Jonah is angry, isn't he? Jonah
is angry for showing mercy to the people of Nineveh, his arch
enemies. There is an example of this or
there's several examples in scripture of this being the same. We have that example of the parable
of the prodigal son. If you'd like to turn there,
it's Luke chapter 15. In summary, the Lord tells this
parable about two sons. The younger demands the father's
inheritance and then he goes off and squanders it and lives
recklessly. While the older son remains obedient
to the father and continues on with him. And when the younger
son had spent every last cent, every last cent, starving and
so desperate that he'd eat the pig's food, he turns home defeated,
expecting no compassion for his actions. And so reading in Luke
chapter 15 from verse 18, he says to himself, I will arise
and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have
sinned against heaven and before thee, and I am no more worthy
to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he rose and came to his father,
but when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had
compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And
the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven
and in thy sight, and I am no more worthy to be called thy
son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best
robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes
on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it,
and let us eat, and be merry. For this my son was dead, and
is alive again. He was lost, and is found, and
they began to be merry. Now the eldest son was in the
field, and as he came and drew night in the house, he heard
music and dancing, and he called one of the servants and asked
what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother
is come, and thy father has killed the fatted calf, because he hath
received him safe and sound. Of course this parable has many
wonderful emblems of the gospel. For another time we will look
at that. But note the attitude of this
eldest son in verse 28, and he was angry. He was angry and would not go
in, therefore his father came out and entreated him. And he
answered, saying to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve
thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment, and
yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with
my friends. But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath
devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the
fatted calf. So the elder son is angry, isn't
he? Angry that his father showed
mercy and forgiveness to one he considers unworthy of mercy
and forgiveness. And Jonah has the same complaint,
doesn't he? How can these wicked Ninevites Be worthy of your mercy. And there's a very simple answer,
very simple answer to that question. No man, no man is worthy of the
mercy of God. No man has any entitlement with
God. We are undeserving of any benefit
from God. We are undeserving of any grace
from God. We are undeserving of the goodness
of God. We are undeserving of the mercy
of God. We are undeserving because we've
done nothing to merit ourselves to God, nor can we do anything
to merit ourselves with God. And not only are we undeserving,
we are ill-deserving. Ill-deserving, everything we've
ever done in this body of flesh only serves to condemn us. The
standards of God's law is infinitely above our ability to keep. The
scripture says that all our imaginary works are as filthy rags. You don't need mercy unless you
are guilty as charged. We desperately need the mercy
of God, don't we? Who decides who are the recipients
of God's mercy? And Romans 9 settles all controversies
when these subjects come up, and we know the answer, don't
we? Romans 9 verse 15 says, For he saith to Moses, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. Our Heavenly Father is merciful. He is a merciful God. He is merciful
and loves his children. Look at what the Father says
to his elder son in verse 31, Luke 15. The Father says to his
elder son, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have
is thine. Brethren, we've been made sons
of God. not by anything we've done, but
what He's done. And we have an inheritance. Romans
8 tells us that the children of God are heirs. We're heirs
according to the promise, that promise given to Abraham, that
they who believe God are the seed of Abraham. They're the
true spiritual children of God, aren't they? They're the true
children of God. Romans 8.16 says, the Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And
if children, they're heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
What an amazing thing to rejoice in. What an amazing thing to
contemplate. Romans 8, 32 says something even more wonderful. Verse 32, listen to these amazing
words. He that spared not his son, but
delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? If you belong to God, then all
things are yours. If you are in Christ, you have
everything. lacking absolutely nothing. God
was merciful, wasn't he? He was merciful to these enemies
of Jonah, and Jonah's response is shameful. prophet of God,
his response to shame for shocking lack of joy over the repentance
of the Ninevites. A resentment against God for
showing mercy to those whom he despised, to those whom he thought
were not worthy of God's mercy. But the journal wrote this book
tells me its purpose is to stand as a testimony to us. This is
what I was and he makes no attempt to justify his wicked behavior. He wrote this book and he leaves
the first word and the last word to God. God wrote this book but
by the hand Jonah leaves this last word to God. Perhaps we
might be tempted to think to ourselves, I'd never be like
that. I'd never think like that, like
Jonah. And as soon as we think like that, we've already fallen,
haven't we? We've already fallen in the pride
of our own sin. In 2 Samuel chapter 12, you might
recall how David, King David, plotted the death of a man named
Uriah in order to take his wife Bathsheba. It's another shocking
testimony of how God's men can fail and fall. And so the Lord
sent Nathan, to David with a parable, and it was the story of a rich
man and a poor man. The rich man had many lambs,
and he took the poor man's lamb, his only lamb, his pet lamb,
whom he loved dearly, and he slew it for himself, even though
he had plenty of lambs himself. He slew this poor man's lamb.
And David, upon hearing the story, was outraged against the rich
man and declared, he should surely die, that man should surely die,
because he did this thing and had no pity. He did this thing
and had no pity. And Nathan said to David, thou
art that man, thou art that man. And David said unto Nathan, I
have sinned, I have sinned against the Lord. His sin was found out,
he was exposed, wasn't he, before the Lord. But Nathan has something
to say to David, which ought to give us great hope in our
sin. Having done this evil thing, Nathan says to David, the Lord
also hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die. Even the children
of God are fully capable of the vilest behavior. We have to admit
that, don't we? You have to admit it. I stand
here guilty as charged and I know in myself, and I trust you do
as well, this flesh has a very limited capacity to forgive and
be compassionate and to love others. But the scriptures tell
us what the Lord has done, doesn't
he? Colossians 3.13 says, Forbear with one another, forgiving one
another. If any man has a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. This sinful flesh is why the
teaching of our Lord is so difficult for us. It's so difficult. Remember what the Lord said in
Matthew chapter five. Let me read some of these verses
of the word, words of the Lord. The Lord says, you have heard
that it had been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy
enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that
curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that
despitefully use you and persecute you. that you may be the children
of your father which is in heaven. For he maketh his son to rise
on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and
the unjust. For if you love them which love you, what reward have
you? Do not even the publicans the same? And if you salute only
your brethren, what do you more than others? Do not even the
publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect even
as your Father is perfect which is in heaven. And by all means,
by all means, we ought to be kind and considerate and loving
toward one another where possible. But we know, don't we, that this
teaching is only truly fulfilled in our Saviour. And where do
we see the most glorious example of the mercy and love for enemies
this world has ever seen? We see it at the cross, don't
we? We see it at the cross. The scripture makes this amazing
statement. Let me read it to you. While we were yet sinners,
Christ died for the ungodly. While we were yet sinners, while
we were yet enemies, while we were yet rebels against God,
while we were yet vile sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. That God persists with this man
Jonah is remarkable, isn't it? It's just remarkable. It seems
Jonah is accusing God of some miscarriage of justice, testing
the patience of God. Men have perished for less. But
he's the Lord's man. He belongs to God. And he perseveres
and preserves Jonah. But the Lord reproves Jonah in
verse 4. He says, Does thou well to be
angry? Does thou well to be angry? Let's
ask ourselves that question every time anger rises up in us. Does thou well to be angry? What
do we gain from being angry? Who's in control to manage the
affairs of this world, the circumstances of this life? Who's in control?
We struggle with unbelief constantly, don't we? I know I do. Not believing that all things
are in the hand of our sovereign God, the troubles we encounter,
the lack of peace that we often feel, our disappointment over
the aspirations we have in this life that never eventuate. The
way we believe things should be done and not are done. Not
done the way we like. We get angry, don't we? The Lord's
people need to trust him at his word. We trust all that Christ
has done, all that he's doing, and all that he will do. Dost
thou will to be angry? The Lord says, I am the Lord,
Jonah. I am the Lord. This is a battle
you cannot win. I am the Lord, and I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. Jonah was so overwhelmed with
disappointment and fixated with defeat over an outcome that he
did not wish for, that he decides his life even to be taken. That
it is better for me to die than to live. This account of Jonah,
I feel, is very unique in the scriptures, and I must say there
has been difficulty in my understanding, and I readily admit that I am
incapable of all that the Lord is teaching here. Think of another
example like Jonah, a man of God. And let's be clear, Jonah
knew God. Jonah knew God. He understood
the character of God. He is a saved man by the eternal
election of God, called of God to do his will. And yet I cannot
think of a preacher of God's word so disappointed with an
outcome that would be for all other men of God a cause for
great rejoicing. the whole of Nineveh, all the
Ninevites they believe from the youngest to the oldest. I believe Jonah has provided
this book as a testimony to us. Can we admit the depth to which
we are equally capable of being angry with God? Because in our
lives we are constantly getting angry with God for the things
that happen around us, aren't we? For the things that don't
eventuate that we think ought to, for the circumstances that
don't go our way, and in doing so we lose our comfort, don't
we? We lose our comfort, we lose sight of Him who is in sovereign
control of all things. His sovereign control has no
limitations. And in our fallen state of sin
we have this great tendency to be arrogant about what is right
and what is wrong. And Jonah is picturing that arrogance
to us like a mirror. Do you disagree with God? God
forbid it. We need to remember that everything
that our God does is right. Everything he does is right.
Whether we think it's right or wrong. And because he does it,
it is right. In the exercise of his sovereign
will, it was God, wasn't it, that placed Satan and his angels
in their respective positions to do what they do. There is no great battle between
Satan and God. Satan is like a dog on God's
chain. He goes as God allows and no further. Even the death
of his son is right. It was right. The most righteous
thing that God ever did. By the determinate counsel and
full knowledge of God, our Lord Jesus Christ was taken, and by
wicked hands was crucified and slain. He laid our sin upon his
Son, and punished our sin upon his Son, and the sins of God's
people are there no more. He has removed those sins from
the East and from the West, We need to believe, don't we? We
need to believe what we read in the Word of God about His
sovereign control over all things. We need to believe that He is
accomplishing everything to His purpose in every event which
occurs in this chaotic world. in our lives and in our circumstances.
All of it for the glory of God and the good of his people. And
Jonah, Jonah is in need of this lesson from God, isn't he? In
verse 5 it says, so Jonah went out of the city and sat on the
east side of the city and there made him a booth and sat under
it in the shadow till he might see what would become of the
city. He's still holding out that there's
still a possibility that God might destroy this place. In
verse 6, the Lord God prepared a gourd that is some type of
vine that grew up and over and made it come over Jonah that
it might be a shadow over his head to deliver him from his
grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. We're so easily
enchanted by the temporal things of this world, aren't we? Sadly,
Jonah's attention was directed to a mere plant. It was directed
to a mere plant that gave him some shade for a fleeting moment.
And yet the glorious work of God's salvation in the universe
seemed of little consequence. It just passed him by. He was
fixated on a plant. His personal comfort was of greater
concern than the welfare of an entire city. But God prepared
a worm when the morning rose the next day and it smote the
gourd and it withered. And so we're reminded of this
world and all it is is passing away. And we ourselves, we ourselves
are like a vapor. We're just here for a moment,
aren't we? And we are gone. What did our Lord tell us in
Matthew? Lay not up yourselves treasures upon the earth, where
moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.
But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven, where neither moth
nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through
nor steal. For where your treasure is, there
your heart will be also. Let's not become swept up by
the trivia of this world. Let's not overlook the work of
the Lord in rescuing his people by the preaching of his gospel.
It's a great work. The Lord is merciful, slow to
anger and of great kindness. Now is the day of salvation.
I'm so thankful, and I'm so thankful of this picture of mercy upon
Nineveh. The Ninevites in their wickedness
weren't seeking God, were they? They weren't seeking God, just
as Abraham the idolater wasn't seeking God, just as Ruth the
Malvitess was not seeking God. And the truth is, none of us
were seeking God either. God seeks his people when they
were not seeking him. I'm so thankful for that. May
he seek us and save us as only he can. Let's pray.