Turn with me to Jonah, chapter
4. As Brother Fred was reading, I was looking at those scriptures. Though I speak with the tongues
of men and angels and have not charity, Love. Love for God's
Word, love for God's honor, love for God's truth, love for God's
people. He said, I become a sounding
brass and a tinkling cymbal. I just make a noise. He said in verse 12, Now we see
through a glass darkly. But then, face to face, now I
know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known. Now abideth faith, hope, charity,
these three. The greatest of these is charity." In the book of Jonah, chapter
4, An amazing thing, we've looked
at the first three chapters of this book, and as we've said time and time
again, the Lord Jesus Christ said, Jonah is a sign. Jonah is a sign. We saw the Lord Jesus Christ
pictured. in the prophet Jonah. And now
we come to this last chapter. I'm going to admit right up front,
this has got to be one of the most amazing chapters in all
of Scripture to me. It's about the attitude that a man has,
I know that, towards something that God has done. The Scripture says in the last
verse of the third chapter of Jonah, God saw their works, that
they turned from their evil way, and God repented of the evil
that He had said that He would do unto them And he did it not. Now, let me just tell you just
for a second here who these people are. I won't go into the depth
of them, but Nineveh had a king for a certain amount of time,
and his name was Sennacherib. Now, if you don't remember who
Sennacherib was, he was that king that came up against Judah. and surrounded that mighty city,
the city of Judah. And he sent a letter to the king
of Judah, and he said, all of the other kings that came up
against me, he said, not one of them left standing. Now, don't
think for one minute that your God is going to deliver you.
You're going to be just like all of them. And I'm going to
do to you just like I've done to them. You're going to be just
nothing more than has-beens. You're not even going to be a
memory very long." And the king, it said, took it and has a kai,
laid this letter out for the Lord. He said, Lord, this is
what they said that they're going to do. Now, I'm going to cast
myself. upon your mercy and grace and
help us. Scripture says that the angel
of the Lord went out and smoked that mighty army, killed them. Sennacherib went back to Babylon,
to Nineveh, and just defeated. They were known as the city of
robbers because they They went and robbed, and they were ruthless
people. And if anybody, at least in the
mind of those who knew the Lord and knew the prophecy that God
had said concerning this city, I'm going to destroy them. I'm
going to destroy them. If anybody had any knowledge
whatsoever of who these people were, it was especially this
man Jonah. He was a prophet. He said, 40 days, God is going
to destroy this place. And he despised them. If anybody would have thought,
if God shows mercy to anybody, he ought to be glad it should
have been Jonah. Now, this is an amazing chapter. It shows
the indescribable sinfulness of God. of the human heart of
an actual man. I'll tell you this, in Jonah
tonight, I've seen a lot of types, and I'll be the first to admit
there's a lot that I hadn't seen in this book of Jonah. But there's
some things that I have seen. I know that Jonah as a man, he
says, as Paul admitted, O wretched man, that I am, that who shall deliver me from the
body of this death." But this prophet came and prophesied against
this city, and the Scripture says, the Lord Jesus Christ,
it says, at the preaching of Jonah, the people of Nineveh
repented. Now, let me just read you something
in Jeremiah, if you want to turn there, Jeremiah 18, verse 7 to
10. Jeremiah Jeremiah eighteen verse
seven the Lord says at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation
concerning a kingdom to pluck it to pluck up and to pull down
and to destroy it. If that nation against whom I
have pronounced turn from their evil I will repent of the evil
that I thought to do unto them and at what instant I shall speak
concerning a nation, concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant
it. If it do evil in my sight, that
it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith
I said I would benefit them." Now, I know beyond a shadow of
a doubt that if any man, any woman, had any heart toward Almighty
God to repent, to turn, you know that it's because Almighty God
has given them a heart to do so. Man by nature does not, will
not seek the Lord. If God Almighty shows any kindness
toward a man, give him a heart, then that man, will turn to the
Lord. He says here, if I pronounce
judgment on a nation and they repent of the evil that they've
done, I will turn. If they repent, though, of the
good that they've done, I'm going to then pronounce judgment on
them and I'm going to do it. Now, I know there are some things
that you and I have a hard time figuring out. I know there are
some things that are sold. I know that God is He's going
to show mercy on whom He's going to show mercy. I know if He shows
mercy on anybody, it's for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that. But I don't know. Fred was reading a while ago.
Paul, writing to the church at Corinth, said this. We see through
a glass darkly. Then we're going to see face
to face. Why is God doing what He's doing? What's he doing today
in the United States? What's he doing today in Iraq?
I don't know. I don't know. But I know this,
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to His purpose. Now, here was
an evil, wicked city. The Lord said that their wickedness,
their evil, had come up against Me. You go and you preach to
them. And you preach what I say. Jonah went in there and preached
to them. And the Scripture says that they repented outwardly
for a while. I do know that in 612 B.C. I read a little bit on Nineveh. I found out when did the city
of Nineveh fall. 612 B.C. Here is what it says. Two hundred and fifty years after
this happened right here. Two hundred and fifty years.
God overthrew them. But for some reason, Almighty
God showed mercy to this city for a while and granted them,
at least outwardly, a repentance. Now, I realize that there are
people all over this country that have a sense. God restrains them. His restraining
hand of grace holds in check. evil that men could do. I know
that. I realize that. I know we're
not as bad as we could be. And our heart is evil, desperately
wicked. But we're restrained from doing
things that we could do. We're not out tonight. You're
not out, you know, watching these cars go by and shooting at them,
every one of them that comes by. Do you think that that tendency
is there? Oh, sure it is. But the restraining
grace of God, He keeps in check. I don't know what God was doing.
I want to look at something, though, that is a marvelous exhibition
of God's grace. I'm going to do something that
I normally don't do. I want you to turn with me to
the last verse of this book. You know, often if you go to
the end of something, you find out what's the final word on
something. The Lord said to Jonah. Should not I spare Nineveh, that
great city wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that
cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand,
and also much cattle?" Now, you know, whatever he was saying,
and we're going to look at it in just a minute, whatever God
meant in that last verse right there was the reason. that he
saw fit. Number one, send a prophet. Tell that prophet you preached
to him. And for those people to have a form, an outward repentance,
they repented. They put sackcloth and ashes
on and repented of their evil. And God spared that city. The Lord said, shouldn't I spare
that city? where there's 120,000 persons
that can't tell the difference in their left hand, their right
hand, and much cattle, shouldn't they? All right. The Scripture says back in verse
1 of Jonah 4, "...it displeased Jonah exceedingly." And he was
very angry. Why? Because when they repented
of their evil works, God spared that city. Now, I realize the
first thing that we see in this is that the providential works
of Almighty God are not ours to try to figure out. I know
that. How do we know what God is doing? How do we know every event that
takes place? I mean, we could I could go to
seed right here just starting to talk about things that just
happened. Why did the wind blow at that moment? Why did that
leaf fall? Why did this happen? Why? Everything. If we could behold why these
things are happening, if we could see it and understand it, we
would understand why God does what He does. Suffice it to say,
Romans 8, 28, all these things. But the Scripture says, when
God spared that city, Jonah was exceedingly displeased, exceedingly. He absolutely questioned Almighty
God. I looked up that word displeased. It means to spoil or to make
bad. You know what he thought, Carl?
He thought God made a wrong decision. I think you messed up here. I
think you You shouldn't have done that. I think that that
was the wrong thing to do. I don't believe you realize how
bad these people really are. He was exceedingly displeased. Almighty God said, I will show
mercy on whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I'll have compassion. does not show mercy, according
to our dictates. I'm glad for that. I'm glad it's
not left up to me, because I'll tell you this. I'm just honest
about it. I'll go ahead and admit it. You
can think it, but there's folks that you've come in contact with
and you think to yourself, you're sorry, sucker. You better be
glad. You better be glad that I'm not
in complete control here, because if I were, God is merciful and faithful
to His covenant. You consider the mercy of Almighty
God to one such as Jonah. Here we find one of the most
marvelous displays of sovereign, saving, keeping grace. Jonah. Here was a man that was
sent by God, preached to a people, And they repented. And Jonah
was mad about it. That which should have rejoiced
his heart. He was angry at God. And he told
himself. He prayed unto the Lord, verse
2, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying when I
was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto
Tarshish. For I knew that thou art a gracious
God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. and repenteth
thee of the evil." I knew it. This is the reason that I rebelled
against you. God, it's your fault. Have you ever noticed, man by
nature, man by nature, it takes a new heart for a man to admit,
I'm wrong before God. I'm wrong. Man by nature says,
it's not my fault. It's your fault. You know how
I know that? The first man, Adam. What did
he say? You know why I rebelled against
you, God? It's the woman that you gave me. If you wouldn't
have given me a woman, she's the one. She's the one. That's the attitude. Not my fault. It's God's fault. I knew that
you're a merciful God. Therefore, I fled. This is the
reason I cannot believe that you showed mercy." Now, you think
about who's saying this. Jonah, a man that had rebelled
against God. You talk about the pot called
the kettle black. God Almighty finds reason and
shows mercy only in Himself to spare the objects of His choosing.
only for the sake of his son. Why, Jonah said, should you show
mercy to these people? Let me ask you this. Why should
God show mercy to Jonah? Why? Why should he show mercy? Why should he bestow love on
Jacob? Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Why does he do what he does?
He does what he does according to his will. according to his
purpose, according to his choice. But we see the prejudice that
remains in all men. Turn with me to Romans chapter
10, verse 19. God Almighty has taken a nation,
Nineveh, a great city, Romans chapter ten, verse nineteen,
did I say, did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke
you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish
nation I will anger you. But Isaiah is very bold and saith,
I was found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest unto
them that asked Not after me. To Israel, he said, all day long
I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gang-saying
people. Israel was disobedient before
God. But Jonah says, why are you going
to show mercy to Nineveh? Question God. I knew that you were merciful.
I knew you were gracious. I knew you were slow to anger,
great kindness. You go back and read 1 Corinthians
13 again, there is only one man of whom those words could be
spoken of. Christ Jesus our Lord. Love envieth not. Love vaunteth
not itself. Love not puffed up. Love does
not question God. Oh, thanks be to Him that we
have a substitute. One that stands for us and answers
for us. This man, Jonah, this is us by
nature. Jonah seems to bring into question
God's dealings with this great city and indicates that he knew
better than God what should be done and even attempts to justify
his own rebellion. Jonah murmured against God, complained
against Him. This is the reason I rebelled
against you, but for God's grace." Now, here is the message of the
fourth chapter, the indescribable mercy of Almighty God. Now, you
know, we get it in our mind that God has shown mercy to us because
we're pretty nice folks. You know, we're sitting over
here. We're members of Katie Baptist Church. We've heard the
gospel. We attend the preaching of the
gospel, support the ministry, support missionaries. You know,
we're pretty nice folks. Therefore, God's right in being
merciful to us, because we're not that bad. Oh, the depth of the heart, the
wickedness of the deceitfulness of the human heart. It is desperately
wicked. And it is deceitful above all
things. There's not one person here tonight
that really would want their heart to be exposed. And to see
the depth of our rebellion, we question God moment by moment
by moment. You let something cross our paths
that doesn't fit ourselves, and I'm telling you, maybe not outwardly,
but God looks on the heart, and we question. Why does that? I can't believe that! I can't believe you said that
to me. I can't believe it. That man right there. Therefore now, verse 3, O Lord,
take I beseech thee my life for me, for it is better for me to
die than to live. Jonah does attribute life and
death to God, but he is not justified in his attitude toward God. Now, I'll admit that a man be
separated from this life to be with God is commendable. In 2
Corinthians chapter 5, 2 Corinthians 5, 6 and 7, 2 Corinthians 5, 6 and 7, therefore,
we are always confident knowing that whilst we are at home in
the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith,
not by sight. We are confident, I say, Paul,
writing to the church at Corinth, and willing rather to be absent
from the body than to be present with the Lord. Now, I realize
that there is a spirit in which a believer looks forward to his
time of going to be with the Lord. Those saints that have
departed from this life, there is no way. How can I describe
the bliss, the wonder? Those that have, by God's grace,
been given a heart to behold Him and to see Him by sight and
no more by faith. They look upon Him. They look
upon Him. There He is. They behold Him
in the very presence of Almighty God. I can't, I don't know, I
just can't imagine the wonder. I know, I know, by faith I know
that it's indescribable wonder, marvelous. And those of us that
remain, we too look forward to that time in which we will behold
Him. I know that. But that's not the
attitude that this man's got right here. To die because one is angry,
to be discontent or merely wanting to be separated from trouble,
is to question God's providence and His wisdom and His power,
is to question God. For Jonah to die here would be
to die quarreling with the Lord, angry at Him. Angry at God and
angry at men is not a good way to die. He was mad. I just tell you, I tell you what,
why don't you just go ahead and kill me? Well, but for God's
grace, he would have. I think to myself every time
the more I read of this chapter, the more I see something of the
indescribable mercy of God, merciful. We think, well, we don't have
Jonah's attitude. Yes, we do. Yes, we do. It just. Hasn't come
out, we haven't all heard it, that's all. But the heart, that
desperately wicked heart. Then the Lord, verse 4, said,
Doest thou well to be angry? I tell you, God doesn't show mercy
according to our understanding. Are you doing well to be angry? Do you have a good reason to
be angry, Jonah? Oh, how merciful, gracious, and
slow to anger He is. I know that the Scripture speaks
of anger. The Scripture says that God is
angry with the wicked every day. He is angry. He is angry. We are to be angry and sin not. angry at sin within ourselves
and sin in others. I understand that, angry. But
Jonah, do you have good reason to be angry? Are you mad for
a good reason? How merciful God deals with the
objects of His mercy. Here Jonah questions God, angry,
rebellious, Now, you think about those for whom God's going to
show mercy, those whom God's going to show compassion. You
remember a man named Uzzah. Now, you think that this man
right here, Jonah, and how he was speaking. Uzzah. You remember Uzzah? It was a
man, the ark of the Lord was placed on a cart. And as the
oxen pulled, it was shaking, you know. And the Scripture says
that Uzzah thought that the ark of the Lord was going to fall
over it. He was going to reach out and put his hand on that
ark to help God, help that ark, you know, as if God needed some
help. And he touched that ark and God killed him. Ananias and
Sapphira, there was two. They sold a piece of property,
came to Peter and they said, Well, we're here to give some
money to the Lord. We sold a piece of property.
Peter said, Did you sell it for this amount of money? Sure did.
We're giving you all the money. This is it. And Peter says, Why
has Satan put it in your heart to lie to God, question God,
speak to God disrespectfully? And God killed both of them.
Killed one, and then the other one came in and asked him, Did
you sell property for that much money? Sure did. And he said,
well, the men that just dragged your spouse out are just walking
right back in, and God killed them too. Oh, how merciful God
is to those that He has chosen to be merciful to. Here is a
man who questioned God. Doest thou well to be angry,
Jonah? Is your eye evil because mine
is good? The scribes and Pharisees were
displeased with Christ. because he conversed with Republicans
and sinners. The elder brother was angry with
his father because the prodigal came back and the father showed
mercy. He was mad. That's not fair. That's not fair.
God, you're not fair. Hmm. Doest thou well to be angry? The worm, angry with his creator? The potsherd, a broken pot, be
angry with the God of heaven? Is there a just cause in questioning
God's mercy to anyone? Doest thou well to be angry?
Mercy, that is, the refraining from punishing an offender. Kindness in excess of what is
expected. So Jonah went out of the city,
and he sat on the east side of the city and made him a booth
and sat under it in the shadow till he might see what would
become of the city. And the Lord prepared a gourd
and made it come up over Jonah, that might be a shadow over his
head to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceedingly
glad of the gourd. Now, don't you look at the two
ends of the spectrum here. He was exceedingly angry because
God had spared the city of Nineveh. And he was exceedingly joyful
and glad for this plant, this gourd, that had come up. These verses reveal God's lesson
to Jonah in his providential mercy. The Lord prepared a gourd
to deliver Jonah from his grief. That's what the Scripture says.
Verse 6, He prepared a gourd to deliver Jonah from his grief. Oh, I cannot say it enough to
my own hearing, the mercies of Almighty God to His people. Mercy. Mercy. Mercy is that which is
given when we deserve punishment. Mercy. Jonah is spared by Almighty
God because God had purposed to show mercy to him. I will show mercy. Not for Jonah's sake. For Christ's
sake. Many, I found, speculated on
what that gourd was. But you know what? The scripture
says it was a gourd. Therefore, we come to this conclusion.
Whatever it was, it was to deliver Jonah from his grief. God raised up a gourd. I read over in Matthew chapter
6. This is a passage that's been
a great comfort to me for a long time. I think that I'd go through
Matthew 6, verse 30. If God so clothed the grass of
the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven,
shall he not much more clothed you, O ye of little faith? Therefore, take no thought, saying,
What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall
we be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things. shall be
added unto you. Take therefore no thought for
the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought of the things of
itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." What I
say from this passage right here is God is merciful to us in providential
things, daily things, and eternal things. Almighty God is merciful
to this man. But the Lord, verse 7, prepared
a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the
gore that it withered. Here we are taught that the comforts
of this life are temporal. But temporal mercies are still
God's mercies. Paul the Apostle said, I have
learned in whatsoever state I am in, therewith, to be content
if Almighty God is pleased. to raise up a gourd for your
comfort, whatever that is, whatever it is. If God's been pleased
to raise up and give you a good job or health for your comfort,
to deliver you providentially, it's the Lord. Let Him do what
seems good to Him. But if He removes it, if He takes
it, do we have a right to question Him. Why did you do that? Don't you know that I need that? Don't you know that I have need
of all these things? Don't you realize that? Is that
tendency not in all of us to question God when anything goes
against what we think is the right thing? Jonah saw what God
had done Almighty God, what He does is right. He's the Lord. He rules. Heaven rules on earth. Do we have a right to question
Him? We're but grasshoppers. He sits on the circle of this
earth and reigns. He's doing all that He's doing
for His honor, bringing glory to Himself, that in the ages
to come, we might see the exceeding riches of His grace in Christ
Jesus. Who are we? God raised up a gourd,
and Jonah was really happy. And God sent a worm the next
night, and it ate. And Scripture says, and it killed,
it killed that gourd. And verse 8 says, It came to
pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement
east wind, and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah. And he fainted
and wished in himself to die and said, ìIt is better for me
to die than to live.î And God said to Jonah, ìDoest thou well
to be angry for the gourd?î And he said, ìI do well to be angry
even unto death.î Need I say again how merciful
our God is to us to keep us? In daily transgressions, he pardons
us. for the sake of the Lord Jesus
Christ, pardoned by His blood, forgiven for Christ's sake. The
Lord sends a vehement wind, scorching sun, all of nature at His control. But I can sum up this in this
one phrase. My grace is sufficient. My grace is sufficient. Oh, in
these things we are taught to trust Him. these trials, these
tribulations that come our way. David said, it's good that I've
been afflicted, that I might learn your judgments, your statutes,
your ways. It's good that I've been afflicted.
These afflictions, you know, for the moment, they're not joyful,
but they work an eternal way to glory. He does that which
is right, and he causes us to cast ourselves upon His mercy.
Have you ever noticed how easy it is when everything seems to
be going right, how forgetful we are? But when these things
that come our way, come our way in such a way that we start to
see this is tough, we find it then a time to call on the Lord. Do you have reason to be angry?
Jonah, yes. Man's ways are not God's ways.
Jonah had pity on a gourd that he didn't even produce. Can God
not show mercy to his own creation? That's what the Lord said in
verse 10. Thou hast had pity on the gourd for which thou hast
not labored, neither madest it grow, which came up in a night
and perished in a night. And should not I spare Nineveh,
that great city, wherein a more than six score thousand persons,
120,000, cannot discern between their right hand and their left
hand also much cattle. We come to this last verse, and
we find in this verse something of the depth, something of it. I realize we don't see the depth,
but something of the depth of God's mercy. Here Almighty God
has shown mercy to that city for a number that He says is
120,000 persons that cannot discern between their right hand and
their left hand. Now, we find something in Deuteronomy
chapter 1 of what He was talking about. Deuteronomy 1. Verse thirty
nine. Deuteronomy one thirty nine. Well, I have written down, wait
a minute, maybe I've written the wrong one. Nope, Deuteronomy
one thirty nine. Let's start in thirty eight. Deuteronomy one thirty eight.
But Joshua, the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall
go in thither. encourage him, for he shall cause
Israel to inherit it. Moreover, your little ones,"
this is it right here, "...which ye said should be a prey, and
your children, which in that day had no knowledge between
good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will
I give, and they shall possess it." That phrase, that don't
know between their left hand and their right hand, is talking
about these infants. back here in Deuteronomy. Should
I not show mercy to a city that has 120,000 that don't know the
difference in their right hand and their left hand, and much
cattle? Can I not show mercy? Now, you think about something. Here was a great city. I don't
know how many people, but there was 120,000 in there that didn't
know the difference in their left hand and their right hand.
And it was speaking of these little ones. You know, the Lord
said, unless you become as a little one. Now, those little ones right
there that He's talking about, I understand it's infants, but
also the Lord said, unless you become as little children, submissive,
humble before Almighty God, a spirit of humility, you'll in no way
see the kingdom of heaven. Can I not show mercy to a great
city that's evil and wicked people living. Can I not show mercy
to that city because of 120,000 that don't know the difference
in their left hand and right hand? You remember when David
had a little child? That child was sick. It was a
child of Bathsheba and David. And that child was sick even
unto death. And the Scripture says that David
prayed for that child. And he said, you know, we sought
the Lord that He might spare him. When that child died, David
said this. He can't come back to me, but
I can go where he is. God showed mercy in sparing that
child, an infant. Out of every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue, God's got a people. I believe that a majority
of those that Almighty God has shown mercy to are infants. In
the indescribable providence Based on that one scripture,
David said, he can't come back to me, but I can go where he
is. That infant died. I don't know why God has shown
mercy to a city, but he said, can I not show and spare Nineveh
where in a more than six score thousand persons that can't discern
between their right hand and left, can I show mercy to whom
I will? Why did God show mercy to Nineveh
and then 250 years later destroyed it? Obviously, there were some in
that city that he was going to show mercy to. Eternal mercy. And the cattle also. These that
God has shown mercy to. This cattle. What is that? I
looked the word up. What it means is dumb. That's what the word means. Dumb. Those that can't speak. Now, I realize this, that the
cattle on a thousand hills are the Lord's. Can he not do with
his own what he will? But these cattle are a picture,
I believe, of those that have been made to be silent before
Almighty God in the boasting of their worth. Let all the world
become silent before God. The Lord Jesus Christ was silent. He opened not his mouth, dumb
before his shearers. Let every man be a liar. Let
God be truth. Can I not show mercy to a city
for 120,000 that can't tell the difference between their right
hand and their left hand, and much cattle also? I do not doubt
that that is a truth, a truth that is found in this scripture.
But let me tell you the ultimate truth. that's found in that last
verse right there. Should not I spare Nineveh, that
great city wherein are more than six score thousand persons that
cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand,
and much cattle also? I'll tell you what's taught in
that last verse. Almighty God showed mercy to
Nineveh. He spared that city. I realize it was 120 years. 250 years after this time, but he
spared that city, those adults, those evil, wicked people against
Almighty God for the sake of those children. Or may I say
it like this? He showed mercy to some for the
sake of another. He showed mercy to those evil
people for the sake of 120,000, and he said, I'm going to spare
it. And he raised them up, saved
them, called them out by His grace. It's the Lord. Let Him do what seems right.
But I know that He showed mercy for the sake of another. Has
not Almighty God shown mercy to us for the sake of another? Did Almighty God cause David
and Jonathan to make a covenant together? And David asked him,
Jonathan said to David, he said, when you come and become the
king, will you show mercy to my house? And David said, I will. And Jonathan had a son, and his
name was Mephibosheth. You know that story. Why did
David show mercy to Mephibosheth? Because of Jonathan. Because
of a covenant that he made. I'm going to show mercy. Is there
any yet? of the house of Saul that I can
show mercy to for Jonathan's sake. Why has Almighty God shown
mercy to anyone in this place tonight? It's because of Christ's
sake. That's the lesson in that last
verse right there. God showed mercy to some for
the sake of another. Can I not show mercy to this
great city, Nineveh, for the sake of 120,000 that can't tell
the difference in their left hand and right hand? is merciful. He raised up a prophet,
sent that prophet to a city. Through that prophet, we see
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Man by nature is revealed in
Jonah. But the Lord Jesus Christ became,
was made what Jonah and you and I are, those of you that know
Him. He took upon Himself the guilt of Jonah, Marvin, Carl,
all the rest, and his purpose to call out. What shall we do
that the sea could be calm to us? Cast me in. God prepared a great fish, a
picture of the grave, to put him in three days and three nights.
And after three days and three nights, Jonah came out of the
belly of that whale. The Lord Jesus Christ came out
of the heart. of the earth, the obedient servant who, through
his sufferings, learned obedience, experienced obedience, obedient
unto the Father. I do always those things that
pleased Him. And then we see Jonah going and
preaching a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, the faithful prophet
goes in and proclaims. And then we see, for Christ's
sake, the indescribable mercy of God that keeps His people
in spite of what we are in spite of our rebellion, O wretched
people, that we really are in ourselves. Thanks be to God that
we have a substitute, one that has lived, one that ever liveth
before, ever liveth to make intercession, pleading himself. Then can God show mercy to someone
like us, someone like us Jacobs, us Jonas, for the sake of another. Can I not show mercy to that
city, Nineveh, for the sake of 120,000 that can't know the difference?
Has God shown mercy to us for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ?
He has. That's the message of Jonah.
No other sign is going to be given. That's it. God's going
to show mercy. He's going to send a preacher.
He's going to teach people. He's going to call them out.
He's going to keep them. He's going to keep them. I'll never
leave you. I'll never leave you. Never forsake
you. Or what if we act like Jonah?
What do you mean, what if we do? God's going to show mercy.