With Jonah chapter 3, starting
in verse 1, And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second
time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and
preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose
and went unto Nineveh according to the word of the LORD. Now
Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days journey and Jonah began to enter into
the city a day's journey and he cried and said yet forty days
and Nineveh shall be overthrown. That's all he said. That's all
is recorded I'll put it that way. That's all that's recorded.
So that's all we got. So the people of Nineveh believe
God and proclaim the fast and put
on sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least of
them for the word came unto the king of Nineveh and he arose
from his throne and he laid his robe from him and covered him
with sackcloth and sat in ashes and he caused it to be proclaimed
and published throughout or through Nineveh by the decree of the
king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd
nor flock, taste anything, let them not feed nor drink water,
but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily
unto God. Yea, let them turn everyone from
his evil way and from the violence that is in their hands." That's
repentance. That's what's going on here. Because without repentance
no man shall see God. I mean, this scripture is clear
about repentance. And who is the author of repentance? Verse 9, who can tell if God
will turn and repent and will turn away from His fierce anger
that we perish not." And God saw their works, 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. He did it not. Now the phrase
that I want to look at, which just, I don't know, I guess it
goes back to college days, verse 9. The first three words, who can
tell? Who can tell? In our text this
morning, we consider Nineveh, a great city of Asia, I'm sorry,
of Assyria. It was given to great wickedness
and little or no thought towards God. According to Bible scholars,
historians, Nineveh was a huge city. As he says in verse three,
now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days journey.
It took three days to get through the city limits. What he says
in the text. It took three days to traverse
it. The historians were in wonder
in all, remarked, all of them remarked how prosperous, how
large, and how economically great Nineveh was. And usually those
things don't go well with spirituality. You've got plenty of things to
keep you busy, you've got plenty of things to keep your mind off
the gospel. And it was, it just was, it was just wicked. It was
just a wicked place. Because he says, Yet 40 days, what he said, Nineveh
shall be overthrown. And then the king says, yea,
let them turn everyone from his evil way and from the violence
that is in their hands. So, whether they, I mean, literally,
this is a wicked, murderous city, I don't have any idea, but I
know when God begins to do a work in a woman's heart, even the
smallest thing, we see is an abomination in the eyes of God.
So this is a great city, very prosperous. This is a metropolis,
this is a metroplex. It was exceeding great. Jonah, he finally
approaches the idolatrous metropolis and he says eight words. He says
eight words, all we have written. Yet forty days and Nineveh shall
be overthrown." God is going to overthrow this vile city. Judgment and destruction, obviously
from the words he said, are coming. Obviously from the words that
were spoken, your days of reckoning is upon you. You have been weighed,
this says in another passage of scripture, you've been weighed
in the balance and been found wanting. Forty days till judgment. Forty days till judgment. As Spurgeon said, there's not
much gospel, there's not any thought or signification of mercy,
and it's not a long sermon. We would send evangelists and
church, we'd make sure church building, we'd do all this kind
of stuff to before, you know, get everything ready. He sent
one man in this huge city, one man. And by the words of truth
from his ambassador, from his servant, the Lord brought a mighty
work on these people. This is what we have. Only 40
days and then it's going down. It's going to be overthrown.
Now I want us to consider what the king said in particular in
verse 9. Who can tell? Basically he's
saying who can tell if God will be merciful? Who can tell? In verse 9. We
have 40 days to live this life as we now know it. 40 days. That's a month and a half. That's
not much. That's not long. Perhaps the
king recalled Sodom. They had no warnings. They had
no space given them to repent. They got 40 days. Who can tell? Perhaps God will
show us mercy. He is giving us these days to
consider our plight, our miserable spiritual condition, and 40 days
to consider that sin is exceedingly sinful. Who can tell? The fact He's given us 40 days,
that may be mercy right there. Who can tell? Maybe he said,
I heard God is merciful, not just wrathful and vengeful.
Perhaps this little space in these 40 days, God will show
us good. I'll tell you what this king
is doing. He's casting everything he has
upon the mercy of God. And that's what we are to do. Be you five years old or 80. It doesn't matter. We have been given a little space.
We don't know how long we have to live. 40 days. What he's doing, and I
hope this is what we will learn this morning, is maybe we do
the same thing. If we've never known him, we're not guaranteed
tomorrow. This king is casting his lot. This king is casting everything
on God's mercy. He's throwing his lot with God.
And just maybe, in human terms, God in Christ Jesus will show
pardon, mercy, salvation to the likes of us. Well, there's other passages
in scriptures that says the same thing. Let's look at a few of
them. Let's turn to 1 Kings chapter 20. I believe it's 1
Kings 20. Yes, 1 Kings chapter 20 now.
We'll start in chapter 20 of 1 Kings. And Ben-Hadad, the king
of Syria, gathered all his host together, and they were going
to besiege Samaria and war against it. That's the setting. Now look at verse 20 and verse
30. After they get thoroughly whipped
by the Israelites, they're defeated twice by Israel. Now look at
verse 30. But the rest of his host, that's
at Ben-Hadad, fled to Apec, into the city, and there a wall fell
upon 20 and 7,000 of the men that were left. The wall fell
on them and killed them. And Ben-Hadad fled, this is the
king now, and came into the city into an inner chamber. And his
servants said unto him, Behold, now we have heard that the kings
of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us, I pray thee, put
sackcloth on our loin and ropes upon our heads, around our necks,
and go into the King of Israel. Peradventure, he will save thy
life." Isn't he doing the same thing? Isn't he told to do the
same thing? We're back in a corner. The Ninevites, they weren't even
back in a corner. They said, we're 40 days, it's
gonna be done. Who can tell? If you surrender,
if you give up, if you, let us, Benedad, let us throw ourselves
into the hands of God and his people, peradventure he will
spare us, is what he's saying. Now the end didn't, it didn't,
the people spared him, but God smote him. per adventure. Who can tell? I can't tell, that's
why I don't preach, that's why I preach Christ died for the
elect, and the elect are gonna be saved. I don't say God loves
you, smile, I don't know that. I do know that he saves and redeems
his people. I don't, and it's not according
to scripture to say he's gonna save everybody. So I don't say,
I say I give you no hope, and yet who can tell? Maybe somebody
this morning has hope in Christ. He said, I don't know, I can't
see your heart. Who can tell? Ninedad, you got nowhere to go.
You're hemmed up. That's a good place to be. You're
hemmed up with God. Who can tell? And look what happened
in Jonah. Look what happened in Nineveh.
Well, there's more examples. There's a bunch of them, but
let's just turn to a few. 2 Samuel chapter 24. 2 Samuel chapter 24. David just got done numbering
the people. He just got done numbering the
people. 2 Samuel 24 verse 10. And David's heart smote him after
he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord,
I have sinned greatly in that I have done, and now I beseech
thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant, For I have done
very foolishly." He just wants to be forgiven. He just wants
to experience the peace and the joy and the quietness of forgiveness.
Even a believer, he understands. This is a man after God's own
heart. He understands who God is. He understands who He is.
The old nature still, we still have it in us. We still have
the foolishness of the flesh. David, a man after God's own
heart, yet still wrestled with this flesh. For when David was up in the
morning, the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, David's
seer, saying, he gives him the ultimatum, go and say unto David,
thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things, choose thee
one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So David came to David
and told him, and David said unto him, first thing, shall
seven years of famine come unto thee, and thy land. Secondly,
wilt thou flee three months from before your enemies, while they
pursue you, or thirdly, that there be three days of pestilence
in thy land. Now advise and see what answer
I shall return unto the Lord that sent me." David being a
believer, look at this answer. And David said unto Gad, I am
in a great strait. There's consequences for our
sins, even in the believer's life. There's ugly consequences. But it's all according to God's
plan, and it's all according for our good in His glory. I'm
in a great strait. Look at what he says. Let us
fall now into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great,
and let me not fall into the hand of man. So the Lord sent
the pestilence. Was it fun? No. Did he learn from it? You bet
he did. Do we learn from our sin? Yeah, we should. But what
David is saying is the same thing. Who can tell? God's merciful. Let me fall in the hand of God
and not man. I don't want to flee from my
enemies. That's a wise decision. Let us learn whatever befalls
us to say from the heart, express as our brother did, whether it
turns out well or not. We might not comprehend the situation
or not, but we know that God is our God and he does the light
to show mercy. Romans 8, 28. I got to thinking
about that this last couple of weeks, and I love that verse. I struggled over that. more than
I have in years. Everything works together for
good. I don't know. I mean, I really doubted that.
All things work together for good to them who love God and
to them who are called according to His purpose. And I got to
thinking, how can this isolated incident in my life or Melinda's
life, how can that be for my good? How can that be for good? Who can tell? What option do
I have? And this is not just a fatalism.
This is not fatalism. It's simply throwing myself under
God's mercy. Even if I understand it or not,
the Scriptures is true. And I realize, I was reading
some Spurgeon or something this weekend, he said the same thing.
We don't see it, we don't understand it, we don't comprehend it. But
in the long term, if it weans us from the world, if it shortens
our life, we get an illness, it shortens our life, so to speak,
we're gonna be with the Lord quicker in human terms. If he takes, whatever situation
happens, we were talking about that this morning, it is well
with my soul. How could he say that? Well,
maybe not right away, but Through time and grace, we say, who can
tell? The Lord delights, just like
David said. He says it so well. I'm going
to straight. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His
mercies are great. I don't want to fall into the
hands of man. I want to fall into the hands of man. They'll
throw you in jail, whatever they'll do. Well, we can turn, we won't,
but Luke chapter 5, isn't this exactly what the leper is doing?
Who can tell? He's leprous. He's outside the
camp according to the law. He can't come near anybody. And
here comes the Lord Jesus Christ. He goes to him and he falls down. What does he say? If you will. What is that? Who can tell? Isn't
that the same? It's the same phrase, just word
a little different. If you will. And if you don't, I'm still going
to worship you. And that's what legalists, and
that's what unbelievers, and that's what nominal church members,
they don't understand. We're going to worship him come
what may. Who can tell? That's what the
king said. I got 40 days, and my kingdom's
going to fall. But I'm king. It doesn't make
any difference. I don't care how great city, it doesn't make any difference.
He's kicking. He's like Paul, Saul, kicking
against the bricks in his heart. You're not going to go anywhere.
And basically, that's what I said months ago about our children.
It'd be a good day when they start realizing they're kicking
against something they got no control over. And they start
asking more questions. That's a good day, a co-worker,
a family member. But right now, they're at ease.
They're at ease in their religion. They don't want to be challenged.
They don't want to think about these terms in the Bible. But
they're going to have to. He says 40 days. We don't know
how long we got. We don't know how long our children
have. And I'm not talking about pressing them to make a decision.
That's obnoxious. You know that. But we pray earnestly
for them. Daily. Weekly. Monthly. We pray for ourselves. Who can
tell? Who can tell if the Lord is just
about ready to bust open this area? and we have to get a bigger
building. Who can tell? Or, it stays the
same, but we grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We grow together tighter and tighter and tighter. So that
the concerns of the children, the concerns of the parents are
our concerns. We have a real living interest
in one another's lives. Not being nosy, unfortunately
that comes sometimes too when you're in a small group. No,
not none of that, but true, genuine compassion. Who can tell? Who can tell? The leper said, I'm unclean,
I'm undone, there's no hope. I'm an outcast in Israel, if
you will. Who can tell whether God will
heal or judge, cleanse or damn? I will cast my all upon the rock
of ages and implore him to cleft for me. I'd never seen that before. I've never seen that before,
how it's worded. Rock of ages, cleft for me. Well, what does
that mean? Cleft for me? It's just a rock. The word cleft,
it means, I covered my notes up, hide, hide me. And a rock, whether Christ was,
he was hit hard, whether it's split, I don't know how you're
gonna phrase it, the wrath of God, the judgment upon him, split.
And now there's excess. And we want to get in as tight
in that crevice. Rock of Ages. Cleft for me, so
I can let me hide myself in thee. Who can tell? There's a cleft. There was a cleft 2,000 years
ago. He hung on the cross and died
and suffered and bled. He was cut. There's a cleft in
the rock. Is it for you? Who can tell? Who can tell? Who can tell, brethren? He has
given another, there's another example in Luke's gospel. I want
to turn to this one, chapter 15, because I like this and I've
always liked this. Ever since, I remember Scott
Richardson preaching out of this, but I have always liked this.
And this is what this prodigal, isn't this what he's saying?
Who can tell? Verse 11 of Luke 15, And a certain
man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father,
give me the portion of my goods that falleth on me. And he divided
them to him as living. And not many days after, the
younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far
country, and there wasted his substance with rites as living.
That's us. centers to the core. And when
the boy had spent all, there arose a famine in that land that
he was at, and he began to be in one. And he went and joined
himself to a citizen of that country and sent him in to feed
into the fields to feed swine. See, we don't think about, we've
got to go back to the Father. We join ourselves to the citizen
of the country. We're made worse. Like that lady
with the issue of blood, she went to go see, instead of going
to see Christ first, she went to Christ after she'd seen the
physicians and grew worse. This is what he did. There's
a famine. He could say, boom, I'm going back home. No, I'm
going to join myself. I'm going to get a job. And when
he was in there feeding the swine, he would feign to fill his belly
with the husks the swine did eat and no man gave unto him.
That's the world. And when he was come to himself,
that's the spirit's work, he said, how many hired servants
of my father's have bread enough to spare and I perish with hunger?
Look at what he says. I will arise and go to my father
and will say unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven
and before thee. I am no more worthy to be called
thy son. Make me as one of your hired
servants." I'll go to my father and I'll
say, who can tell? He should be mad at me. He could berate me. He could
turn me back away when I got nowhere to go. Who could tell? Forty days. And this place is
going to be a towering infernal. I'm not worthy to be called your
son. Make me as your servants. The
lad is throwing himself, his sin, and all that is about him
upon his father's care, upon his father's consideration, and
upon his father's sovereign rights to do with him as he sees fit. And we know how this story ends.
When the father saw him far off, he ran and kissed him and robed
him and put the ring on him. Back to our text, Jonah chapter
3. Who can tell if God will turn
and repent and turn away his fierce anger that we perish not? I'm glad it didn't end at verse
9. God saw their works, that they turned their evil way, and
God repented for the evil that He would do unto them, and did
it not. Now, I will say very up front, the way it's worded
is humanly so we can understand it, because our works are nothing
in the eyes of God. But they are when they're given
by faith. Like James says, Faith without works is dead. And this
is the works of faith. This is after salvation. And
God doesn't repent of anything. He's the same. Today, yesterday,
and forever. But for our purposes, God was
propitious, gracious, merciful, and kind. God never changes,
and our works will never save us. Yet God's work in us does,
and what once seemed to us as an angry God is now an appeased
God and through the work and glorious accomplishments of the
Lord Jesus Christ, He's not angry with us anymore. So I ask you,
I tell myself, who can tell? Who can tell? I know if you linger If you wait for the best time,
there's a day of salvation and that's a whole other subject. Peradventure, God will be merciful. May we cast our hearts and souls
upon Him in whom we live and move and have our being. Because if there's anybody that
knows anything about God, it's the believer. And we know, we
don't understand There's a lot we don't understand, but we know
this. He's merciful, and the Bible says, and we understand
that, He delights to show mercy. So who can tell? Nathan, would
you close us?