What will the men of Nineveh say?

[0:00] Tuesday night at half past six there will be a deacon's court and that will be in 200% of year at half past six this coming Tuesday.

[0:13] So deacons please and elders please note that and the congregation could be playing into that as well as we consider various issues of property in particular. Also I've been given an information, two information which I'll just read out just now.

[0:30] First is Youth Fellowship Nepal Fundraising Group would like to thank most sincerely all those who donated to and came along to support their recent fundraising. The magnificent sum of £1,020 was raised so that's a great amount raised for yesterday evening.

[0:50] So thank you to all who were involved in that. Also, can I just read out this information here, there will be an informal fellowship in the Tarbert Community Centre on 12th February, that's this coming Friday at half past seven.

[1:04] It will be a time of worship together and a complete psalms and mission praise and testimony. David Chisholm who works alongside the Road to Recovery Group in Lewis will God willing be one of the speakers so this is a good opportunity for any who are affected by addictions to come and be encouraged.

[1:21] The freshments and fellowship afterwards, there will be a collection at the door to support the youth of Harris from both churches in Tarbert who plan to go to Nepal this summer.

[1:32] Everyone's warmly welcome and if anyone would like to contribute bacon, please let Marion McLean know. These, I think, are all the information, so let us worship God and sing to his praise.

[1:47] First of all, from Mission Praise 987 and the words on the screen. Here is love vast as the ocean, love and kindness as the flood.

[2:04] When the Prince of Peace, our ransom, shed for us his precious blood, who his love will not remember? Who can cease to sing his praise? He can never be forgotten throughout heaven's eternal days.

[2:18] We sing this full hymn to God's praise. Let's unite our hearts in prayer. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank you for the words of the hymn that we have been singing.

[2:35] And we thank you for all that we reflect upon and all that we remember. And all that stirs our hearts to desire and to determine to draw near to you in prayer.

[2:51] Who his love will not remember? Who can cease to sing his praise? He can never be forgotten throughout heaven's eternal days.

[3:02] Our Father, we thank you for the wonder of that love which is vast as the ocean.

[3:23] We thank you for the wonder of the wonder of the sea. We thank you for that love that carried him all the way to the mount of crucifixion. We thank you that in love he went to that cross and he hung and he suffered and he died in our place.

[3:41] So that we would be enabled to hear and respond to that offer of eternal life in Christ Jesus.

[3:54] We thank you that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. That whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

[4:04] And we thank you that the assurance of eternal life was definitely evident in the resurrection of Jesus. We thank you that on this day, the first day of the week, we remember above all things that Jesus, our Saviour, not only laid down his life but he took it back up again.

[4:24] We thank you that in doing so, in rising from the dead, he showed us that our sins had been forgiven. Lord, that the price had been paid and that death was now overcome.

[4:44] We thank you because he lives, we also live. And not only in time, but if we are trusting in Christ, we live eternally.

[4:57] And so we pray that you would give us faith that we would not only hear these promises but that we would take hold of them in faith. We pray that each one who is here today would know the assurance of that life that is eternal, from the youngest to the oldest.

[5:14] We pray that we may know that we may know that the blessing of the first place. We pray that we may know that the first place of the first place of salvation. Of the assurance that salvation and Christ brings.

[5:28] And Lord, when we trust you, we know that life is not all plain sailing. We know that friends will not be always tranquil and calm.

[5:39] We know that we will not be immune from the difficulties of life. but we thank you that you have given us the assurance that every day and every hour you are with us and you give us that strength we thank you that those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength and we pray Lord that as we wait upon you at this time as we draw near asking for cleansing from sin as we look in faith to Christ we pray that we would know in our own weakness the strength of God upholding us and filling us and leading us opening our eyes and our ears and stirring our hearts so that we may be able to leave here today knowing that it was good for us to be here because we have met with the living God and so we pray that that would be our experience not only would we know the promise that we remember that we're two or three garden in the name of Christ you are here but Lord God we pray that we may have that sense within our beings that we may taste and see that God is good that we may feel and be energized by the blessing of your Holy Spirit in us and filling this place so receive us in Jesus we pray and we ask Lord for those who are not with us today wherever they are some at home in bed some who are in hospital some who are needing to go to places for respite and for encouragement Lord we ask Lord that all those who would normally be with us at this time but who are unable today that you would bless them Lord that you would heal them that you would calm their minds that you would bring health and that you would bring your blessing to your people wherever they are gathered and wherever they are laid below so Lord hear our prayers and continue with us lead us by your spirit we pray and we pray all these things in Jesus name Amen boys and girls would you like to come forward please how's everyone today all fine still cold this week Dylan still feeling the cold yeah happy new haircut Jono have you all had a good week I think you need a wee present today what do you think what do you think Dylan I've seen some movement under that big hood what do you think do you need a wee gift a wee present yes what about the rest of you a wee something yes says Alistair so there's only two who want anything anyone else want a wee thing how much do they trust me this is the problem now isn't it you can trust me today okay nothing sinister anyone like a wee somebody give this to me thought I'd share it with you big tin of sweeties there are black currant flavors strawberry flavors lemon flavors lime flavors orange flavors all the flavors of the fruits so that must mean they're good for us is that right doctors yes thank you so there you go I've got them in this tin I'm not going to ask you for any money for them

[9:40] just wonder if you might like one anyone like one anyone like a sweetie yes please come on then thank you very much put in your mouth now what does it taste like nice and sweet yeah nice and sweet excellent anyone else like a sweetie Alistair good stuff they're freshly opened by the way so no kind of bugs have infected these sweets anyone else like a sweet bethany oh and even the zip comes down a bit good stuff anyone else like a sweet bethany just one only stuck together anyone else like a sweet yep bella come on anyone else like a sweet no all done okay no one else final offer final final final final offer there's three anyone like a sweetie

[11:34] Ailey wants a sweetie yeah come on out you gotta come anyone you just take them anyone else like a sweet come on Grace just get far apart to the benediction in a minute anyone else E&A got your mind that's it thank you if you want to be a sweetie what did you have to do how much money did you have to pay much money did you have to pay for your sweetie bell no money so what did you have to do to get a sweetie what did you have to do

[12:40] Alistair what did you have to do to get a suite did I ask you to do a dance he didn't have to buy it did he no he didn't have to buy it he didn't have to do a dance what did he have to do to get sweet what did you have to do really to get a sweetie did you have to sit on your bottom or did you have to come out here Alistair yes you had to come out here and I offered and you had to take the sweet it didn't cost you anything somebody else paid for it but it was offered to you freely and all that tasty sugary fruity delicious soft goodness you got if you came out and if you didn't you didn't you know that God loves us you know that don't you and he wants to do us good he wants to give us himself so we can be his friends and he wants to give us all the wonderful things that he himself brings the fruits of the spirit have you ever heard of the fruits of the spirit

[14:01] Galatians 5 love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control and when we trust God and when we come to him he gives us himself and he treats us like that and he gives us these gifts he gives us his love he gives us his patience he gives us his joy and his peace so sometimes when life is going all crazy we can have the peace of God he gives it to us but do you know how we get it we don't buy it we don't earn it we have to come to Gerrit and we come to who to get it God yes we come to Jesus don't we and he promises when we come to him he'll never say away from me away from me not you he says everyone who comes to him he'll never drive away anyone but he'll receive us he'll take us close and he'll bless us is the word we sometimes use with all these wonderful things fruits that he wants to show us so today what am I going to say to you Jono

[15:35] I'm going to say to you come to who come to come to God come to the Father through the Son come in faith believing to Jesus so let's pray our Heavenly Father we again thank you that you have offered us so much in the Gospel we thank you that the Gospel is good news and the good news is that you offer us forgiveness of our sins you offer us life that's eternal you offer to come into our lives and give us that peace and that joy and that patience and that kindness and all these wonderful things and we thank you that all that is free to us we know that Jesus paid a great price for us to be saved and for us to be your friends but we thank you Lord that to us it's free and all we have to do is come and so we pray that all the boys and girls and all the men and ladies who are here as well that we wouldn't hold back in the sight the Lord that we would come to Jesus and be forgiven and be saved and be blessed and we pray this in Jesus name

[17:03] Amen We are going to sing now from hymn 183 and the words sorry 683 and the words that are on the screen it's a hymn that speaks about us coming to Jesus and so we'll stand to sing it in just a minute I hear thy welcome voice that calls me Lord to thee for cleansing in thy precious blood the throne of Calvary

[18:05] I am coming Lord coming down to thee wash me, cleanse me in the blood the throne of Calvary to the earth as Jesus calls me on to perfect faith and love to perfect hope and peace and trust water and water as Jesus and the earth I am coming Lord coming down to thee wash me, cleanse me in the blood the throne of Calvary

[19:06] I am coming Lord coming down to thee to Jesus who offers the blessed work within by a grace to welcome him wearing the power of sin I am coming Lord I am coming Lord coming down to thee wash me, cleanse me in the blood the throne of Calvary I am coming Lord to the throne of Calvary

[20:09] I am coming Lord coming now to thee wash me, cleanse me in the blood the Lord of Calvary well if we turn in our Bibles please to Jonah chapter 3 Jonah chapter 3 as we continue in the short study in the book of Jonah and so we find Jonah washed up on the beach having been vomited out of the belly of the great fish and we pick up the story at verse 1 then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you

[21:20] Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh now Nineveh was a very important city a visit required three days on the first day Jonah started into the city he proclaimed 40 more days and Nineveh will be overturned the Ninevites believed God they declared a fast and all of them from the greatest to the least put on sackcloth when the news reached the king of Nineveh he rose from his throne took off his royal robes covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles do not let any man or beast herd or flock taste anything do not let them eat or drink but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth let everyone call urgently on God let them give up their evil ways and their violence who knows God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish when God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction that he had threatened

[22:42] Amen and may God bless that reading of his holy word to us Neil is going to come now and lead us in prayer in God Amen Downtown To put other男s into group let him join and say no no no You guys Given that I have heard of my words I see thewolf things go towards me We say this emotion Ihalb the writer I wish for when I was fired I told that my sister She was a slave I told her Uma 고� spa ,也是美麗,雷和裝 Faust,

[23:48] Namه una蘇 marketers ag spaces, Legal workers and paralel . Pied수 , Outro , May損壞 dormit , Including un Condu , Kar Entwickler , Mand 00 subs timeline my subscribe the one and and

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[29:26] The room as usual would look to the base. Now. The sun was presented as I knew how old house woulddel I be .

[29:58] Till the beginning gestures came Wright By Vladimir breathoured Evening in the city Instead thecope to call Amaniy hecho células made here in a roundtableagu Galapagallet, Deixa codeा Piaza, Paただ in the poorest cancer saith merc euh freaks agre You wanna get eaten your life?

[30:47] My life is a bit short according to God's entsjutience, I memory you, it's given to you that makes you notice mat?

[30:58] of you, of you we sing again to God's praise this time from Psalm 95 Psalm 95 and from verses 6 to 7 Psalm 95 and verses 6 and 7 will come and let us worship him let us by dine let us fall on our knees before the Lord our maker let us fall for he is our God the people we of his own pasture are and of his hand the sheep today if ye his voice will hear these two stanzas and gather to God's praise

[31:59] Amenило obedience Thank you.

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[34:00] Thank you. Thank you.

[35:00] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[35:12] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[35:24] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[35:36] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[35:48] Welcome to the Lord of the Shepherds. Thank you. Thank you. You are the God. You are the God. You are the God. You are the God. as you spoke to Jonah and spoke to Nineveh.

[36:01] And Lord, we pray that we would not harden our hearts, that as the psalmist wrote, we would have ears that were open to hear the call of God and that we would have hearts that are like a huge soil.

[36:21] We pray that we may be enabled to trust you. And Lord, that we may leave here today being able to say, the Lord is my shepherd.

[36:32] I shall not be in one. So hear our prayers and help us, we pray. Help me in the speaking, help each one of us in the listening to recognise that you are speaking to us.

[36:48] Apply the word to our lives by your spirit, we pray. Clear our minds of all that may distract. Empty us of all that may be of ourselves.

[37:00] And we get in the way of your word. And be at work, Lord, we pray, here and in our lives by your spirit, for your glory. And we pray this in Jesus' name.

[37:13] Amen. Amen. So if you turn with me, please, to Jonah and chapter 3. Jonah chapter 3.

[37:25] Even in reading these verses again this morning, I see half a dozen sermons that we could preach going through this, but you'll be relieved to know I only have one. So looking at this passage, we return to this familiar story.

[37:48] And the account of Jonah, as I touched on last week, I would say it again, it's history. It's not allegory. It isn't mythology, as some would have us believe.

[38:00] This is a story that is presented to us as history. Jonah, as he narrates and as he shares with us this testimony, he's sharing something which he tells has happened in his life, in his experience.

[38:19] And this is one of these accounts in the Old Testament that re-features in the New Testament. Jesus speaks of Jonah. And Jesus, when he spoke about Jonah, he speaks about an historical figure.

[38:35] Not some fable, not some character in make-believe, but an historical figure. And Jesus, as he spoke about Jonah, he used the story of Jonah, the account of Jonah and his ministry, as a teaching illustration.

[38:54] The same way that I picked up that bag of sweets. You know, it was an illustration to make the point. And Jesus, he speaks about Jonah and he makes various points as he points to those who were in front of him on that day to Jonah's ministry.

[39:16] He used it to illustrate what he was saying. On that day, Jesus continues by the word, through the Spirit, to use the account of Jonah as an illustration and as a teaching point for us to learn from and respond to on this day.

[39:33] Turn to Luke 11 just for a moment, please. Luke chapter 11. Just a few verses from Luke chapter 11.

[39:45] Luke 11. I'm reading from verse 29.

[40:02] Jesus warns against unbelief as the heaven. Says there, As the crowds increased, Jesus said, This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.

[40:17] For as Jonah was assigned to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them.

[40:29] For she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom and now one greater than Solomon is here. And listen to this verse in particular. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it.

[40:46] For they repented at the preaching of Jonah and now one greater than Jonah is here. What I'd like to speak about this morning is a subject which I think probably preachers, and I include myself in this, I think probably it's a subject that preachers have shied away from more than we should have over recent years.

[41:19] And it's a subject of judgment. There is going to be judgment. It says in Hebrews 9 and verse 27, it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.

[41:39] And so we learn from even these short passages that we are not unaccountable. We may sail through our lives sometimes with the idea that we are unaccountable, that nobody is watching, that nobody is judging, but we are not unaccountable.

[41:57] The Bible teaches us that each of us will give an account of what we have done with our lives and each of us will give an account on that final day of what we have done with God's Son, Jesus.

[42:15] And Jesus himself teaches us that part of the company that will be ready to condemn us if we do not repent and believe in Jesus will be the men in Nineveh.

[42:30] I never really seen that, I thought about that until this week. But it fits with scripture. Daniel chapter 7 verse 22, Matthew 19 28, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 2, Revelation chapter 15 verses 3 and 4, Revelation chapter 20 verse 4, we are not reading them but you can check on them afterwards and you can see that these are all texts that make clear that judgment will not be a private session.

[43:05] When we meet in prescritary and when we are dealing with something that is sensitive and potentially embarrassing, the court changes from an open court to private session.

[43:18] So we're told in scripture that judgment will not be a private session. God's children will participate in the final judgment.

[43:29] It's not crystal clear what role God's children will have but Jesus teaches us here that the men of Nineveh certainly will have a role in that day. Sometimes we have a meeting that's up ahead.

[43:45] Maybe we are due to meet with a long lost member of our family. Maybe we have a meeting with our big boss just on the horizon. Maybe we have a scheduled appointment with the consultant that did surgery on us five years previous and as we ponder the meeting we wonder how it's going to go.

[44:09] How will it be when we meet with that person? How will it be for us? Today I'd like us to think about how it will be for us on the day that we meet with God in judgment.

[44:26] How will it be for us when we come face to face with the living God? And how will it be for us when we come face to face with the men of Nineveh?

[44:40] And specifically what I'd like us to consider today is how much more privileged we are today than Nineveh were on the day that Jonah preached to them.

[44:55] And consequently how much more ready we should be to repent and believe and be saved not condemned than the people of Nineveh were back then.

[45:08] so I've three points this morning and they're really by way of contrast between us and Nineveh and how much more ready we should be to respond to the gospel.

[45:26] First point is Nineveh heard one sermon. Nineveh heard one sermon. Now you can maybe get your calculators out for this one but I want to just spend a second doing a wee bit of maths.

[45:45] Think about it. How many sermons have you heard in your life so far? Try and do the songs. I did a few week calculations just on the background envelope.

[46:02] I'm 42. I think I've been taken to church morning and evening since around age five. Certainly in church before that but I'm just going to take it from five for the sake of the exercise.

[46:17] So that's 37 years times 52 weeks per year times two sermons. So that gives me 3848 sermons.

[46:31] And then I've been going to the pyramid and I would say for around about 30 years. That's about another 1560 sermons. So that means that a very conservative estimate is I've heard 5408 sermons.

[46:46] And that's not including YF talks. That's not including Sunday school lessons. That's not including sermons I've listened to in the car on CD. It's not including Christian conferences and Christian union, university, all that kind of thing.

[47:01] The point is I've heard many many sermons. So what about you? How many sermons have you heard in your life?

[47:13] You do your songs. But the greater question to consider is how many sermons did it take for you and I to repent?

[47:23] and believe in Jesus? Was it one? Another question?

[47:38] Have you repented yet? Have you believed yet in God's own son and all that he has done for you?

[47:51] Then everybody heard one sermon and they repent. Verse 5 tells us the Ninevites believed God. Now every time we hear the gospel message, every time we hear Christ crucified preached and we either reject that message and dismiss that message or delay in responding, we harden our hearts.

[48:22] That's what the psalmist tells us. And in doing so we become more guilty. More guilty than the people of Nineveh who heard one sermon and believed.

[48:39] So what do they teach us? Well, it's a very simple thing, isn't it? they give us a living example of what the psalmist cried out for in Psalm 95.

[48:53] Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. Today, if you have the privilege of hearing the word of God, and I recognize the many people in church here this morning who are present but who are not hearing, but today if you are here and God has opened your ears and you are understanding your predicament, the sin that you and I battle with and the Saviour who has come so that we could be forgiven, if God has opened your eyes and mind to see and opened our ears to hear, then the calling of the psalmist, the calling of the men of Nineveh, is that we will respond and be saved.

[49:49] Not down the line, not after another hundred sermons, we may not ever hear them, but today. That was the proclamation of the king, did you get that sense of urgency from the response of the king to Jonah's preaching?

[50:06] Look at verse 6 of chapter 3 of Jonah. Jonah's gone out, he's preached, he's preached the message that God gave him and we'll come to that in a moment. The word is starting to circulate in Nineveh, huge city, a million people in it they reckon, and then eventually the word comes to the king and it says in verse 6, when the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.

[50:41] That all speaks about repentance and recognition of sin. Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything.

[50:55] Do not let them eat or drink, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.

[51:07] Who knows? God may yet relent and his compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.

[51:21] A king's job must be a busy job. Some of you have very demanding jobs. Some of you have even more demanding retirements. Our lives are full, our lives are busy.

[51:36] I don't expect this king was sitting about with nothing to do. But as he hears the message, as he addresses those in his kingdom, what's he saying? He's saying, seek first God's kingdom.

[51:50] Seek first salvation. Never mind eating, never mind drinking, never mind your work, never mind all these responsibilities that are pressing in on us in the daily duties of life.

[52:06] They'll wait. But today, now, seek salvation. We've heard this bad news. We've heard of coming judgment.

[52:18] Today, let's seek salvation. Let's cry out to God for mercy. Let everyone, not just some, but everyone, let them call urgently. All after one sermon.

[52:36] Don't you think we need to regain that sense of urgency, both in response to the call that God is pressing upon us to be saved, and also in our response to the Great Commission that Jesus has placed upon his people, where we have been commanded, as Jonah was, to go out with that message of judgment and salvation.

[53:13] So the first thing that we see here is that none have we heard one sermon. We've heard many. The second point is none of we heard through a very imperfect sermon.

[53:32] I say this often when I go through the Gospels and Christianity Explored especially, I just love the honesty of the Bible. Sometimes when I was doing preparation for this, I saw a picture that somebody posted online, and as is often the case with pictures, I think it was one of these pictures of a beautiful Harris landscape, and underneath the picture there was the caption no filters required or no filters used.

[54:06] The message being that the person who put the photo up was wanting to say this photo has not been meddled with, it hasn't been played with, it hasn't been spruced up in any way. This is the scene as it was on that day.

[54:19] I just pressed the picture, I just pressed the button. This is what I was looking at, no filters, no airbrushing was required. Well, for the story of Jonah, which is an autobiography, if Jonah wants to come out at the other end of this little story looking decent, he's going to have to use a fair few filters.

[54:47] He's going to have to be fairly, he's going to have to think carefully about what he leaves out, to put it that way. And yet, he leaves out nothing.

[55:01] No filters are used. Jonah portrays himself in this book in all his sinful failings. Jonah, in this book, he gives us a window into his saved and yet his still very sinful heart.

[55:18] When we're saved, we're not made perfect. We still struggle with sin and Jonah was strung with sin. And one thing that we see here is that this preacher, Jonah, he did not want to go to Nineveh.

[55:35] He did not want to preach to these people. And the reason he didn't want to preach to these people was out of fear that they might hear and be saved.

[55:46] that's the main reason that Jonah decided I'm not going to catch that boat. I'm not going to Nineveh. And we get a sense of that in the beginning of chapter 4.

[56:00] Just look at the first couple of verses. The whole city turns to God, they listen to this sermon, they hear the voice of God, which we'll come to in a second, and there is an immense revival.

[56:15] Is Jonah happy? Far from it. Jonah gives us an insight into what was going on in his heart from verse 1 of the book. Jonah was greatly displeased and he became angry.

[56:29] He prayed to the Lord, O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? This is why I was so quick to flee to Tarsus. I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.

[56:47] And that's what God did. The judgment that was threatened, God in his mercy shields them from as they repent.

[56:58] And Jonah was furious about that. Because he couldn't abide this before. That's why he's reluctant to go in chapter 1, that's why he's in a sulk in chapter 4.

[57:12] And yet in chapter 3, we do find an obedient Jonah. He goes to the place that God told him to go with the message that God gave him to preach.

[57:26] But he goes with a grumbling reluctance and not with any love that he had for these people. And if we just think about this, you would think if you were one of the citizens of Nineveh, and along comes this man from an alien nation who clearly didn't want to be there, and who had no love in his eyes and probably no love in the tone of his voice, you would think with the track record of this violent, sinful city, they would just see this aloof, grumbling, petulant creature and dismiss him and say get out of town.

[58:15] Either that you're not getting out of town and we're going to put an end to you here. You would think that they would just dismiss him and dismiss everything that he said to them and yet that's not what happens in verse 4.

[58:29] On the first day Jonah started into the city, he proclaimed 40 more days and Nineveh will be overturned. The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast and all of them from the greatest to the least put on sackcloth.

[58:47] I find that amazing. Jonah preached, also very encouraging. Jonah preached but the people didn't hear Jonah, they heard God.

[59:00] and even though this prophet had such a bad attitude and such a bad track record in recent times, the people heard God and they repented after one sermon to try and apply this.

[59:22] today you are here, not in Nineveh and as I read this account of Jonah, I have to confess I see much that I have in common with Jonah.

[59:39] I see much of the sin that I struggle with in Jonah. In many ways I am ready to confess that I am poor and unfit to serve but I can tell you with all honesty that unlike Jonah, I do have a love for you as a people.

[59:59] And I can tell you that unlike Jonah, I am not reluctant in my being here. And I can tell you that unlike Jonah, when I see people being saved and going on with the Lord, nothing fills me with more joy.

[60:17] It wasn't the case with Jonah. But get past me. When I used to preach on Apple Cross, the elder that would pray would always say, may no man be seen but Christ only.

[60:31] Today, we see Christ. Today, with our New Testaments open, as we follow the sign of Jonah, we see Jesus.

[60:44] we see the one who was far greater than Jonah. We are in the presence of the one who has promised that where two or three gathered, he will be here.

[60:59] We have the words of Jesus, not Jonah. We see the open arms of the crucified and risen Saviour.

[61:11] we hear the voice of Jesus saying, come unto me and rest. We can reflect on the words of 1 John 4. None of we couldn't.

[61:24] We can think about these words. This is how God swore his love among us. He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. This is love.

[61:36] Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent the son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. We can meditate upon the love of God which is vast as the ocean.

[61:55] And that's a love that the Ninevites could not see in Jonah. It's a love that perhaps they did not hear from Jonah.

[62:08] yet they repented and they were not condemned. Have you repented yet?

[62:22] As you look to and as you listen to not only Jonah but Jesus. the third point and the final point today is that Nineveh heard judgment.

[62:41] That's a striking point to consider. Nineveh heard one singular message and it was all judgment.

[62:51] that was the message that was given to Jonah to pass on. In chapter 1 and verse 1 Jonah is told verse 2 sorry go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because his wickedness has come up before me.

[63:11] Chapter 3 and verse 4 as Jonah eventually gets his more detailed sermon the sermon he is called to preach is 40 more days and Nineveh will be overturned.

[63:26] That's what he was given to preach. That's the word of the Lord that came to Jonah and was to come through Jonah and it's absolutely entirely judgment.

[63:38] It's hardly seeker friendly it's hardly a soft cuddly winsome sermon. It's one point. Judgment is coming. And we do have to face the fact biblically that that point still stands.

[63:56] I know many people will boo and hiss as such a message but it's a true one. It's the message that God has given us and it's the message that he has not withdrawn.

[64:11] Judgment is coming. 40 more days Jonah said and Nineveh will be overturned. 40 in the Bible is a number of testing.

[64:25] And so these 40 days were given to Nineveh by God. It was his testing time. And he was watching from heaven to see the response of this people.

[64:39] Now let's apply this. we have been given today. We're not in Nineveh. We're here. But the message still stands that there is judgment coming.

[64:56] And the message still stands, the application still stands that we need to be prepared for that day of judgment. We have all that in common with the people of Nineveh.

[65:08] But think about how much more we know. Think about how much more gracious God has been to us in the message of the gospel that we have heard.

[65:22] Nineveh heard singularly judgment is coming. 40 days judgment is coming. We have heard what Nineveh did not hear.

[65:35] We have heard about grace. we have heard about Jesus. We have heard about all that he has done for sinners so that we could be saved.

[65:49] What did he do? He came to this world. The word became flesh. He dwelt among us. He lived for us the life that we could never live.

[65:59] He died for us the death that we deserve to die. He rose from the dead to show that sins were forgiven. He took our place.

[66:14] We have heard that he is our substitute. We have heard that he suffered judgment for us if we will turn to him.

[66:26] him. And we have heard more than that. We have heard that all who turn in faith to him, all who call upon the name of Jesus will be saved.

[66:43] Categorically. don't miss that. Nineveh had no such assurance. Did you see that?

[66:54] Nineveh had no such assurance of any hope and any salvation. And yet still they cried out in repentance.

[67:08] They said verse 9, maybe, maybe, who knows, God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.

[67:20] Maybe they said there's hope, no assurance, but still there is a cry of faith in the dark that perhaps if they turn to God and turn from their sin, perhaps they won't perish.

[67:39] we have heard that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

[68:00] We have heard that God did not send the son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. we have heard that whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already, because he has believed, has not believed, sorry, in the name of God's one and only son.

[68:33] Do you hear how much more God has spoken to us? And he spoke to Ninue. Not only judgment, but grace.

[68:48] not only the reality of condemnation for those who determine to stick in their sin, but there is the absolute assurance that all who will turn in faith and believe in Jesus shall be saved.

[69:10] So there's the three points. Ninue heard one sermon.

[69:23] We've heard many. Ninue heard through a very imperfect sermon. They were looking at Jonah. We are looking at Jesus. Ninue heard judgment.

[69:36] We have heard of grace. Grace. what will we do with this? What will we do with this? Will we repent?

[69:51] Will we believe? Will we be saved? Or on that last day, will we see and hear the men of Nineveh saying, why did you turn away?

[70:10] Why did you reject? Serious questions, I know. And the answers will have eternal consequences.

[70:25] May God enable us to respond to his voice. Should he be gracious enough to let us hear?

[70:37] Let's pray. Our heavenly father, we do thank you for your word.

[70:54] And sometimes the passages that we come to are uncomfortable because we see the reality of the judgment that awaits us if we will not turn in faith to Jesus.

[71:09] And yet we thank you that you haven't left us wondering what the outcome will be. We thank you that you have made crystal clear to us that those who look in faith to Jesus and turn from sin will be saved.

[71:25] And yet we know also that those who will not accept Christ. For those who will delay, for those who will reject, there is no hope.

[71:39] We thank you that today we do not have to walk out that door wondering are we safe. We thank you that today we can walk out that door if we have heard, knowing that we are safe because we are looking in faith to Jesus.

[71:59] We pray for anyone here this morning who has not yet made their peace with God. We pray for anyone this morning who is hearing and yet is delaying or is dismissing the gospel.

[72:18] Lord we pray that they may have something of the urgency of the king of Nineveh who said let us not eat, let us not drink, let us not work, let us not do anything until we call out to the Lord for mercy.

[72:40] Thank you that you are the God who is merciful and who is gracious and we pray Lord that we may receive that mercy and may receive that grace grace as we look in faith to Jesus and we pray these things in Jesus name Amen.

[73:02] we sing to conclude that wonderful hymn that expounds the gospel message so clearly to us.

[73:16] Oh to see the dawn of the darkest day Christ on the road to Calvary. And now we pray that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit would rest upon and remain with us all both now and forever more.

[73:35] Amen.