Unrighteous anger. ( Ephesians 4 v 30 - 32)

Jonah was a very angry man,even disillusioned ,why?, because as one writer puts it,' he could not accept  Yahweh'cheapening' His mercy by offering it to all and sundry'.It was all to much for him to accept,so he asked God to take his life.God challenges Jonah as regards his anger,are you angry?be careful that  your anger may lead you to say something you shouldn't,or do something you shouldn't. We read how Jonah went out of the city and sat down to see what would happen,would God give in to him,and destroy the city, that was not going to happen.As he sat there God caused a plant to grow,and it give him shade from the sun,but then God caused the plant to die,he became angry and wished to die. He felt justified at being angry at the loss of the plant. It was then God spoke to him,and pointed out that Jonah thought more of the plant ,than the  hundred and twenty thousand people and their livestock, whom God in mercy showed pity on then.It is sad that so often we who profess to be God's children ,misrepresent Him, in so many ways.  God grant us grace,to be like our dear Saviour, who did not come to condemn the world ,but to save all who repent of their sin and trust Him.

                                                          'Christ receiveth Sinful men

                                                          Even me with all my sin;

                                                          Purged from every spot and stain,

                                                          Heaven with Him I enter in'

                                                               Erdman Neumeister

Mercy . ( Luke 18 v 9 - 14 )

 The last chapter of the book of Jonah commences with Jonah displeased and angry at God showing mercy unto Nineveh.Ore we any different? most people think that the wickedest  people,should not be shown any mercy,and most definitely not go to heaven,and that they should go to hell.I thing that we all have to some degree the spirit of Jonah.  We are told that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God Romans 3 v 23,in other words we all deserve to go to hell, we all need the mercy of God.That mercy only  comes through Jesus ,it was one of greatest of the prophets Isaiah,acknowledged  his need of  forgiveness. (Isaiah 6 v 5- 8). Jonah's reluctance to go to Nineveh stemmed from his knowledge of God,that God was gracious ,merciful,and loving, and that He would forgive even the Ninevites. We will continue looking at this next time, I will leave you with a verse of a hymn by Frederick William Faber.

                                                   ' There's a wideness in God's mercy

                                                     like the wideness of the sea;

                                                     There's a kindness in His  justice

                                                      Which is more than liberty'

Change ( 2 Corinthians 5 v 17) 9

The moment Jonah finished his prayer,God spoke to the fish and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land 2 v 10. The creature obeyed their creator unlike humanity who remain in a state of disobedience choosing not to listen.,Zechariah 7 v 11. As Jonah stood on dry ground God spoke a second time to him, his message was basically the same ,judgement was coming, and they were told that it would happen in forty days. Jonah faithfully proclaimed God's word,and he had every preachers dream, come true,for we read,   'And the people of Nineveh believed God',3 v 5.Even the king ,he  rose from his throne ,removed his royal robes,put on sackcloth and sat in ashes. He give orders that animals and people should fast,and to be covered in sackcloth ,and for the people to cry mightily to God, and to turn from their evil ways,in the hope that God would repent,and turn away His fierce anger,so that they would not perish ,and that is exactly what happened.It was the greatest of the prophets,John the Baptist, who declared to the religious leaders of his day,'Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turn to God' Matthew 3 v 8.A true turning to Christ, must manifest a true reality,in a change of life.

Christ Alone . ( Ephesians 2 v8 -9 )

 Jonah 2 v9 reads,'Deliverance belongs to the Lord',the word deliverance,or salvation ,Rosemary Nixon,writes,'That this is one of the most profoundly significant saying in scripture'.The religions of the world would not agree with those words,they all have their followers,doing something,in order to be saved,to gain their gods favour .Consider Jonah's situation,trapped in the belly slowly dying,he was totally helpless,in fact those who threw him overboard ,would have assumed he was dead,and indeed he was as good as dead.Again what could he do to save himself,the answer is nothing,he was in a state of utter hopelessness.A man once came to the apostle Paul, and his friend Silas.he fell down before them,and said,' Men , what must I  do to be saved?,their answer was this,' Believe on the Lord Jesus,and you will be saved', Acts 16 v31. Simple yet so many stumble at the simplicity of these words,are you prepared to believe on the Lord Jesus to save you?,you see he is called a Saviour, that means ,He saves, completely, 100 percent.On the cross Jesus paid the price for our salvation,if you try add anything to it ,it becomes null and void.

                                 '  Not what my hands hath done,can save my guilty soul,

                                   Not what my toiling flesh hath borne,can make my spirit whole.

                                  Not what I feel or do, can give me peace with God,

                                   Not all my prayers and sighs and tears,can bear my awful load.

                                  Thy work alone O Christ , can ease the weight of sin;

                                  Thy blood alone, O lamb of God, can give me peace within.'

                                                               ' Horatius Bonar'

                     

Mercy ( Psalm 145 v 8 ) 7

 So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea 1 v 15,so that was it,? no ,for we read,'And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah;and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.There he was in the belly of this great fish,one can only imagine ,how awful it was, but it was something of his own making.Then he did something he should have done earlier,he prayed o the Lord we read that prayer in chap 2.Even though he was in the belly of this great fish,he could still pray to God,we can pray to God anywhere ,and any time,you don't have to make an appointment.Here was this stubborn runaway person, in a death situation,the question is this, is he prepared to die physically,or is he prepared to die to self,and turn to God?.What would he choose?.well he chose to die to self,that was the only thing that would save him. and it did,God who later on would show mercy to the heathen Ninevites, showed mercy to his  disobedient servant, and rescued him.

                                                   'It is never to late to receive mercy'

                                                   ' Before the stirrup and the ground

                                                    I mercy sought, and mercy found'

Jonah 6Man overboard

 The men were to their credit were reluctant to do throw Jonah overboard,but the storm became worse,they realised they had to do it,so they prayed not to  be held guilty for what they were about to do.So they took Jonah up and threw him into the sea. After they did that the storm ceased,and this made a deep impression upon them,as one writer puts it,' No longer terrified by the sea,but in awe of God,they worshipped God,offered a sacrifice,and made vows'.So good did come out of it for them,although Gods people were Israel,He is still the God of all the earth, these dear people lived in spiritual darkness, but God opened their eyes,and revealed Himself to them,and they responded,and trusted in him.How precious is the salvation of a soul,as regards Jonah, he never denied God,and he spoke of Him to those in the boat ,Gods purpose went beyond a disobedient  prophet,Jonah just saw people as sinners,but God saw them as sinners that needed to be saved.Our dear Saviour was faced with a Jonah attitude continually,and challenged it continually,for that was His purpose in coming,to seek and to save that which was lost.

                                                          'For My sake and the Gospel's go

                                                          And tell redemption's story.'

Obeying. ( 1 Samuel 15 v 22 ) 5

 There is always consequences when one disobeys God,and the consequence affects others,just think how Adam and Eve's disobedience,has effected all of mankind,Think of the suffering brought about as regards unfaithfulness in marriage,or how a sons criminal act effects a family. The storm brought about by Jonah's disobedience was putting the whole ships company in danger.If you are tempted by whatever,be it in  financial,or the sexual realm,think of the consequences on others, especially those neatest and dearest to you. When Jonah revealed the true nature of why things were happening,they were really frightened out of their minds.Why did you do it they groaned?,for the storm was getting worse, and then they asked him what can they do to stop the storm?.Then Jonah tells them ,'throw me overboard into the sea and the storm will stop'.Very heroic,no it wasn't,all Jonah had to do was to get on his knees and pray a prayer of repentance,and obey God.It would have saved him the horror of ending up in the belly of a great fish. But no ,he was determined to  die rather than give into God's will,I will leave you with the words of a hymn by Mrs .C.H.Morris.

                                                 'My stubborn will at last hath yielded;

                                                  I would be Thine, and Thine alone;

                                                  And this my prayer my lips are bringing,

                                                  Lord,let in me Thy will be done.

                                                  Sweet will of God,still fold me closer,

                                                  Till I am wholly lost in Thee;

                                                  Sweet will of God, still fold me closer,

                                                  Till I am wholly lost in Thee'