Jonah

 Jesus said that we must be like children (Matt. 18:3).  Children take things at face value, and we as mature Christians must accept the simple promises of God's Word; such things as 'Preach the Gospel to every creature' (Mark. 16:15) and 'holiness without which no man shall see the Lord' (Heb. 12:14).  It doesn't surprise me one bit that God is using Pentecostals today and passing up most of us.  It doesn't surprise me.  God honors those who believe in the simplicity of His word.  Perhaps the reason God is withholding some of the deep things of His word from the church is because of what it has done to some.  So, I suggest to you, Jonah was a victim of the folly of over-familiarity with holy things. Jonah was also a victim of the folly of ingratitude.  Jonah should have been thankful that God gave the commandment to go to Nineveh.  He should have been thankful that God saw the sins of Nineveh and was going to discover them and there were a hundred and twent

This can happen to the maturest Christian, especially when he discovers certain theological truths.  I think that the worst thing that can happen to a person sometimes, for example, is to discover the doctrine of the sovereignty of God.  Now, it is a great thing to learn this; but it is often a disastrous thing.  I love to see people discover the glorious doctrine of justification by faith but I tremble sometimes when I see them discover the doctrine of Christian liberty.  And many, when  they see justification by faith, they take lightly God's command to live holily in the world.  And I suspect that Jonah had a bit of this in him.  He wasn't very afraid.  He knew the truth, he ( didn't know the verse but no doubt knew that all things work together for good to them that love God (Rom. 8:28).  And I have known Christians like that.  They say:  'Well , I might as well do this because I know Romans 8:28 is true'.  It is.  But you may wait twenty years before you have t

 And this is what has happened: the church doubts what should be an assumption, that the Holy Spirit gives us the persuasion that God's word is true.  Who knows, maybe fifty years from now, science will come along and say: The Bible is true after all.  Is the church going to agree with them then?  Must we wait?  Must we wait a hundred years?  What does it matter?  God's word is true, it authenticates itself and it is the Spirit that gives us the persuasion.  And the reason we are not in obedience today is we don't have the persuasion that God's word is true.  And this was Jonah's folly: doubting God's word. There was another folly of Jonah.  It is what I would call the folly of over-familiarity with holy things. Jonah once experienced God's using him.  Jonah knew what it was to be used of the Lord; he had seen God work and we have every reason to believe that Jonah was well acquainted with God's ways.

 So this is what is going on:  the wind now begins to blow, a tempest is stirring - God is angry.  But this is Gods way of going to great pains to show you how much He loves you.  You see, this is a sign of His special grace.  The fact that God sends the wind may be in the realm of common grace because everybody is affected by the wind.   you.  The fact that God would go to great pains to stir you up is a sign that He loves you.  For whom the Lord loves he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives (Heb. 12:6).  The word scourge means to whip with thongs.  And so it is, it is not pleasant.  Luther used to say that you must know God as enemy before you can know Him as a friend.  It is simultaneous wrath and mercy.  But, maybe, you say to yourself: Why is it God does this to me when I see others who dont have to undergo this.  Have you wondered why it is that others can commit sins and get away with it and you cannot.  Have you wondered why it is that the person who lives across th

 Are you here this morning and you have been running from God?  Could I be talking to somebody like that?  Well, maybe not in the explicit way like Jonah.  Perhaps you are not aware of what you are doing.  Are there sins you have been nurturing that nobody knows about but you?  The word of the Lord has come to you and has said one thing and you have been doing another.  You are running; you are in retreat and you think nobody knows about it.  Let me remind you that if you are running from God you are doing something that cannot be done.  Very well, then, Jonah's retreat brought him more noticeably into this realm of common grace.  But God manifested special love and mercy by sending the wind.  This wind we may call the chastening of the Lord.  God's chastening maybe defined as His simultaneous wrath and mercy.  Now, Habakkuk the p0rophet prayed: 'O Lord, revive they work in the midst of the years, in wrath remember mercy.'  How can this be?  You may be angry with them a

  So, there is common grace on the one hand - the world, nations, government, business, the fact that you have natural abilities, reason, the fact that you can think - God gave you that.  But on the other hand there is saving grace - the church, the sacraments, conversion - these are provided in this special realm where we are told our Lord Jesus is the Head, even the Head of the Church.  But do not forget that God has deposited with His Son this kingdom that is comprised of both church and state; the people of God, the people of the world; the elect, the world, but all under God's sovereign rule.  Christ is the Head of the Church.  He is also the Ruler of nations. I have said all of that to say this: Jonah's retreat brought him more noticeably into this realm of common grace.  Jonah thought that he was leaving the presence of the Lord, but merely went from one realm of God's kingdom into another.  We are told that he rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lor

   But it is not only these spectacular men who have been blessed with common grace.  God has given gifts to all men.  There is something that you can do better than anybody else.  If you are not a Christian today, I want you to hear this: there is something you can do better than anybody else, and God gave you that.  God has given us doctors, nurses, hospitals, God has given us policemen;  He has given us Scotland Yard;  He has given us government, law, order, decency - these are the virtues of common grace.  You see, God through common grace supplies these things.  This is what Calvin called 'special grace within nature.' Moreover, such a person visited with this kind of grace may or may not have the gift of saving grace, and more often than not he does not have saving grace.  Yet it is a gift of God. You should be thankful for such common grace if you need to have surgery or you need to have an operation on your brain for a tumour.  You are not going to lok in the realm of s

These are sad words: 'But Jonah rose up'.  I close however with happy words, and thank God for these: 'But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea'.  'But Jonah...But the Lord'.  How kind He is, despite our rebellion, despite our determination to go the opposite direction.  He stays with us! Thank God we cannot run from Him.  'If I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there'  (Psa.  139 : 8).  He is omnipresent.  God has a way of following us.  'Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life(Psa. 23:6).  God is on your trail.  You may have been confirming yourself in your wayward ways.  But that wind you are experiencing, that  makes everybody else miserable; that is God warning you.  Thank Him for it. 'But Jonah... But the Lord'.

 The last thing I will mention now is that Jonah felt confirmation in his disobedience.  This always happen.  I use the term guardedly but use it in a way that I think will arrest your attention.  It is what Icall  providence of sin'.  Jonah determined to go to Tarshish and lo and behold he found a ship going to Tarshish and lo and behold he found a ship going to Tarshish!  He, no doubt, convinced himself that he was right.  It is like Eve in the garden.  After she succumbed to the doubt she looked at the fruit and she saw that it was good for food (Gen. 3:6).  I suspect that by the time Eve partook of the fruit she was convinced she was doing the right thing;  And so, Jonah, now making a 180 degree turn from God's commandment, going the other direction, found a ship and it gave him comfort. You see, when you are living in disobedience to God's commandment you will find many providences, as it were, to confirm you in that disobedience.  I have talked to business men who say

J   Jesus said that we must be like children (Matt.  18 :3).  Children take things at face value, and we as mature Christians must accept the simple promises of God's Word;  such things as "Preach the Gospel to every creature' (Mark 16:15) and "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12 :14).  It doesn't surprise me one bit that God is using Pentecostals today and passing up most of us.  It doesn't surprise me.  God honours those who believe in the simplicity of His word.  Perhaps the reason God is withholding some of the deep things of His word from the church is because of what it has done to some.  So, I suggest to you, Jonah was a victim of the folly of over-familiarity with holy things. Jonah was also a victim of the folly of ingratitude.  Jonah should have been thankful that God gave the commandment to go to Nineveh.  He should have been thankful that God saw the sins of Nineveh and was going to discover them, and there were a hundre

  The greatest curse that can ever be brought to a nation is for God not to discover its sin.  The greatest curse of all is when He ignores sin.  Look what happened as described in Romans chapter one.  We are told that they refused to retain God  in their knowledge and God just 'gave them up.'  It didn't say God pushed them, it didn't say God clubbed them.  There were no flaming letters in the sky to say what God was about to do.  God just 'gave them over to a reprobate mind'; that is, a mind void of judgement, a mind that cannot grasp the truth.  The worst thing that can ever happen to you is for God to pass over your sin in that way.  Maybe you feel you are pretty clever because you have sinned grievously and you have not been caught.  Don't feel good about that for God has by passing over your sin indicated wrath for you, not mercy.  There are those who hide b' - ehind the doctrine of justification by faith.  This is the folly of some antinomians.  Th