2 Kings 14.25, that talks about
Jonah 14.25. He ministered about the time
of Elijah and Elisha. Many believe that, that he possibly
was the young man that Elijah sent to anoint Jehu. They think
that the young prophet might have been Jonah. He's not named.
Then others very strongly believe that he was this son of the Shunammite
widow, the one that Elisha raised from the dead. And 2 Kings 8
points out a special time for that young man
and his mother. But here in Jonah 3, the word
of the Lord came to him the second time, saying, Arise. Jonah had
been severely disciplined by God. for his disobedience. And God had set him at liberty.
He had had an awesome experience in the whale's belly. And God
said, you go, second time, you go unto Nineveh, that great city. The first mention of Nineveh
is in Genesis 10, when a man and some of the writers believe
over a million people were involved in the building of that city,
Nineveh. It's a great city, a great city,
one of the greatest cities of the known world, built not too
many years after the flood. And it is said to be 60 miles,
anywhere from 60 to 75 miles in circumference. Look down here
at verse, let's read two and three. God said, rise, go to
Nineveh, that great city, one of the greatest cities of the
known world. and preach unto it the preaching I bid thee.
So Jonah rose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the
Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, a three days journey. What does that mean? The estimation was the average
man then could walk 20 miles a day. That would be what they
would try to do, 20 miles a day. So some people talk about the
diameter of that city being 60 miles, but most of the writers
I read had said it was 60 miles in circumference. That's a great
city. And they say that the walls were 100 feet high, some of them,
and wide enough for three chariots to pass one another. The great
city of Nineveh. And the population, well, we'll
talk about that later, but it was a great city. And they claim
it had 1,500 towers, some of them 200 feet high. It was eight
years in the original building of the city of Nineveh by over
a million men. And this is interesting here.
The Lord said in verse 2, he came to them the second time
and said, you go to that great city of Nineveh and preach unto
them. the preaching I did thee." Preach
unto them. Now the first time, that's not
the command. Go back to chapter 1. I said
I wasn't going to review, but I want to look at this. There
may be something here for us to look at. In Jonah 1 verse
2, the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of Amittah. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great
city, and cry against it. cry against it, for the wickedness
of that city has come up before me." Well, you know, it doesn't
take a whole lot of wisdom or knowledge or experience to cry
against something. Almost anybody can do that. Just cry against it. Just condemn,
condemn, condemn, criticize, find fault, point out their bad
points. But here in verse 3 of chapter
3, verse 2, God says, go preach to them. The preaching I beg
thee. It doesn't take much understanding
or wisdom or knowledge to cry against it, but it takes a whole
lot of wisdom, knowledge, and experience to preach God's preaching. And Jonah had had quite an experience. God put him through an awesome,
amazing experience preparing a fish. Casting him into the
fish's belly for three days and three nights in a dungeon, shut
up, till he cried out to God, and was delivered when he said,
Salvation's of the Lord. I do know this, Jonah had something
to say. He had a lot to say there, and
it says here, so Jonah rose, Jonah rose, and went to Nineveh,
that great city, And according to the word of the Lord, and
Nineveh was exceeding great city of three days journey, Jonah
began to enter into the city of days journey, and he cried.
And he said, yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
But that's not all he preached. That's not all he cried. I'm
just sure it's not. You can be sure that his preaching
to Nineveh embraced more than that, because these people said,
believe God. And they repented, and they cried
unto God, and they made this awesome statement, who can tell? It may be that God will turn
away from his fierce anger that we perish not. Over here in chapter
1. You remember when God sent the
storm and the ship was being tossed and about to sink and
all of the sailors began to cry to their gods, their idols, their
false gods, and the captain of the ship came down into the belly
of the ship And verse 5, he found Jonah down
there asleep. Now look at verse 6. So the ship
master came to him and said to him, What meanest thou, O sleeper?
Arise, call upon your God. If so be that God will think
upon us, that we perish not. And they said every one to his
fellow, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause
this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and it fell
on Jonah. And then they said to Jonah, they didn't know him,
Listen, tell us, we pray thee, For whose cause this evil is
upon us? What's your occupation? Where
did you come from? Where's your country? What people
are you of? And Jonah told, now listen, one
statement here. He said, I'm a Hebrew, I fear
the Lord God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry
land. Now that's not all he said to them, because the next verse
said, Then was a man exceedingly afraid, and said to him, Why
have you done this? For the man knew he fled from
the presence of the Lord, because he told them." So his entire
message to these sailors is not given here. He talked to them
about who he is, what God said to him, what God sent him to
do, and how he disobeyed God and ran, and was on their ship,
and the storm God sent the storm. He told them all those things.
They understood that. And over there when he came to
Nineveh, and it says there, Jonah cried, yet forty days, and Nineveh
shall be on the throne. That's not all of his message.
He brought them, he told them that God had done to him and
for him, and the power of God, that experience with the whale,
I'm sure he told them all that, just like he did these sailors.
He reviewed his past. I want you to read the next few
verses, see what happened. And let me tell you, while you're
reading this, I want you to pick out four important things that
took place, four things, that must happen and must be experienced
and must be understood of every person who comes to God. under the judgment and wrath
of God who finds mercy. This will be true of every person.
So verse 5, so the people of Nineveh believed God. And they proclaimed a fast and
put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
And word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his
throne. They told him what Jonah was preaching. He laid his robe
from him and covered him with sackcloth and sat in action.
And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh
by the decree of the king and his noble son, let neither man
nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything, let them not feed nor
drink water, let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and
cry mighty to the God. Let them turn everyone from the
evil ways, from the violence that's in their hands. Who can
tell? This comes from some understanding
of something. Jonah preached a long time in
that way, up and down throughout that city, preaching, crying. And this is the result. Who can
tell? If God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce
anger, that we perish not. And you know what happened? God
heard them. God heard them, it says in verse
10, and God saw their sincerity, saw their repentance, saw their humility, and he turned. how they turned from their evil
ways. And God repented of the evil, the judgment that he said
he would do, and he did it not. They were delivered. Now what
are the four things you saw there? I'll tell you what I saw. And
these four things, if a person brought to know God, to be delivered
from the curse of sin, dominion of evil, and the ways of evil,
to walk with God, these four things will take place. Number
one, verse five, so the people of Nineveh believed God. They believed God. Now notice
it didn't say they believed Jonah, but they did believe Jonah. God
sent Jonah, but there's a whole lot of difference in believing
Jonah and believing God. I hear people say, well, I believe
the Bible. Well, do you believe God? Do
you believe God? Do you believe everything God
says? Do you believe God in his true character? Do you believe
God? They believe God. Let me show you something about
Abraham. Come with me first to Joshua. Joshua chapter 24. Joshua 24. I want to show you
something. When God called Abraham, when
God found and called Abraham, Abraham was an idol worshipper.
Abraham's father Terah was an idolater. His brother Nahor,
was that his name, Nahor? He was an idolater. They served
other gods. Abraham was 75 years old. I'm 73 years old. He's two years
older than I am. Didn't know God. Didn't know
Him. Was an idolater. lived on the
other side of the stream. It says here in Joshua 24 verse
2, Joshua said to all the people, thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old times.
This is not Noah's flood, now he's talking about the other
side of the Red Sea or Jordan or somewhere over there. Even Kiva, the father of Abraham,
and the father of Nechor, Abraham's brother, they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham
from the other side of the flood. I took him, I called him. I led
him throughout all the land of Canaan, multiplied his seed and
gave him Isaac. God called Abraham. And you know
what Abraham did at 75 years old? His wife, an old person,
her savior. God came to him and said, Abraham,
get out of your father's house. Go to the land, I'll show thee,
and I'll bless thee and make thee a great nation. And Abraham
believed God. He believed God. As soon as that
turned to Genesis 15, Abraham believed God. He doesn't say
he believed in God, he doesn't say he believed there was a God,
he doesn't say he believed about God, he actually believed God,
what God said. I'll make of thee a great nation.
I'll multiply your seed. Listen to this in Genesis 15
verse 5. He brought him forth abroad and
said, Look now toward heaven. Tell the stars if you're able
to number them. He said, So shall your seed be.
And he believed in the Lord. He believed the word of God.
He believed God. And God counted it for righteousness. Paul in
quoting that in Romans 4 said, Abraham believed God. I'm telling
you this. When Jonah went through the land
of Nineveh, the city of Nineveh preaching, they heard him and
they believed him. They believed the message of
the great God. Without faith it is impossible to please God.
He that cometh to God must believe that he is, he is the reward
of them that diligently seek him. Turn to Acts 17 verse 11. Here is the key right here, Acts
17 verse 11. Act 17, verse 11. These people down in Berea, Act
17, verse 11. These people were more noble
than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with
all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily to whether
these things be so. They believed the word of God.
When they heard Paul, they subjected him to the word. His message
to the world. They believe God. That's the
beginning. Don't put a question mark on
the word of God. Believe the word of God. Believe
God. In our case, it's believing who Christ is. It's believing
what Christ did. It's believing why he did it.
It's believing where he is now. It's believing God. It's like
I read a while ago in Luke 2. You believe that? The angels
came down and said to the shepherds, And he is born this day in the
city of David a Savior, Christ the Lord. He's born in the city
of David because Micah the prophet said, out of thee Bethlehem shall
come him whose goings forth is from everlasting. He's God in
human flesh, born to a virgin, laid in a manger because there
was no room in there. I believe it. That's where you
start to believe in the scriptures. Don't put a question mark on
the word of God. Believe the scriptures. Believe God. Believe
God. This is our only rule of faith
and practice right here. To believe God. Alright, notice
the second thing. Those people believed God, verse
5. And they proclaimed the fires and put on sackcloth. Now what
does this mean? Put on sackcloth. It's all the
way through here. The king, verse 6, the last line,
covered himself with sackcloth. Verse 8, let man and beast be
covered with sackcloth. That sackcloth is a symbol of
repentance. Of repentance. That's what our
Lord said. Christ interpreted that. Turn to Matthew 11. Our
Lord says that this sackcloth is a symbol of repentance. In Matthew 11, verse 21, listen
to this. Matthew 11. He was rebuking these cities,
Chorazin, Bethsaida, in which his mighty works were done. And
he said in verse 21, listen to it. Wonderly Chorazin, wonderly
Bethsaida, if the mighty works which are done in you had been
done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago
in sackcloth and ashes. These people heard God say, preach
God's word, truth of God's power and sovereignty and majesty and
grace and the substitute, the redeemer, the grace and mercy
of God in Christ, they believed God. And they would, they clothed
themselves in sackcloth and ashes declaring before God that they
took their place as sinners, needy sinners, sinful men, sackcloth
and ashes. Turn to Luke 7, this is what
John's baptism was all about. You see, a man is not going to
be saved until he's lost. He's not going to be saved until
he's lost. He's not going to be forgiven until he acknowledges
he's a sinner. Acknowledges that he is without
help, without hope, without God. Without Christ in this world.
Hopeless. That's got to come, and this
is what these people, when John the Baptist came preaching, he
baptized people. And what's Luke 7 verse 29? And all the people that heard
John, publicans, justified God. Justified God. They said what
God says about us is true. We're sinners. We're worthless. We're undeserving. We're sinners. Being baptized with the baptism
of John, that's what baptism says. It says, I'm dead, and
I'm buried. I've got to rise again to walk
in the newness of life. I was sinner. But now listen,
the Pharisees, the religious Pharisees and the lawyers, they
weren't baptized with John. Why? They rejected the counsel
of God against themselves. Being not baptized with John.
and sinners, and the highlights, and all these people heard John,
and John told them they were sinners, that they needed saving,
they needed redemption, they needed washing, they needed to
be purged, they needed Christ's blood. And they confessed it. They said, that's what we are.
They were baptized. But these religious leaders came
to John, they were listening to him, everybody went out to
hear John. They said, that's not, we're not going to do that.
We're not sinners. We don't need a Savior. We're
not lost. We do good work. That Pharisee
said in the temple, he said, God, I thank you I'm not like
other men. Well, I tithe and I fast twice
a week and I give alms to the poor. I do all these things. I'm not like this publican. But
the people in Nineveh, when they went to Jonah, they believed
God. They believe God in his majesty
and power and holiness. They believe the charges against
themselves, the wickedness of that city. And even from the,
what did it say? From the least to the greatest.
They all put on sackcloth. The king laid his rule beside,
put on sackcloth and set in ashes. I'm no good. My works are no
good. My religion is no good. My claim
to merit and righteousness is filthy rags, sackcloth. I'm nothing. Nothing. And they thrashed him.
What's the third thing? The first thing, the king said,
let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and thirdly,
cry mightily to God. Mightily to God, crying to God
for help. Ask for mercy. I'll show you
an example of that. Turn to Psalm 51. Here's the
sinner's prayer. Here's the sinner's prayer. Here's
a man who knows he's a sinner, knows he needs help, and knows
his only help is the Lord. In Psalm 51. Have mercy upon
me, O God. According to Thy lovingkindness,
according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgressions, mine. Wash me throughly, inside and
out, topside to bottom. Wash me throughly for mine iniquity.
Cleanse me from my sin. Acknowledge my transgressions.
My sin is ever before me. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest, and clear when thou judgest.
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and sin my mother conceived me. Behold, thou desirest truth in
the inward parts, and the hidden parts thou shalt make me to know
wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, I'll be clean. Wash me, I'll
be whiter than the snow. There is a center. cry and mighty
to God. I'll tell you this, the Lord
saved sinners. Our Lord Jesus Christ was at
a feast one time. I'll tell you what it was. He
preached to that great crowd and then he walked away from
that place and he passed a man named Matthew. Matthew, sitting
at the receipt of custom. Matthew was a publican. Matthew
was a tax collector. Matthew was a cook, working for
the Roman government, taxing his own people. And our Lord
walked by. Matthew belonged to Christ, from
the foundation of the world. And Christ said, Master, follow
me. And the scripture said Matthew
arose, left his books, ledgers, papers, money, left all in honor
of Christ. And the next day Matthew had
a feast in his house in honor of Christ. And he invited all
of his old crooked buddies, all those tax collectors, all those
crooks, all that mockery. He wanted them to hear Christ.
He was part and company with those boys and he wanted them
to hear Christ. He wanted them to hear his Lord speak. And Christ
sat down with that bunch of hoods And those religious Pharisees
from the synagogue, they came down there and saw him eating
with all those no-count bar mitzvahs. And they said to his disciples,
why does your master associate with people like that? Why does
your master eat with sinners, and publicans, and hypocrites?
What kind of fellow is he? He knew what to say. And he turned
to him and he said, The well don't need a doctor. The well do not need a physician. You go learn what that means.
I'm not come to call you righteous people to repentance. I'm come
to call sinners to repentance. And when I find a sinner, I'll
save him. When I find a lost sheep, I'll
bring him home. When I find a person that needs
my grace and my mercy, I'll call him. You're going to learn what
that means. I know what that means. These
people here found out what that means. They heard God's preacher,
God's prophet, exalting the majesty and the power and the greatness
of God in his own experience. How he's cast into the whale's
belly and helpless and hopeless and the iron bars closed about
him and the seaweed wrapped around his head and he had no hope and
he turned his eyes, he couldn't see a thing down there, but he
could see from his heart. He couldn't see, but he could
see. And he looked towards the mercy seat and he said, Salvation's
of the Lord. And that fish spit him out on
dry land. He cried to God, our crying to the Lord, and the Lord
delivered him. These people cried unto the Lord. That's what Romans 10 says. Turn
over there with me to Romans 10. Romans chapter 10, verse
13. This is for sinners. Romans 10, verse 13. Romans 10,
verse 13. There is no difference, verse
12 says, between the Jew and the Greek. The same Lord over
all is rich unto all that call upon him. Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall you call
on him with whom you have not believed? That's what you've
got to have, believe. You've got to believe him. And
how are you going to believe in him with whom you've not heard?
And how are you going to hear without a picture? Oh, never
cried unto the Lord, because they had heard of the Lord, and
they had believed in the Lord, and he had sent them a preacher
to preach his word. Jonah go to Nephi and preach
the preaching that I bid you, and he did, and they heard, and
they believed, and they called. That's right, they called because
they believed, they believed because they heard, they heard
because somebody told the truth. You understand that? They called
on God mightily for mercy because they believed God and believed
what they were. They were in sackcloth and ashes. They were down. This place is
going up in smoke. They believed that because they
had heard. God had sent them a picture,
a faithful picture. So they cried unto God. That's
what the publican did. God be merciful to me, a sinner. Some people say that's a definite
article he used, God be merciful to me, the sinner. And he went
home justified. The thief on the cross. That man's experience, God opened
his eyes. He knew who Christ was, he called
him Lord. He said, Lord, you're not going
to stay dead. You're coming into a kingdom.
He read that sign over the cross, over Christ's head. Jesus of
Nazareth, King of the Jews. You're coming into a kingdom.
We're getting what we deserve. That's what he said to the other
thief. Would you remember me when you
come into your kingdom? And my Lord said, today you'll
be with me in paradise. Can you do that? Believe God? Don't put a question mark on
God's Word. Folks say, I don't understand
the Bible. I'll tell you this, if you could, I wouldn't believe
it. Think about that now a minute.
If you could understand the Bible, I wouldn't believe it. I don't
need a God I can understand. There's enough of them. We're
afraid of gods that people have made out of their own imagination,
like themselves. But the God, our God of heaven
and earth, we don't understand, we believe. If I could understand
God, I'd be like God. Or He'd be like me. But He's
unlike us. He said, you thought I was all
together such a one as yourself? Why, He said, my name is higher
than the heavens. What can you know? What can you
understand? Can you by searching find out
God? Why, it's higher than the heavens and deeper than hell
and broader than the sea. and understand God. But I can
believe him. I can believe him. And the Bible
doesn't say he that understands it shall be saved. It says he
that believeth on the Son of God shall be saved. That's what
it says. He that believeth on the Son
of God shall be saved. Not understand God. God moves
in mysterious ways his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps
on the sea and rides upon the stars. So the people of Nineveh believed
God. And they repented. They confessed
they were sinners. They clothed themselves in sackcloth
and ashes. And then they turned their voices
to heaven and cried mightily to God, God be merciful to me,
a sinner. Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. When our Lord came down from
that mountain, that old filthy leper came and fell at his feet
and looked up and said, Lord, oh, what a mess he was in. Leprosy,
decaying, crusty, corrupted, unclean. Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. And the Lord Jesus said, I will
be that. He got up white as snow. But
here's the fourth thing, verse 9. Who can tell? Who can tell? They believed God. They confessed
they were sinners, helpless, hopeless. They cried, my dear
God. And then they said, who can tell? Who can tell? Who knows? Do you know? Who can
tell that God will turn from his condemnation, turn from his
curse upon us, and turn from his anger and show mercy? Who can tell? Maybe God will. Who can tell? Now, what they're
saying is this. They knew and confessed that
their hope of salvation and not perishing did not rest upon their
repentance, which they were doing, their fasting, which they were
doing, their clothing themselves in sackcloth, which they were
doing, their praying, which they were doing. But their hope of
salvation rested upon the will of God to show mercy and not
damn them. That's exactly what they were
saying. Who can dare? I hear people say things like
this. Well, I've got two children. Would God save one of them and
pass by the other? Isaac had two children by Rebekah,
one named Jacob, one named Esau. And God said, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. Now what shall we say to these
things? Are we going to quarrel with God? Come on now. Well if
God doesn't save my son or my daughter, I'm not going to believe
on him. That would be alright too. He'll still be God. But he'll show mercy to whom
he will. Why is it that you've heard the gospel and there are
millions all over the world who've never heard it? God willed it. God sent the gospel to you. Why
is it none of us received the prophet Jonah and many cities
around there didn't hear the prophet Jonah or anybody else's
prophet? Moses said, Lord, show me your
glory, show me your glory. God said, I'll make my goodness
pass before you. My goodness is my glory. I will
be merciful to whom I will be merciful. I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. I'll let God be God and every
man a liar. And that's what these people
did. I'm telling you, these four things are vital. They believe
God. They believed they were sinners
and confessed it. They asked God for mercy. Not
merit, not justice, not fairness. If I get fairness, I'll perish. Mercy. And they said, who can
tell? It may be that God would turn
from his wrath and save us. That's the attitude. That's going to be the attitude
or God's not going to do any mercy with anybody. I see these boys that are guilty
of crimes, when they come before the judge, they dress up, they
cut their hair, they dress up, they put on a tie. You recognize
them. They come before the judge and
they just... You're right, your honor. You are right. I'm no
good. I did wrong. That's smart. Well, it's deadly smart. He doesn't
have to show them mercy. And he doesn't have to show you
mercy. Or your kinfolks or anybody else. I tried. Well, let's see how God dealt
with his serpent. I'm preaching too long here,
but this next chapter is very interesting. God spared Nineveh. In verse 1 of chapter 4, it displeased
Jonah exceedingly. He was very angry. And in verse
2 and 3, he tells the Lord why he's angry. He said to the Lord,
verse 2, he prayed to the Lord, he said, I pray thee, Lord, was
not this my saying when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled unto Tarshish,
for I knew that you are gracious God, you are merciful, you are
slow to anger, you are of great kindness, and you repent as thee
of evil." He said, Lord, I knew this when you came to me the
first time over there at chapter 1. And he told me a Jew, a Hebrew,
to go down to that great metropolitan city of Gentile wicked sinners. and tell him he's going to destroy
that city, I knew that I'd go tell him that and then you'd
show mercy to him. I knew that, that's why I was afraid to touch
him. I knew, see Lord, I know who you are, I know you're gracious
God, I know you're merciful God, I know you're slow to anger,
I know you're great kindness, you're tender in the centers.
He was somebody, Jonah was somebody, he was a a partner and a friend of Elijah
and Elisha. And here's one of the marks of
God's prophet. Here's a mark of a false prophet
and a true prophet. A true prophet, what he said
came to pass. What a true prophet said came
to pass. That's how they knew he was a prophet of God. But
Jonah said, I'm going to go down there and tell them in 40 days
none of it will be destroyed, and then you won't destroy it.
You're going to show mercy to that bunch of scallywags. That's
a Gentile. There's no revival in Israel,
how come you're going to revive me? And so he said, I said it
because I knew that my reputation would be besmirched. I told him
you were going to destroy it and you didn't do it. How do
you know that preacher? All right, listen, read on. Therefore,
he said, Lord, as he did, he went down there and preached
and then God didn't destroy him. Therefore, Lord, I beseech you,
just take my life from me. I'm humiliated. My reputation
is gone. I'll be called a false prophet.
I said you were going to destroy the enemy and you didn't do it.
Now just kill me. It's better for me to die than
to live embarrassed." The Lord said, Jonah, do you do well to
be angry. He went out of the city and he
got him a place out there on the hill and said he went out
of the city and sat on the east side of the city and made him
a booth. He made him a little loom to sit up there. Why? He's going to sit there and see
what happens to that city. He's going to tell them God's
going to destroy this place. So he got in a little place over
there on the side of a hill on the east side of the city and
sat down to a booth. He's going to see what happened
to that great city. He's going to be... And he's going to say,
I told them. I told them they didn't believe
me. See that's what he, that's his
thought. Well the Lord's good to even rebellious prophets. Listen to this. So the Lord prepared
a gourd. Not a good like you make a picture
of a dipper to drink water out of. This was a plant. The good
was a fruit maker. This was a plant with big leaves.
The Lord made a good and made it come up over Jonah that it
might be a shadow over his head to deliver him from his grief.
So Jonah was really glad for that good. He was so happy to
get out and run to that burning sun. But the Lord prepared a
worm. The gourd came up one night,
the next morning John woke up and there was a gourd just covered.
The next night the Lord prepared a worm, and it ate that gourd,
that vine, and the gourd withered. Verse 8, And it came to pass,
when the sun did rise, the Lord prepared a vehement east wind,
and the winged hot wind blew, and the sun beat upon the head
of Jonah, and he fainted, and he asked to die again. Better
for me to die than to live. Now listen, here's a lesson for
all us preachers and believers. God's going to let Jonah be his
own judge. You know that's true, if a man will judge himself,
he won't be judged. That's true. If a man will judge
himself, he won't be judged. And God lets men be their own
judges. Kevin, where's your brother? John, I want to ask you some
questions. Do you do well, verse 9, to be angry for the goads?
He said, I do well to be angry even unto death. Even unto death. Are you right to be angry? I'm
right. Why are you right? The goad was important to me.
The gold was my shade, the gold was my comfort, the gold was
my shield from the wind, the gold was my shade from the sun.
I needed the gold, it's necessary, it's important to me. Now I got
a right to be angry because you took it away. All right. Then said the Lord, Jonah, you
had pity on that gold. Shouldn't I have compassion on
a city? You had compassion on a gold.
And Johnny, you didn't even plant it. You didn't labor. You didn't
make it grow. You didn't have anything to do
with it. It came up in the night, it perished in the night. And
here you are at fair. Shouldn't I have pity on a city
that was built by men over many years? And a city, look at verse
11, should not I spare a city, that great city wherein are more
than 120,000 people that haven't, that don't even know the right
hand from the left? Who's that? That's babies. You
think how many people were in that city? There's six crore
infants that don't know the right hand from the left. Millions
of people. And here you are, you're all
upset. bent out of shape over a gourd.
It came up in the night and perished in the night. Jonah would inspire
a city of 120,000 babies, but he sure would take care of his
gourd. Boy, if that's not us, putting
the value on nothing and ignoring that which is greatest, greatest. Jonah, what you value, is of
no worth. What I value is my glory, which
is my goodness to sinners. I have people ask me, do you
believe this person is saved or that person is saved? I hope
so. I hope so for the glory of God.
My conversion and my salvation are not going to be confirmed
by his damnation. God's glory is not going to be
accomplished by somebody's damnation. God's glory is going to be accomplished
by his salvation. That's his goodness. And he rebuked
this negative preacher, this negative prophet, who was so
worried about his gold. So concerned about his gold.
It didn't rain today, and we didn't get to go on our picnic,
and I'm mad at God. Isn't that terrible? and should
not spare a city. So Jonah, you go rest. Now here's
my closing comment, and I apologize for preaching so long. I don't
usually do this. Jonah, you go rest and be thankful
that the goodness, mercy, and kindness of that God you talked
about a while ago spared Nineveh. And that's the
same goodness, kindness, and mercy with which he spared Nineveh. That's the same goodness and
mercy extended to that city, extended to me.