wisdom. They say, I'm doing my best. Liar. They say, I've done enough. Liar. They say, I don't care. Well, then you're a fool. They say, I know better. You're twice a fool. You'll reap whatsoever you sow. The harvest is certainly coming. I want to just draw three little
lessons from this man and this work. I want to think about Jonah
as being the prophet of warning. I want to think of him as being
the man who was sent to warn these people. I want to think
about the fact that there was a warning given. Jonah was fresh
from the episode of the fish. Maybe he wasn't too fresh, but
he was sent again to Nineveh. Now note this. Here is a prophet
who is given a second chance. God used Jonah when Jonah had
turned his back on God. There's something comforting
in there for us brothers and sisters. We have let our Lord
down so often. We have failed Him. We have been
faithless to Him. Why would God not just send an
angel if He wanted to warn these people? Why would He not just
send someone who had a better record, a better pedigree, a
good CV? They'd had the experience and
they'd done it right. They showed that they could live
up to the job that God wanted them to do. Why use an unworthy,
undependable man? I say this to my shame, but you're
looking at a Jonah today, because it's all I am, an unfaithful
servant. One who has, in my own experience,
failed to do those things which I should have done, and done
those things which I ought not to have done. And yet I have
a merciful God, a God who is willing to give a second chance. Isn't that amazing? That God
should give a sinner a second chance. Perhaps you have failed also. Perhaps you have fallen. Perhaps
you have succumbed to temptation and to sin. It is a wonderful
thing that our Saviour uses earthen vessels in order to communicate
the glorious truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jonah was given
a message that he was to preach to this city. He was told, but
40 days and Nineveh will be destroyed. And so it is that God's messengers
still come with a message of imminent destruction. And whether
we're talking about the end of this world or whether we're talking
about the fact that it is appointed unto every one of us to die,
We don't know what a day is going to bring. We don't know what
another year will bring. In Matthew chapter 13, verse
40, we read, so shall it be in the end of this world, the son
of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of
his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity and
shall cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be wailing
and gnashing of teeth. So let me nail this down right
now. If God sends a message, if God
sends a messenger, be he ever so mean and unworthy,
don't let that message go unheeded. Flee. from the wrath that is
to come. Here was a prophet who brought
a message. He brought a warning. What was
the purpose of that warning? We have a prophet with a warning.
What is the purpose of that warning? Why Do we warn? Why do we warn someone about
something? It's preventative. It's designed
to call an individual to think about what is happening and do
something about it. Why does God warn sinners of
judgment? Why is this book, why is this
Bible full of a message of coming judgment for sin? Why would God
give us that? Why did God not look down on
Nineveh and say, crash. Why did he not make a
volcano spill its lava on top of that city? Why did he not
open up the ground underneath it and consume it? Why did he
not cause a flood or a tsunami to wash it off the face of the
earth? He has used all of those natural
phenomena in the past to destroy his enemies. Why did he not send
a nation? Why did he give them 40 days?
40 days, why? in order to warn them of impending
judgment. When God sends a warning, it's
designed to change our course. He's giving us an opportunity.
He's giving us a chance to change our ways. This is the answer to the question. He gave them the opportunity
to repent of their sin. Nineveh was blessed not to have
been consumed in an instant. It had had a blessing granted
to it by God. Cities have fallen in a night.
Empires collapse in a very short period of time. A man can walk
his dog or drive his car or go to work and not come home. Life is taken very quickly. There is a testimony in scripture
of a man who thought he had done so well, he'd had a great harvest.
He'd had a good year. And he said to himself, I'm going
to build a big barn and I'm going to put all my goods in that barn. And the Lord said, you're a fool
because this night your soul will be required of you. And
whose will these things be? But if God sends a preacher and
he sends a message of impending judgment, it is designed to avert
that disaster. It is to set forth a way of escape. And if we neglect that message
and if we neglect that way of escape, whose fault is that? We can't blame God if men turn
their back on the way of salvation that He has provided. Ezekiel
chapter 33 and verse 18 says, As I live, saith the Lord God,
I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked
turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways, for why will you die? So today you have a warning. Today there is a message. Judgment
is coming. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? You tell me you don't deserve
grace, I say come to Christ. You say you can't forgive yourself. I say there is forgiveness with
Him. You imagine your sin is unforgivable. The Lord Jesus Christ has come
to turn us from darkness to light. He is able, He is willing. Doubt no more. Let me give you
an example of where I think Nineveh is. I think Nineveh is one great
big example of God's mercy. I think that's the lesson that
we have to take from this. That here is one great big massive
example of God's mercy. Everything was against these
people finding mercy with God. They were Gentiles. They were
wicked. They had no thought of God. They
had no preacher. They were beset in sinful, wicked
ways. These were the Isis of their
day. The very antithesis of any expectation
that there would be grace found. And I know there are religions
out there and we've all got a fear and a trepidation of them coming
to get us. Well, so much for the Muslims,
the Lord went and got them. Isn't that a wonderful thing
when grace is preached to these men and women and all of their
wickedness and all of their false idolatry and all of their wrong
teaching and the whole city repents of their sin. You see, if God can save the
King of Nineveh, then he can deliver the city whores. If God
can save the King of Nineveh, he can spare the murderers and
the thieves. And if he can save all them,
Why can't he save me? Why can't he save me? Why not you? Jeremiah 32 verse 27 says, Behold,
I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too
hard for me? I like Jonah. We spent a little
bit of time last week in Jonah chapter 2 and I like Jonah chapter
2 verse 9. It's a favorite verse of mine. It says, Salvation is of the
Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. But
I like chapter 3 verse 9 too. I like chapter 3 verse 9 as well. Who can tell if God will turn
and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish
not. Friends, our God is not unjust. He must punish sin. The law demands it. But he has
sent a warning, the gospel reveals it. The gospel reveals one who
has propitiated, that means diverted, the wrath of God, the fierce
anger of God, by bearing it upon himself, his own shoulders, by
taking it into his own soul, and delivering his people from
the curse of the law. Yes, salvation is of the Lord. And one asked in a day gone by,
what must I do to be saved? The Apostle Paul replied, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Come to
Christ for those that come to him, he will in no wise cast
out. There was a prophet who was sent
with a warning There was a purpose to that warning. And there was
a product of that warning. Jonah spoke God's word and what
happened. Look at verse five. The people
of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast. They
put on sackcloth. From the greatest of them, that's
the king and his nobles, even to the least of them. How do
we account for that testimony of the word of God? There is
but one way to explain it. God worked a work of grace. God changed the hearts of these
people and he saved them from the imminent destruction that
was about to fall upon them. Now, I don't care for all the
speculation about how that happened, okay? There are people say that
because of Jonah's experience, he had some sort of strange appearance. Well, I don't actually care about
that, whether he did or whether he didn't. It doesn't matter
what miracles or what wonderful things or what amazing sights
are put before the eyes of men and women. It takes a transformation
of the heart. It takes a change to be effected
from without. You must be born again. And so God, the Holy Spirit,
acted upon the hearts and lives of these men and caused them
to come to this place of repentance. And it is the same God who still
must change the hearts of men and women today. God worked a
work of grace. He changed their hearts and he
saved them. Jonah could have been an angel
from heaven. He could have done any number
of miracles. He didn't do anything like that.
But the Lord opened their hearts to hear the word of warning and
they received a way of escape. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 14 says, Jonah's words must have been
when he walked into that city, that great city with all its
military might. And here's this lone man saying
that we're about to be overthrown in 40 days, that we're about
to be judged of God in 40 days. Why should anyone give him any
credibility? Why should anyone believe? But
God made the change. He flicked the switch, he altered
the whole appreciation of these people. He brought into their
hearts and their minds a fear of the judgment that was to come
and he showed them a way of escape. The people believed God, they
repented of their sins, they fasted, they prayed, they put
on sackcloth, they sat in ashes, they turned from their evil ways
of violence. My, they even made their animals
do it. This tells us that a change occurred,
a transformation or a conversion. Fear of the Lord came upon these
people and to the extent that light was granted to these folk,
they sought the Lord. Will you seek the Lord today? I like what these men said. They
made no claims on God for the mourning that they were doing
or for the ashes that they were sitting in. They simply waited
upon His mercy. They said, who can tell if God
will turn? You know, you can't negotiate
with God. There is but one way of salvation. Jesus saith, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father,
but by me. It is the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ that we look to. It is the blood that was shed
upon that cross. If a man will know peace with
God, he must have his sins cleansed. He must have that precious blood
applied to his case. He must find that way of salvation
through the only Saviour of this world. he has to come to Christ. And the Lord Jesus Christ says,
he that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. Remember
how we began? The Lord Jesus Christ's promise,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Just mention one thing and then
we're finished. Nineveh was a great city. It was founded by Nimrod in the
book of Genesis. And with Babylon, it came to
epitomize rebellion and wickedness. There's only going to be a little
time And actually what the prophets tell us is that Nineveh does
fall. Not on this occasion, because
repentance was found, but they soon went back to their wicked
ways. The men and women, the individuals
of the city in years to come, would be judged by God. But here
and now, to the inhabitants of this city, to the men and women
of this city, Souls were delivered. People
were saved. I don't know what's going to
happen in a generation. I don't know when the Lord Jesus
Christ is going to come back. I don't know what's going to
happen to our children or our children's children. I don't
know what the generations will bring for this country. And neither
do you. And you might have all your fears
or your hopes about what's going to happen in days ahead. Who
knows? Who knows? Now is the day of
salvation. Now is the time when God deals
with individuals. He showed mercy on that day when
none was deserved. And this is our God. He has not changed. In the midst
of a crooked and a faithless and a perverse generation, our
God is able to save to the uttermost they that come unto him by Christ. And that includes you and me. And let us be aware, judgment
is certainly coming. Outside of Christ there is no
escape. God gave Nineveh 40 days. How long does this world have? How long do you have? How long
do I have? God grant us mercy to hear his
warning and grace to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.