Jonah is angry, isn't he? Jonah is angry for showing mercy to the people of Nineveh, his arch enemies. There is an example of this or there's several examples in scripture of this being the same. We have that example of the parable of the prodigal son. If you'd like to turn there, it's Luke chapter 15. In summary, the Lord tells this parable about two sons. The younger demands the father's inheritance and then he goes off and squanders it and lives recklessly. While the older son remains obedient to the father and continues on with him. And when the younger son had spent every last cent, every last cent, starving and so desperate that he'd eat the pig's food, he turns home defeated, expecting no compassion for his actions. And so reading in Luke chapter 15 from verse 18, he says to himself, I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and I am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he rose and came to his father, but when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and I am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat, and be merry. For this my son was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found, and they began to be merry. Now the eldest son was in the field, and as he came and drew night in the house, he heard music and dancing, and he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come, and thy father has killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. Of course this parable has many wonderful emblems of the gospel. For another time we will look at that. But note the attitude of this eldest son in verse 28, and he was angry. He was angry and would not go in, therefore his father came out and entreated him. And he answered, saying to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment, and yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. So the elder son is angry, isn't he? Angry that his father showed mercy and forgiveness to one he considers unworthy of mercy and forgiveness. And Jonah has the same complaint, doesn't he? How can these wicked Ninevites Be worthy of your mercy. And there's a very simple answer, very simple answer to that question. No man, no man is worthy of the mercy of God. No man has any entitlement with God. We are undeserving of any benefit from God. We are undeserving of any grace from God. We are undeserving of the goodness of God. We are undeserving of the mercy of God. We are undeserving because we've done nothing to merit ourselves to God, nor can we do anything to merit ourselves with God. And not only are we undeserving, we are ill-deserving. Ill-deserving, everything we've ever done in this body of flesh only serves to condemn us. The standards of God's law is infinitely above our ability to keep. The scripture says that all our imaginary works are as filthy rags. You don't need mercy unless you are guilty as charged. We desperately need the mercy of God, don't we? Who decides who are the recipients of God's mercy? And Romans 9 settles all controversies when these subjects come up, and we know the answer, don't we? Romans 9 verse 15 says, For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Our Heavenly Father is merciful. He is a merciful God. He is merciful and loves his children. Look at what the Father says to his elder son in verse 31, Luke 15. The Father says to his elder son, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. Brethren, we've been made sons of God. not by anything we've done, but what He's done. And we have an inheritance. Romans 8 tells us that the children of God are heirs. We're heirs according to the promise, that promise given to Abraham, that they who believe God are the seed of Abraham. They're the true spiritual children of God, aren't they? They're the true children of God. Romans 8.16 says, the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, they're heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. What an amazing thing to rejoice in. What an amazing thing to contemplate. Romans 8, 32 says something even more wonderful. Verse 32, listen to these amazing words. He that spared not his son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? If you belong to God, then all things are yours. If you are in Christ, you have everything. lacking absolutely nothing. God was merciful, wasn't he? He was merciful to these enemies of Jonah, and Jonah's response is shameful. prophet of God, his response to shame for shocking lack of joy over the repentance of the Ninevites. A resentment against God for showing mercy to those whom he despised, to those whom he thought were not worthy of God's mercy. But the journal wrote this book tells me its purpose is to stand as a testimony to us. This is what I was and he makes no attempt to justify his wicked behavior. He wrote this book and he leaves the first word and the last word to God. God wrote this book but by the hand Jonah leaves this last word to God. Perhaps we might be tempted to think to ourselves, I'd never be like that. I'd never think like that, like Jonah. And as soon as we think like that, we've already fallen, haven't we? We've already fallen in the pride of our own sin. In 2 Samuel chapter 12, you might recall how David, King David, plotted the death of a man named Uriah in order to take his wife Bathsheba. It's another shocking testimony of how God's men can fail and fall. And so the Lord sent Nathan, to David with a parable, and it was the story of a rich man and a poor man. The rich man had many lambs, and he took the poor man's lamb, his only lamb, his pet lamb, whom he loved dearly, and he slew it for himself, even though he had plenty of lambs himself. He slew this poor man's lamb. And David, upon hearing the story, was outraged against the rich man and declared, he should surely die, that man should surely die, because he did this thing and had no pity. He did this thing and had no pity. And Nathan said to David, thou art that man, thou art that man. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned, I have sinned against the Lord. His sin was found out, he was exposed, wasn't he, before the Lord. But Nathan has something to say to David, which ought to give us great hope in our sin. Having done this evil thing, Nathan says to David, the Lord also hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die. Even the children of God are fully capable of the vilest behavior. We have to admit that, don't we? You have to admit it. I stand here guilty as charged and I know in myself, and I trust you do as well, this flesh has a very limited capacity to forgive and be compassionate and to love others. But the scriptures tell us what the Lord has done, doesn't he? Colossians 3.13 says, Forbear with one another, forgiving one another. If any man has a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. This sinful flesh is why the teaching of our Lord is so difficult for us. It's so difficult. Remember what the Lord said in Matthew chapter five. Let me read some of these verses of the word, words of the Lord. The Lord says, you have heard that it had been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you. that you may be the children of your father which is in heaven. For he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what do you more than others? Do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father is perfect which is in heaven. And by all means, by all means, we ought to be kind and considerate and loving toward one another where possible. But we know, don't we, that this teaching is only truly fulfilled in our Saviour. And where do we see the most glorious example of the mercy and love for enemies this world has ever seen? We see it at the cross, don't we? We see it at the cross. The scripture makes this amazing statement. Let me read it to you. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. While we were yet sinners, while we were yet enemies, while we were yet rebels against God, while we were yet vile sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. That God persists with this man Jonah is remarkable, isn't it? It's just remarkable. It seems Jonah is accusing God of some miscarriage of justice, testing the patience of God. Men have perished for less. But he's the Lord's man. He belongs to God. And he perseveres and preserves Jonah. But the Lord reproves Jonah in verse 4. He says, Does thou well to be angry? Does thou well to be angry? Let's ask ourselves that question every time anger rises up in us. Does thou well to be angry? What do we gain from being angry? Who's in control to manage the affairs of this world, the circumstances of this life? Who's in control? We struggle with unbelief constantly, don't we? I know I do. Not believing that all things are in the hand of our sovereign God, the troubles we encounter, the lack of peace that we often feel, our disappointment over the aspirations we have in this life that never eventuate. The way we believe things should be done and not are done. Not done the way we like. We get angry, don't we? The Lord's people need to trust him at his word. We trust all that Christ has done, all that he's doing, and all that he will do. Dost thou will to be angry? The Lord says, I am the Lord, Jonah. I am the Lord. This is a battle you cannot win. I am the Lord, and I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. Jonah was so overwhelmed with disappointment and fixated with defeat over an outcome that he did not wish for, that he decides his life even to be taken. That it is better for me to die than to live. This account of Jonah, I feel, is very unique in the scriptures, and I must say there has been difficulty in my understanding, and I readily admit that I am incapable of all that the Lord is teaching here. Think of another example like Jonah, a man of God. And let's be clear, Jonah knew God. Jonah knew God. He understood the character of God. He is a saved man by the eternal election of God, called of God to do his will. And yet I cannot think of a preacher of God's word so disappointed with an outcome that would be for all other men of God a cause for great rejoicing. the whole of Nineveh, all the Ninevites they believe from the youngest to the oldest. I believe Jonah has provided this book as a testimony to us. Can we admit the depth to which we are equally capable of being angry with God? Because in our lives we are constantly getting angry with God for the things that happen around us, aren't we? For the things that don't eventuate that we think ought to, for the circumstances that don't go our way, and in doing so we lose our comfort, don't we? We lose our comfort, we lose sight of Him who is in sovereign control of all things. His sovereign control has no limitations. And in our fallen state of sin we have this great tendency to be arrogant about what is right and what is wrong. And Jonah is picturing that arrogance to us like a mirror. Do you disagree with God? God forbid it. We need to remember that everything that our God does is right. Everything he does is right. Whether we think it's right or wrong. And because he does it, it is right. In the exercise of his sovereign will, it was God, wasn't it, that placed Satan and his angels in their respective positions to do what they do. There is no great battle between Satan and God. Satan is like a dog on God's chain. He goes as God allows and no further. Even the death of his son is right. It was right. The most righteous thing that God ever did. By the determinate counsel and full knowledge of God, our Lord Jesus Christ was taken, and by wicked hands was crucified and slain. He laid our sin upon his Son, and punished our sin upon his Son, and the sins of God's people are there no more. He has removed those sins from the East and from the West, We need to believe, don't we? We need to believe what we read in the Word of God about His sovereign control over all things. We need to believe that He is accomplishing everything to His purpose in every event which occurs in this chaotic world. in our lives and in our circumstances. All of it for the glory of God and the good of his people. And Jonah, Jonah is in need of this lesson from God, isn't he? In verse 5 it says, so Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city and there made him a booth and sat under it in the shadow till he might see what would become of the city. He's still holding out that there's still a possibility that God might destroy this place. In verse 6, the Lord God prepared a gourd that is some type of vine that grew up and over and made it come over Jonah that it might be a shadow over his head to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. We're so easily enchanted by the temporal things of this world, aren't we? Sadly, Jonah's attention was directed to a mere plant. It was directed to a mere plant that gave him some shade for a fleeting moment. And yet the glorious work of God's salvation in the universe seemed of little consequence. It just passed him by. He was fixated on a plant. His personal comfort was of greater concern than the welfare of an entire city. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day and it smote the gourd and it withered. And so we're reminded of this world and all it is is passing away. And we ourselves, we ourselves are like a vapor. We're just here for a moment, aren't we? And we are gone. What did our Lord tell us in Matthew? Lay not up yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Let's not become swept up by the trivia of this world. Let's not overlook the work of the Lord in rescuing his people by the preaching of his gospel. It's a great work. The Lord is merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. Now is the day of salvation. I'm so thankful, and I'm so thankful of this picture of mercy upon Nineveh. The Ninevites in their wickedness weren't seeking God, were they? They weren't seeking God, just as Abraham the idolater wasn't seeking God, just as Ruth the Malvitess was not seeking God. And the truth is, none of us were seeking God either. God seeks his people when they were not seeking him. I'm so thankful for that. May he seek us and save us as only he can. Let's pray.