1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,640 Welcome to the Rheem Sound Church of God podcast. 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:05,360 Wherever you're listening from, we hope you are blessed by 3 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:08,520 today's message. Let's stand together for God's 4 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:11,000 Word. I am going to read you a 5 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:12,400 scripture from the book of Jonah. 6 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:16,920 There's a message I've never preached before and I I'll tell 7 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:20,960 you about it as it unfold. But we've got to read the first 8 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,880 chapter, or rather the third chapter in the book of Jonah, 9 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:29,000 which is short, and then the first verse from the 4th 10 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,800 chapter. As many of you know, the Bible 11 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,320 was not written in chapters and verses. 12 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,680 That was done later so we could find things that we look for. 13 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:44,120 But as I was reading the Scripture, I went from chapter 3 14 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:47,320 to 4 and that first verse stood out. 15 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:50,080 I'll explain. Jonah 31. 16 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:53,920 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. 17 00:00:54,560 --> 00:01:00,000 Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I 18 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,120 give you. Jonah obeyed the word of the 19 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:06,680 Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large 20 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:08,960 city. It took three days to go through 21 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:11,840 it. Jonah began by going a day's 22 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:16,600 journey into the city, proclaiming 40 more days and 23 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:24,200 Nineveh will be overthrown. The Ninevites believed God, a 24 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:30,560 fast was proclaimed, and all of them, all of them, from the 25 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,640 greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 26 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:39,680 Let me just stop to say this is one of the most amazing 27 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:43,320 evangelistic campaigns you'll ever hear anything about. 28 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:48,720 This man went in and preached a message of destruction coming 29 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:55,640 and the whole city. Turn to fasting and prayer and 30 00:01:55,640 --> 00:02:00,200 you'll see even the king. When Jake Jonas warning reached 31 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,600 the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his 32 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,800 royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in 33 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:11,560 the dust. This is the proclamation he 34 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:15,080 issued in Nineveh. This is the king by the decree 35 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:19,440 of the king and his nobles. Do not let people or animals, 36 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:23,960 herds or flocks taste anything. Do not let them eat or drink, 37 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:28,360 but let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. 38 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:32,640 I wonder what that look like. Let everyone call urgently. 39 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:38,400 Call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways 40 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:44,240 and their violence. Who knows, God may yet relent 41 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:49,280 and with compassion turn from His fierce anger so that we will 42 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:55,120 not perish. When God saw what they did and 43 00:02:55,120 --> 00:03:00,080 how they turn from their evil ways, He relented and did not 44 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:04,480 bring on them the destruction He had threatened in that amazing 45 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:12,320 chapter 10 verse one. But to Jonah this seemed very 46 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:21,160 wrong and he became angry. I want to preach today on this 47 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:25,680 thought. When mercy seems wrong, let's 48 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:28,320 pray. Father, we thank you for mercy. 49 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:32,280 We thank you for grace that brings us together today. 50 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:34,800 We thank you for the word of the Lord. 51 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:39,800 And I pray God, you will anoint this frail vessel with the Holy 52 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:44,640 Spirit to bring forth the Word of God in such a way that it 53 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:49,040 speaks to every heart, to every life in this building, and to 54 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:53,480 anyone who is watching or will be watching in the future, this 55 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:56,960 word. I pray that in the name of Jesus 56 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:01,040 Christ, Amen and Amen, you may be seated. 57 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,240 Let me read that verse again, Chapter 4, verse one. 58 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:18,680 But to Jonah, this seemed very wrong and he became angry. 59 00:04:20,519 --> 00:04:24,440 I don't know, a few weeks ago, exactly 2-3 weeks ago, whatever, 60 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:28,200 I was reading my Bible. I wasn't studying for a sermon, 61 00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:32,560 but I was reading in the book of Jonah and I read this third 62 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,120 chapter as I just read to you. I've read it. 63 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,720 In fact, let me encourage you, if you haven't read the book of 64 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,080 Jonah. Now you may be on a Bible 65 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,480 reading plan and I don't want to upset that, but if you get a 66 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:47,920 chance, read that small book. It's very easy reading. 67 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:52,280 All of the chapters are short. I read it again this morning, 68 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:57,040 but when I got to this 4th chapter it stunned me. 69 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:03,920 I wasn't looking for at this point a message, but this really 70 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:08,720 spoke to me that the prophet of God, and we'll call him the 71 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:12,360 reluctant prophet. I think most of you familiar 72 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,480 probably with the story of Jonah, but if not, let me take 73 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:17,840 you back and just give you a little history here. 74 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,720 Because in chapter 1 it says that God spoke to his prophet 75 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,200 and told him to get up from where he was and go to the city 76 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,280 of Nineveh and deliver a message to them. 77 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,720 Jonah did not want to do it. John. 78 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,680 Jonah rebelled against God and instead of getting on a ship to 79 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:40,160 go to Nineveh, he went down to Joppa and got on a boat going to 80 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:43,040 Tarsus. The Bible said he wanted to get 81 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,080 away from the Lord. How many know that's pretty 82 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,680 impossible, But he wanted to get away from God. 83 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:51,680 So he said I'm going to go the other way. 84 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,920 And so he goes the other way. And while he's on that boat, he 85 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,760 goes down into the head of the boat, he goes down to the 86 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:03,640 bottom, and he goes to sleep. And God sends a great storm out 87 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:06,440 on the sea. And all of the men on the ship 88 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:10,080 are all perplexed. They're looking like they're 89 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:11,920 going to be destroyed. They're throwing cargo 90 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:13,760 overboard. But they do. 91 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:17,000 There had been some conversation already with Jonah, so they knew 92 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:20,560 that he was running from God. But they went down the cap of 93 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:23,240 the ship and went down to the bottom and said, hey, why are 94 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,200 you sleeping? Get up and call on your God. 95 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,800 Because all of the men on that boat were calling on their gods. 96 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,000 So maybe if you call on your God, he would do something. 97 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:39,400 And Jonah got up. But Jonah was rebelling against 98 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:44,280 God, and the storm didn't stop. And so the men said, what can we 99 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:46,680 do? How can we get this storm to 100 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:48,600 stop? But Jonah said, it's my fault, 101 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,400 throw me overboard and the storm will cease. 102 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:54,880 And so the men said, we don't want to do that. 103 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,560 And they kept trying to row, get that boat to land. 104 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,200 They couldn't do it. And so finally they just prayed 105 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:02,360 to God and said, please don't hold us against us, but we're 106 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,040 going to do it. And they throw Jonah overboard. 107 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,680 You know the story as he goes down in the water. 108 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:11,280 God had prepared a giant fish or a whale, whatever you want to 109 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:13,480 call Jesus. And in the King James Version 110 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:15,760 news estimate, said whale, we won't argue about that. 111 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:18,200 It was a whale of a fish, let's put it that way. 112 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:22,680 But God prepared this thing and it swallowed up Jonah. 113 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,440 And so Jonah's in the whale's belly for three days and three 114 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:29,680 nights and he's calling out on God and God delivers him and 115 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:32,320 sets him free. Has the whale spit him out on 116 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,640 the ground? And that's we pick up chapter 3 117 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:37,040 when the word of the Lord came again. 118 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:40,840 Are you ready to do this now? And Jonah said, yes, I'll do it. 119 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:45,840 And he went to the city of Nineveh and the Bible said it 120 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:48,360 was a great city of three days journey. 121 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:51,600 And so he goes into the first day's journey and he and he 122 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,640 calls out to the people and he gives them a very short message. 123 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:57,280 In 40 days this city is going to be overthrown. 124 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,880 And the people took heart to it and to begin to call on God. 125 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:05,600 And God heard their prayer. In fact, by the way, let me get 126 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,120 back to the boat. Jonah is having great success in 127 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:09,920 ministry, even though he's rebelling. 128 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:13,680 God's blessing him anyway and people are getting saved. 129 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:18,800 But he doesn't like it. And, and, and it says to Jonah, 130 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:24,680 it seemed very wrong. Jonah was in a struggle with God 131 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:30,360 over who he was showing mercy to, didn't like what God was 132 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:32,559 doing. Now, you see, Nineveh was a 133 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:37,480 major city. It was an Assyrian city, and it 134 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:40,679 was a city of all kinds of violence, all kinds of sin. 135 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,960 They were definitely enemies of Israel. 136 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:47,360 And the last thing that Jonah really wanted to see was that 137 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:49,600 place spared. He'd have been glad if it would 138 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:54,520 have been destroyed. We can kind of understand a 139 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,920 little bit about how Jonah felt because these people were such 140 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:00,920 enemies of God. They were notorious murderers 141 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:04,400 and they did everything they could possibly do against God in 142 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:06,960 the ways of God. And you can kind of understand 143 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:10,880 the prophetic anointing rising up in him and him saying in 40 144 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,440 days you're going down and kind of enjoying that. 145 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:21,280 And he Santa struggle with God. And this is amazing to me. 146 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:25,320 I, I, I went, the more I read it and I kept reading it. 147 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:27,720 I've been reading it just about every day, I guess, since I've 148 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:29,880 just been going back reading his story. 149 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:34,640 And I, he's in an argument with God and God is talking to him 150 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:38,520 and he's talking back to God and he's telling God, I think what 151 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:43,040 you're doing is wrong. And Jonah's not just angry with 152 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:46,480 the people of Nineveh. He's now angry with God. 153 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:50,840 Listen to what he says. In Jonah 4/2 he prayed to the 154 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:53,520 Lord. Isn't this what I said, Lord, 155 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:56,560 when I was still at home? That is what I tried to 156 00:09:56,560 --> 00:09:58,600 forestall by fleeing the Tarshish. 157 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:02,240 I knew. I knew that you're a gracious 158 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:05,720 and compassionate God. You're slow to anger and 159 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:09,040 abounding in love. A God who relents from sending 160 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:13,080 calamity. He is angry with God because God 161 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:17,560 is merciful, because God is gracious, because God is loving, 162 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:21,160 because God is forgiving. And he's angry with God about 163 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,480 that. The very things that saved 164 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:29,080 Jonah, he didn't want those other people to get saved by. 165 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:34,040 Somehow Jonah thought that he was more righteous than those 166 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:38,320 people and he was more deserving of salvation than they were. 167 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:41,680 And I want to just tell you that Jonah was as undeserving of 168 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:46,320 God's salvation as anybody in the town of Nineveh was. 169 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,920 And I want you to know that it's no different for us. 170 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,760 Any and all of us are in the same boat. 171 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:57,400 If you don't mind me using that the same boat. 172 00:10:57,680 --> 00:11:01,760 If it wasn't for the mercy and the grace and the compassion of 173 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:05,680 God, listen, we have no more right to salvation than the 174 00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:09,600 worst Sinner that ever lived. And if you don't understand 175 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:13,080 that, you've cheapened grace. And it's not to be cheapened 176 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:16,520 because it is truly Amazing Grace. 177 00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:25,320 How sweet that sound. We played a game back here for 178 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:28,080 team night. I think that's all we did. 179 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:29,520 We played games and ate ice cream. 180 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:33,360 That was a nice team night. You missed that one. 181 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:37,480 You missed something. But we sat at tables and Pastor 182 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:41,160 Joel and I really weren't in a group, but we got drafted in and 183 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,240 each, each ministry team, children's ministry, worship 184 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:49,080 team, ministry greeters, all of those, we were all sitting at 185 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:52,720 different tables and, and we played a number of games, but 186 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:55,280 one of them we played was would you rather? 187 00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:58,600 I'd never played it before, but let me give you examples. 188 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:00,920 If you don't know. One of the questions was, would 189 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:05,840 you rather memorize 100 verses or deeply study 10 verses? 190 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:09,400 And so you were to discuss that at your table and then have a 191 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:12,640 representative from your table stand up and give your answer 192 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,240 And why? Another question was, would you 193 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:20,000 rather spend 100 years building an ark or 40 days in the 194 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:22,040 wilderness? Think about that. 195 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:24,720 What would you rather do? Would you rather have 100 years 196 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:26,880 to build an ark or 40 days in the wilderness? 197 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:30,000 One of the questions was this. Would you rather be in the 198 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,400 lion's den or in the belly of the whale? 199 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,960 The worship team that did not win the contest, the children's 200 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:42,240 ministry won the whole thing. All the smart people are in 201 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:44,200 children's ministry. We know that, right? 202 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:48,600 But the worship team got this one and got it good. 203 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:52,960 Caroline Medina, who's not here today, she stood up and she 204 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:58,200 said, I would rather, we would rather be, we'd rather be in a 205 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:02,480 lion's den because of our obedience than to be in a 206 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:05,400 whale's belly because of our disobedience. 207 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:10,920 Always choose obedience over disobedience. 208 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:15,680 But I want you to understand that it took the same for all of 209 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:18,320 us. It took the same suffering, 210 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:24,160 bleeding Savior to save us as it did for anyone in the world. 211 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:29,440 If you had been or I had been the only person that Jesus had 212 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:32,240 to die for. If, if, if put yourself there, 213 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:33,720 don't put me there, put you there. 214 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:37,080 Put, put you, you're #1 you're, you're it. 215 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:40,720 You're the only person that Jesus is going to die for your 216 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:42,960 sins. He's you're the only one. 217 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:45,400 Do you think he would have had to suffer less? 218 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,400 Do you think he would have shed less blood going through less? 219 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:53,440 No, because we have all sinned and we've all come short of the 220 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:56,200 glory of God. And we're all on the same boat, 221 00:13:56,200 --> 00:14:00,040 going in the wrong direction if it had not been for the grace of 222 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,120 God. So I want you to realize that 223 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:07,480 mercy from God is never wrong. Even though Jonah thought it 224 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:10,440 was. He had some boundaries. 225 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:14,480 He had set up some boundaries that says outside of this, mercy 226 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:17,320 doesn't work. I would say to all of us, 227 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:21,080 including myself, if you have issues with God saving anyone, 228 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:25,760 you need to ask God to soften your heart concerning anyone 229 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:31,160 that you find hard to forgive, ask God, does God soften my 230 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:33,880 heart? Because we are in the same boat, 231 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:39,400 but it's a tendency to think somehow we're better. 232 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:44,560 There was opposition to Jesus in Samaria. 233 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:47,320 They didn't get along, the Samaritans and the Jews. 234 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:51,600 And the Bible says in Luke 951 at the time, as the time 235 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:55,280 approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely 236 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:59,320 set out for Jerusalem and he sent messengers on ahead who 237 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,240 went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him. 238 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:06,120 But the people there did not welcome him because he was 239 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:08,440 heading to Jerusalem. They didn't like that they were 240 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:09,960 Samaritans. We don't have anything to do 241 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:12,960 with you Jews. When the disciples, James and 242 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:17,240 John saw this, they asked, Lord, you want us to call down fire 243 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:22,160 from heaven to destroy them? But Jesus turned and rebuked 244 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:24,640 them. Then he and his disciples went 245 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:27,800 to another village. These disciples said, we're 246 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:30,600 going to stand up for you, Lord. These heathen out here don't 247 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:32,960 deserve to live. Can we just call down fire from 248 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:35,680 heaven on them right now? I don't know that these men ever 249 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:38,440 had the power to call down fire from heaven to start with. 250 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,760 But Jesus said you're wrong. Why? 251 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:44,600 Because the Bible said Jesus didn't come to condemn the 252 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:46,640 world. He came that through him the 253 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:50,560 world might be saved. It's already condemned. 254 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:55,720 Follow what I'm saying. And so sometimes we can become 255 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:58,600 very protective. And boy, if I had my way, if I 256 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:00,720 was God for a day, Thank God you're not. 257 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:06,560 And to be honest, come on, none of us are all that holy. 258 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:10,440 Did you hear that? I said none of us are all that 259 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:12,560 holy. I went down to that membership 260 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:15,480 class today and greeted him. I said, you're not in a perfect 261 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:17,480 church. It's a good church, but it's not 262 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:19,160 a perfect church. And as long as I'm here, it 263 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:23,440 won't be. I take that because I realized 264 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:25,960 that none of us are really. Come on, look at your neighbors, 265 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:27,680 say you're really not. But no, don't do that. 266 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:35,200 They'll be Jesus said in Luke 18-9 to some who were confident 267 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:40,400 of their own righteousness and look down on everyone else. 268 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:47,760 Jesus told this parable. 2 men went up to the temple to pray. 269 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:52,840 1A Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 270 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:57,160 Pastor Joe, would you come and stand right over there? 271 00:16:58,200 --> 00:16:59,800 Alec, would you come and stand right over there? 272 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:01,840 I got my Pharisee and my public in here. 273 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:07,240 Which what? Which you wanted to be the 274 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:11,079 Pharisee. OK, The Pharisee stood by 275 00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:14,359 himself. Notice that you got to get near 276 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,560 this guy. He stood by himself and and he 277 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:20,040 prayed this. He actually prayed this. 278 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:23,000 Now Pastor Joe wouldn't do this, but thank you for going along. 279 00:17:23,839 --> 00:17:27,720 He said, God, I thank you that I am not like other people, 280 00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:38,160 robbers, evil doers, adulterers or even like pointed this guy 281 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:42,400 over here. That's right, even like this tax 282 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:45,240 collector. I'm almost ready to say Amen to 283 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:50,360 that one. But anyway, he said, I fast 284 00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:53,600 twice a week I get to give a tenth of all I get. 285 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:59,280 But the tax collector stood at a distance, he would not even look 286 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:06,160 up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God have mercy 287 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:11,640 on me, a Sinner. Now both of you go home. 288 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:21,400 I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home 289 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:27,120 justified before God. For all those who exalt 290 00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:31,760 themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will 291 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:36,000 be exalted. Can you imagine that? 292 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,160 Now I illustrate that, because this is the silliness of it, to 293 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:42,920 think that we would come to an altar and stand on one side and 294 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:45,760 look at somebody on the other side and say, I'm glad I'm not 295 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:53,780 like him. This would have been, you see, 296 00:18:53,780 --> 00:18:55,820 if you just stayed home, you could have turned this off. 297 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:01,880 You can't turn me off in person. But I want you to think about 298 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,200 this a moment. We've all sinned. 299 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:10,200 Isaiah 118 says, come now, let us reason together, says the 300 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:12,320 Lord. Though your sins are like 301 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:14,840 scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. 302 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:19,280 Though they're red like Crimson, they shall be as wool. 303 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:24,480 We need once again to get a vision now, the vision of the 304 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:30,680 blood stained crossed and the suffering of Jesus for me, for 305 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:36,920 me in this poor frame of mind that Jonah is still upset with 306 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:40,560 God because God saved people that he didn't think he should 307 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:44,600 save. Jonah has not given up yet. 308 00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:47,080 He preached a very short message. 309 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:50,800 There's only what about 9 words or so? 310 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:53,840 That was his message. This city is going to be 311 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:55,920 overthrown in 40 days. They believed it. 312 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:00,680 They repented. Listen to what it says in Jonah 313 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:05,160 chapter 4, verse 5. Jonah had gone out and sat down 314 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:08,840 at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, 315 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:13,960 sat in its shade, and waited to see what would happen to the 316 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:17,880 city. Then the Lord God provided A 317 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:22,520 leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his 318 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:24,960 head. To ease his discomfort. 319 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:28,680 And Jonah was very happy. He's just now mad. 320 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:33,800 This guy's bipolar, I guess. I mean, he was, he was angry. 321 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,040 But there's that now it's a plant in the plant. 322 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:38,320 Oh, this is nice. I'm sitting under a palm tree. 323 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:46,640 And he was so happy about it. But at dawn the next day, the 324 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,960 same God that provided the plant provided a worm. 325 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:56,160 Some of us need a worm. God provided a worm which chewed 326 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:59,400 the plant so that it withered when the sun rose. 327 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:05,760 God torching E wind and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that 328 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:10,320 he grew thin. He wanted to die and said it 329 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:14,320 would be better for me to die than to live now. 330 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:17,120 Think about that a moment. He was in a whale's belly 331 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:22,640 praying to live. Now he's outside in the hot sun 332 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:24,880 saying I want to die. He could have died in the 333 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:29,200 whale's belly. This guy is all over the place. 334 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:32,560 And here's one wonderful thing about that because you may be 335 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:34,720 and I may be all over the place about some of this. 336 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:39,000 It's OK because God can help us get it right. 337 00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:43,280 God did not disown him and say that's not my profit anymore. 338 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:46,680 Even though he was messed up, he was still his man. 339 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:49,480 He just needed to get some things straightened out, some 340 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:53,160 priorities straightened out, and so he wanted to die. 341 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:54,680 He said be better for me to die than live. 342 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:57,800 But God said to Jonah, is it right for you to be angry about 343 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:01,160 the plant? It is. 344 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,040 He's still talking to God. It is. 345 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:11,880 I'm so angry. I wish I were dead in the belly 346 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:15,120 of the fish. I want to live now. 347 00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:21,360 I want to die. But the Lord said you have been 348 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:25,760 concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or 349 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:29,120 make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died 350 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:32,000 overnight. And should I not have concern 351 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:36,040 for the great city of Nineveh in which there are more than 352 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:43,080 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their 353 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,960 left? And also many animals. 354 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:53,760 God is saying to Jonah, you've got your priorities all messed 355 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:57,040 up. You worried about a plant. 356 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,120 You didn't do anything to make it grow, and you didn't do 357 00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:02,320 anything to me. It just came up because I let it 358 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:05,120 come up and it went down because I let it go down. 359 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:12,320 And you have more compassion for a plant than you do for a whole 360 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:18,200 city that needs the Lord. How true that is, folks. 361 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:21,600 We're going to pray in just a few minutes and we're going to 362 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:24,720 pray for our nation. Rededicate 250 is taking place 363 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:27,480 in Washington DC even as I speak. 364 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:32,280 And it'll be on all day. And you can, you can go to, 365 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:36,360 there's a number of sites on YouTube that are live streaming 366 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:40,160 it and there's speakers there like Jensen Franklin and Samuel 367 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:43,280 Rodriguez and Robert Jeffries in First Baptist in Dallas. 368 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:46,680 And, and, and it's a, it's a call to a nation to go to 369 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:48,600 prayer, to repent, etcetera, etcetera. 370 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:51,640 Is it going to be worship? And Chris Tomlin, I think is 371 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:53,400 doing a concert this evening or whatever. 372 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:56,080 But anyway, we're not there. We're here, but we're going to 373 00:23:56,080 --> 00:24:03,440 pray for our nation as well. But God said, you missed 374 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:07,760 something, Jonah. You know the things of God, but 375 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:10,720 there's people in this city, they they can't even tell 376 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:12,680 they're rare from their left. They have no discernment. 377 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:15,400 Is that not the world we live in? 378 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:18,760 People have no discernment. It just anything. 379 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:22,720 You just go along with any trend, anything on social media, 380 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:25,160 we just jump into it, just do it. 381 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:28,680 Whatever. We need to pray for people to 382 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:33,200 come to Christ. I'm telling you now, I'm not 383 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:37,160 here to turn people to the Democrat Party, turn people to 384 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:39,360 the Republican Party. I'm here to turn people to 385 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:42,160 Christ. That's what we need is we need 386 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:46,000 the Lord Jesus Christ. And we get that right, then we 387 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:49,080 get politics right as well. But we need to get right with 388 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:50,600 God. So what I want us to pray for 389 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:53,760 today is souls to be saved for people who are not able to 390 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,480 discern the right hand from their left, who cannot 391 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,840 understand that a man is a man and a woman is a woman, cannot 392 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,440 understand that an unborn child is a life. 393 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,440 Not a choice. Folks, people are messed up in 394 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:09,640 their thinking. But what about us in the church? 395 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,280 You know, we also need to be people of forgiving one another. 396 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:19,520 Ephesians chapter 4 verse 31, Paul said get rid of all 397 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,760 bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with 398 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:25,160 every form of malice. Now he's talking to the church. 399 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:35,440 Be kind and compassionate one to another, forgiving each other in 400 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:40,080 the church, forgiving each other just as Christ or just as in 401 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:43,320 Christ. God forgave you. 402 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:47,480 I read a story. I want to read this before I 403 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:50,320 close today. Maybe some of you heard it. 404 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:53,360 Author is unknown as far as I could tell. 405 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,080 But it's a story about two friends who were walking through 406 00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:03,680 the desert and it was very hot, arid and they were suffering 407 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:06,280 greatly. And during some point on that 408 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:10,400 journey they had an argument and one friend slapped the other one 409 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:14,240 in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt 410 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:18,680 but without saying anything rode in the sand. 411 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:23,280 Today my best friend slapped me in the face. 412 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:28,560 They kept on walking. Later they come came upon an 413 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:33,760 Oasis where they decided to go in and take a bath, but the one 414 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:38,720 who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started 415 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:42,560 drowning. But the friend saved him. 416 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:47,000 After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone. 417 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:51,520 Today my best friend saved my life. 418 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:56,360 The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend slapped 419 00:26:56,360 --> 00:27:00,480 him and then later saved him. After I hurt you, he said, I 420 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:02,640 don't understand. After I hurt you, you wrote in 421 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,520 the sand and now you write on a stone. 422 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:08,640 Why? The other friend replied, When 423 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:13,960 someone hurts you or hurts us, we should write it down in sand, 424 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:17,680 where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. 425 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:22,800 But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it 426 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,840 in stone where no wind can ever erase it. 427 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:33,280 Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits 428 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:36,480 in stone. They say it takes a minute to 429 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:40,880 find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to 430 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:44,400 love them, but then an entire life to forget them. 431 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,920 Do not value the things you have in your life, the value who you 432 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:57,320 have in your life. That will help us folks. 433 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:00,960 The hurts, right? Them in the sand. 434 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:05,320 And sometimes it does take a while for the winds, right? 435 00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:10,680 We're human beings and I, I would simply say to you, if you 436 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:12,880 make something right with someone, you ask someone to 437 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:15,680 forgive them, give them time to process. 438 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,120 Don't get in their face and say, I apologize, you got to forgive 439 00:28:20,120 --> 00:28:21,040 me. You're going to hell. 440 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:29,720 You didn't apologize. It may take them a while to 441 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:31,760 process. Now, I'm not talking about a 442 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:37,160 lifetime, but we have to understand that, and this is 443 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:41,400 what I feel like, this is exactly what Jonah is facing. 444 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,160 And Jonah is facing this matter of, but these are enemies of 445 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:47,800 God. These are people that have done 446 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:51,440 these terrible things. How many know that none of us 447 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:54,560 would be here today if it wasn't for the forgiveness of God for 448 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:58,560 us and our failures. Our sins are wrong, so we have 449 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:01,200 to understand that and we have to be patient with one another 450 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:04,320 and love one another. Brothers and sisters, I have 451 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:08,400 more than once had to apologize even here, not just in this 452 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:12,160 pulpit, because I knew something I did, I failed and something I, 453 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:16,760 and I'm thankful for forgiveness that people grant and I want to 454 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:19,640 be the same kind of person. How many want to be that kind of 455 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:21,720 person? A man You want to be that kind 456 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:26,920 of person. Every time we look at the blood 457 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:30,320 stained cross, it reminds us of the price Christ paid for us. 458 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:35,760 And if he could forgive me for what you don't know that I've 459 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:39,320 done and he could forgive you for what I don't know that 460 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:43,560 you've done, how many know that we can forgive one another? 461 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:51,680 Amen. Interestingly enough, Jesus took 462 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:57,120 this story in the New Testament and said this in Matthew 1241. 463 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:01,040 The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on 464 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:07,240 Judgment Day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at 465 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:12,040 the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah 466 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:15,640 is here, but you refuse to repent. 467 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:20,120 Think about that. Jonah, the reluctant prophet, 468 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:23,840 with all his flaws, brought a message of destruction, and the 469 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:25,720 people said we got to get right with God. 470 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:28,160 Jesus said someone's greater than that here. 471 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:30,720 Who is that? Jesus, of course. 472 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:40,080 And he's still here today to forgive us our sins, to cleanse 473 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:44,720 us from all unrighteousness. Now I have a kind of a sad 474 00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:49,240 ending to the message because it is true that it did spare that 475 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:54,480 city, but about 100 years later or so it was destroyed because 476 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:57,560 they didn't stay where they needed to stay with God. 477 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:01,360 Another prophet came along by the name of Nahum, and if you 478 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:04,880 read his book, a prophetic word was given and Nineveh was 479 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:10,760 eventually destroyed, but at least it had maybe 100 years of 480 00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:14,560 freedom and peace because they repented. 481 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:19,960 But as often happens over time, we forget. 482 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:25,760 And I think as we pray today, this is where I find our nation. 483 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:30,680 We may be forgetting something that we need to remember. 484 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:38,480 And even though God has spared us and blessed us, we may, I'm 485 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,680 not saying we may, we have, I'm not talking about you. 486 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:44,600 But as again, as I mentioned earlier, so many people in our 487 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:47,960 country right now can't deserve left from right their hands, 488 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:53,800 what's right, what's wrong this particular date today. 489 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:59,400 And I don't have any personal thing to do with Rededicate 250. 490 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:03,560 I think it's a great idea and I trust that that's what will 491 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:06,400 happen. But I do want you to know that 492 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:11,720 this date is not just a date 250 years ago. 493 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:17,400 What's today's date? Somebody tell me you can't get 494 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:21,400 your left right now. You sound like me. 495 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:22,720 I don't know what day of the week is. 496 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:27,640 It's May 17th, 250 years ago today. 497 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:33,920 Today, the Second Continental Congress declared a day of 498 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:38,680 humiliation, fasting and prayer across 13 colonies. 499 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:43,320 Congress asked Americans to seek God's forgiveness, protect the 500 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:46,760 Continental Army, and grant wisdom to civil leaders as the 501 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:50,520 nation move toward independence. The official congressional 502 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:53,960 resolution was drafted by William Livingston and printed 503 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:57,600 for public distribution. It laid out specific intentions 504 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,480 for the nation's spiritual and civic life. 505 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:05,200 First of all, repentance. A call to confess and bewail our 506 00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:08,360 manifold sins, and transgressions to seek divine 507 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:10,880 pardon. Military Protection. 508 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:14,000 A plea for the Lord of Hosts, the God of armies, to animate 509 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:17,120 officers and soldiers with fortitude and crown the 510 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:22,280 continental arms with success. Guidance for leaders A request 511 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:26,120 to bless civil rulers, inspire an ardent love of country, and 512 00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:29,640 provide wisdom to establish America's rights on a permanent 513 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:33,400 basis. Peace and prosperity The 514 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:36,760 ultimate goal for a spirit of patriotism and pure religion, 515 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:41,560 leading to the restoration of peace and liberty that happened 516 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:47,560 250 years ago today. The day was widely observed, 517 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:51,680 with colonies like Massachusetts printing and distributing copies 518 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:55,400 of the proclamation to every religious assembly, every 519 00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:58,200 church. You can explore the full 520 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:02,320 historical text yourself at the Library of Congress exhibit on 521 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:06,120 Congress and the Confederation, or you can read it on the US 522 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:08,280 House of Representatives History blog. 523 00:34:08,679 --> 00:34:14,880 And I got it like you did. I had googled it 250 years ago 524 00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:18,840 today. There was a call for repentance 525 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:28,639 to get right with God. Nineveh had the same kind of 526 00:34:28,639 --> 00:34:36,120 call and they answered the call, but 100 years later or so, 527 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:40,040 they've gone away from that. I'm afraid we've gone far away 528 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:44,719 from 250 years ago. So we what? 529 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:47,560 What do we need to do here? We need to pray for souls to be 530 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:49,280 saved. That's what we need to pray for. 531 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:54,280 People need Jesus. It's it's fine and you should 532 00:34:54,280 --> 00:34:57,920 pray for your government, but the real situation that we need 533 00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:01,640 people to find Jesus as their Lord and Savior. 534 00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:05,040 If that happens, if there's a revival that would sweep this 535 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:08,800 nation into the Kingdom of God and souls will get right with 536 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:12,560 God, this whole nation will be blessed beyond measure. 537 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:14,360 Amen. We're in war. 538 00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:18,560 We've got we've got inflation, we've got all kinds of issues 539 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:20,760 going on right now in this country we're in. 540 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:24,960 We're in need folks, but we're need we're in need of Jesus. 541 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:28,880 Man is not our answer. Christ is Amen. 542 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:35,280 The good news is God sent a word to a city said you're going to 543 00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:37,480 be destroyed. He said you've got 40 days, it's 544 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:40,000 over. But because of their heart 545 00:35:40,720 --> 00:35:43,640 turning to God, he said, I back away from that. 546 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:48,360 I'll let you live. Can God do that for a nation? 547 00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:52,960 Could he, Could he? You say, well, does that mean 548 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:55,920 God changes his mind? No, he already had it built in. 549 00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:59,360 It was built in all along. God has always said, if my 550 00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:03,040 people which are called by my name will humble themselves and 551 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:05,360 pray and seek my face turn from their wicked ways, I'll hear 552 00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:07,440 from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land. 553 00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:14,120 So it's a matter of me not worrying about everybody in 554 00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:19,400 Washington right now, but me getting me right with God and 555 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,000 you getting you right with God. And I'm not saying you aren't, 556 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:27,280 but taking that to heart. Thanks for joining us today. 557 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:29,720 If you'd like to connect, visit us at Reams Town 558 00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:33,800 churchofgod.org, follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and 559 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:36,800 subscribe to this podcast so you never miss an episode.