Chapter 2, verse 10, from the book of Jonah.
And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon
the dry ground. Then the word of the Lord came
to Jonah the second time saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great
city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.
Verse 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word
of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly
great city. Three days journey in breath,
Jonah began to go into the city giving, going a day's journey,
and he called out yet 40 days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
Verse 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God.
They called for a fast and put on sackcloth.
From the greatest of them to the least of them.
This is the word of the Lord. Oh Father, may the words of my
mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, our
Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Please be seated. So what does a merciful God do
with a prophet that doesn't want God to be merciful?
Or maybe a little bit more personally, what does our
sovereign Lord do with you and me when we refuse to give mercy
to others? Now, the first time we meet
Jonah, it's in Second Kings, and he's prophesying to one of the
kings of Israel, Bad King. And he says the borders that
were lost in a previous skirmish will be restored.
And indeed, not long after that prophecy was given, the borders
and territories were restored. Now meanwhile, Jonah's coffee
shop contemporaries, Amos and Hosea, they're also prophesying
at the same time, and they're saying what Jonah said was going
to come true and did actually will be reversed.
For if Israel continues in her unrepentant sin, Yahweh will use
Nineveh and the Assyrians as a rod of discipline against
Israel. Now to make matters worse, Jonah
is the only prophet called by Yahweh to take a message to a
non Israelite people group, to a Gentile nation.
And of all of the Gentile nations that existed at that
time in the world, it happened to be Assyria, the most
brilliant and the most brutal of all Barbarians.
To this day, scholars study the military brilliance and
brutality of the Assyrian army. So it's no wonder Jonah is
saying no way, but God is saying Yahweh.
The biblical text, unfortunately, has painted our
disobedient prophet in a most unflattering picture.
He's actually shown himself to be the anti Good Samaritan,
going at great lengths to distance himself as much as
possible from those who are in desperate need of help.
God said go West and he, God said, goes east and he goes
West. God says travel by land and he
travels by sea and now come on. Really, Who in their right mind
would think they could escape the presence of an omniscient
God by getting on a boat? God asks him to take the message
of mercy to an enemy, and Jonah sees it as a humiliating set up.
And we'll see in chapter 4 he views it as a double cross.
The last time we saw Jonah, we saw him near death in a
claustrophobic, watery tomb. But even in those circumstances,
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he composes a
during expression of his own personal experience, which is
also a stunning prophecy of the death and resurrection of
Messiah, which 750 years later would be fulfilled by the person
in the work of Jesus Christ. Unlike Jonah, Jesus was sent by
the Father willingly into a sinful world.
John 317 says God sent his Son into the world, not to judge the
world, but to save the world through him.
So Jesus proves to be the greatest missionary, not running
from sinners, but running toward them to redeem.
And I think the question before us as we study Jonah is this Who
will we be united to? Will we be united to Christ, the
greatest missionary upon whom all of God's justice was thrown
on the cross so that we ourselves no longer have to sit
as hypocritical judges over the universe?
Well, let's dive into our text and our verses and and let's see
what it holds for us. All right, the end of chapter 2,
verse 10 finally has Jonah back on the beach.
So moving into chapter 3, verse one, it says then the word of
the Lord came to Jonah a second time saying, arise, go to
Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it.
The message that I give you. Now this is actually a repeat of
chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. And so the word of the Lord came
to Jonah, the son of Amitai, which means faithful.
So from the very beginning we understand that this book is
going to be laid and thick with irony.
For there are few things less appropriate to determine about
Jonah than faithfulness. And in verse 2 of chapter 1, it
says again, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and
call out against it. But there it says for their evil
has risen to me. And we finally in chapter 3 and
I'll get back to our original story.
The story's about God and Nineveh, but then it became
about God and Jonah. And so back in chapter 3, we're
back to our story. It's about God and Nineveh.
But there's something different about chapter 3 verse two.
He doesn't say their sin has risen before me, but this time
he says to call out against it. The message that I tell you and
the language is very interesting here because in chapter 3,
Yahweh softens the command. This time he actually says call
out to with a specific message that I'm going to give you and
we start to see how God reveals a nuance in his plan to save
sinners. He's clarifying his message of
mercy to this non Israelite people group.
The literal translation though wouldn't is quite clear.
Yahweh says preach the preaching that I'm about to give you.
And finally, chapter 3, we get to the core of the book that our
sovereign God's grace and mercy restores His servants and saves
sinners by the power of His Word.
You always call was the same 'cause it was in chapter 1, you
always mission is still the same mission.
God's purposes will not be thwarted by our lack of wisdom.
God doesn't change His message. God changes the messenger
through hardships in sanctifying circumstances.
Doesn't God reorient our hearts to His sovereign ways?
Hardships and sufferings have a way of preparing us for a deeper
ministry, do they not? Even James, the half brother of
Jesus, said. Consider it pure joy, my
brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith produces
perseverance. And let perseverance finish its
work so that you may be mature and complete.
Now who in this room would not want to be mature and complete?
And who in this room would love to dodge the bullet of
perseverance? Sometimes it's easier for us to
proclaim grace and mercy when we ourselves have experienced it so
abundantly. And so, in the case of Nineveh,
Jonah gets a second chance. In fact, you'll often hear
sermons on chapter 3 about the second chance, or the reluctant
prophet, or the prodigal prophet.
But we have something far better than a second chance.
We have the second Adam, a person, the perfect Adam.
We are united with Christ. Christ was the one who was
thrown out into the storm of a tempestuous and cruel world.
Christ was the one who did not have seaweed wrapped around his
head, but a burial cloth. Christ spent three days
literally dead in the belly of carved out stone and came forth
on dry ground outside the tomb. This.
Not a second chance. This the second atom, the
perfect atom to whom we are united.
When we sit in judgement over others, we operate out of the
first atom. You know, that one that modeled
for Jonah. How to go the other way, how to
choose to live life independently of God.
But when we show mercy to the lonely and to the least, and to
the lost, we are abiding not in second chances, but in the life
of our 2nd and perfect Adam, Christ our Redeemer, Jesus our
King. Genesis 1825 asks, will not the
judge of all the earth do rightly?
And all along that judge planned to meet justice on the cross, as
the hymn says, till on the cross, as Jesus died, the wrath
of God was satisfied, for every sin on him was laid here in the
death of Christ I live. Isn't it good to think that we
can leave being Judge of the universe to Jesus, upon whose
shoulders it was intended to rest?
And our study of Jonah is an uncomfortable reminder that we
ourselves are a bunch of Jonah's who look down our noses at
people who are different from us.
And we label them and we hurl derogatory, disrespectful,
dismissive sentences in their direction, Don't we?
When we categorize them kind as either as our blatant enemies or
maybe our soft enemies because they're just not like us.
And we had in the other direction confident that those
who live differently will, in the end, get their just
desserts. But when we recognize our
desperate need for God's mercy and grace.
When we recognize that our own personal hardships and our own
besetting sins remind us of how desperately need we need Jesus,
we recognize that Jesus not us, that it is finished.
Jesus, not us, said the debt to justice has been paid.
In fact, when we sin, Jesus continues to pour out his mercy
and love upon us. Dane Ortland in his beautiful
and amazing book Gentleman Lowly, says that when we sin,
the very heart of Jesus reaches out to us.
Does that mean we should sin more?
May it never be. Galatians 5 says we do not use
our freedom to indulge in the flesh, rather to serve one
another humbly in love. And a chapter later we read, If
someone is caught in sin, you who live by the Spirit should
restore that person gently. Do you not hear those phrases?
Dripping with the Lord's rich mercy and abundant grace,
Philippians 28 says that Jesus humbled himself in obedience to
God and died a criminal's death on a cross.
And Christ willingly obeyed the Father's call before the
foundations of the earth, which is why Jesus is the true and the
faithful prophet, the perfect messenger from eternity past.
Even as Jesus Himself said in John 434, my nourishment comes
from doing the will of my Father who sent me and finishing his
work. Well, thanks be to God that in
God's mercy He gave our hypocritical prophet a hall
pass, and he finally makes it to Nineveh.
Let's continue on with the second-half of verse 3, second
after verse 3. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly
great city. Three days journey in breath.
Now these 3 words. Now Nineveh was is the beginning
of the second episode in our narrative.
This is the second scene now that we begin as we see that
Nineveh was indeed exceedingly great, but it can mean two
things. It can mean that it was really
big or massive, but it can also mean that it was important.
Now, look, Nineveh was certainly big.
Over the last 150 years, Nineveh has been excavated by
archaeologists and paleontologists, and many of the
remnants of the city of Nineveh to this day can be seen in the
London Museum. It was an Oval about 7 miles
around about Nineveh. One archaeologist wrote this.
Dotted with majestic palaces, temples, canals and gardens,
it's walls rose 200 feet above the West Asian plain.
Fortified by 1500 watchtowers, The walls were so thick, it was
said, that three Chariots easily drove a breast upon them, like
the kernel of a nut protected by outer husks.
Nineveh was defended by 5 walls and three moats.
Each of the city's 15 gates were guarded by castled ramparts, and
within its perimeter were more than 30 temples shining with
silver and gold. But the Hebrew language
indicates that this great city was not just massive, it was
also important to Yahweh. Within the city known for kings
that RIP off the lips and hands of their enemies and stack huge
piles of skulls from their defeated captives, and many
other things that would be inappropriate to share with you
in the presence of children, there were hundreds of thousands
of souls Yahweh knit together in their mother's womb that He
desired to call to himself. City dwellers to whom we will
learn in a few moments, He gave the gift of saving grace,
regeneration, and repentance. To this day, God desires to save
people in the city of Dallas and in every city in the world and
in small towns and scattered villages.
And this is one reason why I want to ask you now, if you know
our church is having a wonderful missions conference on November
1st and 2nd. It's an essential time for this
congregation, for you and me to connect with the Lord through
His Word, through the study of the book of Haggai, hearing the
testimony of how God is continuing to work around the
world. And we'll see God's heart for
the nations at this conference as His glory is being revealed
in Christ to all peoples and all cultures.
We'll hear again a call to commit ourselves continually to
the work through giving and going and praying toward Great
Commission efforts and church planting strategies.
We'll be excited to hear from our keynote speaker, Jaunty
Rhodes. Jaunty is married to Georgina.
He has five children. He's a church planter and a
minister of Christchurch, central Leeds in northern
England, a Presbyterian Church in northern England.
He's written a number of books including Man of Sorrows, King
of Glory, and one I know you enjoy having in your library.
Covenants made simple. So I want to ask you, are you
praying about this celebration? Is it on your calendar?
Please come, Please be praying. Come and see how the Lord is
still working in the world today, just as He is working in
the pages of Jonah's chapter 3 and 4.
OK, now we got Jonah in in Nineveh.
Let's go to verse 4. Now Jonah began to go to the
city, going a day's journey, and he called out.
Yet 40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown.
Relatively short sermon. You know, for a God who is rich
in mercy, this isn't perhaps the oddest message he could have
given Jonah. Jonah doesn't refer to Yahweh.
He doesn't say anything about sin or repentance.
He doesn't say anything about the manner of response.
It kind of feels like Jonah's resentful interpretation of
whatever the Lord told him to say, doesn't it?
In just five words in Hebrew. And I don't know, 7 or 8 in
English. If it were in English, perhaps
Jonah would have said in 40 days, your toast.
And we all know what 40 days indicates, right?
It's a change. It's something used to be to
something that's coming and end of one thing and the beginning
of another. And often times it refers to
transformation, right? 40.
Days of torrential rain rebooted all of creation, and the nations
began again with Noah's three sons. 40.
Days to receive the law of God for divine instruction for the
Israelites of Mount Sinai and the one that comes to your mind
immediately. Four days of preparation for
Jesus earthly ministry and now 40 days and Nineveh will be
overthrown. But the word overthrown or
overturned May pocket is used in Genesis 19 about Sodom and
Gomorrah when it was they were destroyed.
It's also used in Isaiah 13 to say say the same thing about
Babylon. Babylon will come in and get the
Assyrians. The Persians will come in and
get Babylon, and then the Greeks will get the Persians and 40
years the Greeks will prepare the world for the incarnation of
the second person of the Godhead.
So the Ninevites clearly understood that their
destruction was at hand. But NA pocket, that word NA
pocket has another meaning. It can also mean to transform.
In Jeremiah 3113, it's used when Yahweh says He will turn His
people's mourning into joy. This other meaning reveals that
the purposes of Yahweh toward Nineveh are not the same as what
Jonah thinks. Now.
Surely Jonah had the first view in mind, Nineveh's impending
doom. But perhaps God has another plan
for Nineveh. Perhaps Yahweh views Nineveh
through the lens of His loving kindness, His power to transform
darkness and death into light and life, to regenerate
spiritually dead people and to make them beloved sons and
daughters of the heavenly king. This same grace that restores
you and me also saves sinners through the power of His Word.
Verse five wrapping up and the people of Nineveh believed God.
They called for a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest
of them to the least of them. And we see 3 responses, right?
They believed, they fasted, and they put on different clothes.
And so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth.
It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that
which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I
sent it, says the Lord in Isaiah 55.
And John Calvin says, the word goes out of the mouth of God in
such a manner that it likewise goes out of the mouth of men.
For God now speaks, not now speaks openly from heaven, but
employs men as His instruments, you and me.
God's Word does not return void the.
Spirit applies the. Word to the hearts of those who
hear. You are the instrument.
The Word is the means and the Spirit is the power.
And the Ninevites not only believed, but they believed in
God. The language is the same here,
used to describe faithful Israelites.
And what a powerful, powerful display of God's mercy that even
the vilest, most brutal, most brilliant of people, when they
become children of God, are described as one of the members
of our family. And they fasted the sign of
being empty by sin while being driven to be satisfied in
Christ. And they put on clothes, but not
just any clothes. They put on burlap, A ritual
indicating mourning and repentance.
Now, we don't do burlap any longer, but we do have something
in our culture that's still true.
Generations ago, the bereaved would wear black for an extended
period of time. And when we saw them in the
market or at church, we would know that they're in a difficult
season in life. We would pray for them.
And so wearing burlap in the ancient Near East was a
significant sign of spiritual activity.
It reminded the wearer of the misery of sin and the need for
the smooth, satisfying, silky garments of righteousness.
It was an outward expression of an inward transformation.
And this happened, the text says, from the greatest to the
least. This can be interpreted as from
nobility to commoner. It can be interpreted as from
adults to children. Regardless, it shows that their
repentance was thorough repentance involving everyone.
Praise God. Jonah preached out of begrudging
duty, but Christ preaches out of perfect love and compassion for
you and me. Christ, the true prophet of
mercy, rejoicing over 1 Sinner who repents Nineveh's repentance
delayed destruction. But Jesus death and resurrection
abolished death for us and bought us eternal life.
Christ was indeed the greater Jonah, for he is the one who
gives us reconciliation with God.
Now this is not only true for the people of Jonah, but it's
true for you and me today. When we were seriously dead, we
couldn't even reach out for the life life preserver we were.
We were dead. We could do nothing.
God had. To bring the.
Life. Preserver to.
Us, we were Ninevites, and yet by His mercy and grace He called
us into His family and we have the reconciliation with Yahweh,
with God through. Christ.
On his death and remember. And to this day, we were.
Right, not like Nineveh or Nineveh.
It's the first time repenting to the leaving God.
But we recognize. That corruption still exists
even within us to our regenerate.
Our restless and. Confession of faithful teaching
us and so we have a. Public.
Confession of faith. We have a public confession of
sin. We have private.
Confession of sin. And the Lord says, come, come to
this table, and as you come, examine them yourselves.
Then confess and repent the Basque in the fellowship that
you now have. With the God that called you out
of darkness in until you care the life like the Ninevites are
invited to the table. Then today, on the other side of
the cross, you and I are invited to this view.
This is not the Presbyterian table.
This is not the table of the PCA.
This is the. Lord's Table.
And if what we've spoken. Up this morning about Jesus
Christ and his work of grace and mercy in the year in your life
is. True.
Come feast, taste, rest and joy if many of the things about the.
Lord's grace and mercy we've talked about today.
Is not true in your understanding of Jesus if you
have yet to accept Him as your personal Lord and.
Savior, would you? Continue to consider these
things and reason. Through doubt and skepticism,
Talk to Tommy or. Myself or anyone else in this
room. About God whose?
Rich and mercy compassion. And employment and.
Grace, that's you may invite you to let the elements pass, Lord
Jesus, just as we read centuries ago of reconciliation.
Of vile offenders. Into your Kingdom.
So now, Lord, we give. You thanks for.
This peace before us as we celebrate our peace, not only
with. You but with.
One another, and with those upon whom we beg you.
Holy Spirit, help us show. Forgiveness.
Compassion. And nursing.
Many, many people different from us.
Who live different? Lifestyles.
Different races, different perspectives, different
viewpoints, different politics, different education.
Come to this. Table whether it be for a
picture. Of your kids and so Lord.
We vow for you humbly now as. We particularly of this e-mail
you're naming correct? Would you stand it?