Well, if you would now take your Bibles and turn to Jonah chapter 4. Jonah chapter 4 and verse 1 as we finish up tonight this series that we have done on the book of Jonah. Next week we will begin our exposition of 2 Corinthians. But tonight we are finishing Jonah chapter 4. If you'll turn there and look at verse 1 with me and stand as we read the Word of God together. Jonah chapter 4 and verse 1. This is what the Word of God says to us. Actually, let's start with chapter 3, verse 10. When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that He had said He would do to them, and He did not do it. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? And that is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. And the Lord said, Do you do well to be angry? And Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. And he sat under it in the shade till he should see what would become of the city. Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah that it might be a shade over his head to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered. And when the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, It is better for me to die than to live. But God said to Jonah, Do you do well to be angry for the plant? And he said, Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die. And the Lord said, You pity the plant for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle? Let's pray together. God, we are so grateful for your deep love which you have for each of us. And as we study this book one last time this evening, we ask that you would help us to see that great truth about yourself. That you are indeed a God who is gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and quick to relent from disaster. How we have benefited from those attributes in our own life. Help us to have a desire that others in this world would also come to know you and your great mercy and love. Thank you for what you teach us through this book, and we pray that your spirit would apply it to each of us as you will. In Christ's name, amen. You may be seated. When we come to the last In this study of the book of Jonah, I hope that you have been encouraged, as I have certainly been encouraged, as I have studied for it, as we look at what this book has to teach us about the great God that we serve. But as we look at this passage before us tonight, we find ourselves in a familiar place. Something has changed between chapter 2 and now in chapter 4. In chapter 1 we saw Jonah in his selfishness and in his anger with the Lord and his unloving heart towards the people of Nineveh. And now in chapter 4 we see it again. As this prophet just simply wants to see Nineveh burn. There's really no other way to put it than that. He's going to sit himself up on a hill and just sit there and wait, hoping that God will send fire from heaven to destroy the 120,000 plus people in Nineveh. That's what he wants. Now Jonah made a great statement in chapter 2, verse 9. He declared in a great statement of the sovereignty of God that salvation belongs to the Lord. But what we find out in chapter 4 is that Jonah doesn't want that to be the case. Jonah doesn't want salvation in the hands of God. As a matter of fact, Jonah wants to be in control. Jonah wants to decide who is saved and who receives judgment. He thinks that he should be able to tell God what he should do with the people of Nineveh, that he knows better. But once again, as we have seen in the first three chapters, God reveals himself to be a God of grace and a God of patience. as he will come yet again to this wayward prophet to seek to turn him from his sinful ways. And he will teach us in this process that his grace is not limited to the Jews. It's not limited to any people group. Open to every tribe, tongue, people and nation, even the people of Nineveh. Jonah needs to learn that and we do as well. We do as well. You see, Jonah looks at the people of Nineveh and all of their sinfulness and he wants them to be destroyed. And I wonder tonight if there's anyone that we look at with the same thought. Any group of people that we look at with the same thought. That we could have that type of hatred in us. that we would desire to see them burn. We have to ask ourselves that question. Who are we in this story? And the answer is we're Jonah. We're Jonah. And what we have to ask the Lord to do is help us to see that in ourselves and to repent of it where necessary. And we begin tonight in verse one where the Bible says, but it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was angry. Now, what's Jonah mad about? Well, he's very angry at what we had read in the previous verse, in chapter 3, where he was very angry with the fact that the people of Nineveh had repented. You see, Jonah knows now, without a doubt, that God is going to spare the people of Nineveh. And he is exceedingly displeased. Now, the Hebrew actually translates to the fact that Jonah believed that this was evil. that it was evil for them to repent and be spared. It's not just that he's unhappy about it. He thinks it is wrong of God to spare these people. You see, what Jonah is doing is what you and I often do. It's to put ourselves as judge over God. You see, God, you don't really know what's best here. I know better. Let me make the decision for you and tell you how you should act. That's what Jonah is doing here. He thinks that for the glory of God and for the people of Israel, the best thing that God could do would be to destroy Nineveh, no matter if they repent or not. So he is exceedingly displeased. And he is very angry at the thought that God is going to spare these people. And so he prays. He prays. But his prayer is different. Man, when you and I think of prayer, isn't it? It's not a prayer of request. It's not even a prayer of worship. Listen to what he says in verse 2. He prayed to the Lord and he said, Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God. merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster." You know what this is? This is a statement of, I told you so. I told you so, God. Didn't I say this when I was in my country? This is why I didn't go to Nineveh. This is why I fled to Tarshish. I told you that this would happen. He is reverting back. Sinclair Ferguson humorously called it infantile regression. He said that that Jonah's acting like a child here, that he is in a huff about what God is doing because he thinks that he knows so much better than God and God is not doing what Jonah wants him to do like a child who doesn't get what he wants. He throws a temper tantrum. God, I told you so. But it's worse than that, it's worse than just that infantile regression. We saw Jonah repent in chapter two. But in chapter three, he has fallen again to the point that now he is defending his sin from the first chapter. He is defending what he did. He is really saying, God, I was right to have ran to Tarshish. And you were wrong. Now what a foolish thing to think that we could stand in that place and look at God and defend our sinful actions and tell him that he's wrong and we're right. That's exactly what Jonah is doing. And in this we see so much of ourselves because we find ourselves like Jonah. Though we repent today, tomorrow we do the same thing again. Here's Jonah doing that exact same thing. But listen to his prayer. Have you ever prayed like this in any way that wasn't a prayer of worship? Have you ever thought to say to God, God, you are so gracious, so merciful, abounding in steadfast love, relenting from disaster, and be angry about it? But Jonah is. He's not worshipping God here. He's mad that this is true. And what comes off the pages of Scripture to us for this whole chapter, especially here, is extreme irony. This chapter is filled with irony. Why do I say that? Compare that verse and that prayer to his prayer in chapter two. Just read his prayer in chapter two, how he praises God for the very same attributes that he's now mad at God about. You see, when Jonah was in the belly of the fish and God was showing him steadfast love and God was showing him patience and mercy and grace, Jonah was happy with that because it was directed at him. He was more than pleased with the graciousness of God. But now in chapter four, when it's being given to someone else like the Ninevites, Now he's mad. You see, this is the extreme irony that is present in the heart of Jonah, that Jonah wants the grace of God, wants God to be loving when it suits him and his people. But he doesn't want it to be given to the people of Nineveh. We've seen this through the whole book with Jonah. In chapter one, God's steadfast love pursued him all the way to the middle of the Mediterranean. When Jonah was thrown overboard, God's mercy was seen in appointing the fish to come and swallow him to keep him alive and also to bring him to repentance. In chapter 3, it is seen when God restores the prophet and gives him his calling again and sends him to Nineveh, giving him that second chance. This entire biography is a testament of God's steadfast love in the heart of Jonah. And yet now he's mad about it. Now he's mad about it because it's being shown to someone else. In fact, he's so mad about it that he wants to die. Look at verse three. Therefore, now, oh, Lord, please take my life from me, for it's better for me to die than to live. God, you're so merciful. I just want to die. That would be funny if it wasn't so sad. And here we see the heart of this Jonah. How much does he hate these Ninevites that he would rather die than see them repent? How much must he hate these people that he would just assume God take him out than see them come to know the God of grace? You see, it's even more than that, though. As we looked in this first chapter, Jonah is concerned more than these Ninevites being spared. Really, this boils down to self-centeredness and selfishness. Jonah's really concerned about himself here. You see, he's the prophet of Israel. And as we've said, the Ninevites are enemies of Israel. And God has sent him to be a prophet to the Ninevites, and now God is going to spare them. How can Jonah go back and face his people who know the prophecies that Assyria is going to come and take down Israel? And they do in 722. How can he go back and face his people having been the prophet that God used to save this capital of Assyria? You see, Jonah is concerned about his own reputation. And so rather than have to go and face his own people being the prophet God used to save Nineveh, he would just rather die. He's more concerned about himself than 120,000 people who live in Nineveh. We just have to ask ourselves that question. How consumed are we with our own self-interest? with our own self-preservation even. How consumed are we with the affairs of this life that we ignore God's calling for us too? That we ignore the people around us, far more than 120,000 who are destined for the wrath of God today. You see, Jonah wants to die. He's concerned about himself, his own well-being. And God asks him this simple question in verse 4. He says, do you do well to be angry? And Jonah doesn't answer the question. He completely ignores the question that God asks him. Now, he's going to answer it in a minute and he's going to say, yes, I have every right to be angry. You have made me a traitor to my people, God. I told you this would happen and now it has. And he's mad. even though he had been the recipient of God's grace. He doesn't want none of it to have it. But he's still holding out hope. Look at what happens in verse 5. Jonah went out of the city. He sat to the east of the city and he built a booth for himself there and he sat under it, under the shade, till he could see what would become of the city. So Jonah goes out, he builds this shelter for himself. Apparently it's not a very good one for what's going to happen in just a moment. But his whole goal is just maybe, just maybe in my prayer to the Lord and what I've said to him in verse 2, maybe I can convince the Lord that indeed he is wrong and I'm right and he will decide to go ahead and destroy Nineveh. He has every intention of sitting up on this hill for 40 days. to wait and see what's going to happen, hoping that God is going to give them the Sodom and Gomorrah treatment and destroy this entire city. That right there is evil, folks. It's evil. We look at this and we think, how in the world could a man have this type of attitude that he wants to sit up on the hill and wait to see if God's going to destroy a city? What is striking about this is that this man is a prophet of God. He's a true believer. He is a child of God and he thinks this way. We have to come to the realization that this type of thinking and attitude, this Jonah heart can be in us as well. Just this week I listened to an old prophecy that was made in the early 90s by Benny Hinn. Benny Hinn back in the early 90s said that sometime in the mid 90s, 94 or 95, that God was going to destroy the homosexual community with fire. He said some of them would repent and be spared, but others would refuse and God would destroy them, wipe them out with fire. Now that didn't happen, obviously, and Benny Hinn is indisputably a liar and a false prophet, and we all know that. Why anybody listens to the man after making prophecies like that is unbeknownst to me. Usually a prophet says, the Lord's going to bless you, you know, when he knows he's a false prophet. Benny Hinn went bold. Didn't work out for him. But here's the worst part about that. We know Benny Hinn's a false prophet. We know he is. But the crowd sitting there listening to Benny Hinn make that prophecy, when he said that in the mid-90s God will destroy the homosexual community with fire, the crowd applauded. They clapped their hands at the thought that God was going to kill all of these people with fire. Should we applaud such a prophecy? Even if it's true? Now listen, the fact of the matter is, if God wants to destroy anybody, if God said, you know what, I've had enough of Arbor Heights Bible Church and just sent a meteor right here, it would be right, wouldn't it? Because everything God does is right because God does it. God can do whatever He wants. He was right when He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. He's going to be right when He destroys Nineveh in the 600s, by the way. He's always right. But we don't have the mind of God. And we don't determine who God destroys and judges and who He saves. That decision is in the hand of God alone. And to applaud such a decision is wicked. If God were to send a true prophet, which He won't because the office of prophet has been closed since the period of the New Testament. But if He were and were to tell us such a thing, you know what our response should be? It should be evangelism and prayer. That should be the response, not applause. Take what happened with the sons of thunder in the New Testament as your example here. Luke chapter 9, 52 through 55, Jesus sent messengers ahead of him who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, another group of people hated by the Jews, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him because his face was set towards Jerusalem. And when his disciples, James and John, saw it, they said, Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them? What's the Lord's response? But the Lord turned and rebuked them. Now, some of your translations might include the textual variant where the Lord goes farther about how wicked of a thought that would be in the mind of his disciples. That's an interesting passage because we don't usually think of John being someone that wants to call down fire from heaven. But here he is doing it. And he is rebuked by the Lord for doing so. And yet here sits our prophet up on the hill, praying, hoping that God will destroy this city of Nineveh. We don't decide, ladies and gentlemen, who gets judgment. Our prayer should be that everyone receive grace. We are told in the book of Timothy where Paul says, I want you to pray for all men, for kings, those who are in authority. For God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Now what does he mean? He means all types of men there. That's not an Armenian proof text. But the point is still clear. God wants us to be praying for all types of men and women that they would come to know the Lord and know His truth, not praying for their judgment. This is what God would have for us. We don't know the mind of the Lord. Jonah didn't know the mind of Nineveh. He was wrong. The fact of the matter is what you and I need to come to realize is what we truly claim that we believe. We hold fast to the doctrines of grace and yet how quickly do we forget that the reason why men and women do what they do is because they are totally depraved. How quickly we forget the way I lived before I knew Christ. And we look at the rest of the world as if we are somehow better than them. Especially today. Look at how divided this world is. And the way that we talk about the liberal community, the way that we talk about the homosexual community, the way that we talk about all these different views and people in this world. It's an us versus them mentality. There should never be an us versus them mentality for this very reason. We're one of them. The only difference between me and the rest of this world is God's grace. Period. End of story. I'm not a child of God today because I'm smarter than them, morally superior, better in any way. I am a child of God because he saw fit to give me his grace. My desire should be that he would give them his grace as well. And he will if he so wills it. Listen, if we truly understand. The sinful heart that is present in all of us. It should be easy for us to want to show them mercy. One of the great Beatitudes, the characteristics of the Christian life is Matthew 5, 7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. You see, that's what God desires his people to be like. Merciful. Now, the judge of all the earth will do right. And those who have rejected him will face judgment in the kingdom of to come. But for us. It should be about showing mercy. That's what God has called us to. We have received God's grace, and the only reason why we are not out in the world living like the most despicable pagan and sinner in the world today is because of him. Not because of who I am. Why are we content to watch the world burn? See, that's what Jonah was doing. Jonah had received the grace of God in his life, unmistakably. And yet here he was, without concern, but the people of Nineveh received that same grace. In verse 6, this continues. Jonah's sitting here on the hill. He wants to see the people burn. And the Lord God appoints a plant. And He made it to come up over Jonah that it might be a shade over his head to save him from his discomfort. And Jonah is exceedingly glad because of the plant. Now I want you to notice that word appointed. As we've said, whenever you see something that is repetitive, it's important. Four times in the book of Jonah, we see where God appointed something. In chapter 1, God appointed the fish. Here in chapter 4, God appoints the plant, God appoints the sun, God appoints the wind, excuse me, God appoints the worm, God appoints the wind. This is important. God is appointing these various things and every single one of them are used providentially to reveal Jonah's heart to himself. To open him up, to show him how sinful he is. God uses these means in this way and the first thing he uses is this plant. Apparently Jonah's shelter was not a very good one. And God gives him this great plant, castor oil plant most people believe. It's a big plant with a big wide leaf over it that came up over his head and protected him from the sun. And notice again the word usage. Listen to what the Bible says. Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. Same thing, repetition of words. Does that sound familiar? Back at verse 1. Jonah was displeased exceedingly. But now down here in verse 6, he is exceedingly glad. Do you see what God is doing here with the plant? He is exposing to Jonah the irony here. He is exposing to Jonah his self-centered heart. His concern for himself. God has provided a miracle. Jonah knows this is a miracle. Five seconds ago there was no plant. Boom, now there's a plant. He knows this is God's doing. He is basking in this gift of God's grace. He is rejoicing in it, celebrating it, exceedingly glad for it. All the while he's sitting up on the hill hoping that God holds grace from the people of Nineveh. You see the irony? It's thick. It's thick. When it came to himself and Israel, he rejoiced in the character of God. But when it came to the people of Nineveh, he wants God to be different. He wants God to withhold his steadfast love. That's what Jonah needs to learn. Verse 7, he continues with this whole story. He says, but when dawn came up the next day, once again, God appoints something. He appoints a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered. And when the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, it is better for me to die than to live. It's funny the repetitive nature of Jonah's request for divine suicide, if you will. Lord, just take my life. God is hitting Jonah where it hurts. He provided a gift of grace. He protected Jonah from the sun. Now he's taken that away. He's taken the plant away with the worm. He's brought the heat with the sun. And Jonah is so hot now he feels like he is about to faint. And once again he prays. And all of his prayer and all of this is exposing Jonah's heart here. His sinful attitude about how Jonah only cares about himself. About his people. Why? Why Jonah? If you're so concerned with the grace of God in your own life, don't you want others to experience it? Verse nine, God speaks to him again. God said to Jonah, do you do well to be angry for the plant? And he said, yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die. Jonah again. places himself as judge over the Lord and he says, I am right, you are wrong. I am right to be angry, even angry to this point to die. You see, what God is revealing to Jonah is that he values himself and his own comfort as being greater than the lives of these Ninevites. And I'll tell you tonight, ladies and gentlemen, that is where you and I are convicted. How much do we value our own comfort? How much do we value our own self-interest? That like Jonah, we completely ignore the world around us that will certainly face the judgment of God. Jonah's message to the Ninevites is 40 days and you'll be destroyed. We don't know the length of time for the people around us, our neighbors, our co-workers, our friends. But we do know that one day they will die and they will face the Lord. And God has called us to be an evangelist to them. He has called us to be His ambassadors, to take the gospel into the world and share it with them. And yet we sit idly by like Jonah up on a hill watching. as they await their destruction. Now with Jonah, it was deliberate. Jonah's hoping it's going to happen. With us, it's apathy. It's apathy. And that's every bit as bad. It's apathy. With Jonah, he wanted God's grace all for himself and for his people with us. We say that we want God's grace to be received by all, but our actions say very differently about us. How many of us every day go into work and we see a coworker who we know doesn't know the Lord, and every day we keep our mouth shut about the gospel? How many of us every day see our neighbor that we know doesn't know the Lord, and every day we keep our mouth shut about the gospel? The apathy that is present when we know the future for those who does not know the Lord is actually very concerning. Sinclair Ferguson again says it's absolute embarrassment when to think about the state of the church and how little we show concern for the lost world. And even when you look at what the church is doing, the majority of it is taking care of felt needs with very little gospel. Take a look at the mission projects in the world. It's all about feeding the hungry and clothing the naked and all that's important. But none of it means anything if there's no gospel. All of us will, if I said here today, you know what we're gonna do on Saturday? We're gonna go down to the soup kitchen, we're gonna hand out cans to the poor. How many of you would come for that? But I said, you know what we're gonna do? We're gonna go over here to this Jehovah's Witness Center. And we're going to try to talk to these people about the gospel. How many of you would show up for that? You see, that shows the state of our heart. I don't know if we think it's more loving to give food to the hungry or to share the gospel with someone who is going to certainly face the wrath of God. Now I know what you're thinking. We're Calvinists here, right? Nobody's going to go to hell if they're God's elect people. You know what? That's true. It's absolutely true. We're not hyper-Calvinists, are we? God accomplishes His purposes with means. It was God's sovereign will to get Joseph into Egypt, but He did it with means. He didn't pick Joseph up and teleport him over to Egypt. He did it with means. It was His desire to get Joseph to be the second in command in all of Egypt so that He could take care of all the people of Israel. God didn't brainwash Pharaoh. He used means to accomplish that purpose. The same thing is true about evangelism. Yes, we all believe in the sovereignty of God and we believe that God will save whom He will save, but we also understand this, that God's method of saving His elect is us. He chose us to do it. He's not going to write it in the sky. He's not going to send Gabriel down and blow trumpets and tell everybody about the gospel. He chose to use us. And it's a blessing and it's a privilege. And yet here we sit as the world goes by. Without ever telling them of the gospel. Jonah, he's hoping for their damnation. We don't seem to care. That ought to break our heart. That ought to break our heart, folks. See, this is the heart of Jonah that is in me. Who is Jonah in this book? I am. Me. Because I show the same type of attitude. towards this lost world, certainly thankful to receive the grace of God in my own life, but reluctant to tell others about that same grace that's available to them. Jonah convicts all of us here. But as for Jonah, this disobedient, hateful prophet, God has now caught him in his words. Yes, I am angry about the plant. I am right to be angry. I had this great plant that was protecting me, keeping me safe, and now it's gone. Look how God responds in verse 10. The Lord said, You pity the plant for which you didn't labor, nor did you make it grow. It came up in a night, perished in a night. Should not I pity Nineveh, that great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left and also much cattle? Oh, Jonah. Surely now he sees the irony present in his life. How angry I was for losing something that provided the source of my comfort. How angry I was for losing something that was so present of the grace of God. And yet I'm telling God he shouldn't show that same grace to the people of Nineveh. God would take pity. on the people of Nineveh because they had repented, not because they deserved it. You see, Jonah was right to think that Nineveh doesn't deserve this. They don't. But grace is not getting something that we deserve. It's actually getting something we don't deserve. That's the very meaning of it. And God has the right to determine who he's going to save. You see this question here, should I? He's not asking Jonah, what do you think Jonah? No, he's saying, should I not be concerned? It's may I be concerned, not as a question, but as a right. God has the right to show grace to anyone he chooses. This is the sovereign grace on display in Romans 9, 15. God, for he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. This is God's right, Jonah, not yours. I can save who I want to save, whether you think so or not. God gives his grace to anyone that he wills. That is the essence of the gospel. But even though these people are sinful, they're pagans, they're idolaters, they're enemies of Israel, if I want to give them grace, Jonah, I will. Because I decided. I decide who receives grace. Folks, I just have to wonder if there's any group that we look at like this. We saw the way the crowd responded to Benny Hinn's false prophecy. Do we think that way? We wish that God would withhold His grace from either a person who has wronged us or from a group of people. God will save whom He will save. It's His prerogative. And it's a symbol, an example of His grace when He saves a people like Nineveh. What do we think? That God should only save people like us? Let's hope he does. Because all of us are just like the Ninevites. We are. Now this book ends with a question. You know, it's really interesting that there's only two books in the entire Bible that end with a question. You know what they are? Jonah and anybody? Nahum. You know what they have in common? Both of them have to do with Nineveh. Both books that end with a question have to do with Nineveh. Nahum ends in a negative note. God's going to come against Nineveh with judgment, and he will. Jonah ends with a positive note. For God asked, should I not be concerned about that great city of Nineveh with more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left? What a question. That statement that they do not know their right hand from their left is one that we need to understand. As we talked about depravity a minute ago, what this pictures is someone who doesn't know any better. In other words, they don't know how to discern what is right and what is wrong. Jonah, they're helpless down there, Jonah. They don't know how to choose what is good. In other words, they are totally depraved. And God says, I'm going to take concern on them. Now this verb translated, and I don't know Hebrew, but one commentator mentions about this verb translated, should I not be concerned. He says that this verb indicates suffering action or action that is executed with tears in the eyes. That is how God has concerned himself with the people of Nineveh. Contrast that with the attitude of Jonah. Should I not pity these helpless people and take action out of my love to them? Like action with tears in my eyes. For Jonah, this is an issue of nationalism. He doesn't care about them. He cares about Israel. For God, this has nothing to do with nationalism. This is all about his own character. You see, this is why this whole series that we've been through has been titled The Steadfast Love of God. That's what this book is about. This book is not about Jonah. It's about the character of God over and over and over again. How he reveals himself to be a God of compassion. And how often Jonah shows himself to be a man of no compassion. That's the contrast between a sinner like me and a heart like God. The character of God. In chapter one, he's compassionate towards Jonah and the sailors. Chapter two, towards Jonah. Chapter three, towards Nineveh. Chapter four, towards Jonah again. He is this loving and patient. People approach this book and they say, this is Jonah's biography. It's not Jonah's biography. It's a book about the character of God. Douglas Stewart said this, What's God really like? Is thus a more important question in this book than the question, What was Jonah really like? End quote. And he's right. He is teaching Jonah right here what he's like. Jonah thought he understood back in verse 2, but he doesn't really. You've got the right words, Jonah. You know that this is what the psalm says. You know this is what is present in Exodus, don't you? You know this is what the Bible says concerning me, Jonah, but you don't really know it. You've experienced it in your own life, Jonah, still you don't really know it. I will show compassion on helpless Nineveh. You know we see that same compassion from Jesus in the New Testament? Jesus says this in Matthew 23, 37, Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it, how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you were not willing. Do you see the heart of Jesus there as he gives this whole chapter of condemnation to the leaders of Israel? He gets to the end and he laments over the city how their leaders are keeping the people from hearing the gospel message of salvation in Christ alone. And he says, how often would I have gathered them together, but the leaders were not willing. This is his heart of compassion for these helpless people. This is how he is concerned. Should he be? Should God be concerned with tears in his eyes? Now this question goes unanswered. And I think it's on purpose. I think God has left us to answer the question. How would you answer that question? How would you answer it? God asks, should I not be concerned about these Ninevites? The other day I was watching a movie actually on Rusty's website that's present there. I think it's called 180 or something, I can't remember the name of it. And it's about these interviews that he does with people concerning abortion. But one guy really struck me in the middle of it because he was comparing what we are doing in this country with abortion to the Holocaust. It's actually far worse when you watch the movie and he gives you the numbers. But in the middle of this movie was this guy. and he was a neo-Nazi, self-professed, loved Hitler, praised what Hitler had done, racist to the most extreme amount. How do you feel about that guy? How should the church respond to a man like that? We live in a 140-character society. You ever go on Twitter? I don't have a Twitter, but do you ever go on Twitter? You go on Facebook and you go and look at the responses of people, just how wicked they are, the things that people say. I wonder how we would respond to a man like that. We want God to deal with him. A man who says the Holocaust was right. I found myself having compassion for the man. Because here he is, and he's got vulgar tattoos across his neck, and I thought to myself, if God ever opens your eyes, buddy, you're going to have to have that removed. And I hope he does. But we look at this world and we see men like that and we think about Isis. If God were to bring a great revival to a terrorist organization beheading our brothers and sisters overseas, would we want it to happen? God does, you see. God loves even men like that. And He asks us to do the same. We don't know who God's elect are. It may be Him. It may be. And if we react to a man like that, if we react to a people like that, if we react to the mosque down the street like that, that's not the heart of God, that's the heart of Jonah. See, that's the difference. That's what this book is about. This book tells us how God has compassion to the sinful people of this world and how little compassion that we show. You see. Where was this demonstrated the most? You see, I told you that Jonah was so concerned about his own reputation. That's all he cared about. He didn't want to go back to Israel and be seen as a traitor. But you know what Philippians 2 tells us is that Jesus came and he made himself of no reputation, you see. Took upon the form of the servant, came in the likeness of man, and he became obedient even to the point of death. The death on the cross. He's the greater Jonah that came to show compassion to the people of Israel who had rejected him. And more than that, came to show compassion to a world of Gentile dogs like you and I. And He offers us salvation freely in Himself if we but believe in Him and turn from our sins. That's the message. That God has been so compassionate to us, so loving to us, that He sent His Son, who was the greater Jonah. who took our sins upon himself and died on a cross so that we could have eternal life. If we turn from our sins, believe in Him, we'll be saved and have life eternal. It doesn't matter if we're the Ninevites. It doesn't matter if we're the Muslims. It doesn't matter if we're homosexuals. It doesn't matter for any of this stuff. If the cross comes to save us, we turn from all of that sin, He will save us. There is nobody who has ever lived, who ever will live, who is too wicked to save. Nobody. And if you ever think so, look in the mirror. You think, what are you talking about? I wasn't an idolater, I wasn't a pagan, I wasn't a murderer, I wasn't this or that. You know why you weren't that? Because God's hand of restraint was on you, keeping you from being like that. That's the only difference. But we are every bit as sinful as the most pagan sinner that ever lived. We just don't know the extent of our heart. We think we do. I often say in prayer to God, and I'm quickly reminded, I say, God, I know how sinful I am. And then I remember, you know what? No, I really don't. I'm worse than even I think I am. You think I'm bad. I'm worse than I think I am. You don't know the half of it. And yet Christ came. To save me. That salvation is available to all who believe. This book proves it. And you know what else? It calls us to have a zeal in our heart, doesn't it? To forget the apathy present in me. Forget the concern I have for myself only, my family, what's good for me. I can come in here and close the doors of this church and feel as though I'm right with God because I'm here singing how deep the Father's love for us. And I forget how deep the Father's love is for them. How deep? How deep? This book ought to stir our zeal within us. And tell us, you know what? My people are in this city. That's what Christ said to His apostles. I have many people in this city. You know, God has many people in this city too. They just don't know they're His people yet. We don't know who they are. We don't know who they are. The question is, will we sit up on a hill like Jonah, ignoring them, or will we be ambassadors for Christ, sharing of them this great God that we serve, this loving, merciful God who is mighty to save? Let's pray. God, we thank you for this great book. We have learned so much about who you are and your character. That we are so exposed at the truths of your word, our heart is laid bare. Your sword has pierced to the joints and the marrow and has exposed us. So that we can see truly our sinfulness. Yet, God, we are also reminded of just how merciful you are towards us. That God, you saved us from our trespasses and sins. That even though we were dead, you have made us alive. And God, we rejoice in that. But let that motivate us that we would desire that others would know you as well. There is a world full of your elect people who you have not opened their eyes yet. Use us. Use us to be the ones. for you to save your people in this city, to take your message to them with zeal, with boldness, that we would have the great blessing of being the one you use to bring light to someone's dark heart. Thank you for your grace, God. Thank you for your forgiveness that we don't deserve. Thank you for Jesus, who took our sins away and has declared us innocent from now through eternity. We worship you for all of this this evening and ask, Lord, that you apply this to each of us as you will by your spirit. Be with us now as we go. We ask in Christ's name. Amen.