Reaction of Jonah to Mercy of God

Driving home: The essence of Jonah's reaction was nothing less than displeasure or vexation which degenerated into carnal anger.

Martin describes what Jonah's reaction *should* have been—holy joy and dancing—to highlight the stark contrast with his actual anger.

The Ninevites repent, God repents of the evil that he pronounced upon them, and now we have the record of Jonah's reaction to this merciful dispensation of God. Perhaps it would not be out of order to say what that reaction should have been had Jonah been in a healthy state of soul. After coming from a land with a history of rebellion to the messengers of God, a land which again and again had despised God's goodness in sending messengers to that country to preach and to call them to repentance, one would think that Jonah would have been filled with holy joy to find that one message preached ov...

6:47 - 8:13 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The essence of Jonah's reaction was nothing less than displeasure or vexation which degenerated into carnal anger.

The example of God proclaiming His glory to Moses in Exodus 34 is used to show that Jonah knew God's merciful nature, making his anger even more perverse.

Furthermore, in the light of Jonah's awareness that God is a merciful God and that the display of his mercy is the display of his crowning glory, one would think that if there burned in the heart of Jonah any jealousy for the honor of God, he would have rejoiced not only that his own message had been received, but that God had given such a singular display of the glory of his mercy. For you'll remember, as recorded in Exodus chapter 34, when God proclaims his glory to Moses, he proclaims it in these very terms, as a God merciful and slow to anger, a God who repents of the evil. And surely bein...

8:13 - 9:36 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin analyzes Jonah's prayer in detail, labeling it 'petulant' and 'brattish.' He explains Jonah's 'gripe' with God's mercy and his carnal desire to die, contrasting it with the…

Martin shares a personal anecdote from his early Christian experience, describing young people's intense hunger for prayer, preaching, and Bible study, to contrast with Jonah's desire to escape ministry.

When he should have been amongst the people, furthering, further instructing them in the ways of God, and, oh, how I long for that privilege, to minister on the heels of a mighty outpouring of the Spirit of God when people are hungry and teachable and can't get enough. I've had just a little taste of it. Early in my own Christian experience, when God was pleased to move upon a little group of young people, and all they wanted to do was pray and preach and read the Bible. I mean that, literally.

20:19 - 20:50 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin analyzes Jonah's prayer in detail, labeling it 'petulant' and 'brattish.' He explains Jonah's 'gripe' with God's mercy and his carnal desire to die, contrasting it with the…

Elijah's prayer to die after Mount Carmel is used as a contrast to Jonah's prayer, showing Elijah's prayer stemmed from dashed hopes and discouragement, not carnal anger.

Now surely there is a contrast between this prayer and the prayer of Elijah. You remember as is recorded in 1 Kings 19 after Elijah sees the apparent turning of the nation on Mount Carmel, only to go back to the seat of wickedness and to see that Jezebel still fumes and rages in her hatred to God and His truth. And he becomes discouraged and he says, Oh Lord, let me die. I'm no better than my fathers.

21:39 - 22:08 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin analyzes Jonah's prayer in detail, labeling it 'petulant' and 'brattish.' He explains Jonah's 'gripe' with God's mercy and his carnal desire to die, contrasting it with the…

Paul's longing to depart and be with Christ is contrasted with Jonah's desire for death, showing Paul's was from 'love pangs' for Christ, not vexation.

He says, I'm in a strait. I don't know whether to stay or go. I long to depart and to be with Christ. Here you have the prophet Elijah.

22:30 - 22:39 Read in full sermon

The point: Behold what miserable creatures we are when left to the predominating influence of any area of remaining sin.

David's sin with Bathsheba is used as another biblical example of a godly man falling into grievous sin due to an unmortified lust, illustrating the sermon's main application point.

And that is not the only incident of such a reality given to us in the word of God. When David, the man after God's own heart, comes under the predominating influence, the influence of his unmortified lust for strange flesh, what happens to David, the man after God's own heart?

27:54 - 28:16 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin applies Jonah's story to believers, warning that unmortified sin can make even regenerate individuals 'miserable creatures,' using David's sin with Bathsheba as another…

David is described as a 'connoisseur of fine female flesh' and a 'gourmet of beautiful women' to vividly portray his unmortified lust for polygamy.

God forbade polygamy among the kings of Israel. And David began to be a connoisseur of fine female flesh. And at the time he lusted after Bathsheba, he had six courses on his table. He had six wives at that time.

28:47 - 29:08 Read in full sermon

The point: Be watchful and prayerful, and if God is pleased to give us grace to be kept from coming under the predominating power of any remaining corruption, how thankful to Him we ought to be and how compassionate we ought to be …

Unmortified lust is compared to termites eating at the foundation of a spiritual structure, leading to collapse when trials come.

If allowed to go unmortified, may eat like termites at the foundation of your spiritual structure until the proper wind blows upon that structure and down you go and become as it were a heap of spiritual rubble. Even as we see Jonah, you say, how can it be a man preserved by a perpetual miracle for three days and nights in the belly of a fish, forgiven and recommissioned and sent to Nineveh and wonderfully blessed in his ministry, and now he's mad at...

31:34 - 32:14 Read in full sermon

The point: Be watchful and prayerful, and if God is pleased to give us grace to be kept from coming under the predominating power of any remaining corruption, how thankful to Him we ought to be and how compassionate we ought to be …

A Christian is likened to a man coated with dry leaves walking through fire, emphasizing that preservation from sin is solely by God's grace.

You see, a Christian is like a man coated with dry leaves, walking through fire every waking moment of the day, and if he comes through unscathed,

33:26 - 33:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Behold the mercy and patience of God in bearing with the sins of His children.

Martin uses the analogy of a child talking petulantly to a parent to illustrate the audacity of Jonah's prayer and God's immense patience in not immediately rebuking him.

And it's a good thing God was. Or he just stuffed that prayer right back down in Jonah's throat and said, shut up. I mean, if one of my children ever talked to me this way, they'd have only gotten half through the sentence. They'd have had a crack across the side of the mouth.

34:23 - 34:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Tremble at the thought of how dangerous it is to tolerate any remaining sin.

Martin notes that if Jonah were writing his own biography, he would likely omit the embarrassing details of chapter 4, highlighting the divine inspiration and honesty of Scripture.

I mean, if you're writing your biography, this is one of the chapters you'd leave out. You don't find men writing autobiographies unless they're writing sordid stuff to appeal to the prurient. But you see, God's grace not only bore with this, but then so worked in Jonah's heart that he was willing to be honest about his sin. Well, I say this is a word to us as believers.

36:05 - 36:28 Read in full sermon