Praise the Lord, we're going to turn in our Bibles now to the
book of Jonah. We're going to read God's Word
together, Jonah chapter 1. And if anybody's thinking, where
is Jonah? Well, if you can open your Bible
and find maybe Ezekiel and find Daniel, then you'll come to
Hosea. Then after that you'll have Joel
and Amos and Obadiah and Jonah tempted to give you a page
number, but your page number would be different from mine.
So come to Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Obadiah, and then
you'll come to the little prophecy of Jonah.
We're going to read in chapter 1, and we're just going to read
the first 11 verses together. Let's hear the word of God,
Jonah chapter one, verse one. Now the word of the Lord came on
to Jonah the son of a Metei, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh
that great sepi, and cry against it, for their wickedness has
come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee on the
Tarsus from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa.
And he found a ship going to Tarsus.
So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it to go with
them on the Tarsus from the presence of the Lord.
But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was
a mighty Tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be
broken. Then the Mariners were afraid,
and cried every man unto his God, and cast forth the wares
that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it off them.
But Jonah was gone down into the side of the ship, and he lay and
was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him,
and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper, arise called
upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us that we
perish not. And they said Everyone to his
fellow, Come and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose
'cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot
fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell
us, we pray thee, for whose 'cause this evil is upon us?
What is thine occupation, and whence came as thy?
And what is thy country? And of what people art thou?
And he said unto them, I am in Hebrew, and I fear the Lord the
God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.
Then were the man exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why
hast thou done this? For the men knew that he'd fled
from the presence of the Lord because he had told them, Amen.
We'll end the reading there at verse 10, and we pray God will
stamp with his own approval and blessing this reading of His own
precious and infallible Word. Amen.
Now my text tonight is taken from the book of Jonah, Jonah
chapter 1 and verses 1 and 2. Now the word of the Lord came
unto Jonah the son of Amitai, saying arise go to Nineveh that
great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up
before me. And of entitled message tonight
a word of warning for a wicked city.
I want you to notice that the book of Jonah doesn't open with
a word of comfort, but with a command to confrontation.
The true and living God speaks and calls, and when He opens His
mouth, His word carries great authority, urgency, and purpose.
His word to Jonah was direct, clear, and unsettling because he
was indeed calling and commissioning his servant, the
prophet Jonah, to go to that great city of Nineveh and cry
against it. Now that great city of Nineveh
was no mean city. It wasn't a tiny, obscure little
village. It wasn't even a little town.
It was the ancient city capital of a Syria.
The walls of the city were 100 feet high.
The walls were so wide you could raise 3 Chariots around it
abreast. The population of Nineveh was
literally millions. We're not told.
But what we do know was this, that there was 120,000 infants
living in it who didn't know their right hand or their left
hand. It was a great, powerful city,
influential in the ancient world.
And yet this city was deeply corrupt, a place notorious for
wickedness. It it lacked the fear of God.
It was a place known for its cruelty, idolatry, immoral
practises. Notice something God is not
indifferent to their sin, nor is God silent in the face of such
wickedness. But before his holy judgement
falls on ancient Nineveh, he sends a warning.
And the warning comes via the mouth of one man, a servant of
Jehovah, a prophet called of God.
And God commands this prophet to arise and go to Nineveh, that
great city, and cry against it. You see, God here is acting in
sovereign grace and mercy. Here is his pattern of work.
Listen to me carefully. God warns before he wins.
God calls. Before he condemns, God speaks
before he strikes, here is this missionary call, and we're
learning something about God's holy character.
God is holy. God is just.
God must judge sin. God can't overlook sin and evil.
God is merciful. And not only does he see sin for
what it is, not only does he respond to it, but he warns
sinners about coming judgement, and he issues in that judgement
a call to repent and receive the word of God.
Now, as we consider tonight this warning to Nineveh, I want you
to notice that we're not merely looking at an ancient city.
For what we're seeing in Nineveh is a reflection of every city in
the world, every community, every Society of people,
including our own, we province that we call Northern Ireland,
including our United Kingdom. You see, I want you to
understand tonight the United Kingdom is not only ripe and
ready for God's judgement, but there are signs already that
God's judgement has fallen and it's going to fall further
unless from the King on the throne to the pauper in the
street, the people repent of their sin and turn back to God.
So that's my introduction, 3 points tonight.
One, notice the divine declaration.
It says, now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of
Amitai, saying this is where everything really begins.
Doesn't begin with Nineveh, doesn't begin just with Jonah,
but begins with God's sovereign revelation.
See, this is not Jonah's opinion, it's not his mindset,
it's not his desire or his intention.
It is God's divine revelation. Now how do we know that Jonah
was a servant and a prophet of God?
When we compare scripture with scripture we read in Second
Kings chapter 14 and in the verse 25 it says he restored the
coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea
of the plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel,
which he speaks by the hand of his servant Jonah the son of
Mittai the prophet, which was of Gath heifer.
Now notice the 2 words, A servant, His servant, that's
God's servant, and the son of Amitai the prophet, which is of
Gath Hefer. Gath Hefer, by the way, was
about four miles from Nazareth in northern Galilee.
And of course he restored the coast of Israel from the
entering of Hamath onto the sea of the Plain was the days of
Jeroboam. Jeroboam was the king.
He was king of the Northern Kingdom at this time of Jonah in
Jonah's day. But Jonah was known as His
servant, God's servant, and he was known as the prophet.
Don't we read over there in the book of Hebrews Godhood sundry
times and in divers manners, speaking time passed unto the
fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us
by His Son. You see, the authority of God's
message in the past and in the present rests entirely in God.
Remember, we read all scriptures given by inspiration of God and
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction and righteousness. What we have in this book is a
God breathed book. God has spoken and what the
Bible says, God says and what God says, the Bible says.
And Scripture is the voice of God.
It's a God breathe book and and scripture divinely inspired and
revealed is binding on all people everywhere.
See, God is not silent. He's certainly not silent
towards wickedness. And God speaks and when he
speaks, he speaks clearly, decisively, truthfully and
authority. And when the Word of God came to
Jonah, it demanded a response. See, when the Word of God comes
to us, you cannot be indifferent.
Indifference is not neutrality. Indifference is sinful
rebellion. Jonah didn't invent the message.
I don't believe Jonah invaded the message.
I don't believe Jonah was interested in the message.
It was God who initiated the revelation.
The revelation always begins with Him.
Jonah received this message, and surely there's a reminder here
that God's truth is always divinely revealed.
It's not something that's culturally constructed.
Let me ask tonight this question How do you view the word of God?
Do you treat it as authentic? Do you treat it as
authoritative? Are you gripped with the
assurance that it's a God breathed word?
Listen again to Second Timothy 316.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction and righteousness, that the man of God may be
perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work.
The word inspiration means God breathed Theo, Neustos.
Theo is God, breath is Neustos. Put the two together.
All scripture is given by the breath of God.
Do you accept that tonight? Have you got an assurance?
Do you accept that this is authoritative and authentic?
You see, we live in a world where there's many voices in the
world, full of voices with different shades of opinion.
You've got the agnostic. You've got the atheist, you've
got those who are antagonistic. And what does carried off FPC
stand for? In light of those voices, we
must stand for solar Scripture, the Bible alone.
And I want to announce, as Doctor Brown announced in his
little video, the Free Presbyterian Church hasn't
abandoned solar scriptura. That's a lie to say that the
Free Presbyterian Church exists to proclaim that God has spoken
and God is speaking and it may not be what people want to hear.
Of course, a silent church in a sinful city is really a
disobedient church. And of course the book of Jonah
is not a book of legends or fairy tales.
It's not the stuff that's of make believe.
Do you know that the Lord Jesus gave His stamp of authority to
the book of Jonah? Listen to this in Matthew
chapter 12. But he answered and said unto
them, An evil, an adulterous generation seeketh after a sign,
and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the
prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was 3 days and
three nights in the wheels belly, so shall the Son of man
be 3 days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgement with this generation
and shall condemn it. Listen to this because they
repented at the preaching of Jonas, and they hold a greater
than Jonas is. Here.
He repeated something similar in Luke Chapter 11 verses 29 and
30. And there's the Lord Jesus
giving his authenticity to the book of Jonah.
And it's not a book about Jonah and the whale.
It's about Jonah and the work of God that God had called, called
him to, and God just prepared a great whale because Jonah was
running away from God and God wanted to bring him back and
give him a ride in a whale's belly for a few days.
So that's really our first point, the divine declaration.
Notice secondly, very quickly, the depravity described.
If you go back to our text, it says, Arise, go to Nineveh, that
great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up
before me. Think of the words that great
city, for their wickedness has come up before me.
Notice he calls Nineveh that great city, as I said, not an
obscure village, not a wee backward town, but the capital
of Assyria. And it was infamous for extreme
violence and cruelty. It was a place of idolatry, a
place of false worship, a place of pride, a place of persecution
and oppression towards its neighbours.
And they are, of course, historical records that bear
testimony to their terrible brutality, to their torture, to
their conquest and their arrogance.
You know what they used to do when they murdered people in
their streets? They spliced their head on a
pole three ways. They burnt people alive, even
little children. You see Mayhem 3 and one talks
about that bloody city. It was a place of murder and
mayhem. Murder was rife in the city of
Nineveh, according to the book of Zephaniah.
In Zephaniah chapter 2 and verse 15, it says this is the
rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly.
That said, in her heart I am, and there's none beside me.
How has she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down,
and everyone that passes by her shall hiss and wag his hand.
And of course that's a reference to Nineveh and will make Nineveh
a desolation and dry like a wilderness.
See, Nineveh was full of pride. She was boasting of
self-confidence and self security.
She thought she was untouchable. But of course it was a city
given over to immorality, iniquity and idolatry.
People had turned from the true God to idols.
Is there any wonder that Jeremiah or Genesis 6 and five
says that the wickedness in the earth is great?
And how great is the wickedness in the earth?
You think of today? You think of what Paul described
there in the book of Romans. In Romans chapter 3, he says
this in verse 10. Listen to the Word of God as it
is written. There's none righteous, No, not
one. There's none that understand
that. There's none that seeketh after
God. They're all gone out of the way.
They are together, become unprofitable.
There's none that doeth good. No, not one.
Do you know that tonight God is angry with the wicked every day.
Notice in our text and think of that God is angry with the
wicked every day. Think of our text for their
wickedness has come up before me.
Now what does that mean? This is judicial language, is it
not? Is this not the language of the
courtroom and the prosecutor? It means that sin is mounting
up, one sin on top of another, guilt upon guilt, transgression
upon transgression. It's it's accumulating evidence
for when the judgement of God falls.
It's come up before the Lord. You see, your sin tonight is not
hidden from the Lord. I know that sin is a heinous
thing. I know that sin is the
transgression of the law. I know that sin is accumulative
and it reaches a point of divine reckoning.
You think tonight of people in our towns and cities, you're
dead. And trespasses and sins.
They're darkened in their mind. They're diseased in their
affections. They've no love for fear of God.
They're in a state of total depravity.
And I want to say this tonight, listen to me carefully.
No town, no city, no country, no nation escapes God's gears.
God sees and knows, and what rises from the earth is seen and
known in heaven. You think of our modern world,
None of us bought a reflection of the modern world.
It's like a mirror. Violence is normalised,
immorality is celebrated. Cinnabons.
The major cities of our United Kingdom London, Glasgow,
Edinburgh Liverpool, Manchester, Belfast, Londonderry.
Do you know that in the past five years, 30 women have been
murdered due to domestic violence in their homes?
We could add into the mix the murder and mayhem of what was
called the killing times during the times of Trouble in our
land. Inspired by the ARA.
Do you know that 11,000 little babies have been murdered in the
womb because of the changes to abortion legislation in our
land? What are we doing?
We're murdering our own. And you think of the House of
Lords vote just the other day allowing woman expecting a baby
right up to two or three hours before she's due to deliver that
baby to decide to take the life of that baby and she's no longer
being criminalised. What wickedness?
It's a violation of the command that says thy shall not kill.
And you add into the mix the false cults and the false
religion. Do you know that there's now 14
places of false religion of Islam operating in Northern
Ireland? The Bible says Psalm 711.
God is angry with the wicked every day.
God sees, God knows, and what rises from the earth enters into
the nostrils and the sight of Almighty God in heaven.
God's eye is upon those that know they need to be saved and
are not saved. God's eye is upon those who
don't rebey the gospel call to repent of their sin and put
their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Remember what we read in John chapter 3 and in the verse 36,
John chapter 3 and in the verse 36.
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he
that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of
God abideth on him. Everyone outside of Christ who
hasn't repented of their sin, young or old, boy or girl,
irrespective of where they live, in a little village, a town or a
big city like Belfast or some other major city who's outside
of Christ, they're walking about and the wrath of God abides in
their head. Bible says the fool have said in
his heart there is no God. You see, sin is not just out
there by way of actions. Sin is in their heart.
Jeremiah said the heart is deceitful and desperately
wicked. Who can do what?
The Bible teaches that we're sinners by nature and practise.
Individuals are not just basically good, they're badly,
totally fallen sinners. I saw a picture of you tonight
out of Christ. Have you recognised your sin?
Are you willing to repudiate that sin?
Are you willing to repent and turn from it unto God, whatever
that chief sin is? See, that's the depravity that's
displayed. And notice also as we finish the
deliverance displayed, if you look at our text that says in
verse 2, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against
it. Arise.
It's not a simple word. Arise.
What is it unfair? What does it suggest?
What do you think about it? If I said to you Arise, what
would be your posture? The posture would be that you're
sitting. Was Jonah sitting at ease in his
home in Gath Heifer? Is it not a picture of being
settled, sitting and comfortable like like being at ease and
Zion? See, here's a question.
Does this mirror our condition? Does this mirror you and me?
Are we settled in a in a routine?
Are we happy and content with our lot in life?
Settled by the theology of comfort, sitting still?
Are we content with the way things are?
How many are happy to sit, but have you heard the call to arise
and the call to go? See How many don't recognise the
value of 1 soul? How many don't know that they
need to arise and go to souls with the great message of the
Gospel? Many agree that there's a great
need, but differently respond. See, the bottom line is Jonah
didn't want to go to Nineveh. And Jonah the prophet reflects
and mirrors our lives because how many have heard the call to
arise and go and they've got excuses.
They they've become evasive. And for Jonah, it wasn't just a
pattern about geography, it was a pattern about spirituality.
He was comfortable, he was happily with his routine.
He was happily with the regularity of his life.
I'll go to the prayer meeting on a Wednesday.
I'll come to the services on a Sunday.
I'll go to the old missionary meeting, but don't really upset
my routine. You see, there was a challenge
here in this command. There was a cost here in this
command. There was a commitment and a
courage that was required in response to this command.
The deliverance displayed was this arise, a command to arise
very quickly, a command to accept, notice this arise and go
to Nineveh. Nineveh was a distant city, far
away from Gareth Hever. It was a depraved city.
As I've said, the modern day equivalent is Mosul, which is in
Iraq. It was a city of violence,
cruelty, iniquity, idolatry and ungodliness.
Ancient Nineveh was a brutal oppressor.
It was a city given over to military conquest against its
neighbour. It was a great city popular with
many. A great city with influence, a
great city with power. Go here.
Not a chance, Lord. There was a command to announce.
Notice this as we finish. Not only a command to arise and
a command to accept, but a command to announce and cry
against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.
He was a Great Commission. He was told what to say.
Cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before
me. You see, the gospel is not a
social gospel. The gospel is not about social
development. The gospel is not about food
aid. The gospel is not about
improving living standards and conditions, but education.
And and I'm not saying that's not a part, but there has to be
a saving gospel. And this Great Commission was
involving great cost and compassion because he was to go,
that is Jonah, and say judgement is coming.
Destruction is certain unless you repent and get right with
the Lord. And let me say this, this
warning implies the possibility of great mercy and grace.
God didn't need to warn Nineveh. God could just have destroyed it
without a word. But he didn't.
He sent his servant. He sent the prophet Jonah.
Jonah was to go and preach. Yet 40 days and none of us
should be destroyed. A fourth teller of truth.
Why? And I tell you this was
refinished. Even in wrath, God remembers
mercy. And that was no easy task for
Jonah. It took commitment.
It involved cost. It involved a courage.
And God's warning always exposes sin and reveals guilt.
God's warning calls for true repentance.
God's warning prepares and opens the way for a display of great
grace and mercy. It wasn't easy for Jonah to be
faithful just as a way. It's not easy for you to be
faithful to your family, to tell them to repent and believe the
gospel, to your friends, to your work colleagues, to your
neighbours. You're not saved.
Think of it, if they die in their sins, they'll be lost and
go to hell. And it was Robert Murray
Mcsheehan that said, never mention, hail or preach about it
unless you do it with tears. Do you know tonight that God
takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked?
Ezekiel 33 and 11 according to Jeremiah 18-7 and eight.
If a person, a house or a community or a country or a city
repents, God relents of His judgement.
Do you know that the people of Nineveh, we've already read it.
Matthew chapter 20, Matthew chapter 12, verse 40, the people
of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah.
God's warning was a sign of great mercy, a Great Commission,
a great compassion that involved cost and commitment.
And just as Jonah was sent to the Gentiles, so was the gospel.
Just as Nineveh was warned, so is the cities in our United
Kingdom. Just as Jonah began with a
warning, that warning was full of grace and mercy.
That warning brought a redemptive truth.
God wasn't issuing empty threats, but the warning was a
merciful opportunity. The judgement hasn't fallen yet.
There's grace and mercy with the Lord.
See, Jonah's held up as a sign, the sign of Jonah.
Jonah is a sign of Christ's death and resurrection, and no
other sign was given. The world has been given a
warning today. Flee from the wrath to come.
God hates sin. God issues a warning.
Flee from the wrath to come. The gospel is not just an
invitation to a life of submission and salvation.
It's a warning. Faithful preaching must include
sin, repentance, the blood atonement, judgement, grace and
mercy. There's a time to repent and
turn to the Lord. I I'm finished, but let me give
you a wee illustration. Here's a man that his 30s, he's
into finance, he's a good salary, he's respected, he's got
a comfortable life, he's a wife, he's a family.
In addition, he's addicted to pornography, he's addicted to
gambling. He's been quietly manipulating
the numbers to steal money from the firm.
At the start, it was small. At the start, he intended to pay
it back, it was just temporary. But when they did an audit, he
was found out. He was exposed, he couldn't
sleep. He shifted to blame.
He thought he would resign quietly escape the consequences.
But you know what happened? He went to church and in an
evangelical church he heard that God is holy and God is hates sin
and God is just and God is merciful and God calls to
repentance and God calls to faith and God is not harsh and
God is not angry, but God sees and knows and sin must be
answered and accounted for. That man stopped defending
himself. He realised that he'd done
wrong. And that week he confessed to
sin to God and got saved. That week, the same day he
confessed to sin to his boss. He lost everything, his
reputation, his job, police were involved.
He lost the respect of his wife and family.
But you know what he said after the end of all that he could go
home and go to bed and sleep because he got right with God.
How could you sleep if the wrath of God was hanging over your
head? You couldn't do it.
You can't do it. That's why many people are
riddled with guilt. And here's this deliverance
displayed in these commands. Arise, go to Nineveh and cry
against it. It's a sign of God being
merciful. May God be merciful to our
cities and our towns and villages at this time.