Jonah and John

What you may not know that's evident from here is that there were some people singing that hymn tonight with their heart and praying while they were singing. That some soul in this meeting tonight would get the message and trust Christ. It is finished.

I want to read in the Old Testament book of John. Actually what I mean is the Old Testament book of Jonah. But the name Jonah and John is fairly close together.

Jonah chapter 3 and we read at verse 1. And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose and went unto Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days journey.

And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey and he cried and said, Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. This is amazing. So the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

For word came unto the king of Nineveh and he rose from his throne and laid his robes from him and covered him with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his noble saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed nor drink water.

But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily unto God. Yea, let them turn everyone from his evil way and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not.

I want to point out to you tonight that there are a number of connections between the New Testament book of John and the Old Testament book of Jonas. In very simple terms, this is so different from the rest of the Old Testament primarily in that this book is God's message to a Gentile people because God is not just the God of the Jews. God is the world God as John's gospel will tell us very clearly.

When it comes to this book, one of the most precious things about this little story of Jonah is that it gives us an insight into the heart of God. And there is no book in all the world like John's gospel to give us an insight into the heart of God. There are maybe some other connections too because I want you to think with me about the certainty of the message that came in the book of Jonah.

Now just picture this. Into this great metropolis in its day, into this center of the going Empire, it's New York City, and into New York City of that day walks a lone prophet. He's Jewish and he starts to proclaim to people going right up Fifth Avenue and Broadway somewhere he comes across and he's telling them all, yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown, yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

If somebody went through New York City with a message like that, you tell me tonight what would people do? You probably wouldn't hear it on the news. Just arrest him, he's a little loud, and give him a test to see if he is psychologically sound. Jonah went into Nineveh and Nineveh believed God.

God sent them a man that had been three days and three nights in the belly of a fish, and from that he comes with all the affirmation needed. This is a message from God. And when in John's gospel the people said to him, how are we going to know if what you're telling us is truth? What's your authority? The Lord Jesus tells them, everything I am presenting to you is affirmed by one great event.

Now I'm going to quote to you I think somewhere in Matthew's gospel where the Lord Jesus brings these two things together. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the heart of the great fish, in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man shall be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The resurrection of Christ was God's great affirmation that all that the Lord Jesus preached was true.

And I want to tell you tonight that is essential truth for us to emphasize in this gospel meeting. We are preaching the message of heaven. This is God's verified, inerrant word from which we are preaching tonight.

There is a living Christ who came to this world, marvel of grace, he came from heaven, incarnate in the womb of the Virgin, born in Bethlehem, brought up in Nazareth, preached in Galilee, died in Jerusalem, and rose on the third day. A living Christ. And the message of the gospel is a message of absolute certainty.

There are those, and maybe some in the meeting tonight, and you would like to just shelter yourself from the blunt truth of the Word of God. This is just what they preach in the gospel hall, you know. It's God's message.

It comes from God's Word. And when the Lord Jesus speaks in John's gospel, his message is this, verily, verily, it is true. And let me affirm with a second statement, it is true.

God has a message tonight for you. We have been reminded of that message from John's gospel already. It's finished.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word. Somehow I just like to put that scripture next to what we've been reminded. It is finished.

Verily, verily, it's true. It is true. I am speaking to you, he that heareth my word.

It's finished. And believes God that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed out of death into life. Oh, tonight we are preaching a message that God has verified in the most clear manner.

It is God's truth. It is God's message from his Word. But there is a connection that I want you to see in this message.

That's my reason for reading the words of the king. The words of the king, here's this message from Jonah, yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

And he proclaims to his kingdom, this is the most important matter that we are ever going to face. Don't let anybody eat and everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that's in his hand. Now wait a minute, what's the connection? Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

Every one of us turn from his evil ways and from the violence of his hands. A few years ago I sat in a living room in a Connecticut home, two older ladies, and Mr. Gene Higgins and I were their guests for dinner. And they regaled us with stories about the old days.

I wouldn't mind being able to hear some of them again because interesting. And I probably forgot about 50% or better of the details. But one of the stories was a story about how their father was saved.

A construction worker at this point working in New York City and didn't have much to do at night in those good old days. And there was something going on up the street. There was a light in a little building and people were going in through the door in the evenings.

And so he thought to fill in the evening he would go to this service. So Mr. Leonard went into the gospel meeting and as a man there to hand him a hymn book when he came in. And the man said to him, I don't think he even said welcome, but I'll put it in there.

Welcome, are you a Christian? And Mr. Leonard didn't know just exactly what he was asking. Is he asking am I Protestant or Catholic? So he said yes sir I'm Protestant. Young man if you die the way you are you will be in hell.

Now listen I'm glad nobody just was that direct with you tonight. I'm glad the man was that direct with Mr. Leonard that night. Because Mr. Leonard sat in that meeting and while he preached the gospel there was only one thing in his mind.

Now this is the connection that amazed me and why I remember the story. He sat in that meeting asking God how can I be rid of my sins? Because he put together these two tremendous facts. I am going to hell because of my sins.

I deserve this sentence from God. And as I remind you tonight from the words of John's gospel here are the words that God's proclaiming in the truth of the message. Here's one word it appears in the book of Jonah as well, that we perish not.

Will you understand tonight that the message that comes from heaven is a verified message that declares to men and women you will perish as you are. Apart from a divine intervention, apart from something that changes the course of your life entirely, there is only one thing that awaits you in the future. You will perish forever.

Tonight we are preaching the reality of men and women traveling along the road that leads down to eternal fire. And men and women since we sat in the seats in the meeting tonight have tripped over the edge at the end and will never be released. John's gospel reminds me of these words.

He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already. You do not have to commit one more sin to deserve the fires of eternal hell. You do not somehow or other have to have some heinous crime in the background of your record to somehow or other deserve the judgment of God.

These people realize this. Our sins have called forth the judgment of God. He may be a God and they talked about gods being national gods.

He may be a God of Israel but he knows our sins right here and he has pronounced judgment and if God has pronounced judgment it is exactly what we deserve. Listen again to the words of John's gospel. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.

That's good news. That's where I came into salvation. I got the assurance through those wonderful words.

I'll tell you again. I understood that night from the Word of God that the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. I understood from the Word of God in light of that God's never going to punish me for my sins and whether I was saved or not I didn't know but I knew I would never be punished for my sins until this word came into my mind.

Listen again. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Oh I thought to myself I have trusted Christ because the Word of God says my sins were laid on him and God says if I've trusted Christ I have everlasting life.

But the rest of the verse says he that refuses to believe the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God hovers over him, abides on him, at every moment has just reason to descend upon him. Here are our people and they were they were hoping that God would somehow turn from his fierce anger that they perish not. Oh I remind you tonight dear soul in this meeting that the God who measures every breath to you, that's what the Bible says the God in whose hand thy breath is, the God who measures every breath to you is the God whom you have sinned against to such a flagrant degree that at this moment the storm of his wrath could justly descend upon you.

They made a connection. Oh that there were souls in the meeting tonight that would make this connection. To quote the Word of God again, there are with you, even with you, sins against the Lord.

Do you understand tonight? Would God that your conscience would be awakened in a way it has never been awakened before. You sit tonight clutching to yourself the grenade that will launch your soul into eternity. You sit clutching to yourself your sins.

They may not seem so enormous to you. They may not seem a great moment to friends and people that know you. To God tonight, your sins are of such proportion that God says nothing but the wrath of God is the just response of heaven to your sins.

Yet 40 days, yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown and everything in the well-being of that city depends on this one truth. The men of Nineveh believed God. Will you believe the message tonight? Can I tell you that if you were to read through John's gospel, you would come to the close of the part of John's gospel where the Lord Jesus has been moving in and out among the people in the nation.

And though he had done so many miracles, says John, yet they did not believe in him. See, there were some people that were saved. One here, one there, one there, another few here.

The most of the people did not believe God. Do you know what the result of that was for them? Just let me underline this. It's something that never changes in the Bible.

They did not believe God. They did not turn from their sins. They did not see their need of a salvation that God alone could provide.

And upon those people fell the wrath of God. What a connection. You are sitting tonight with the very sins which will bury you forever in hell.

But the third and only other thing I want to point out to you tonight is the compassion in the message. They understood something that it took me quite a while to understand this message. Why did God say, yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown? Why did God not simply send the message, Nineveh shall be overthrown? Nineveh shall be overthrown.

You deserve the judgment of God. Nineveh shall be overthrown. Yet 40 days.

God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. I'm quoting from 2 Peter chapter 3, and Peter explains to us why this particular age in which we are living is the longest of all the ages of God's dealings with man. The long-suffering of God is salvation.

God is waiting for men and women to be saved. Do you understand why God has given you 10, 15, 17, 29, 38, 80 years of life? Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. And God has given you life and breath to the present moment for one great reason.

Will you turn? Will you believe what God is telling you? Will you cry mightily to God as these people did? It's a brief respite, 40 days. And these people were wise enough, they didn't wait to 38. It appears in the message, in the story, that day number one, the whole place is shaken because they believe God.

And they begin to cry to God. Identify what the problem is and cast themselves on the mercy of God. Maybe, I can't tell you this for sure, says the king, maybe, maybe God will turn.

What are you gonna do with the brief moments that remain in life? Will you turn? Will you cry with all your might to God? Will you cast yourself on the mercy of God? Oh, tonight's soul, you have only one possibility to avert the flood of eternal fire. You have only one possibility. Turn or burn.

Yet 40 days. I cannot tell you tonight you have yet 40 days. I can tell you you have this minute.

No, that's too long. You have this moment. God is waiting for a lost sinner to turn and cry to God for mercy.

You see, what that king did not know, I'm glad I have the other end of the book in now, what that king did not know was that there is a bountiful remedy that God has for those who turn. He says it may be. I can tell you tonight it will be.

If you turn and cry to God for mercy, recognize your sin in the sight of God. Oh, I want you to know tonight God has a bountiful remedy. I would have preached this if it hadn't been preached already.

So I'll just tell you it again. You do not need to perish. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

It's only in the gospel of the Son of God that we hear that tremendous cry, it is finished. I like the song, the hymn. No angel could our place have taken.

Highest of the high though he, the lone one on the cross forsaken, was one of the Godhead three. I don't know whether that's astounding to you. That will cause worship in the hearts of every Christian here for all eternity.

That the one who was at Calvary paying the extreme price could be none less than God incarnate. None less than an infinite sacrifice could ever meet the claims of God who has been infinitely offended by man's sin. None but the eternal could lay down his life, incarnate could lay down his life and be a sufficient sacrifice to answer to God for every single sin of every single sinner of Adam's entire race and much more.

But tonight the remedy is this. It's not a God who was provided for a chosen people, Israel. There is a God who has mercy that extends to Nineveh.

There's a God who has mercy that extends to Detroit. There's a God who has mercy that extends to the seat where you're sitting tonight because Calvary's work is that big and it will stretch out eternally in its value. Oh, tonight will you not take in the message of salvation because here is a message that tells us of God's boundless compassion for a world of sinners.

The way the book of Jonah ends is so touching. Jonah, in the story, after Jonah delivers his message and to Jonah's great disappointment, the people responded to his message. What a preacher that is.

We would love to see you respond tonight. God knows, love to see you saved for eternity. But Jonah was upset and he went out and sat in the sun and then a wind came along and he was upset about that.

Too hot. And then God allowed a gourd to grow up. A gourd? To grow up.

To shelter him. And he was unhappy then when a worm came along and ate it up and he was left in the wind and sun. And God says, Jonah, you cared about a gourd that rose up in a day and perished.

What about a hundred and twenty thousand people that don't know the right hand from their left in eternal things and they will perish forever? And the book ends just like that. Because the purpose of the book has just opened the window into God's heart. And we would have missed it so easily if we didn't have John's gospel to tell us the whole story.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. Oh, tonight there is a God whose heart is toward you. There's a God who does not want you to perish.

The extent to which he was willing to go that you might not perish is this. He had one only begotten Son. He sent him into the world to be the Savior of the world and to save sinners.

To offer to every man, woman, boy, or girl a full and a free salvation. That Son, that Son of God was scourged, was crowned with thorns, was spat on, was rejected, belittled by men, and forsaken by God. All of that that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

So I want to ask you tonight, the question that John quotes when he thinks about a people who had every evidence of their need and of the full provision in God's eternal Son, the question was this, who has believed our report? Who in this meeting tonight has believed God? Who has recognized the message of warning is exactly what I deserve? Who has recognized that I deserve that because of my sins? I need a remedy for my sins. Who has recognized tonight that when Christ cried, it is finished at Calvary? That is all the remedy you need. God is satisfied and he's sending a message to you tonight.

And I ask you again this question, who has believed the message? Because your eternity will depend on your response to the message. I'll quote it again, it is true, it is true. The Lord Jesus said, I'm speaking to you.

He that hears my word and believes God that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into the condemnation his sins demand because the sinless Savior died. My sinful soul is counted free, shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. At this moment, where you will be for eternity in heaven or in hell is in your hand.

Will you believe God's message? Let us pray.