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WARREN WIERSBE | AUDIO-BIBLE STUDY - "PROPHET JONAH" | WORM TESTIFIES... | Alpha English Sermons
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[Music] foreign
foreign [Music]
[Music] foreign
to Jonah chapter four
if you and I were writing the Book of
Jonah there wouldn't be any chapter four
which shows how little we know about the
ways of God
after all chapter 3 records Jonah's success
success
a million people plus their animals repented
repented
that's all the church is concerned about
today is success
some good statistics to report
and notice that we've gone back to the
little phrase but
now we ran up against this in chapter
one God told John to arise and go verse
3 but Jonah
and then verse 4 but the Lord you butt
up against the Lord and he'll butt up
against you
chapter two he chastens Jonah chapter 3
Jonah obeys we go from but Jonah in
Chapter 2 then Jonah chapter 3 sojonah
but it displeased Jonah exceedingly and
he was very angry
and he prayed unto the Lord and said I
pray thee O Lord was not this my saying
when I was yet in my country
therefore I fled before unto tarshish
for I knew that thou art a gracious God
and merciful
slow to anger
of great kindness and repentance thee of
the evil therefore now O Lord take I
beseech thee my life from me now if he
hadn't added that from me and he'd meant
it spiritually he would have gotten
someplace take O Lord my life
but he wanted to die it is better for me
to die than to live
then said the Lord do us thou will to be angry
angry
so Jonah went out of the city
and sat on the east side of the city and
there made a booth for himself and sat
under it in the shadow until he might
see what would become of the city
hoping of course that God would change
his mind and destroy the enemy and the
Lord God prepared a gourd
and made it to come up over Jonah this
is a plant with large leaves that looked
like the palm of your hand
that it might be a shadow over his head
to deliver him from his grief so Jonah
was exceedingly glad
of the gourd but God
prepared a worm
when the morning Rose the next day and
it smoked the gourd that it withered and
it came to pass when the sun did rise
that God prepared a vehement East Wind
and the Sun Beat upon the head of Jonah
that he fainted and wished it himself to
die and said it is better for me to die
than to live
and God said that you want to do us thou
well to be angry for the gore and he
said I do well to be angry even unto death
death
then said the Lord
thou Hast had pity on the gourd for
which thou Hast not labored neither made
us did grow which came up in a night and
perished and I
and should not I spare Nineveh that
great City
in which are more than six score a
thousand persons that cannot discern
between their right hand and their left
hand that means little children
and all so much cattle
and would you believe there is no verse 12.
it's not dropped out of any manuscripts
it never was in any manuscripts
you know why
Jonah chapter 4
finishes the book and shows us that God
is more concerned about the worker than
he is the work
God didn't say well this is marvelous
Nineveh is repented there's no judgment
Joan is sitting there pouting but that's
all right he'll get over it no no God
doesn't do that
after all Jonah was God's missionary
have you ever sat on a committee
interviewing a missionary candidate
I have it's interesting difficult
difficult
what I'd like to do tonight is consider
Jonah as a missionary candidate
all that we know about the Book of Jonah now
now
and I want to call three witnesses to
our committee we're all going to become
a committee of the whole tonight
I want to call first of all the witness
of his credentials
now if you're going to go to be a
missionary you've got to have certain
credentials they they make you fill out
certain forms and they ask you a lot of
questions so first we're going to talk
about his credentials then the witness
of his companions I want to go through
this book and call out the people who
were with Jonah and see what they know
and then last of all and most important
the witness of his Lord his creator or
his savior see what God has to say about
it let's begin now with the witness of
his credentials Jonah is now seated
before us the committee is meeting and
we're going to ask him the questions
that are asked just about every
missionary candidate
Jonah number one has God called you
do you feel a call of God oh yeah twice twice
twice
you really feel you're called of God yes
the word of the Lord came to me saying
arise go to Nineveh yes I can call God's
called you yes because you don't want to
question number two
Jonah is your theology Evangelical
Evangelical
are you Orthodox in your theology oh of
course I am
I believe in the god of Israel I believe
in God who is gracious and merciful and
slow to anger and of great kindness a
God who repents of evil I believe that
salvation is of the Lord [Music]
[Music]
he said that you know back in chapter 2
all right you have a call from God and
your theology is evangelical
there's a third question Jonah do you pray
pray
do I pray
oh I have prayed in strange places
does God answer your prayers oh does he
answer my prayers let me tell you about
the miracle that I went through
now this story may sound fishy to you
and so the committee would look at each
other and say this is good here's a man
who when he prays God works
now there's always somebody on every
committee who's concerned about the
and so the some committee members
nobody's gone deeper than I've gone
I've been down to the bottoms of the mountains
mountains
I know what it's like to die and to be
raised from the dead
you don't have to talk to me about
walking in newness of life I die that I
was raised I know the Deeper Life
wonderful we don't want any missionaries
well here's another question they always ask
ask
you've done some preaching Jonah does
your preaching bring results oh sure
haven't you heard
I went and preached to a city
there were 120 000 children in it and
there were a lot of parents and uncles
and aunts nearly a million people and
the whole city repented the whole the
whole city even the animals remarkable
remarkable
oh yes I've had results from my
there's always one like this on the committee
committee
Jonah can you quote scripture
you believe in Bible memory work oh yes
I can quote the Psalms by the yard and I
back in chapter two you've got Jonah
quoting scripture by the yard yes I I
believe in scripture I quote scripture
in fact here in chapter 4 verse 2 when
he has this statement I know thou art a
gracious God and merciful and so forth
he's quoting from from two experiences
in Moses life Exodus chapter 34 and
Numbers chapter 14. on those two
occasions when Israel sinned so
grievously and Moses had to go up in the
Mountaintop and intercede these are the
words that Moses used oh I can quote the
Psalms I can quote from the law
that's marvelous we don't want any many
missionaries who can't quote scripture
Jonah have you got any courage it takes
courage to be a missionary oh I've got
courage I was willing for those people
to throw me in the water
to save them I've got courage don't talk
to me about courage I've got enough courage
courage
now John if you'll leave the room we
want to discuss this so Jonah leaves the
room and you know what the result would be
be
they would look at these credentials and
they would say you know this is a this
is the finest missionary candidate we
have ever
interrogated he's called of God he's
theologically sound there's no
liberalism he gets answers to prayer
he knows what it is to die to self
his preaching has brought results he can
quote scripture
and he's a courageous man we had better
sign him up he's the kind of missionary
we're looking for
and yet folks
here he sits outside the city angry at
the very people he should be reaching
here he sits pal King foreign
foreign [Music]
[Music]
s today folks is that we have the wrong
the one question they did not ask Jonah
Jonah
and by the way it's a question we
usually ask when we're interrogating
missionary candidates on the board where
I serve
do you have a love
for the people you're going to minister to
to
because if you don't I don't care what
kind of theology you have I don't care
how many times God has called you I
don't care how many miracles you've been
through I don't care how much preaching
you've done if you don't have a love for
the people you're ministering to you're
isn't it too bad that we have so many
people who have good Theology and bad attitudes
if you were to ask them about their
theology their theology would be as
Orthodox as it could be and their
attitudes could be as unorthodox and as mean
his credentials well he passes as far as
the credentials are concerned but God
now let's call a second witness that's
called the witness of his companions
let's just go through these chapters and
find the people who know Jonah let's
begin in chapter one now we have here
gentlemen and Ladies we have here the
sailors who were on board the ship where
Jonah was and I want to ask these
Sailors a question what do you know
about Jonah
that man is a troublemaker
everything was going fine on our ship
till he got on
the troublemaker
he sleeps
we were praying to our Gods he didn't
come up and pray to his God when he did
nothing happen
we finally had to cast some lots and
they pointed to him that he was the
Troublemaker you're going to send him
out to the mission feel a troublemaker
like that he almost wrecked our ship and
we almost lost our lives
he's a troublemaker [Music]
[Music]
and in the Bible there are two kinds of
troublemakers there are people who cause
trouble because they're out of the will
of God and there are people who cause
trouble because they're in the will of God
God
Jonah caused trouble out of the will of
God David caused trouble out of the will
of God Abraham caused trouble out of the
will of God
Jesus caused trouble in the will of God
remember one of the indictments they
brought against the Lord Jesus when they
brought in those uh Witnesses they said
he stirs up the people
that's an awful sin to stir up the
people because the people ought to just
sit and not be stirred up the same thing
was a key the same accusation was made
to Paul
these men who have turned the world
upside down have come hither
Vance havner has said whatever whatever
Paul went there was either a Revival or
a riot
and sometimes there was both
well let's move to the next chapter now
folks if you'll just move your chairs
back a little bit I want to call the
great fish in
he had a rather close attachment to
Jonah we want to talk to him
uh Mr Fish
what do you know about this fella
he was called by The God Who made me
to go preach and he refused to do it I
am only a thief
but when my God tells me to do something
everything in all of creation does what
God wants it to do except people and
especially Jonah he's a stubborn man
he could have confessed his sin and
repented on board that ship but he
didn't do it he could have done it on
the way from the ship to the water but
he didn't do it and my God instructed me
to go swallow him and on the way down he
could have done it he didn't do it took
three days and three nights before he
finally was broken
he's a stubborn man
and quite frankly Mr committee members
chapter 3 let's call on the people of Nineveh
Nineveh
you heard of Jonah oh we heard it Jonah
he came walking through our city he was
the weirdest looking fellow we ever saw
and we found out he had been swallowed
by a great fish and he had been vomited
out in the land he'd gone through a
miracle and he preached a message to us
40 days none of us shall be overthrown
really he came to be our savior he came
as an ambassador and he led us to
repentance but we don't understand this
fella you know he should be in our city
praying with people and teaching people
and passing out follow-up literature
enrolling people and you know where he is
is
he's out there sitting in a booth pouting
pouting
we found out he really would have been
happier if all of us had gone to hell
and quite frankly he's a problem to us
we love him because he brought us God's
message but we we don't know what to do
with him he's he's an enigma he's a
why don't we move to chapter four
the worm comes in
and we say to the worm you know Jonah yeah
yeah
the great Creator called me and said I
what do you know about him he is
now he may be 40 50 years old I don't
know how old Jonah was he was old enough
to know better [Music]
[Music]
but he's a child he's immature look at
the evidences of his inventory he's
living by his feelings not by obedience
to God he doesn't feel like he ought to
do something and so he's sitting there
in that Booth pouting
he's angry
he's angry at God
he's angry at God because he didn't get
what he wanted I meet people regularly
regularly
whose lives are filled with bitterness
because they're angry at God
I've been receiving strange letters from
my radio listener who's angry at God
and now she's angry at me [Music]
[Music]
and this is tragic God didn't do
something she thought he should do and
he didn't do it the way it was supposed
to be done according to her Blueprints
and she's angry and this bitterness just
shows up
in her letter
and the worm says you know he's an
immature fella he's angry living by his feelings
feelings
he's immature because he's bigoted and prejudiced
prejudiced
as a Jew he did not want to see Nineveh
spared because Nineveh is the enemy of
Israel he wanted to be able to go home
and say to his Jewish congregation see
God destroyed Nineveh for her sins now
he wanted to be a good Patriot and he
was so bigoted and so prejudiced you
to put dinner in front of a child and on
that plate his liver
I heard a song in the radio some months
like liver
saved my life when I was a little boy I
had to eat it regularly
and so the child gets liver put in front
of him
I'm not gonna eat that why
why
I don't like it
that's no good reason
last time I took medicine I didn't like it
it
there's no good reason prejudice bigotry
bigotry
and the worm says you know he doesn't
have any burden for the loss you're
going to send him out as a missionary he
has no burden for the Lost he's sitting
there in that Booth hoping that the city
will be destroyed
now he was shown Mercy by God God showed
him mercy God brought him up out of the
depths God's God was merciful to him but
he won't share that Mercy with anybody else
else
he doesn't have a burden for soul oh
sure he can quote he can quote scripture
but he's quoting scripture from man who
loves souls he quotes from Exodus has he
forgotten that Moses went up there and
said dear God pardon the sins of the
people of Israel and if you can't pardon
them take my life
judge me but don't judge them
that's the way Paul prayed Paul said I'd
rather go to hell than see my own people
not get the gospel
so says our witnessing worm he has no
burden for the loss and he goes on to
say he is very unlike the God that he preaches
God is gracious his man's not gracious
God is merciful he's not merciful slow
to anger why he loses his temper like
that great kindness he doesn't know the
meaning of kindness repentancy of the
evil his heart is so hard he will not repent
repent
how can you send him out
to Bear witness of a god
that he really doesn't
this last week or so I've been rereading
some of Dr A.W tozer's essays if you've
never read Toes or you have robbed yourself
yourself
you get a hold of A.W tozer's writings
and read them
and every essay every little message has
the same message same emphasis
it's not important to know about God we
have to know God
a lot of us know about God
we know about God's character and about
God's creation and about God's word we
don't know God
and the more we know God the more we
become like God and Jonah got A's on all
of his theology exams but did not really
and our worm continues he told you he
had answers to prayer he did but his
prayers are very selfish
why that prayer back in chapter two he
prayed that to save his own skin
but in chapter one he didn't pray to
save anybody else's skin and here in
chapter 4 instead of praying for these
dear people who are repenting he's
praying take my life take my life I want
to die I'd rather die than go back home
and have to face my Jewish friends
his prayers are selfish if he doesn't
get what he wants he gets Ang [Music]
[Music]
to put it in one simple sentence he's pampered
he likes to have Creature Comforts
when he was sitting out there in the
booth and the gourd came up he was so
happy for that gourd because it shaded
him from the Sun
and our worm says to the committee you
know folks the thing that makes you
happy shows what your character is
he wasn't happy because Nineveh repented
he was happy because he had some shade
but our worm doesn't leave much of a
according to Jonah's credentials
he's got it made he's the ideal missionary
missionary
according to Jonah's companions he flunks
flunks
he's the worst possible candidate
what are we going to do
well there's one more witness we need to
call that's the witness of God
Jonah's Creator and Jonas God
God
let's ask God what he knows about this
now far be it for me that I should ever
interrogate God
but let's use our imaginations tonight
did you call Jonah yes I did called him twice
twice
did Jonah obey you [Music]
[Music]
yes he obeyed me outwardly but not inwardly
inwardly
what do you mean by that
his heart wasn't in it
in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 6 it
says doing the will of God
from your heart [Music]
[Music]
but not from his heart
are the statements true that these
Witnesses gave yes they're all true
every one of them
well then Lord what do you suggest we do [Music]
[Music]
there's another lesson he has to learn
from me that he hasn't learned yet let
me teach him that lesson I'm glad God
doesn't give up on missionary candidates
or preacher candidates or Deacon
candidates or Saint candidates
I'm glad that God didn't give up on
Abraham the first time Abraham fell flat
on his face
down in Egypt
I'm glad he didn't give up on David when
David ran scared
I'm glad he didn't give up on Jeremiah
when Jeremiah was ready to quit
I'm glad I didn't give up on Peter
when Peter denied him three times I'm
glad he didn't give up on John Mark we
wouldn't have the gospel of Mark if he'd
given up on John Mark
I'm glad he hasn't given up on you and
I've given up on me
now this was no opportunity to tempt God
but it is an encouragement not to quit
and God says to the missionary committee
let's give him another opportunity he
has some more lessons to learn and I
think after he's learned these lessons
he will be just the missionary you need [Music]
[Music]
I notice how God deals with Jonah up
till now he's been dealing with Jonah
with big things storms
and seas and great fish lots of noise
but now he's not doing that
now he's dealing with god with Jonah
very gently
wind now the wind he's talking about
here is that hot Oriental wind that is
so stifling and so smothering
that you can't take it when this kind of
a wind begins to blow in the desert
areas people Run for Cover they find any
cool place they can find because this
wind just almost buries you in the
stifling atmosphere and the sun was
beating down upon Joy nothing noisy
nothing huge and cumbersome
but it was there
God had to deal further with Jonah but
he dealt with him so gently
and so patiently and so graciously
because he had to teach him one more lesson
lesson [Music]
[Music]
you see in the first three chapters of
this book Jonah had learned three very
important lessons about God
chapter one he learned the lesson of
God's Providence you can't run away from God
God
wherever you go God's going to be there
and he'll keep backing you into a corner
chapter two he learned the lesson of
God's pardon if you cry out and say Lord
forgive me God I'll forgive you chapter
3 he learned the lesson of God's power
you obey God
God will do something God powerfully
worked through his word in chapter 3.
but there's one little word In Jonah 4 10.
10.
it shows the fourth lesson Jonah had to
learn the most important lesson not the
lesson of God's Providence and not the
lesson of God's pardon and not the
lesson of God's power but the lesson of
God's pity
Jonah had to learn how to love lost souls
souls [Music]
[Music]
now how did God teach him this
this is a truth I picked up from Phil Lassie
Lassie
he and I have been working together for
a long time we haven't gotten it written
yet but we're working on a book on Jonah
Phil said to me you know did you ever
notice that the first time God dealt
with Jonah he stuck him down in these in
the sea down in the fish way down where
it was dark and dismal and damp dangerous
dangerous
the second time he dealt with Jonah he
had him right out in the open with the
sun beating down on him that hot wind
blowing against him from water which was
cold and clammy to heat
I said tell me why did he do it that way
Phil said I think
that the reason God did this
was to remind Jonah of what it felt like
to be a Lost Sinner
and I think he's right
what's it like to be a Lost Sinner it's
like being down the bottom of the ocean dark
dark death
Jonah said I'm in a dungeon I've come to
where are unsaved people tonight they're
in darkness they're in death
they're in dungeons
then he went to the Other Extreme what's
it like to be unsaved that awful heat
that awful torment that constant torture
I wonder if In Jonah chapter 4
God wasn't giving Jonah A Taste of hell [Music]
[Music]
I firmly believe that if tonight every
one of us dreamed that we went to hell
came back
it would change our attitude toward lost
souls it would change our attitude
toward giving toward praying toward
obeying toward missions [Music]
[Music]
and God said let me just take one more
opportunity of dealing with children
but Lord what is it you want from Jonah
no when I made Jonah here's what I gave
him says God I gave him a body
I gave my mind
I gave him a will and I gave him a heart
and I called All of Jonah to serve me
and over in the first chapter I said
arise go to Nineveh I wanted him to
understand my will with his mind
I wanted him to love my will with his
heart I wanted him to do my will with
his will controlling his body
but instead Jonah had my will in his
mind but not the rest of him
and he picked up his body and went in
the opposite direction so I had to track
him down and in chapter two he said I
will I will so in Chapter 2 I got his
will chapter one I got his mind chapter
two I got his will chapter three I got
his body he took his body and went to
well how are you going to get his heart
I'm going to show him how dumb he is
and so up comes this plant and shelters
Joan he says oh I'm so thankful for this
plant plant dies Along Came the worm
that's the end of the plant
and Jonah is very unhappy about the
plant and God says you know Jonah you're
a fool
this plant came up in a night and it
perishes in a night here's a whole city
of people who are going to live forever
someplace Heaven or Hell
Jonah this plant you didn't have
anything to do with that plant it just
came and it went
and you were sorry when it left I made
these people over here I'm concerned
about them
there's just one plant there's a million people
people
the only issue here is your comfort over
here the issue is eternity now Jonah
what kind of a person are you do you
love creature comfort so much but don't
he had to teach Jonah
the lesson of God's pity God wants my heart
heart
give me thy heart
keep thy heart with all diligence for
out of it are the issues of life
if the Heart Is Right the will will be
right if the Heart Is Right the mind
will be right if the Heart Is Right the
and so the last lesson God had to teach Jonah
I want your heart
you'll love my people
I made these people
and so when you get right down to it
doing the will of God is not a matter of
it's a matter of loving it in the heart
Ephesians 6 6 doing the will of God from
the heart
and if I am faced with something I have
to do and I can't honestly say Lord I
love this I love you for this I've got
to stay on my face before God until he
has my heart
that's why when Jesus spoke to Peter
at that breakfast meeting
he didn't say Peter do you know my will
he didn't say Peter do you understand my
word he said Peter
so the most important question we have
to answer tonight is we are on trial not
Jonah his trial's over we're on trial do
we do the will of God from our heart do
we love the will of God no matter what
it may cost us no matter how people may
criticize us no matter what discomfort
we may encounter do we love the will of
God from our heart
that's the way Jesus lived [Music]
[Music]
I Delight to do thy will O Lord he said
thy law is within my heart
that's why there's no verse 12 here you
have to write verse 12. now some of you
would not agree with God you'd say well
Jonah did his job leave him alone oh no
verse 12
ought to read and Jonah said oh God
I Repent of my selfishness and my
immaturity forgive me now go with me
we're going back to Nineveh
and let's get the work done I think
that's the way it would read and I think
that's what Jonah did
I firmly believe in my own heart that
Jonah came to the place where he saw how
foolish he was
he confessed his sin and God gave him a
compassion of heart for the people to
whom he was ministering
the name Jonah means dove
Jonah didn't turn out to be a dub turned
when you think of a dove you think of
Peace he brought a storm
when you think of a dove you think of
loyalty and love he was angry and disobedient
he was grieving the Holy Spirit
well Jonah
we have interviewed you your credentials
are marvelous
your companions don't have such a good
testimony for you
but God's on your side Jonah
God's going to give you another chance
learn the lesson of God's pity
when you've learned that
when you can do the will of God from the
heart Jonah
God can really use you and you'll be blessed
blessed
gracious father
how many times we have
counterfeited obedience by outward
actions when our inward attitudes were
very very selfish and sinful
and for this we're sorry
we are not here tonight oh God to search
each other you must search our hearts
you must try us
let us know if there be some Wicked way
in US
father we like to excuse our sins
oh Lord help us to see tonight that our
theology is only as good as our living
that are believing is worthless without behaving
gracious father
Deliver Us from sins in good standing
sins of bitterness and criticism
sins of anger
sins of inner disposition that are ungodly
ungodly
and help us tonight to begin to learn
the lesson of your pity
and may the love of Christ constrain us
and may we do the will of God from the heart
not of necessity
not of compulsion
but out of love
I pray for the one who may be here who
is not saved May that one come and Trust Christ
Christ
I pray for that believer who is
rebelling May that one surrender do
something to all of us tonight [Music]
[Music]
so that will not be unloving
[Music]
[Laughter] [Music]
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