WEBVTT

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 Thank you, as always, for your extremely kind and warm welcome to the Old Passer. I was reflecting, I've been away for some 22 years now.

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! In the United States, I'm married to a very lovely American lady who wishes that she could be here this morning.

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 But I was thinking, I've now lived in both places for so long that I have a distinction of being misunderstood in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and certainly by my wife.

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 So if I say to you, Barb sends you greetings, in America that sounds like, who's Bob? Barb sends you greetings this morning.

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 So thank you for your welcome. Let's pray as we come to God's Word.

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 Father, thank you for what your Word tells us of itself. That it is a living Word. That it is a true Word. That it is a fountain of life.

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 Lord, that it's like a sword or a knife that's able to distinguish the motivations of our hearts by your Spirit.

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 And Lord, it is able to lead us.

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 So Father, we don't pray for the preacher necessarily this morning. We pray for the Spirit of God to work.

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 Lord, would you use your Word, we pray, to lead us and guide us. In Christ's name. Amen.

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 Last December in the United States was a terrifying month for natural disasters.

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 You may have heard of some of the tornadoes that tore through the state of Kentucky, overturning entire towns as they went.

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 Or of the forest fires which raged across the American West.

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 Apparently with gusts of 110 miles an hour, propelling a monster fire that made its way through the communities north of Denver, Colorado.

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 And one of the people who was in one of those communities was a man called Hunt Fry, who was interviewed by the local news.

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 He was in a Costco store. I don't know if you know of Costco. I think there's one in Southall.

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 But he was there and he said that he was impressed by the staff who worked in the Costco, who carefully went around and mentioned to people that the building might be on fire.

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 And ushered them towards the exits. And then he said he saw them running like antelopes for the exits. It was just apocalyptic, he said.

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 I was thinking, in its way, it's not a wholly inaccurate picture of Christian mission, which is the call to take the gospel to the whole world, the world that's in danger.

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 Here we are, like people serving in the store, calmly but appropriately telling people that the building is on fire, ushering them towards safety, and then running like antelopes ourselves for the exit that we find in Jesus.

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 I think as we come to this very well known text this morning, we may as well remind ourselves that God is far more invested in missions, in the work of missions, than you and I are.

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 It is his idea. It is his initiative. It is his kindness. It is his mission.

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 But he has called us to join him in his great project to take his message of rescue to the nations and to our own nation.

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 If this has always been true of God, we shouldn't be surprised that we find it here in the middle of the minor prophets.

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 Here is a God who takes the initiative to send Jonah to this city, even the capital city of the mortal enemies of Israel.

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 So in chapter 4, we are going to look at three ways that God shows his missionary heart to us this morning through this story of Jonah.

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 First of all, God shows the glory of his heart by putting mercy before judgment.

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 God shows the glory of his heart by putting mercy before judgment in these first four verses.

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 You probably know Jonah well enough that not much words of background are necessary, and Paul gave us a word or two of background before.

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 But the year is sometime probably in the 8th century BC, and the place is the capital of the Assyrian Empire.

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 This is probably some 50 years after they attacked the capital of Israel and caused great calamity there.

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 But now the bloom has gone a little off the road as far as the Assyrian Empire is concerned.

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 They are in decline.

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 And this reluctant Jewish preacher has been sent to preach a message of warning and judgment to the Assyrian nation.

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 And you know, if you know the book of Jonah, that he had decidedly mixed feelings about the project.

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 But his message was to tell them that if they did not repent, their own city, very much like those towns in Kentucky, would be overturned if they did not repent.

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 The Jews, of course, had every reason to hate the Assyrians.

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 The Assyrians, if you know of them, were among the cruelest nations ever to inhabit this planet.

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 They'd inflicted terrible pain on the people of Israel.

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 If you can think of ISIS as a national empire, a power of hundreds of thousands of troops, you have an imagination of something like Assyria.

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 So you can imagine that the young Jonah, perhaps having lost family members to such cruelty, hearing stories of what had been done by the Assyrians, not unlike those who'd suffered in the Burma Death March or those who had lost family at Auschwitz.

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 How could there be forgiveness for such cruelty any more than anyone would have seriously suggested a quippal for those accused at Nuremberg?

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 So Jonah expects the Assyrians to suffer.

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 That's what a moral God does.

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 If God is true, the Assyrians would pay for what they had done.

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 If God is moral and right, and if he has any concern for his people Israel in what they suffered, he will be the instrument of revenge.

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 For surely God has said, vengeance is mine.

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 And once Jonah gets to Nineveh, you know, which is a whale of a story in itself, Jonah was ready, wasn't he, to be the one to bring the Assyrians the bad news.

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 But, to Jonah's surprise, here is what God actually says and does.

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 This is right at the end of chapter 3, verse 10, coming into chapter 4, because the chapter breaks are somewhat awkward.

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 When God saw what they did, that they repented, how they turned from their evil ways, God relented of disaster that he said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

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 And this is Jonah's reaction, we read, of the mercy that it pleased God to give.

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 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

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 It's an anger of immense proportions.

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 An anger that you notice has him threatening God more than once, that he wishes to take his life.

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 Reminded of what George Whitfield said, that the last idol to go is self-righteousness.

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 So, when it is challenged, we will give up even our very lives to see ourselves justified in our self-righteousness.

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 So, this is Jonah's spiritual crisis.

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 Literally, the language says here, what God has done was, to Jonah, a great evil.

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 And then this, that if they ever make a movie of Jonah, I imagine this will be comic relief, because it seems to be so absurd.

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 I should have known, of course, Jonah is raging, that you would do something like this.

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 I knew that you were a gracious God, Exodus 34, and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, relenting from disaster.

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 I should have known that you would have done this.

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 Notice, even in the way that he reports this, even in the way he writes this down,

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 God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them.

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 And he did not do it.

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 You can catch there even some of Jonah's anger.

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 It's just not good enough, God.

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 He's telling his master.

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 And I think this is important, because here is the first contrast.

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 It's between the messenger of God and the God who sends him.

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 Jonah, who considers himself justified in his anger,

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 God loves his enemies.

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 That is the glory of his love, said Bonhoeffer.

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 He puts mercy before judgment.

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 And certainly in the United States, I wonder across the Western world right now if this is an appropriate contrast.

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 You know, in our own day, in a time when so many are ready to judge and to condemn and to write people off,

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 given the slightest Facebook post or Twitter comment,

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 to exclude others for not saying or doing the right thing,

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 and so many, even within the church, that would do that,

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 here is the reminder that the good news of Christ's mercy is what we're about.

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 We are compelled to offer his mercy before we offer judgment.

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 So it's not that there are other things to say as we speak and devote ourselves to our own cultures,

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 but this is the nature of the God we serve,

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 that he puts mercy before judgment.

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 Second, God shows his people their continuing need of his grace,

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 verses 5 through 8.

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 Like I said, it's difficult not to see this as a tantrum,

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 because it is a tantrum.

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 A reminder to us that whatever age we get to,

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 we can all of us act like six-year-olds.

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 So Jonah, you see here, stomps off into the desert.

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 He sets up kind of stadium seating in the desert,

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 waiting for God to change his mind,

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 waiting for God to obliterate the city.

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 I'm thinking at this point,

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 Jonah has shown himself not to be much of a builder,

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 because you'll notice that the shelter he erects

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 has to be replaced by God's plant within a day.

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 And Jonah awaits, doesn't he, to find this,

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 I'm imagining, I have no idea what it was,

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 but a giant elephant ear plant that is kind of covering him,

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 and he says he is very happy about it.

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 When dawn came up the next day,

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 God appointed a worm that attacked the plant,

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 so that it withered.

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 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind,

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 and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah,

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 so that he was faint.

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 What is God doing?

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 Well, this is either, isn't it,

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 a picture of God being mean and vindictive,

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 getting his own back on the prophet,

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 being small-minded like we can be,

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 or, more likely, it is a picture of God loving Jonah

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 by speaking to him in the only terms that he can understand at this point.

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 He's giving him an object lesson.

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 Jonah has received an undeserved gift,

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 which has saved his life,

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 or at least his suntan,

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 and God now takes it away

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 to teach Jonah something.

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 Personally, when I reflect on Jonah,

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 I'm reminded of when I was six years old.

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 I had diphtheria.

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 I was in a German hospital.

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 My parents had taken me there

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 in some alarm over me,

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 and when I woke up,

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 I found I was surrounded by German nurses.

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 I had no idea where I was.

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 I only knew that I was extremely angry,

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 as angry as a six-year-old can get at his parents.

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 They had left me with these people I didn't know,

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 and when they finally did turn up,

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 they brought me a big orange teddy bear.

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 But this teddy bear's first trip was airborne,

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 because I launched him into the air,

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 throwing him at my father's head.

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 I wanted you, I said.

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 This is not enough.

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 And here is Jonah, I think,

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 having grown to love this huge, silly plant

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 as something that had done good to him,

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 the way that we sentimentalise inanimate objects

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 and simple creatures

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 and forget the giver who has given them.

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 But now it has been taken from him,

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 and so he is angry again,

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 this time on behalf of this quite innocent plant.

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 How dare you, God, take it away?

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 I have so loved this plant

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 for less than 24 hours.

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 So surely God is teaching Jonah,

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 as we too need to be taught, don't we?

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 This was not a man who presumably was young in his faith.

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 He was, at least at this point,

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 middle-aged, if not older.

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 But the difference that he needed to see

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 was between the plant and the people of Nineveh

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 that God had a concern for.

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 Jonah had invested all of his energy at this point

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 into this temporary plant,

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 but God, verse 10, has laboured over Nineveh.

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 He tells Jonah that he has grown the Ninevites

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 and now brought them to the point

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 where they will receive his mercy.

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 So God has every right,

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 by virtue of every possible argument,

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 to do undeserved good to these people.

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 And should God be merciful to his obnoxious

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 but orthodox prophets,

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 yet give these wretched, repenting people

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 only judgment?

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 That's the contrast.

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 That's the nature of God.

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 That's the issue that's at stake

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 in Christian mission.

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 Whether we can just forget

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 the nature of the person we're representing

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 for the sake of the words that we're speaking

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 or the sake of some conversion.

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 Let God be true and every man alive,

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 Paul says in Romans 3.

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 Because here is a God of grace,

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 the God that we must represent,

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 the God whose nature, as Crammer said,

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 is always to have mercy.

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 I don't know about you.

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 I am very touched by the story of John Newton.

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 If you read his whole story,

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 it is actually a remarkable story of God's grace.

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 A year after he wrote the song Amazing Grace

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 aboard the Greyhound during his conversion,

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 we know from his diary later

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 and his testimony to Parliament

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 that he was commanding a slave ship

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 off the coast of Africa.

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 And he writes in his memoirs

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 that to his shame,

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 he followed the other sailors

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 into the hold of that ship

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 and systematically, night after night,

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 abused young women who were in chains there.

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 This went on for weeks

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 until he became deathly ill

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 and almost died.

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 At that point,

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 Newton became the wretch

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 that he describes in Amazing Grace.

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 And on his deathbed,

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 it was God who broke him,

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 showing how wretched a man

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 could yet be saved

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 by the mercy of God at the cross.

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 So who's to say how far

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 God should show his mercy?

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 If God showed mercy to Jonah,

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 shouldn't he show his mercy to Newton?

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 If he showed his mercy to Newton,

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 shouldn't he show it to the Assyrians?

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 If he showed it to the Assyrians,

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 to whom shouldn't he show it?

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 If they will but turn to him

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 and find his mercy

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 as they cry out for rescue.

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 That's the very roots of the gospel,

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 isn't it?

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 Again, in the heart of God.

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 For one will scarcely die

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 for a righteous person,

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 though perhaps for a good person

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 one would dare even to die.

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 But God shows his love for us in this,

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 that while we were yet sinners,

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 Christ died for us.

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 I've been thinking about my own

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 typical response to those around me.

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 I tend, I don't know about you,

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 I tend to divide people up

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 into people who are likely prospects

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 for the Christian faith

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 and those who are not.

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 I think over the years,

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 I have ruled people out

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 as being impossible.

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 People who are so far beyond

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 the grace of God

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 that I wouldn't bother with them.

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 But as I've looked at them,

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 I've realised, really,

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 by the grace of God,

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 to me,

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 that it's my indifference

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 which has ruled those days.

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 Not the mercy of God.

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 It's my own lack of compassion

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 which has been motivating me.

00:17:27.980 --> 00:17:29.500
 And not the mercy of God,

00:17:29.580 --> 00:17:30.820
 the God who can do everything.

00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:32.460
 So the gospel reminds us, doesn't it,

00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:33.799
 that while we were yet sinners,

00:17:34.380 --> 00:17:37.160
 not promising prospects at all

00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:38.759
 from any earthly point of view,

00:17:39.220 --> 00:17:40.940
 that Christ died for us

00:17:40.940 --> 00:17:43.519
 as we still need his mercy

00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:46.120
 and need to represent his mercy

00:17:46.120 --> 00:17:47.500
 to others.

00:17:47.559 --> 00:17:49.680
 So it's very easy, isn't it,

00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:51.120
 to try to make two gods

00:17:51.120 --> 00:17:52.700
 as religious people.

00:17:53.240 --> 00:17:55.420
 A God of mercy for us

00:17:55.420 --> 00:17:57.660
 and a God of judgement

00:17:57.660 --> 00:17:59.259
 for those who are not like us

00:17:59.259 --> 00:18:00.860
 or those who disagree with us

00:18:00.860 --> 00:18:02.920
 or those who won't listen to us.

00:18:03.539 --> 00:18:04.880
 That's at the very core

00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:06.360
 of self-righteousness, isn't it?

00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:07.639
 And my own experience

00:18:07.639 --> 00:18:09.059
 is that it can creep back.

00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:13.019
 But here is someone

00:18:13.019 --> 00:18:14.159
 with a pure heart,

00:18:14.859 --> 00:18:17.079
 the God of all mercy and grace.

00:18:17.159 --> 00:18:19.279
 The more you see his mercy to you,

00:18:19.740 --> 00:18:22.799
 the more you see your own need

00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:24.479
 for the gospel.

00:18:25.500 --> 00:18:27.039
 And thus you give the gospel,

00:18:27.159 --> 00:18:28.439
 I think, more freely,

00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:29.019
 more readily.

00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:32.679
 And finally, God shows his own heart

00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:33.880
 because in this story

00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:36.940
 it's clear that he has invested himself

00:18:36.940 --> 00:18:38.620
 in these people,

00:18:38.700 --> 00:18:39.759
 verses 9 through 11.

00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:41.759
 And the Lord said,

00:18:41.860 --> 00:18:42.779
 You pity the plant

00:18:42.779 --> 00:18:44.039
 for which you did not labour,

00:18:44.420 --> 00:18:45.560
 nor did you make it grow

00:18:45.560 --> 00:18:46.519
 which came into being

00:18:46.519 --> 00:18:47.120
 into a night

00:18:47.120 --> 00:18:48.160
 and perished in a night.

00:18:48.600 --> 00:18:50.140
 And should I not pity Nineveh,

00:18:50.220 --> 00:18:51.200
 that great city

00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:52.700
 in which there are more than

00:18:52.700 --> 00:18:54.500
 120,000 persons

00:18:54.500 --> 00:18:55.519
 who do not know

00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:57.000
 their right hand from their left,

00:18:57.500 --> 00:18:58.960
 and also, interestingly,

00:18:59.220 --> 00:18:59.960
 much cattle.

00:18:59.960 --> 00:19:04.019
 Jonah is a book

00:19:04.019 --> 00:19:05.279
 about the heart of God.

00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:06.799
 And so, therefore,

00:19:06.980 --> 00:19:08.059
 it is a book

00:19:08.059 --> 00:19:09.700
 about Christian mission.

00:19:11.660 --> 00:19:12.559
 Translators have noticed

00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:14.019
 something about the verb here.

00:19:14.059 --> 00:19:14.920
 I think it's translated

00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:15.720
 in the NIV,

00:19:16.380 --> 00:19:16.640
 pity,

00:19:16.980 --> 00:19:18.600
 or perhaps compassion.

00:19:19.340 --> 00:19:20.960
 In the old version of the NIV,

00:19:21.100 --> 00:19:21.960
 which often used,

00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:23.400
 it's the verb concerned,

00:19:23.539 --> 00:19:24.279
 to be concerned.

00:19:24.740 --> 00:19:26.039
 Shouldn't I be concerned

00:19:26.039 --> 00:19:27.279
 about that great city?

00:19:28.119 --> 00:19:28.599
 The verb,

00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:29.960
 in the original language,

00:19:30.099 --> 00:19:31.500
 was used of kings giving

00:19:31.500 --> 00:19:32.740
 or withholding mercy

00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:33.399
 and judgment.

00:19:34.299 --> 00:19:35.539
 And the power of the verb

00:19:35.539 --> 00:19:36.039
 is this.

00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:37.019
 It means to do

00:19:37.019 --> 00:19:38.299
 what one does,

00:19:38.399 --> 00:19:39.599
 what one must do,

00:19:39.960 --> 00:19:40.899
 with tears

00:19:40.899 --> 00:19:41.819
 in one's eyes.

00:19:43.019 --> 00:19:44.579
 So if Jonah had turned

00:19:44.579 --> 00:19:45.700
 the conversation around

00:19:45.700 --> 00:19:47.099
 and asked God earlier,

00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:48.779
 do you do well

00:19:48.779 --> 00:19:49.480
 to be angry?

00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:50.000
 In other words,

00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:51.240
 why aren't you be angry

00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:52.579
 about this injustice

00:19:52.579 --> 00:19:55.500
 God could perfectly well say

00:19:55.500 --> 00:19:56.679
 of the day that justice

00:19:56.679 --> 00:19:57.319
 was coming,

00:19:57.899 --> 00:19:58.220
 yes,

00:19:58.379 --> 00:19:59.299
 in my justice

00:19:59.299 --> 00:20:00.220
 I will do

00:20:00.220 --> 00:20:01.539
 very well

00:20:01.539 --> 00:20:03.279
 of that day

00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:03.939
 when God

00:20:03.939 --> 00:20:04.720
 would bring

00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:05.699
 justice

00:20:05.699 --> 00:20:07.460
 on one particular person

00:20:07.460 --> 00:20:08.059
 whom he sent.

00:20:08.919 --> 00:20:09.980
 For this is the heart

00:20:09.980 --> 00:20:10.639
 of God's

00:20:10.639 --> 00:20:11.899
 living justice,

00:20:11.899 --> 00:20:13.059
 that he will go

00:20:13.059 --> 00:20:14.519
 to extraordinary rates

00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:15.500
 to uphold

00:20:15.500 --> 00:20:16.119
 the heights

00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:16.879
 of his justice

00:20:16.879 --> 00:20:18.000
 and to show

00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:18.559
 the breadth

00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:19.259
 of his mercy.

00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:20.199
 That's the story

00:20:20.200 --> 00:20:20.840
 of Christ

00:20:20.840 --> 00:20:23.240
 to his enormous cost.

00:20:23.580 --> 00:20:24.279
 So it's not

00:20:24.279 --> 00:20:24.920
 that the question

00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:25.580
 is irrelevant.

00:20:26.759 --> 00:20:27.539
 I think it's probably

00:20:27.539 --> 00:20:28.660
 the very question

00:20:28.660 --> 00:20:30.000
 that God wanted

00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:30.920
 Jonah to ask,

00:20:31.220 --> 00:20:32.120
 a question that would

00:20:32.120 --> 00:20:33.360
 be finally answered

00:20:33.360 --> 00:20:35.279
 some 800 years later.

00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:36.740
 So this is

00:20:36.740 --> 00:20:37.460
 God's question

00:20:37.460 --> 00:20:38.600
 to his student Jonah.

00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:39.680
 Shouldn't I be concerned

00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:40.900
 about that great city?

00:20:42.539 --> 00:20:43.460
 Shouldn't I be concerned

00:20:43.460 --> 00:20:44.220
 about the hundreds

00:20:44.220 --> 00:20:45.539
 of millions

00:20:45.539 --> 00:20:46.860
 God might ask

00:20:46.860 --> 00:20:47.460
 who are trapped

00:20:47.460 --> 00:20:48.519
 in their own sin,

00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:50.240
 who don't know

00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:51.019
 even this day

00:20:51.019 --> 00:20:51.519
 that there is

00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:52.319
 a way out?

00:20:52.940 --> 00:20:53.940
 To those of us

00:20:53.940 --> 00:20:54.559
 who seem

00:20:54.559 --> 00:20:56.059
 unreachable,

00:20:57.559 --> 00:20:58.480
 to those that

00:20:58.480 --> 00:20:59.359
 as we look at the world

00:20:59.359 --> 00:20:59.819
 we would say

00:20:59.819 --> 00:21:00.700
 there is no way

00:21:00.700 --> 00:21:01.319
 that God

00:21:01.319 --> 00:21:02.579
 could possibly

00:21:02.579 --> 00:21:03.220
 reach them

00:21:03.220 --> 00:21:03.759
 with the gospel.

00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:04.539
 Shouldn't God

00:21:04.539 --> 00:21:05.420
 be concerned

00:21:05.420 --> 00:21:05.859
 for them?

00:21:07.720 --> 00:21:08.359
 Shouldn't God

00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:09.240
 be concerned

00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:10.460
 that his own people

00:21:10.460 --> 00:21:11.599
 still don't know

00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:12.680
 the value

00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:13.879
 of the extravagant

00:21:13.879 --> 00:21:14.819
 gift that has

00:21:14.819 --> 00:21:15.220
 been given

00:21:15.220 --> 00:21:15.700
 to them?

00:21:15.700 --> 00:21:17.920
 So I think

00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:19.420
 this text

00:21:19.420 --> 00:21:20.319
 asks us

00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:20.880
 what should

00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:21.500
 you do?

00:21:22.580 --> 00:21:23.039
 How should

00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:23.720
 you respond

00:21:23.720 --> 00:21:24.360
 to this God

00:21:24.360 --> 00:21:24.840
 of mercy?

00:21:25.360 --> 00:21:25.920
 And the call

00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:26.640
 here is I think

00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:27.940
 again to re-examine

00:21:27.940 --> 00:21:29.340
 our own debt

00:21:29.340 --> 00:21:30.240
 to God's gift

00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:31.319
 of extravagant

00:21:31.319 --> 00:21:32.180
 mercy to us.

00:21:32.740 --> 00:21:34.059
 Maybe like Jonah

00:21:34.059 --> 00:21:34.600
 we should be

00:21:34.600 --> 00:21:35.920
 very un-Presbyterian

00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:36.700
 and experience

00:21:36.700 --> 00:21:38.220
 great waves

00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:38.779
 of emotion

00:21:38.779 --> 00:21:39.220
 over this

00:21:39.220 --> 00:21:40.480
 extreme sorrow

00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:41.500
 over our sin.

00:21:42.980 --> 00:21:44.220
 Extreme joy

00:21:44.220 --> 00:21:44.839
 that because

00:21:44.839 --> 00:21:45.900
 the sinless

00:21:45.900 --> 00:21:46.460
 saviour

00:21:46.460 --> 00:21:46.940
 died

00:21:46.940 --> 00:21:48.120
 my sinful

00:21:48.120 --> 00:21:48.620
 soul

00:21:48.620 --> 00:21:49.039
 has been

00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:49.759
 counted free.

00:21:50.579 --> 00:21:51.180
 If that doesn't

00:21:51.180 --> 00:21:52.259
 crack a smile

00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:52.900
 on the face

00:21:52.900 --> 00:21:53.759
 of a Presbyterian

00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:54.299
 I don't know

00:21:54.299 --> 00:21:54.819
 what will.

00:21:56.160 --> 00:21:57.000
 If we've been

00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:57.779
 given such

00:21:57.779 --> 00:21:58.539
 an astounding

00:21:58.539 --> 00:21:59.100
 gift

00:21:59.100 --> 00:22:01.000
 and it doesn't

00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:02.920
 move us

00:22:02.920 --> 00:22:03.700
 to then go

00:22:03.700 --> 00:22:04.480
 out in mission

00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:05.539
 then I wonder

00:22:05.539 --> 00:22:06.480
 what will.

00:22:07.779 --> 00:22:08.180
 I don't know

00:22:08.180 --> 00:22:08.519
 if you know

00:22:08.519 --> 00:22:09.079
 the story

00:22:09.079 --> 00:22:09.980
 of Billy Bray

00:22:09.980 --> 00:22:11.079
 the 19th century

00:22:11.079 --> 00:22:12.660
 Cornish tin miner

00:22:12.660 --> 00:22:14.140
 turned preacher

00:22:14.140 --> 00:22:15.300
 Billy by reputation

00:22:15.300 --> 00:22:17.080
 was the grumpiest

00:22:17.080 --> 00:22:18.160
 man in Cornwall

00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:19.980
 he was an

00:22:19.980 --> 00:22:20.500
 alcoholic

00:22:20.500 --> 00:22:21.380
 by addiction

00:22:21.380 --> 00:22:22.240
 he was a

00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:22.780
 coal miner

00:22:22.780 --> 00:22:23.680
 by trade

00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:25.560
 who was saved

00:22:25.560 --> 00:22:27.460
 by the reading

00:22:27.460 --> 00:22:29.500
 of John Bunyan's

00:22:29.500 --> 00:22:30.180
 visions of heaven

00:22:30.180 --> 00:22:30.640
 and hell

00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:32.180
 as he lived

00:22:32.180 --> 00:22:32.720
 in danger

00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:33.440
 of coal pit

00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:34.100
 collapse.

00:22:35.080 --> 00:22:35.640
 And what it did

00:22:35.640 --> 00:22:36.040
 in Billy

00:22:36.040 --> 00:22:37.259
 was it totally

00:22:37.259 --> 00:22:38.020
 changed him.

00:22:38.800 --> 00:22:39.700
 It totally changed

00:22:39.700 --> 00:22:40.660
 him by personality

00:22:40.660 --> 00:22:41.460
 he was a giant

00:22:41.460 --> 00:22:42.000
 of a man

00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:42.799
 but he became

00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:43.519
 a radically

00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:45.119
 different individual

00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:46.079
 emotionally

00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:46.920
 and by nature.

00:22:47.299 --> 00:22:47.640
 When people

00:22:47.640 --> 00:22:48.319
 were converted

00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:49.079
 in his town

00:22:49.079 --> 00:22:49.700
 he would turn

00:22:49.700 --> 00:22:50.160
 up at their

00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:51.319
 house and put

00:22:51.319 --> 00:22:51.980
 that person

00:22:51.980 --> 00:22:52.680
 on his shoulders

00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:53.160
 and run

00:22:53.160 --> 00:22:53.920
 round the house

00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:55.339
 singing glory

00:22:55.339 --> 00:22:56.019
 glory

00:22:56.019 --> 00:22:57.740
 he would say

00:22:57.740 --> 00:22:58.220
 if they were

00:22:58.220 --> 00:22:58.660
 to put me

00:22:58.660 --> 00:22:59.299
 in a barrel

00:22:59.299 --> 00:23:00.119
 I would shout

00:23:00.119 --> 00:23:01.119
 glory out

00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:01.539
 through the

00:23:01.539 --> 00:23:02.059
 bunghole

00:23:02.059 --> 00:23:03.160
 praise the

00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:03.559
 Lord.

00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:05.740
 And when I read

00:23:05.740 --> 00:23:06.579
 stories like that

00:23:06.579 --> 00:23:07.259
 it is again

00:23:07.259 --> 00:23:07.880
 it's kind of a

00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:08.720
 mirror like Paul

00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:09.339
 was talking about

00:23:09.339 --> 00:23:10.419
 out to my own

00:23:10.419 --> 00:23:10.959
 heart.

00:23:12.599 --> 00:23:13.480
 Where is the

00:23:13.480 --> 00:23:14.079
 love of the

00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:14.899
 gospel gone?

00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:16.839
 Where is the

00:23:16.839 --> 00:23:17.399
 love and the

00:23:17.399 --> 00:23:18.259
 urgency of

00:23:18.259 --> 00:23:18.959
 mission gone

00:23:18.959 --> 00:23:19.379
 in me?

00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:20.699
 Am I content

00:23:20.699 --> 00:23:21.399
 now just to

00:23:21.399 --> 00:23:22.359
 be within

00:23:22.359 --> 00:23:23.019
 these four

00:23:23.019 --> 00:23:23.779
 walls speaking

00:23:23.779 --> 00:23:24.319
 to people

00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:25.220
 who agree

00:23:25.220 --> 00:23:25.659
 with me?

00:23:26.439 --> 00:23:26.959
 So it's

00:23:26.959 --> 00:23:28.319
 someone here

00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:29.039
 in Jonah

00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:31.179
 who could be

00:23:31.179 --> 00:23:31.779
 shown the

00:23:31.779 --> 00:23:32.639
 heart of God

00:23:32.639 --> 00:23:34.039
 and here is

00:23:34.039 --> 00:23:34.740
 someone as we

00:23:34.740 --> 00:23:35.599
 read of Jonah

00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:36.799
 that might too

00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:38.019
 also be shown

00:23:38.019 --> 00:23:39.480
 the heart of

00:23:39.480 --> 00:23:39.680
 God.

00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:40.079
 So you can

00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:40.980
 see all the

00:23:40.980 --> 00:23:41.579
 ingredients of

00:23:41.579 --> 00:23:42.059
 the gospel

00:23:42.059 --> 00:23:42.619
 are here in

00:23:42.619 --> 00:23:43.160
 this story.

00:23:44.379 --> 00:23:45.379
 God will one

00:23:45.379 --> 00:23:46.059
 day revisit

00:23:46.059 --> 00:23:46.799
 another city

00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:47.639
 with another

00:23:47.639 --> 00:23:48.240
 prophet and

00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:48.740
 yet in that

00:23:48.740 --> 00:23:49.339
 city he will

00:23:49.339 --> 00:23:50.539
 pour out all

00:23:50.539 --> 00:23:50.879
 of his

00:23:50.879 --> 00:23:51.579
 judgment, the

00:23:51.579 --> 00:23:52.119
 judgment that

00:23:52.119 --> 00:23:52.639
 he and Jonah

00:23:52.639 --> 00:23:53.119
 were speaking

00:23:53.119 --> 00:23:54.000
 about upon

00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:54.599
 the head of

00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:55.259
 that prophet

00:23:55.259 --> 00:23:56.079
 his own son

00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:57.400
 to completely

00:23:57.400 --> 00:23:58.539
 rescue those

00:23:58.539 --> 00:23:59.700
 who will take

00:23:59.700 --> 00:24:00.660
 shelter under

00:24:00.660 --> 00:24:01.299
 his mercy

00:24:01.299 --> 00:24:02.720
 in Jesus.

00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:04.700
 And God's

00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:05.579
 concern, his

00:24:05.579 --> 00:24:06.480
 justice through

00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:07.279
 his tears

00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:08.579
 were shown

00:24:08.579 --> 00:24:09.579
 at Calvary

00:24:09.579 --> 00:24:10.759
 as mercy

00:24:10.759 --> 00:24:11.240
 indeed has

00:24:11.240 --> 00:24:11.680
 been shown

00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:12.180
 to you and

00:24:12.180 --> 00:24:12.379
 me.

00:24:13.139 --> 00:24:13.639
 So in

00:24:13.639 --> 00:24:14.180
 closing let

00:24:14.180 --> 00:24:14.720
 me say how

00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:15.839
 grateful I

00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:16.799
 am for the

00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:17.819
 continuing witness

00:24:17.819 --> 00:24:18.700
 and the gospel

00:24:18.700 --> 00:24:20.539
 vitality of

00:24:20.539 --> 00:24:21.180
 IPC.

00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:22.399
 You know in

00:24:22.399 --> 00:24:23.119
 its way

00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:24.819
 IPC did far

00:24:24.819 --> 00:24:25.559
 more to shape

00:24:25.559 --> 00:24:26.160
 me than the

00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:26.460
 other way

00:24:26.460 --> 00:24:26.839
 around.

00:24:27.740 --> 00:24:28.240
 And I think

00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:29.079
 because of this

00:24:29.079 --> 00:24:29.940
 doctrine of

00:24:29.940 --> 00:24:31.680
 grace I'm

00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:32.259
 grateful for

00:24:32.259 --> 00:24:33.599
 Paul and

00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:33.879
 for the

00:24:33.879 --> 00:24:34.460
 elders here.

00:24:34.579 --> 00:24:35.019
 I'm grateful

00:24:35.019 --> 00:24:35.619
 for Graham

00:24:35.619 --> 00:24:36.139
 who I hear

00:24:36.139 --> 00:24:37.019
 has had an

00:24:37.019 --> 00:24:37.700
 anniversary of

00:24:37.700 --> 00:24:38.220
 some almost

00:24:38.220 --> 00:24:39.940
 40 years of

00:24:39.940 --> 00:24:40.900
 faithful service

00:24:40.900 --> 00:24:41.960
 as an elder

00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:42.299
 here.

00:24:43.220 --> 00:24:43.559
 And I'm

00:24:43.559 --> 00:24:44.119
 grateful for

00:24:44.119 --> 00:24:44.460
 you.

00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:45.059
 I'm grateful

00:24:45.059 --> 00:24:45.639
 for you who've

00:24:45.639 --> 00:24:46.059
 been gathered

00:24:46.059 --> 00:24:46.819
 from so many

00:24:46.819 --> 00:24:47.579
 different places.

00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:48.180
 You know what

00:24:48.180 --> 00:24:49.859
 I'm struggling

00:24:49.859 --> 00:24:50.559
 with and what

00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:51.460
 many American

00:24:51.460 --> 00:24:52.059
 pastors are

00:24:52.059 --> 00:24:52.660
 struggling with

00:24:52.660 --> 00:24:53.400
 right now is

00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:54.299
 it's as if the

00:24:54.299 --> 00:24:54.819
 church has

00:24:54.819 --> 00:24:55.680
 turned inwards

00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:56.900
 and said we

00:24:56.900 --> 00:24:57.799
 just want to

00:24:57.799 --> 00:24:58.400
 be with our

00:24:58.400 --> 00:24:59.039
 own people,

00:24:59.220 --> 00:24:59.639
 thank you.

00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:01.299
 We just want

00:25:01.299 --> 00:25:01.799
 to live in

00:25:01.799 --> 00:25:02.539
 safety and

00:25:02.539 --> 00:25:03.420
 security among

00:25:03.420 --> 00:25:03.960
 people who

00:25:03.960 --> 00:25:05.319
 politically and

00:25:05.319 --> 00:25:06.679
 ethnically and

00:25:06.679 --> 00:25:07.759
 economically are

00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:08.419
 like us.

00:25:10.179 --> 00:25:10.419
 It's a

00:25:10.419 --> 00:25:13.179
 fundamental

00:25:13.179 --> 00:25:14.240
 disagreement with

00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:14.720
 the nature of

00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:16.259
 the gospel and

00:25:16.259 --> 00:25:16.839
 with the church

00:25:16.839 --> 00:25:17.200
 itself.

00:25:17.339 --> 00:25:17.879
 So it's so

00:25:17.879 --> 00:25:18.799
 refreshing to be

00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:19.700
 among those who

00:25:19.700 --> 00:25:20.460
 are committed to

00:25:20.460 --> 00:25:21.679
 being together by

00:25:21.679 --> 00:25:22.259
 the will of

00:25:22.259 --> 00:25:24.139
 God, by the

00:25:24.139 --> 00:25:24.879
 grace of God

00:25:24.879 --> 00:25:26.200
 coming from such

00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:27.119
 different places

00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:28.359
 and from

00:25:28.359 --> 00:25:29.559
 different cultures

00:25:29.559 --> 00:25:30.159
 and different

00:25:30.159 --> 00:25:31.460
 politics and

00:25:31.460 --> 00:25:32.480
 different ethnicities

00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:32.539
 things.

00:25:32.839 --> 00:25:33.880
 But radically

00:25:33.880 --> 00:25:35.160
 brought together

00:25:35.160 --> 00:25:36.039
 under the

00:25:36.039 --> 00:25:36.539
 gospel of

00:25:36.539 --> 00:25:36.819
 Jesus.

00:25:38.039 --> 00:25:39.000
 So you know,

00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:39.680
 Jonah didn't

00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:40.279
 want to go to

00:25:40.279 --> 00:25:41.519
 Nineveh and

00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:41.960
 when he got

00:25:41.960 --> 00:25:42.599
 there he set

00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:43.259
 about doing

00:25:43.259 --> 00:25:44.220
 what he wanted

00:25:44.220 --> 00:25:44.700
 to do,

00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:45.799
 oblivious to

00:25:45.799 --> 00:25:46.480
 the idea that

00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:47.339
 God might

00:25:47.339 --> 00:25:47.980
 have a different

00:25:47.980 --> 00:25:48.680
 plan.

00:25:49.799 --> 00:25:50.500
 But it has

00:25:50.500 --> 00:25:51.299
 been revealed to

00:25:51.299 --> 00:25:52.240
 us in Jesus,

00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:53.980
 here is a God

00:25:53.980 --> 00:25:55.740
 of mercy who

00:25:55.740 --> 00:25:57.720
 still desires to

00:25:57.720 --> 00:25:58.579
 reach the nations

00:25:58.579 --> 00:26:00.000
 with his gospel,

00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:01.980
 who still desires

00:26:01.980 --> 00:26:02.880
 to reach people

00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:03.980
 even here in

00:26:03.980 --> 00:26:05.339
 Ewing with the

00:26:05.339 --> 00:26:06.539
 message of

00:26:06.539 --> 00:26:07.000
 Christ.

00:26:07.700 --> 00:26:08.440
 How radical

00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:09.740
 would it be if

00:26:09.740 --> 00:26:10.500
 we were to ask

00:26:10.500 --> 00:26:11.200
 him, even today,

00:26:11.319 --> 00:26:11.980
 even for this

00:26:11.980 --> 00:26:13.680
 week, Lord, who

00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:14.339
 would you have me

00:26:14.339 --> 00:26:14.940
 talk to?

00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:16.460
 Who would you

00:26:16.460 --> 00:26:17.440
 have me pray for?

00:26:18.500 --> 00:26:19.099
 Who have I

00:26:19.099 --> 00:26:19.819
 perhaps written

00:26:19.819 --> 00:26:20.660
 off in my own

00:26:20.660 --> 00:26:21.319
 heart as being

00:26:21.319 --> 00:26:21.920
 unreachable,

00:26:22.039 --> 00:26:22.500
 perhaps somebody

00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:22.940
 at work,

00:26:23.059 --> 00:26:24.120
 perhaps somebody

00:26:24.120 --> 00:26:24.920
 in my family?

00:26:25.960 --> 00:26:26.880
 Could it be that

00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:27.980
 your gospel could

00:26:27.980 --> 00:26:29.839
 reach them if we

00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:30.539
 were to talk,

00:26:30.539 --> 00:26:31.720
 they and I,

00:26:32.119 --> 00:26:33.039
 about Jesus?

00:26:34.500 --> 00:26:35.099
 Perhaps the

00:26:35.099 --> 00:26:35.940
 Lord will surprise

00:26:35.940 --> 00:26:37.339
 us with what

00:26:37.339 --> 00:26:38.079
 he can do,

00:26:38.859 --> 00:26:39.460
 and that wouldn't

00:26:39.460 --> 00:26:39.960
 be such a

00:26:39.960 --> 00:26:40.399
 disaster,

00:26:40.879 --> 00:26:41.319
 would it?

00:26:43.220 --> 00:26:43.940
 Let's pray.

00:26:44.380 --> 00:26:44.519
 Let's pray.

00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:44.519


00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:44.519


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00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:44.519