Jonah 3: Should We Not Pity Our City?

Week 1: Am I Called?

YES! We are all called to spread the Gospel

Mark 16:15
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

Week 2: In our Cries of Distress

• God answers us in spite of our guilt
• God answers us and delivers us from impossible circumstances
• God answers us in sometimes in the nick of time
• God answers us in stages at times and not all stages are comfortable
• God answers us in our cry of distress to show us His love and fill us with thanksgiving

Philippians 4:6
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known unto God.

Jonah 2:10
10 So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jonah 3:1-5
1 And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. 4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

#1 IF we Go and Preach, there is no telling who we will Reach

“The Cross of Christ is offensive to most people, because it confronts our sin.” – Billy Graham

Romans 3:23
23 All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God!

Jonah 3:10
10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

#2 To have a Heart for people, we must first see God’s Heart for people

Jonah 4:1-11
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. 2 So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!” 4 Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” 5 So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. 6 And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. 7 But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. 8 And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!” 10 But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”

Micah 7:18
18 God Delights in Mercy

#3 God Delights in showing Mercy and we should too.

Jonah 4:1-4
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,[a] and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

John 3: 16-17
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Micah 7: 18
18 Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy.