0:07 welcome to back to the Bible radio in
0:09 just a moment we'll join pastor and
0:11 best-selling author Warren Weir's beat
0:13 for an encouraging message from God's
0:15 Word but first let me remind you to
0:18 visit back to the Bible org you'll find
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0:33 find it all at back to the Bible org
0:36 that's back to the Bible org I've often
0:38 said there are three beautiful love
0:42 stories in the Old Testament Ruth tells
0:45 us about God's love for his church and
0:48 Hosea tells us about God's love for
0:50 Israel and Jonah tells us about God's
0:52 love for the lost world
0:55 the tragedy is Jonah didn't love these
0:57 people Jonah was not concerned the only
1:00 reason that the Jonah went to Nineveh to
1:02 do the will of God is because he was
1:04 frightened if he did not do the will of
1:07 God he might end up being chastened
1:10 again but God was concerned God has
1:14 grace enough for lost sinners and he
1:16 knew how many children there were in the
1:19 city look at verse 11 of chapter four
1:21 God is speaking to Jonah and God says
1:24 and should not I spare Nineveh that
1:28 great city in which are more than six
1:30 score thousand persons that cannot
1:32 discern between their right hand and
1:34 their left hand that would be a hundred
1:37 and twenty thousand children and also
1:40 much cattle remarkable the last word in
1:43 this little book is the word cattle God
1:45 even had compassion for the animals why
1:48 because when people are wicked they will
1:51 be wicked to God's creation we today
1:54 have ruined the ecology we have ruined
1:57 nature because of our selfishness and
2:00 our wickedness here's a great challenge
2:04 and a great concern and God is concerned
2:08 today about lost humanity God is
2:11 concerned that people come to know
2:13 Christ as their Savior you see we have
2:15 the idea that we have this thing called
2:18 missions because of a commission
2:20 that's true go into all the world and
2:22 preach the gospel to every creature but
2:25 missions grows out of the very nature of
2:28 God our God is a giving God our God is a
2:32 loving God and because God so loved the
2:35 world we have this thing called missions
2:37 yet there are some of God's people who
2:40 aren't concerned about missions here's a
2:42 man or a woman a couple of family goes
2:45 out into the the wilderness out into the
2:47 battlefield and lives there for four or
2:49 five years and comes back and wants to
2:51 share the burden with us and here's a
2:53 church officer who says I don't want to
2:56 listen to a missionary I'll give my
2:58 money as a substitute for listening to a
3:01 missionary that's sad because our God is
3:04 a God who has a great concern now in
3:06 verses two three and four we have a
3:08 great confidence the confidence that God
3:11 can work this seems ridiculous that one
3:15 little disobedient Jew could make a
3:18 difference to a whole city a million
3:21 people or more here's a Jew going to the
3:24 Gentiles with an unpopular message of
3:27 judgment so Jonah arose and went unto
3:29 Nineveh according to the word of the
3:32 Lord we have to obey what we preach now
3:35 Nineveh was an exceedingly great city of
3:38 three days journey that meant you had to
3:40 take three days to get through the city
3:44 it was a large large complex of four
3:48 cities the word great has found 14 times
3:50 in the Book of Jonah four times we're
3:52 told about a great city
3:54 Nineveh we're told about a great wind
3:57 and a great tempest and a great fish and
4:00 a great fear and a great displeasure
4:04 Jonah was exceedingly displeased with
4:08 God and here we have this great city and
4:10 Jonah began to enter into the city a
4:12 day's journey and he cried and said yet
4:14 forty days and Nineveh shall be
4:16 overthrown now can you think of anything
4:20 that is sillier a little reluctant Jew
4:24 going to evil violent Gentiles with an
4:27 unpopular message of judgment and
4:29 telling them they'd better get
4:30 straightened out or
4:32 God's going to wipe them off the face of
4:34 the earth but you know what happened God
4:38 used his word in power and God did the
4:40 impossible so the people of Nineveh
4:43 believed God and proclaimed a fast and
4:45 put on sackcloth which is an expression
4:48 of sorrow and humility from the greatest
4:50 of them even to the least of them
4:53 forward came unto the king of Nineveh he
4:55 arose from his throne and he laid his
4:57 robe from him and covered himself with
5:00 sackcloth and sat in ashes not that's
5:02 really repentance if a king does it and
5:05 he caused it to be proclaimed and
5:08 published through Nineveh by the decree
5:11 of the king and his noble saying let
5:13 neither man nor beast heard nor flock
5:16 taste anything let them not feed nor
5:19 drink water but let it man and beast be
5:21 covered with sackcloth and cry mightily
5:24 unto God and this is the God of the Jews
5:27 not their own false gods they worshiped
5:29 Ishtar who was the goddess of love and
5:32 war now they're gonna cry out unto the
5:34 god of the Jewish people because
5:37 salvation is of the Jews yay let them
5:40 turn everyone from his evil way and from
5:43 the violence that is in their hands who
5:47 can tell if God will turn and repent and
5:50 turn away from his fierce anger that we
5:52 perish not there's that word perish
5:55 again we ran into that word back in
5:58 chapter 1 verse 6 when the shipmaster
6:02 came and awakened Jonah arise call upon
6:05 thy God if so be that God will think
6:08 upon us that we perish not and then in
6:12 chapter 1 verse 14 the sailors cried
6:14 unto the Lord and said we beseech thee O
6:18 Lord we beseech thee let us not perish
6:20 for this man's life throughout this book
6:22 you find this word perish that's what's
6:25 happening to a lost world the lost world
6:28 is perishing perishing a great
6:32 confidence God did the impossible
6:35 he used the message he performed a
6:38 miracle and something happened to the
6:41 lives of the people in Nineveh you say
6:43 well I have a visit to make or I have a
6:44 sermon to
6:47 I have a lesson to teach I have a job to
6:49 do and it's just too big for me well
6:53 just look at Jonah here's this one man a
6:56 Jew going to a million Gentiles with an
6:58 unpopular message of judgment they could
7:01 have killed him but he obeyed God and
7:04 because he obeyed God there was a
7:07 miracle in that city which leads us to
7:10 the fourth factor we began with a great
7:13 challenge and a great concern and a
7:16 great confidence now we see a great
7:19 change they heard the message they knew
7:22 the time was short and the word says
7:24 that they believed verse 5 the people of
7:26 Nineveh believed and they repented
7:29 repentance toward God and faith in our
7:31 Lord Jesus Christ is our message today
7:34 now they believe the message that Jonah
7:36 proclaimed to them and because they
7:38 believe they cried out to God faith
7:40 comes by hearing and hearing by the Word
7:43 of God they got serious about their sin
7:46 and they repented now the word repent
7:47 means to change your mind
7:49 but true repentance involves the whole
7:52 person it involves the emotions they
7:54 were afraid of judgment it involves
7:56 their mind they changed their mind about
7:59 their sin and about their pride and
8:02 about their evil waves it involved their
8:04 will because they turned from their
8:06 violence and from their evil and they
8:11 sought to obey God God used Jonah in a
8:13 remarkable way and there occurred a
8:17 great change you know pastor there may
8:19 be some man in your community you've
8:21 been trying to reach for Christ there
8:23 may be some family you've been trying to
8:26 win and you've just about given up they
8:28 are your Nineveh you're saying to the
8:30 Lord Lord I don't want to go there
8:31 anymore I don't want to make one more
8:33 visit I'm not even gonna pray for them
8:37 anymore I am just fed up well don't be
8:39 that way because just about the time you
8:42 think nothing can happen a great miracle
8:44 is going to take place one of the best
8:47 witnesses and soul winners I ever knew
8:48 was a man who used to bring his family
8:50 to church and park out in front of the
8:53 church and read the Sunday paper he
8:54 wouldn't come in he wouldn't listen to
8:57 reason he wouldn't listen to witness he
8:58 was a
9:01 kind man but he was a stubborn man well
9:03 his wife was a loving witness and she
9:05 prayed and the church family prayed and
9:07 one Sunday he decided to come into
9:09 church and that was the Sunday that God
9:13 met him and he came down that aisle and
9:15 he said I want to give my heart to Jesus
9:18 Christ and that man became a great
9:21 servant of the Lord God has brought you
9:23 to a place that is just like Nineveh
9:26 walls and towers and stubbornness and
9:29 sin and violence and disobedience and
9:30 you're probably saying in your heart and
9:33 nothing's going to happen here well
9:35 something's going to happen you just
9:39 obey God in verse 10 and God saw their
9:41 works that they turned from their evil
9:44 way and God repented of the evil that he
9:47 had said that he would do unto them and
9:51 he did it not now they were not saved by
9:53 their works they were saved by their
9:55 faith you notice that they repented of
9:58 their sin and they believed God but you
10:00 see when we are truly repentant and when
10:03 we have believed God it will evidence
10:06 itself by our work something changed on
10:09 the outside because they had repented on
10:12 the inside and God repented now it
10:14 doesn't mean that God has to change his
10:18 character or change his attitudes God
10:20 said all right they did what I wanted
10:22 them to do they have repented of their
10:25 sin now I will turn and not do the
10:28 judgment that I was going to bring to
10:31 the city of Nineveh our God is so
10:35 willing and ready to forgive in chapter
10:39 4 verse 2 Jonah says this I knew that
10:42 thou art a gracious God and merciful
10:46 slow to anger and of great kindness and
10:49 repent ously of the evil our God is a
10:52 God who is loving and gracious now he
10:56 will judge sin he will not permit sin to
10:58 go without judgment but when he sees a
11:01 broken heart and a believing heart then
11:03 he comes with restoration and
11:06 forgiveness and cleansing the
11:08 interesting thing is this God used Jonah
11:10 even though Jonah's heart was not right
11:11 with God
11:14 you see in Chapter one Jonah ran away
11:16 from God because he was afraid of God's
11:20 will in Chapter two he ran to God
11:22 because he was in a bad spot it was an
11:25 emergency he wanted the will of God now
11:28 he was in trouble in Chapter three he
11:32 obeyed God simply because he had to he
11:35 was afraid not to the important part of
11:37 this book now is going to come in
11:39 Chapter four where Jonah has one more
11:43 lesson to learn the lesson of God's pity
11:47 now what are you doing today to help to
11:50 reach the multitudes in this world who
11:52 need to hear the message think about that
11:59 whenever you read a story or a book you
12:01 want to know what the ending is it's
12:04 very disquieting to read a story and
12:06 turn the page and discover we don't know
12:07 the ending
12:10 and yet the book of johna is a book
12:14 without a completed ending you see in
12:15 Chapter three
12:19 the city of Nineveh repents and God saw
12:21 their repentance and God said I will not
12:24 judge them now according to modern
12:26 standards the story should have ended at
12:30 Jonah chapter 3 verse 10 Jonah did his
12:33 work the city was rescued and they lived
12:36 happily ever after however we have
12:39 chapter 4 in Jonah why because God is
12:42 more concerned about the worker than he
12:44 is the work you say well God got what he
12:47 wanted the city of Nineveh repented and
12:50 the message was preached what more could
12:52 God want he wants the heart and the love
12:56 of his servant you see if you stop in
12:58 chapter 3 of Jonah Jonah looks very
13:01 successful he preaches a great revival
13:04 he's had a marvelous experience sharing
13:08 the Word of God and yet what happens
13:11 well God has to go deeper with Jonah and
13:14 teach him one more lesson let's review
13:17 just a little bit in Chapter 1 we have
13:20 resignation Jonah says I will not do the
13:23 will of God and he learns the lesson of
13:25 God's providence you can't run away from
13:28 God in chapter 2 we've called it
13:30 repentance and there he learns the
13:32 lesson of God's part and God does
13:36 forgive when we come and we ask him in
13:38 chapter 3 he learned the lesson of God's
13:42 power we called chapter 3 revival but
13:44 now in chapter 4 he has one final lesson
13:45 to learn
13:48 let's call chapter 4 rebellion but it
13:52 displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was
13:56 very angry rebellion Jonah has to learn
14:00 the lesson of God's pity allow me to
14:02 review these chapters again you see in
14:06 chapter 1 God got a hold of Jonah's mind
14:08 Jonah knew what
14:10 I wanted him to do but he wouldn't do it
14:13 in Chapter two God got ahold of Jonah's
14:17 mind and his will Jonah said I will I
14:20 will I will
14:22 and then the fish regurgitated Jonah and
14:24 he went and preached as he's supposed to
14:28 preach in Chapter three God got ahold of
14:31 Jonah's mind and his will and his body
14:33 Jonah picked up his body and said I'm
14:35 gonna go to Nineveh I want this to
14:37 happen again but you know there was one
14:40 area in Jonah's life that God had not
14:43 yet conquered he had not yet conquered
14:45 his heart he had his mind
14:47 Jonah knew what he was supposed to do
14:50 God had his will he did it God had his
14:54 body Jonah went to Nineveh but God did
14:57 not have Jonah's heart Ephesians six six
14:59 says doing the will of God from the
15:01 heart what was wrong with Jonah's heart
15:05 his heart was angry at God and angry at
15:07 the people who had repented
15:10 you must remember that Jonah was a
15:14 patriotic Jew Nineveh was going to be
15:18 the great enemy of Israel and actually
15:22 Jonah wanted God to judge Nineveh for
15:24 two reasons one Nineveh was their enemy
15:27 - he knew that his own people needed to
15:31 be warned about their sins it's very
15:33 likely that Jonah was saying in his
15:36 heart Oh Lord how can you forgive these Ninevites
15:37 Ninevites
15:40 why don't you judge them and make them
15:44 an example exhibit a to our own people
15:46 that they might turn away from their
15:49 sins what it really boiled down to was
15:51 that Jonah did not have love in his
15:53 heart for the people he was preaching to
15:56 God looks at the heart man may look at
15:58 the outward appearance but God looks at
16:00 the heart and here in Jonah chapter 4
16:02 you have a believer acting like an
16:05 unbeliever you have an adult acting like
16:08 a child you have a servant of God acting
16:11 like a servant of Satan he is not
16:15 yielded to the Lord now it's a dangerous
16:18 thing for this attitude of rebellion and
16:20 bitterness and anger to get a hold of our
16:21 our
16:24 you know the name Jonah means dove the
16:25 dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit
16:29 we're told in Ephesians 4 grieve not the
16:32 Holy Spirit of God and one of the sins
16:35 that grieves the Holy Spirit is anger
16:39 Jonah had been as it were raised from
16:41 the dead he'd gone down into the depths
16:44 he'd been swallowed by the great fish he
16:45 had experienced death burial and
16:48 resurrection at least in a symbolic
16:50 sense well if you're risen with Christ
16:52 what should you do seek those things
16:56 which are above says Colossians 3:1 set
16:58 your affection on things above not on
17:01 things on the earth mortify therefore
17:03 your members which are upon the earth
17:06 that he names the sins we should put
17:10 away covetousness idolatry anger wrath
17:14 malice you see Jonah was not living on
17:17 resurrection ground he's like some of us
17:19 today we have been identified with Jesus
17:21 Christ and death burial and resurrection
17:26 and yet we're not living as we should we
17:27 haven't set our affection on things
17:30 above our attention on things above we
17:33 don't love the lost sinners around us we
17:34 don't like the things that they do we
17:36 don't like them sometimes we don't only
17:39 hate the sin we hate the sinner now
17:42 there is a godly anger in the Bible no
17:45 one will deny that Moses had a godly
17:48 anger when he when he took the golden
17:51 calf and he smashed it broke it into
17:55 bits Jesus had a godly anger when he
17:58 cleanse the temple Ephesians 4:26 says
18:00 be angry and sin not
18:03 but Jonah's anger in chapter 4 of Jonah
18:06 is not a godly anger it's a selfish
18:09 carnal worldly fleshly anger and when
18:12 this gets a hold of our lives we are in
18:14 trouble let's consider several aspects
18:17 of this anger that Jonah displays in
18:20 Jonah chapter 4 first of all the reason
18:23 for his anger well the reason for his
18:26 anger is in complete surrender to God if
18:29 there is one area in our lives that has
18:32 not yielded to God the devil will use it
18:34 as a foothold that's why it says and
18:37 Chapter four neither give place to the
18:40 devil don't give the devil a beachhead
18:43 any area in my life that has not yielded
18:47 to God is open season for the devil and
18:50 you see even though God had gotten ahold
18:54 of Jonah's mind and finally got ahold of
18:56 his will and finally got ahold of his
19:00 body he had not gotten ahold of Jonah's
19:03 heart in a very real sense Jonah is the
19:05 elder brother of the Old Testament
19:08 remember in Luke chapter 15 the parable
19:11 the prodigal son the boy came home and
19:13 the father rejoiced and they were having
19:16 a big feast thankful to God that the boy
19:19 who was dead was now alive again the boy
19:22 who was lost was now found everybody was
19:25 happy except the elder brother he came
19:26 in from the field and said what's going
19:28 on the servant boy said why your
19:31 brothers come home why didn't the elder
19:33 brother even know that his younger
19:34 brother had come home he wasn't looking
19:36 for him didn't want him to come home and
19:39 the Word of God says and he was angry
19:40 and he would not go in he wouldn't go
19:42 into the party he stayed outside outside
19:45 the fellowship outside the place of joy
19:48 the father had to come out and beseech
19:51 him to come in the elder brother had
19:54 anger in his heart he was angry at the
19:56 grace of his father angry at the
19:59 forgiveness of his father this is what
20:01 Jonah said to God and he prayed unto the
20:05 Lord and said I pray thee O Lord was not
20:08 this my saying when I was yet in my
20:10 country in other words even before he'd
20:12 gone he'd determined this in his heart
20:15 therefore I fled before unto Tarshish
20:19 for I knew that thou art a gracious God
20:22 and merciful slow to anger and of great
20:26 kindness and repent ously of the evil he
20:28 really knows his theology doesn't he
20:32 he's quoting here from Exodus 34 verse 6
20:37 numbers 14 verse 18 back in chapter 2
20:40 and his prayer he quotes from Psalm 120
20:44 and psalm 42 and Psalm 31 he quotes from
20:48 Psalm 69 he quotes from
20:51 three here's a man who can really quote
20:53 scripture but it hasn't changed the
20:55 attitude of his heart
20:58 you see if God is gracious we should be
20:59 gracious because we're the children of
21:01 God if God is merciful we should be
21:04 merciful if God is slow to anger we
21:06 should be slow to anger if God has great
21:09 kindness so should we be a kind one to
21:11 another tender-hearted forgiving one
21:13 another even as God for Christ's sake
21:18 hath forgiven you the reason for Jonah's
21:21 anger he was not completely surrendered
21:24 to God you see you can be in the place
21:27 of service and still not have your heart
21:29 yielded to God you can be busy preaching
21:31 the gospel on a mission field as Jonah
21:34 was and still not be totally yielded to
21:35 God you can hate the people you're
21:38 ministering to all the important thing
21:41 is not just that Nineveh is saved the
21:43 important thing is that Jonah is saved
21:49 from his own anger and self-will the sad
21:51 thing isn't it when a child of God a
21:54 servant of God is rebelling the way
21:58 Jonah did well I need to ask myself the
22:00 question and perhaps you need to ask
22:01 yourself the question have I learned the
22:04 lesson of God's pity we'll finish our
22:07 study in chapter 4 the Lord willing next
22:10 time but I want you to know that you and
22:12 I need to examine our hearts and find
22:14 out if we learn the lesson of God's pity
22:18 should I not pity this great city is
22:20 what the Lord said to Jonah may the Lord
22:23 help each of us to have a heart for
22:26 souls a love for people to share the
22:30 compassion of Christ with a lost world [Music]
22:32 [Music]
22:34 thanks for being a part of our back to
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22:37 wonderful to have you with us each day
22:39 if you missed part of the program or
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22:52 more wisdom from God's Word back to the
22:54 Bible leading you forward in your
22:57 relationship with Jesus Christ [Music]
