Grace Baptist Church Portsmouth

THEOLOGY UNAPPLIED

JONAH 4:1-11

We could label the fourth chapter, “The Pouting of Jonah.”

Chapter 1 pursued prophet

Chapter 2 praying prophet

Chapter 3 preaching prophet

Chapter 4 pouting prophet

We would imagine that Jonah would be elated at the response of the Ninevites to his preaching. Yet he only pouts, complains, prays in anger, and desires to die! What was his problem? Jonah had plenty of theology in his head but all too little had penetrated his heart.

This is one of my big fears as a preacher. That as word is opened up it does not affect our lives. Preaching is about change! God’s word is to be applied.

Jonah’s problem can be ours. It may be visible somewhat differently than Jonah’s, but it surfaces nonetheless. It shows up in our complaints, worries, fears, angry, and bitterness in life. When our knowledge of God merely fills our brain without capturing our hearts, then we have an unapplied theology
The book of Jonah doesn’t end with all the answers, it concludes with a question and it doesn’t provide the answer.

 I. Have You Ever Felt Sorry For Yourself ? vss 1-3

 Chapter four opens with Jonah having his own personal pity party. He was feeling very sorry for himself.

Jonah is acting three year old who has been told that he cannot have ice cream before lunch.

But look how Jonah acts here. – But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. NKJ

And what was Jonah angry about? The amazing work of God in not bringing judgment on thousands of people! Jonah is angry because God is not.

Here is man who has experienced the amazing grace of God himself and God’s wonderful salvation in such a dramatic way and yet when that same grace and salvation is extended to others he is angry.

Here is the danger of unapplied theology. Jonah never demonstrates any real interest in the people of Nineveh. If God had destroyed the city, Jonah would have gone home a happy man.

He is like the man that the Lord Jesus told about who was let of a huge debt and then immediately went out and grabbed one of debtors by the throat and throw into prison for the non-payment of a small debt.

May the Lord give us a compassionate heart to reach the lost, to pray for them and to love them.

Jonah’s attitude comes from the pit. Again we need to be warned here. Jonah has just been mightily used as God’s mouthpiece now he expressing attitudes that belong to kingdom of darkness.

Just like Peter. In one moment he is making a gt a statement concerning the divinity of the LJC in the next he is acting like Satan’s mouthpiece and trying to stop the Lord going to the cross.

Most pastors are frustrated at some point because people refuse to change. Here Jonah got frustrated because they did change.
 His attitude was wrong it was from the pit, but there is a bit of silver lining to this cloud. He does one thing sort of right.  What is it?
 
1) At least instead of just complaining Jonah complained to God in prayer.

2) The selfishness of the prayer must be noted. The word, “I” or “my” is in the prayer no fewer than 9 times in the Hebrew.

Jonah was still praying but his prayers were still self centered and self focused. When we pray are we are concerned about the glory of God and the extension of his kingdom.

 When our prayers center around our own selfish whims, we are in trouble. Many today are guilty of selfish prayers.
Let me ask a second question. . .

II. Have You Ever Been angry at God? 4-9

1. When you look at Jonah he seems to be mad at the world. His anger was even directed toward God.
1) How could Jonah, of all people, forget God’s mercy so quickly?

2) He should have died when he was thrown into the sea, but he survived.

3) He should have died in the fish’s belly, but he survived.

4) He shouldn’t have got another chance to serve God, but he did.

How soon we forget. If we have trusted in the LJC as our savior we have received forgiveness/ pardon/ eternal life/ eternal riches. We are called children of God, heirs and joint heirs with Christ. Saved from hell and judgment brought into the kingdom of light.

And yet so soon we forget who we are and what our savior has done for us. That is wot happens when we sin. We forget that we are redeemed with an infinite price. We forget about the amazing grace of God.

Friends remember him this week. Psalms 103. 1.  Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2.  Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3.  Who forgives all your iniquities

O THOU, my soul, forget no more

the Friend who all thy misery bore;

let every idol be forgot,

but, O my soul, forget Him not.

 

4 Infinite truth and mercy shine

in Him, and He Himself is thine;

and canst thou, then, with sin beset,

such charms, such matchless charms, forget?

 When you read chapter 4 Jonah acted like he thought he was in the right & God was wrong. He even argued with God. God didn’t argue, but He got ready to teach Jonah a lesson. Jonah was focused on the wrong things.

When we’re angry at God it’s a pretty good sign that we have lost our perspective and are focused on the wrong things.

It is like the short- sighted men who goes into an electrical store and asks to buy the T.V on offer and the sales man says I can’t sell that. The man becomes angry and demands to know why and the salesman tells him that he is looking at a micro wave and not a T.V.

The wrong perspective can make a world of difference. while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

The Lord showed how wrong his prospective was. How ironic that Jonah cared more for a plant than he did for a great city like Nineveh
 
III. Has God Ever Taught You a Tough Lesson? 10-11

I suspect I know the answer to that question. All of us have times when we need to learn a particularly difficult lesson. If we are willing to really listen, God helps us work through life’s tough lessons too.
 Jonah was about to learn a big lesson that wasn’t going to be easy to swallow. In fact, we’re not even sure he got it, because the book ends without telling us if he finally understood. 

The point of the book was to teach Jonah and those who would read the book later about God’s love.

We are to love those God loves and to share the grace we have experienced with those who haven’t experienced it yet.

 Jonah was selfish. If we are honest, all of us are selfish too.

I relate to Jonah far better than I want. Being selfish comes naturally to us all.  

To ignore what’s going on in the larger world and becomes obsessed with what’s happening in our own small corner of the world demonstrates that we are selfish. It was one of the big reasons Jonah wasn’t happy. He was too focused on himself.  If we are honest, all of us understand what it is to lose our perspective and major on things that don’t matter and minor on things that matter.

That’s part of the selfishness we constantly fight.  

In the church graveyard in Dundee, the godly minister Robert Murray Mcshane,  erected a white marble stone. It was placed at the entrance of the graveyard. On this white marble stone there was one word carved in black letters. Do you know that that word was?

ETERNITY. There to remind people about their eternal souls that will never die. There to challenge people to live for eternity.

There to remind people to care for the eternal souls of others.

AS you look at vss 9-11 it is very striking. Who has the last word in the book? That is very telling is it not? When we are out of step with the Lord who will have the last word?

I sometimes hear people rage against God and say when I see Him I’ll give him a piece of my mind. Yet when all stand before him on judgment day who has will have the last word?

AS WITH BOOK OF JONAH GOD WIL HAVE YHE LAST WORD ON THAT DAY.

So wot have we learnt from this book-

Have we learnt that it is impossible to run from away from God?

Have we learnt that the sovereign Lord controls all things?

Have we learnt that he answer prayer, even the prayer of a disobedient prophet?

Have we learnt that God has the power to transform a pagan city by his Word and Spirit? And that God will have compassion even on his enemies if they repent?

Have we learnt that eternity matters and souls matter more than anything else?

The answer to all those questions is YES. So if we have learnt all those things are we going to hears and doers of God’s word?

Jonah the preaching prophet.

Jonah 2.10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

 Picture Jonah- as lays on the beach, exhausted, drained, stunned, skin, clothes bleached by the acid in the fish stomach, stinking!! Not fully understanding what has happened to Him but knowing something very fishy has occurred!

 He scrounges up eyes as he looks at the sun!

 Then for the first in three days take a breath of clean sweat air! That air made so much more sweeter when we read Jonah Chapter 3 verse 1

 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time:

 Underline that verse. It is like the light shinning through a stain glass window and it shows the multicolored display of God’s amazing grace.

 There are three things to say.

 1. Re-commission

 Look again at Ch 3:1what  music to our ears.

- the most comforting vvs in the entire book.

 What grace! This is our God. Remember God was NOT dependent on Jonah!

 He is the God of the second chance- God of grace, the God of total forgiveness if we truly repent.

 Poem

 There is a very poignant poem by Loiuse Fletcher called the Land of Begin again.

 I wish that there were some wonderful place called The Land of Begin Again, Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches and all our poor selfish grief… Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door and never be put on again I wish that there were some wonderful place called The Land of Begin Again.

 Do you ever  feel like that? If only I could start over. If only I had a chance not live with consequences of my wrong judgements and choices. If only I had a second chance! If only I had yesterday again today.

Do you ever feel like that? Well because of the wonder of God’s grace…..

The Word of the Lord came to Jonah a Second TIME. Two words- AMAZING GRACE.

Vss 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.”

Compare that with Ch 1:2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.’

Is this different? Am I reading things into the text by saying Ch 3:2 has more overtures of grace to it than the Judgement that is announced in Ch 1:2

Is our text saying in a subtle way that Jonah has received much grace and now he is therefore to be a messenger of Grace to sinful, corrupt Nineveh.

Apply- Should not those who receive grace be the ideal messengers of grace.

2. Response

vss 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.

Jonah went. He obeyed. What a waste of energy. If only he obeyed the first time! Sometimes we make things so much harder. If we take on the Lord in stubborn rebellion who is going to win.

Illust- Ant for its size is very strong. But if an ant were to take you on in a tug of war who wud win? Our hearts sometimes can be stubbornly strong. But if you fight against the Lord, the sovereign God who will win?

Prov 13 15.  Good understanding gains favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard. 16.  Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool lays open his folly.

Prov 28:  13.  He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

Jonah went. He obeyed Do NOT under-estimate that it was still a hugely difficult thing for Jonah to do. He goes to his enemies.

What must he, Jonah have been thinking as he approached Nineveh? I am sure there was fear. An overwhelming sense of inadequacy. A desire to be somewhere, else anywhere else.

 Application- Obedience can be costly. It usually is. Deny yourself, pick up cross and follow. That’s costly obedience.

 Living for the glory of Christ and not for self .That’s costly obedience

 Going to Nineveh and preaching against. That is costly obedience.

 3. We see a Revival

 Do you believe this evening that the word of God can really change lives?

Do you believe that people on Copnor rd,  New rd, Station Rd,could affected by the Gospel?

What about Copnor, Fratton, Hilsea, Southsea, Portsmouth itself?

Do we believe that Portsmouth can that be transformed by the simple preaching of this book and the mighty work of God’s Spirit?

What about London? With it’s 7 million people? IS it possible?

 Look at vvs 4-7

And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

 5.  So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.

 6.  Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.7.  And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, “Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water.

 John Piper makes the point that Jonah doesn’t stand at the city limits at shout at the city.

He goes right into the city.

He walks the streets, smells the smells, sees the sights, hears the sounds, eats the food.

With them. Among them.

As a good prophet of the Lord.

Right in the gritty places of life.

 Not sending the message in via a third party.

But going right in – himself.

In among the enemy.

Into the foreign culture.

Into the unsafe space.

Into uncomfortable territory.

Into a zone where he might be challenged.

That’s where the prophet goes.

That’s where the church goes.

 Not hiding from the culture, but engaging it.

Not hiding from our neighbours, but welcoming them.

Not waiting till they come to us, but finding ways to go to them.

Going into Nineveh.

 We are told only 8 words that Jonah spoke to Nineveh. This was a summary.

Vvs4 “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”

 It is evident that he preached an unpleasant, hard hitting, direct message with no punches pulled. It was clear, urgent and certainly not entertaining.

 Wot happened vvs 5  The Ninevites believed God. AMAZING!

 Apply to modern church- you have entertainment, you must make people feel good. You have to market the gospel. Not the Biblical way! Not the true Gospel.

 Look again vvs 5-7

Such was the power of the word of God that everyone was affected. From the greatest to the least. Vss 5  Even the king is moved. Even he humbles himself in sackcloth.

This is a sign of genuine of repentance and sorrow for sin.

This is a work of God on a massive scale. It is only God who changes the people of Nineveh. But Jonah already Knew this.

Remember last week- key statement- Jonah 2.9 SALVATION COMES FROM THE LORD.

 Do you see the potential and power of the clear preaching of the word of God?

Oh to live in days when the power of God is revealed trough the gospel by the Holy Spirit.

Do you see what happens in Nineveh? There is genuine and heartfelt repentance. There is a throwing of oneself on the mercy of God.

God is great in mercy.

Here is this great, cruel, pagan, city- crying out to God for mercy. And what happens?  God forgives.

Look at vv 10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it

What a wonderful vvs 10 is. It is the character of God to show compassion, to forgive, to pardon if genuine repentance is shown.

What an invitation everyone has this evening. If God will show mercy to godless Nineveh will he not also show mercy to you, if you will repent?

God pardoned his enemies, he forgave great sinners.

Three great lies the devil uses.

 1) You are too good for the gospel

2) You are too bad to be saved by the LJC.

3) You have plenty time. Don’t worry to much, don’t be too urgent!

If the people Nineveh repented and found mercy is there not hope for each one of us.

But what a glorious encouragement Jonah 3 is to preach the gospel.

What a glorious encouragement Jonah 3 is pray for he preaching of the Gospel!

If God could turn a wicked, pagan, immoral city like Nineveh by using a disobedient prophet- what can he do in Portsmouth?

Pray for the power of God to be seen as his word is proclaimed.

Pray for this community, this city.

Have confidence in the word of God to change and transform.

May the God of Jonah, the God of Nineveh, So come in power that many would be brought to find that He is a gracious God and that the Lord Jesus is a sufficient saviour.

AMEN.

Chapter 1:1-16 The prophet who flees and the sovereign God who pursues.

Introduction:

What happens when God’s people disobey Him? Is God really in control of everything? Should we be concerned for the those who do not know God in this world? Is the word of God really powerful and life changing? Is God a God who gives people a second chance? Is he God of mercy and pardon?

These questions and so much more can be answered as consider a small book  of just 46 vvs and  4 chapters.

There is so much more to this book! G. Campbell Morgan correctly said, “Men have been looking so hard at the GREAT fish that they have failed to see the GREAT God!”

Key points from Chapter 1:1-16

(1) God does speak to us. He invites us to join Him in His work! (vss 1-2)

(2) God DOES speak to us. But sometimes He will tell us things that sinners like you and me don’t like to hear. (vss 2-3)

(3) When we disobey God…when we run from Him…the enemy always provides handy transportation (vss 3) And the Lord will always persue his wayward people. (vss 4)

(4)  Running from God—disobeying our Heavenly Father—is tiresome business. (vvs 5)

(5) You can’t live a disobedient life and it not show. (vss 6-9)

(6) When we disobey God, our sin always affects others. (vss 5, 10)

(7) The Lord is so sovereign that even our sin and disobedience is overruled for good. (vss 14-16)

God has been speaking this to us.

What an awful thing it is to hear God’s speak not obey just like Jonah!

What a wonderful thing it is to know that the God of Jonah is,

• The God who speaks,
• The God who shows mercy to his enemies
• The God who even gives his failed servants a second chance
• The God who has come to us through the Lord Jesus.

Obey Him, follow Him, serve Him