Embracing God's Mercy: Lessons from Jonah

As always, let me turn on this thing, right? If you've got your Bibles, open them with me please to the Book of Jonah, the Book of Jonah.

And as you are finding your way there, we're going back to see what our hero is up to. After I read chapter 3, I thought to myself, "That must be a great Baptist preacher, Jonah." And then I got into chapter 4 and I knew for a fact that that was a great Baptist preacher, Jonah.

Because I could have titled this sermon, and I almost thought about it, "Where's my clicker thingy hiki new Flopper? There it is." I almost titled this sermon, "The Pouting Prophet," because it seems like no matter what God does, Jonah ain't happy.

Y'all ever met people like that? It doesn't matter what God does in your life, you just ain't happy, just not satisfied with what's going on. And when you read this book, you begin to understand. I told you an author that I had read made the statement that of all of the Old Testament books, Jonah was the most Christian of all of those books.

In the sense that all of the attributes of God, all of the way that God treats people, his people, even lost people, can all be found in the Book of Jonah. And so, I was hoping to finish it today because next week, naturally, is homecoming. And then I was hoping to start a new series the second week in August, but we'll just have to see, okay?

So, Jonah chapter 4, look with me in verse 1. Is everybody there? Say Amen.

"But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the Lord and said, 'I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying when I was yet in my country? Therefore, I fled before unto Tarshish, for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.'

Then said the Lord, 'Dost thou well to be angry?' So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city."

You know, there are times that all of us need people. We need people to be caring, we need people to be compassionate, we need people to be merciful when we're dealing with severe illness or divorce or the death of a loved one.

We would hope and pray that people would come alongside and would be compassionate and caring. We would hope that people would come and demonstrate, especially God's people, mercy. You don't know when a person is in the hospital or they're dealing with a severe illness. You don't understand what it's like to have a phone call or somebody to come by and drop in and say, "Hey, how are you doing?"

We none, unless you've been in that situation, understand how encouraging it is when somebody comes by and demonstrates compassion. But there are times in all of our lives when even God's people are hesitant to help out.

There are times, unfortunately, even with God's people, when it seems like we become very judgmental. We say, "You know, I don't want to associate with everybody." And there's times that, let me tell you something, there are times when people who are living in such gross sin that I can understand why somebody would say, "Well, you know, I really don't want to kind of get associated with that person."

But there are also times that, you know what, we pull back from people when they've made bad decisions in their lives. And we say, "Well, you know, they did something knuckle-headed." And I have to say, like Paul, you know, he said of sinners, "I'm the chief of knuckleheaded actions. I am the king because I've done more knuckleheaded actions than I care to think about."

So it's hard for me to understand why people would not reach out. We went through a rash of this early on in the church with unwed mothers and young people were young ladies were getting pregnant.

And the church had two avenues. The one avenue would be to reach out to this young person who, by all rights and indications, hasn't made the best choice, amen. Or we could turn them and unfortunately, I hate to say it, all too often that was, of course, the church took and said, "Well, you know, they had sinned."

And there is a reality in the fact that they had sinned, amen. But that should not negate us reaching out and showing mercy to someone who sinned because guess what? There, but for the grace of God, go what? It could have just as easily been me, amen.

But you know, sometimes we may not show kindness or compassion, but thank God that God knows every heart. He knows every situation. He knows every circumstance.

And you know what we find out in the Book of Jonah? That he longs to show mercy. He longs to extend grace. Last week in our study, I did use this scripture and I mean, oh wait a minute, back up. So it may be familiar to you. I don't know where I'm at. Wait a minute here.

Dennis, can we start over? Trying to back up here. There we go. What? Okay, come on. All right, put the first slide up. And I messed up. Okay, wrong slide deck. Jump. There should be one. Nope, wrong slide deck. It should be. There should be one in there titled "The Depth of God's Mercy." I would hope. And if not, it's okay. We'll do it without the slides. We'll do it the old-fashioned way.

We'll earn it. Second Peter, chapter 2 and verse 9 says, "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished."

In other words, what it said was, you know what? God has a justice side, but God also has a mercy side. And what he was saying was, is that, guess what? God wants everyone to repent. God wants to show mercy to everyone.

But yet, we have problems reconciling this idea that, guess what? He knows how to preserve the godly. But also, though, there's judgment for those that are going to be punished that refuse him. And we somehow or another can't bring the two together.

Now, today, our society says that God is love. And unfortunately, in the new Christian vernacular, that simply means that God will accept anything I do, any way I want to live. You know what I'm saying? Because God is love.

But you know what? God is also judgment. And the way we know that is because what was the sermon to the Ninevites? 40 days and what? You're going to be overthrown. In other words, God said, "Hey, look, I'm going to give you a chance to repent. But if you don't, I want you to know in 40 days, guess what? Because today, all people know is, 'For God so loved the world, oh man, he loves us so much, he gave his only begotten Son.'

But we forget verse 17 that says, 'Guess what? If you fail to repent, if you fail to receive him as that love from God in the form of his Son's sacrifice, you're condemned already. And the condemnation, the judgment is this: What did you do with my Son's sacrifice? And when you say, 'Gee, thanks, but no thanks, Lord,' guess what? There's a fearful looking of judgment.

You see, today's lesson is about the fact that, yes, God wants to show mercy to the ungodly. God wants to show mercy to the hypocrite. God wants to show mercy to the one maybe there this morning cursed his name. God still wants to reach out to them and forgive them.

Because here's the reason why. If they choose not to receive that forgiveness, their eternity is set forever separated in a devil's hell away from a God who did everything he could do in order for them to be saved.

In our verses today, we see a man who has enjoyed God's mercy. We see a man who we believed in chapter 3 was forever changed. After chapter 2, after the ride in a fish, we believe that we saw a man that not only had a different attitude, not only after he smelled like fish vomit, not only did he smell differently, but you know what?

I got to thinking. I was talking with some other preachers about this, and they said, "You know, have you ever thought about, have you ever read any of the accounts of anybody that has been inside a whale?" And you know, there are accounts of that where they were hunting whales, the sailor fell overboard, and the whale swallowed them up.

Well, when they actually captured the whale and cut them open, that person was alive inside. But you know what they found out? When that person got swallowed up, the digestive juices inside that whale instantly began to work on them to digest them.

And guess what happened? Almost without fail, every account says, guess what? When they came out, their skin was as white as snow, no pigment whatsoever. And the reason being, because guess what? Those acids had begun to...

Now, imagine what Jonah looked like after three days when he walked into this city. Do you think that not only... We just said he smelled different, he had a different attitude. But guess what? He also looked different, didn't he?

And if we think about that for just a minute, we say, "Hey, he's been changed." And truly, he was. But yet, in all of that, he had enjoyed the mercy, the restoration, and the forgiveness of God. Yet, he did not want to extend that to others.

In other words, what we're going to find out today is that his heart was hardened. And today, I hate to say it, but there are so many preachers, there are so many people who name the name of Christ, and their hearts are hardened.

They see others in need, and we say, "Hey, look, I don't want to fool with that. I'd rather not get my hands dirty." "Well, you know, they made some bad choices, preacher." "Yeah, me too." "Well, you know, do they really deserve our help?" And we base that on what we think they deserve, amen?

And I am glad to tell you today that salvation is not dependent upon what I deserve. And I am so ever thankful for that. Because let me tell you something, brother. Even after salvation, the only thing that I understand is I deserve death.

And after I got saved, guess what? I more keenly understood that I deserve death. And yet, God demonstrated mercy. Now, Jonah's troubled. Verse 1 says he's not only troubled, he is exceedingly and very angry. He's mad.

And I want you to understand for just a minute, the reason that he's mad is because God showed, demonstrated who God was to Israel's enemies. Now, whether we realize it or not, the Bible says that friendship with the world is enmity or an enemy of God.

So, whether we realize it or not, our God is demonstrating mercy right now to a world that hates him, amen? He right now is saying, "You know what? I know you cursed my name just a moment ago, but I would extend salvation to you if you would just but repent."

But Jonah was angry. He was angry at God's mercy. If your Bible is open, look to the verse just above chapter 4, verse 10. Chapter 3, verse 10. He said, "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way, and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them, and he did it not."

Instead of God's judgment, they received God's mercy. And Jonah, instead of being happy that they had received God's mercy, he was angry that God would forgive these wretched people. He should have been rejoicing over the fact.

It's kind of like an evangelist getting upset because revival breaks out. Well, what was the whole purpose of Jonah going there in the first place? It was so that Nineveh would repent.

Matter of fact, if you go to verse 11 in this same chapter, God says, "Hey, guess what? Why are you upset? I sent you to a hundred and twenty thousand people who didn't know their right hand from their left hand."

And I'm telling you something today, folks. We as Americans could substitute Nineveh right here in this verse, and we could put the United States of America. And folks, we got way more than 120,000 that don't know their right hand from their left hand. Say, "Amen."

Now, if you don't believe that, you let some grown man that's been in Congress for 157 years stand flat-footed and tell you that a man can have a baby. And, brother, let me tell you something. We don't know our right hand from our left.

So, Jonah should have been rejoicing. Matter of fact, Jesus put it this way in Luke chapter 15 and verse 10. He says, "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

Joy, joy in heaven. Guess what? When the prodigal came home, joy in heaven over the one that was disobedient that came back. Like Jonah, joy in heaven over that sinner that said, "Yes, I'm lost and undone and I need salvation."

Joy in the presence of the angels who can't even understand salvation. And they're happy that a sinner has come home. But not Jonah. Jonah's mad. And he had a little man. The Bible says he was very mad.

But verse 2 says that Jonah did something that was probably right. This is why I had to wonder whether or not he was a Baptist. Because when Jonah was mad, guess what he did? He did the right thing.

Well, he did pout. But what does verse 2 say? Look at verse 2. And he... What? He prayed unto the Lord. In other words, you know, if he were a good Baptist, he would have formed a coalition. Amen?

He'd have found some other people who were just as mad as he was about it. And that he got together, he got together a group of like-minded prophets, and they would have said, "God, you're wrong today."

He would have gotten on his big button phone and dialed up everybody, especially the ones that don't go to church, and tell them how sorry it is down at church. But he didn't do that. He didn't rant, he didn't rave. He simply took his complaint to God.

Boy, I wish some more of us would take the time to take our complaints to God. Amen? I know you hear a lot here about politics and the culture and the way things are going upside down. But you know, I wonder how much time we spend ranting and raving.

How much better spent it would be in prayer. How much better it would be for our nation if we, as God's people, would humble ourselves, second Chronicles 7:14, and seek His face and realize that this nation is on its way to judgment.

And I mean, it's going like a freight train speeding out of control. So, he got alone and he prayed with God.

Now, I want you to notice something. Look with me in verse 2. He says, "When I was in my country, when I was at the house in my lazy boy, right?" He said, "When you told me to go down here and become a missionary to Nineveh, I knew some things."

I want you to underline that word "knew." Knew. Knew. All right? Those things that he knew that were told in the Greek's con, that this is actually our Hebrew, let's come, is actually the idea of experiential knowledge.

It is the idea of an intimate understanding. In other words, Jonah had experienced all the traits of God that he's about to complain about. Okay? Let's look at them real quickly.

He says, "He gives him the reason why he fled in the first place." He says, "I knew that you're what? What? What do you know?" He knew God was a gracious God.

Now, how did he know that God was a gracious God? He had experienced it. How? Because instead of God saying, "See you," when the seaweed was around his head, when he was drowning in the ocean, God prepared a what? A fish.

Is that not right? So God said, "Hey, look, you're going in the wrong direction, dude. And while you may be a prophet, while you may be my child, I'm not letting you just turn loose and go."

But he said, "You know what? I'm going to be gracious. I'm not going to let you receive the judgment you so deserve as being disobedient out of my will." And I'll tell you what, folks, today, I'm so thankful that our God is a gracious God. Amen?

Because I have stumbled too many times. I have done too many knuckle-headed things that if he were not a gracious God, if he ever gave up, he would give up on me.

But yet, time and time again, I come to him and I claim 1 John 1:9, and I confess my sin, I repent, and he's so faithful and just, he cleanses me from all unrighteousness. Not because of who I am, but because of who he is.

Jonah said, "I know you're a gracious God." He said, "I know you're merciful." How hard is that to extend mercy to somebody? You know, it's kind of like the words "thank you" and "please."

We got a lot of compliments when our children were little, not so much now, but when they were little, okay, about going to restaurants and stuff and them talking to people who are in the service industry and them saying, "Thank you" and "Please."

And my son, at the ripe old age of four years old, one time said, "Daddy, why do we say 'thank you'? Aren't you going to leave a tip?" And I said, "Yes, son, we're going to leave a tip."

But what does "thank you" cost you? What does it cost you at the end of the day when you tell somebody, "Thank you, I appreciate you, I love you"? What does that cost you?

Ever been in a restaurant or something and had hot coffee spilled on you? Ever had a plate full of eggs wind up in your lap? We get righteously indignant. "I can't believe that person did that!"

Instead of simply, we had a lady, she was running around, she was out of breath, she said, "I'm so sorry, I know I've got a big party in there." And you know what I told her? I said, "Donna, you need to settle."

I said, "We're here eating, we're goofing off, you're working." But yet, when the Walmart cashier doesn't do something fast enough, we want to know why we can't have their job.

See, the thing that I can't understand about this merciful part is if you've ever tasted God's mercy, God's graciousness, how can you withhold that from somebody else?

See, I show mercy not because I'm merciful. I show mercy because mercy was first extended to me. John said in his little epistles, I don't remember which one it was, he said, "It's not a wonderful thing or an amazing thing that we love God. The amazing thing is that he first loved us."

And I don't know about you, my wife, I can say this now, she's not here. My wife will be the first one to tell you that lots of times I'm not very lovable. And yet she loves me anyway.

She informed me the other week, she said, "I know we're married." I said, "Because I love you." She said, "No, because I have a piece of paper on the wall that says we're married."

Sometimes I'm not very lovable. But you know what? Because mercy's been extended to me, I'm going to do everything I can to extend mercy to others.

But that's not all. He says, "Slow to anger and of great kindness." Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had a president, the first George Bush, and he made a speech one time, and I remember that he was almost laughed off the stage.

It was the thousand points of light speech. I don't know if any of y'all remember that. And he said, "It was his hope for America that we become a kinder and gentler nation."

And the news media raped him over the coals. "What place does kindness have?" Well, let me tell you something, folks. Kindness goes a long way.

I heard a news commentator one time who was talking about the way animals are treated or mistreated. And they said that the way an animal is treated in a society says a lot about the society.

In other words, you know, you read these accounts and you see the ASPCA people and they show these commercials where these animals are being abused and left and abandoned and starved and no water and in the heat and all that stuff.

That says something about the owners, amen? Because if you can take that animal that would do anything for you and beat on them and be hurtful to them and mistreat them, folks, let me tell you something, you'll mistreat anybody, amen?

And that's because these people don't understand that, guess what? They've received mercy, they've received kindness, and yet they don't want to demonstrate that kindness to anyone else.

You see, Jonah said, "I've enjoyed all of this, but I don't want them to have it." Now he makes a request. He's so upset, he's so mad that, guess what? Verse 3 says, "Therefore now, knowing all these things," he just said, "he said, 'Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.'"

Now stop with him at that for a minute. He said, "Just kill me now." Have you ever thought about what he just said? Just kill me. Because you're gracious, just kill me.

Because I don't like the fact that you're merciful, just kill me. Because, guess what? I didn't like the fact that you saved me with the fish. I don't like the idea that you're kind and you're slow to anger and you're merciful.

I don't like that idea. So just kill me. When you're stopping them about it, why in the world, what was so horrible about the Ninevites that would have made him make this request?

Well, he was seeking a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Because what was actually going on was, if you think about it, when the Ninevites repented, guess what? Jonah probably knew that his ministry was over.

That his reputation would be tarnished. Because when he went back to Israel and said, "Our enemies have repented. God has shown them mercy." Guess what the Jews would have done? They would have said, "He can't be no prophet of God. Why? His ministry here."

And we found out early on in this book, his ministry was pretty successful. It was a pretty prosperous time when he was a prophet in Israel. And now, guess what? All of that's gone because God turned out to be exactly who he knew God was.

And I want to close with this. Ever been so angry sometimes with somebody that you want to pick them up and shake them? It's a good thing that people checked on our children because there were some times when they were little, they would have just disappeared because I was angry.

I was mad. Sometimes even today, some of the decisions they make, if anyway, and I would say, "God, get them. Sick of them." And you know what God's response is? Verse 4.

"Then said the Lord, 'Does thou well to be angry?'" Did y'all catch that? He didn't pick Jonah up and smack him around. He didn't send him for a long walk off a short pier.

He didn't say, "You knucklehead, I don't over and over and over." Now, I done demonstrated to you who I am. You know who I am. And now you want to die.

I tell you what, best thing for you to do is see you. God responded to him softly and tenderly. You see, what God was asking him was in verse 4, "Is your anger justified?"

Is your anger justified? And whether you realize it or not, most people don't understand this, but you know the Bible says that a Christian can be angry. There are some things we should be angry at.

There are some things going on in our society today, abortion, transgender. These things should bring a righteous anger inside of us because the Bible says that these things are evil.

The destruction of the family in America today should make us righteously indignant. Matter of fact, Paul told the Ephesians, Ephesians 4:26-27, he says, "Be ye angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Neither give place to the devil."

And he said, "Guess what? You can be angry and not sin, but here's the deal. You can't be angry at the person. You have to be angry with the circumstance.

See, God doesn't hate sinners, right? Matter of fact, actually, the alphabet soup people came out with a thing, said, "Don't hate me because of who I love."

Well, here's the deal. I don't hate you because of who you love. God doesn't hate you because you're in that lifestyle, although he calls it an abomination.

You know, I don't hate you. God doesn't hate you. But God does hate the sin. He still wants them to repent and come out of all of that. But guess what? He hates the sin.

James tells us in James chapter 1 verses 19 and 20, he says, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God."

The writer of Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verse 9, "Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry, for anger resteth in the bosom of fools."

Obviously, Jonah did not understand the depths of God's mercy. Obviously, Jonah was confused as to who God would have mercy on and who he would not. He didn't understand grace.

So this morning, I have to ask you this, and this was God's prophet, we know that, and he didn't understand. This morning, maybe you've been going to church all your life and you don't understand what mercy is.

Maybe you've been attending Sunday school all your life and you don't understand what it is to have grace for someone else. I don't believe you can extend grace to someone else until you first tasted of grace.

So this morning, the question is this: Have you ever tasted God's grace? Have you ever realized that you are a sinner and that you needed forgiveness?

That your sins needed to be forgiven, not just covered up, forgiven, justified, just as if you had never committed them? If you realize that you are a sinner, then you realize that you must be forgiven.

And you have to realize that you need a Savior and you're not it. And when you do, guess what? You have to plead the blood of Jesus Christ because you deserve death and you know it.

That's when the grace of God comes in. For by grace are you saved through faith. So this morning, do you understand the depths of God's grace?

Do you understand the depths of God's mercy? And I'll tell you what, it'll keep you in awe the rest of your life because you'll, you'll, one, you'll over and over and over, you'll sing with the hymn, "Why did God have mercy on a wretch like me? Why? What is it that would make?"

And you know, you come back with a resounding answer over and over and over. It isn't because of me. It's because of him. It isn't because of who I am. It's because of who he is.

He had mercy on the Ninevites. It was evil, wretched, horrible. Even their own king said they were full of violence. But they repented and they tasted God's mercy and God's grace.

This morning, have you ever tasted of that mercy and that grace? And if you can answer that question with a resounding yes, praise God for you.

Then my next question is this: Have you ever extended that mercy and grace to anyone else? Because if you have...